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COY WIRE: Hey there, everyone.
Terrific Tuesday to you.
I'm Coy Wire, and we have a special edition of "CNN 10"
today.
We'll end with our typical 10 out of 10 story,
but we're going to start with a feature piece on the future,
specifically of travel.
Planes, trains, and automobiles, those
are typically the modes of transportation we think
about when we travel today.
But some folks are reimagining a future where the new modes
of transportation are so efficient and so fast they
could break the speed of sound.
That would make the entire world more accessible.
Instead of going to a friend's house across town for dinner,
someday we might be talking about zipping over
to a friend's house across an ocean.
One of the potential new forms of travel in CNN's "The Next
Frontier" kind of reminds me of a scene from
that blockbuster movie "Elf."
- Past the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops.
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COY WIRE: That's right.
Being shot through a tube, super fast!
CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon has
more about "The Next Frontier."
RAHEL SOLOMON: Whether through the air, along the track,
or on the road, modern-day transportation has transformed
the way we travel on a global scale, allowing
mobility like never before.
But as growing populations and densely packed cities
stress these systems, innovators around the world
are imagining faster, more sustainable ways
to get from A to B. From supersonic planes
to hyperloop pods, what may seem like a pipe dream today
could be the future of transit as early
as three decades from now.
To envision the future of travel,
we should first look to the past,
to a city that heralded modern-day transportation
innovation.
ALISYN MALEK: Detroit is the Motor City.
It's known the world over.
We put the world on wheels.
It was here that Henry Ford pioneered the production lines
that allowed us to more quickly produce vehicles in a way that
improved quality and allowed more people
to be able to afford cars.
I'm Alisyn Malek, and I'm the managing
director of Newlab Detroit.
I'm working to help bring a better and more prosperous
vision of mobility for everyone around the world.
When I think about urban mobility,
some of the key pillars that are really critical for that
to be successful are accessibility--
how easy are the mobility solutions to get to,
how frequent are the services running,
what areas are covered.
As we look towards 2050, we're going to be getting
up close to 9 billion people.
From a transportation perspective,
it's really about options and making sure
that everybody has at least two, if not more,
of how they can get around.
A lot of the systems that we're using were great.
They are still great, but we actually
need to think about what other solutions can we
put out that are useful and also create a great user experience.
RAHEL SOLOMON: One solution that's
certainly gotten a lot of hype over the last decade
is the hyperloop.
The proposed train in a tube is looking
to append the way we travel.
With speeds up to 1,000 kilometers per hour,
it could zoom across an entire continent in just a few hours.
Netherlands-based Hardt Hyperloop
is aiming to bring this high-speed technology to life.
MARS GEUZE: Our vision is to create a world where distance
doesn't matter, where it's possible for you
to be much more free in where you live, work,
and how you travel, to really shrink the worlds
for people to live in.
To me, the next frontier is to realize
sustainable high speeds and convenience transport
of passengers and goods.
RAHEL SOLOMON: This future-forward concept
is actually built on the backbone
of a 19th-century idea, where compressed
air propelled railcars through a network of pipes.
Today hyperloop technology is based on two key mechanisms,
removing aerodynamic drag through vacuum-like tubes
and removing friction through magnetic levitation, or maglev,
which makes the pods float and move forward.
Together these systems allow hyperloop
to achieve ultrafast speeds.
MARS GEUZE: Now we're in the first integrated test track
that we've built. We've tested a 4,000 kilo, or 8,000 pounds,
vehicle to really show the normal loads that you would
have on a tube and that you can still have your levitation
system carry that weight.
ALISYN MALEK: Hyperloop as a technology is very interesting.
It does work.
You're cutting down on things like drag and friction.
High level, from a basic physics perspective,
that's really interesting.
RAHEL SOLOMON: And according to Geuze,
those properties of physics are what make hyperloop
better for the environment.
MARS GEUZE: In the hyperloop, because you
remove the aerodynamic resistance,
you reduce the energy consumption.
And therefore, you become a much more sustainable solution.
RAHEL SOLOMON: Companies across the globe
are racing to make their own hyperloop,
but Geuze says it's more collaborative than competitive,
with a collective goal to make the world more connected.
MARS GEUZE: There's already a lot of work being done
on setting up a regulatory framework to ensure
that we finally converge to a single, interoperable hyperloop
network.
RAHEL SOLOMON: Seven pioneering hyperloop companies
have announced they are joining forces
to launch the first global Hyperloop Association.
It includes companies like TransPod,
Hyperloop One, and Zeleros.
This newly formed pact aims to help grow this emerging
transportation market as well as work
with government and regulatory agencies on policy making.
As we look to the future for hyperloop,
Malek says the technology is there.
It'll come down to how it performs
against current options.
ALISYN MALEK: How does the capability of hyperloop
match up against competitive technologies,
and does it have a reason to win?
We're still seeing really great performance out of technologies
like maglev trains, which are being used in Asia quite a bit
already.
MARS GEUZE: I think it's realistic
that in 2050, you could have a global hyperloop
network up and running.
What motivates me the most is that if we can get this done,
it will have a massive impact in bringing sustainability
to our mobility patterns.
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COY WIRE: All right, continuing with our news on travel,
we'll take a look at the original form of travel,
and that's by foot.
And sometimes when you travel, you want to travel in style.
Well, what say you about these kicks that took
New York Fashion Week by storm?
The aptly named Big Red Boot make
you look like you walked right out of a "Super Mario" game.
Would you rock them?
I don't know if I would.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
JEANNE MOOS: These boots are made for flaunting.
Fashion influencers are styling them.
- It's a goofy shoe.
I give them a 10 out of 10.
JEANNE MOOS: Even influencers of the grandpa generation.
Wrestler Seth Rollins pretend stomped his opponent
wearing Big Red Boots.
Ever since they went on sale for 350 bucks
and sold out in minutes, fashionistas
can't shut up about the Big Red Boots, created
by the art collective MSCHF.
They do make you want to touch them.
STEVE NATTO: Yeah, yeah.
JEANNE MOOS: YouTube sneakerhead Steve Natto found that out when
he wore them to Sneaker Con.
STEVE NATTO: Some people asked to touch the shoes--
JEANNE MOOS: How do they feel?
Well, the top part--
STEVE NATTO: --is flexible, but the bottom part
is definitely not.
JEANNE MOOS: Steve says they're comfy.
He wore them all day without pain.
Their creator describes them as cartoonish.
Some refer to them as "Astro Boy boots."
And though they're easy to put on, getting them off
can get you stuck if you're not wearing your perfect size.
- My foot got stuck.
So I had to do--
I had to do what I had to do, man.
JEANNE MOOS: Now they're showing up on everyone,
from Puss in Big Red Boots to the character
boots from Dora the Explorer to Tony Soprano,
paired with a bathrobe.
People wanted to buy them right off Steve's feet, offering--
STEVE NATTO: I got like 800, 900 1,000.
I think I got like 1,300 or 1,400.
They just kind of kept going up.
COY WIRE: All right, all you boot-iful people,
thanks for spending part of your day with us.
Today is February 28, National Pancake Day.
So happy stacking, if that's your speed,
and try them with peanut butter if you're feeling frisky.
Shout out to Schroeder Middle School today
in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Go Raiders!
Thanks for subscribing and commenting on our "CNN
10" YouTube channel.
What is within influences what happens without.
So let's get our minds right today.
I'm Coy Wire, and we are "CNN 10."
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