Lights illuminate tunnel boring equipment and the tunnel pit entrance during an unveiling event for the Boring Company Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, California. Musk said he had spent around $40 million of his own funds on Boring Co., but said that he expected the venture to eventually pay off. Musk’s tunnel company grew out of a 2013 white paper where he outlined plans for a hyperloop, a tube-encased tunnel aimed at transporting people between cities at airline-like speeds. On Tuesday, Musk said that the advances his team has made in tunneling technology would increase the speed of boring underground by up to 15 times. Lessons from the tunnel projects could have applications well beyond the US, including for Musk’s SpaceX rocket company, which is planning a mission to Mars.

Source: Mint December 19, 2018 06:11 UTC