All About Maglevs

Posted on by scott

As those of you who’ve read it know, the action in Extras is kick-started by a secret clique called the Sly Girls. The Girls have invented a highly illegal pastime called “maglev surfing,” which basically consists of riding on top of a magnetic levitation train, trying not to die.

Maglev surfing is not something I’ve done, for obvious reasons. But I did check out a few YouTube offerings to get some sense of what riding an ultra-high-speed train might be like. So I thought you guys might want to see them.

maglev.jpg

First, this video offers an educational look at how they work, with some pretty cool footage.

For the best shots of travel at speeds of 575kph (357mph), check out this video of a French TGV. The TGV is not actually maglev, because it runs on tires instead of levitating, but it’s still wicked fast. (Faster, in fact, than the trains in Aya’s world, whose engineers are more about energy efficiency than speed.)

And finally, this is the funniest of the videos. It’s just a bunch of kids hanging out near a maglev trial track, waiting for a train to go past. It gives you a really clear idea of how shockingly fast maglevs are as they bolt past, resulting in mild profanity.

Enjoy.

149 thoughts on “All About Maglevs”

  1. oh yeah!!! comment 100!!! i rock!!!
    (hmmm…maybe this is a sign that scott-la should start posting again??)
    no sig.

  2. la dee la dee la dee la!!
    ah!! oh my gosh! mom’s out of the shower!!!!!
    save me!!!!!!!

    no sig. this time!!

  3. la dee la dee? were you calling me?

    I can’t believe you guys don’t want THE ENTIRE SERIES, SIGNED BY SCOTT.

    So. Very. Sad.

  4. Cool. i dont care if its dangerous i would totally do it

    BTW scott westerfeld ROX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. wow!! hours and only 2 people commented!!! that’s the benefit that homeschooling has!! i know. u nv me!!! 😛

    Forever a Westerfan,
    the
    Inconquerable Mathematician, Riderchilde-wa :mregree: (said with a nifty olde english accent!!)

  6. i mean :mrgreen: ❗ ❗
    oops!! :redface:

    Forever a Westerfan,
    the
    Inconquerable Mathematician, Riderchilde-wa :mrgreen: (said with a nifty olde english accent!!)
    ps: see? i did it right this time!!! 😛

  8. omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg

    ugh

    I am srsly pissed.

    *Walks off huffy* (Junie B. Jones word…)

    *Trips over feet and falls flat on face*

    *Turns on iPod only to see “Connect to power source” message* Dammit.

  10. Omg. ok theres a Saint and hes called…..urg….i forgot his name its like P.P i dont no his name but there are the initials and he could fly. ya fly and he could read minds and he could see the souls of people.

  11. Fawesomeness. I have to slow down i typed to quicly to many comments at a time and it siad “you put in comments to quickly. slow down.” Ha, ya right!

  12. Wow, theres so many people talking……
    you know i could be studying for my all important state history test but no, i came here to talk to my beloved scott-la fan friends and yet no one seems to want to talk back!

  16. hhhmmm…the parentals make me get in bed around tenish. but i dont actally fall asleep until 11:30 or so. ish. i usally read til i get tired. turn off the lites. then when i cant go to sleep, i list the perfect squares til i can.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😡

  18. idk why, but whenever i see the angry face i’m reminded of this kid in my class. he’s an angry person. and he’s korean. yeah. adopted. his sister’s pretty awesome though, but she’s in 11th grade so i don’t get to see her that much except for at dances and at gymnastic meets and stuff.

  19. i’m supposed to go to bed at ten, but i’m usually watching a tv show that ends at that time, so then i spend like a half hour doing random stuff, reading if i can, but i don’t fall asleep until like 11:30. if there’s hw that i still have to finish then that is extended, of course.
    the latest i’ve ever been up on homework is 3 am. random taylor fact.

  22. NOOOOO! the spambots have invaded scott’s blog too! AHHHHH!!! but my god i remember on my old computer i had an outook express acout and i started getting messages like that. it was really weird, b/c the spam blocker didn’t even catch them.

    so i stopped using that account, needless to say

  23. ALLIE-WA! YOU’VE ESCAPED THE CLOSET!

    wait…no…you’re being dragged in again! FIGHT IT!

    ok now i really have to do my homework though…likei NEED to watch house.

  24. Omg. I was takeing my dogs outside and they ran after a cat so…..
    i yelled across the street, my dogs were muddy, had to wipe them down, and get them inside. URG, y do they have to get all messy!

  25. o and the whole saint thing, i dont no. i was talking about it with someone and it just reminded me of midnighters so id thought i would tell you guys\girls w\e.

  26. i started smelling somthing really bad were im sitting and i looked over and it is the smell of friend chips and ranch dressing. Ew. It smells horrible.

  27. ok, im starting to get the feeling that no one wants to talk whne i do. I get on and see new comments. i comment and no one lese does. i feel lame now. Thinks scott-la fan friends!

  28. no Allie-was mom! not the duct tape! anything but that! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooommmmmm! HMMMMMmM! HHHHMMMMMMM! MMMMHMMMMMMMMmmmmMMM! *gets locked in closet with nothing but a laptop and Allie-wa*.

    im wondering how i ended up in Allie-was house in the hands of her rabid fanmom. hmmmm… *begins complaining to Allie-wa*. MMMmmmHHHMM! MMMMMMMMMMHH!! MMHHHmmmMMH!

    good thing i have a computer so i can at least talk to you guys… boy this is boring. and this rope is itchy! *tries to untie nots*.

    MMMMMMMM! MMHMMMMM! *translation* gee Allie-wa! was your mom in the navy!? *breaks nail*. MMMMMMMMM! MMMHMMMmmmMMMMM! *translation*. OH ^($@&@!%)$#%&$(^!!!!!

    *cough cough spaz attack cough*. sorry.

    and that guy looks japansy to me. not mad. reminds me of a sumo restler. hehe.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😡

  29. well the kid in my class is korean, so his facial features look a lot like this dude 😡 .

    and don’t worry, i spaz out sometimes (*cough* every five minutes *cough) too. but yeah. i’m seriously scared. what if we never see her again? what if someone named “alli-wa’s mom” comments after me and says “MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! i’ve already got allie-wa in the broom closet, YOU are all NEXT!” and then does a whole string of 😈 😈 😈

  30. what happened to allie-wa???
    i just went back like 50 posts and didnt see anything!
    ahh!!my fellow welsterfeldian friend must be saved!! kids pointing..”Look there’s Chanel-wa coming!Yippee!”
    right…
    so seriously- i’m scared now.

  32. Well as you guys give a line of your freakish comments and you MUAHHSGAGTSQWE things, i will be normal and talk about my normal, calm life. Well one day there was this girl and she hit me in the face so i called the cops on her and she ran and hid and they arrested me and in jail i met this guy names Alvaro and he liked me and he kept trying to hold my hand so i sprayed him with my pepper spray. And if you believe anything of what i said, i will be happy to put you into a mental institution!

  33. yeah, i took out the mathematician, cause it took 2 long to sign off…
    i don’t really have an established bedtime (i mean, it’s sometimes said that it’s 9pm, but i like hardly ever go to bed then…i go to bed when my mom calls me).
    i have like a million emails but i don’t feel like checking them. i guess i’ll check them. be back in like five minutes (unless i find something better to do than randomly go back and forth between email and the westerblog).

    Forever a Westerfan,
    the
    Inconquerable Riderchilde-wa :mrgreen: (said with a nifty olde english accent!!)

  35. URGH!!! i take so long to read the past like 50 comments and then type my message, and then i find 3 more comments!!
    *sigh*
    oh well.

    Forever a Westerfan,
    the
    Inconquerable Riderchilde-wa (said with a nifty olde english accent!!) :mrgreen:

  36. URGH!! another comment!! hello, Bran-la and ne other person who has nothing to do but randomly check the westerblog!!

    hey, if u want 2 see my signature, look at my name!! :mrgreen:

  37. kay, i’m leaving now!!
    -blah, blah, blah! :mrgreen:

  41. OMG y’all are so weird. But nice. 😛 lol I’m not locked in a broom closet…at least not right now. haha jk.

    BUT OMG LIZZY-WA I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COUNTED PERFECT SQUARES TO GET TO SLEEP!!

  43. hehe. duct tape on your mouth hurts. i shood no. who new that people didnt like listening to my beautiful voice? hehe.

    WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Alli-wa is saved!!!!! i love perfect squares. so far ive memerized up to the square of 100. man, that was a long…sleepless nite. who new that stride gum cood last so long? hehe.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😆

  44. Okay. I didnt imagine it like that.

    but i guess thats what i get for using my imagination.

    I love your books/

  47. Hell, i’d so try Maglev surfing. i’mma kinda girl who’d take risks. i’ve been ziplining b4… i want to go skydiving. and i want to bungeejump. Maglev surfing would be kick-a$$!

  49. aw-some! Dacotah, we should try and invent hoverboards, then we can try Mag-lev!! XD
    *gets out scetch pad and pencil*

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