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With half the Earth’s petrol supply already used up, it becomes apparent that engineers are quickly losing ground in the race to find alternate energy sources to power the devices we depend on so very dearly these days. For a glimpse of only one of the solutions to this problem though, a short trip to Japan reveals a very unusual piece of engineering triumph.

The Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train, as it’s called in its country of origin, is already seeing to it that a fair number of passengers reach their destination on time, without the use of any petrol whatsoever. The way this is done is by using a century-old invention, which has yet to be used to its full potential: the electromagnet. As the name suggests, the train uses electricity to generate a magnetic field, which then drives it forward. By changing the polarity of the field, the train can either be attracted or repelled by each segment of the track individually. Thusly, the segment in front of the train attracts it, while the segment behind it repels it, generating forward motion, while being highly environmentally-friendly at the same time.

Now, the question arises: if it works in Japan, why can’t it work everywhere else?
And why not take the idea a step further? Since engineers were able to build electromagnetic train tracks, would it be foolish to think we’re only a few decades away from the world’s first electromagnetic highway? The things we’ve seen in sci-fi movies so many times could actually be part of the world of tomorrow: flying cars that glide along a global highway, piloted by people who only need to type in their destination and then just sit back and relax. Should this be the case, then we would be able to take a deep, relaxing breath, for emission fumes would be a thing of the past, along with the noisy diesel and gasoline engines. The only sounds you’d hear during your morning stroll would be those of cars whizzing by, accompanied by the sweet, melodic tune of the street they follow, without the backfire of older gasoline engines interrupting this technological tune.

Yes, the world would truly be a much better place if more money was invested in finding the perfect alternate energy source, yet the sums the automotive industry generates ensure that it will stay unchanged, waiting for a pioneer to set his ideas into motion. Whatever tomorrow brings for the transport industry, be it the already tested electromagnetic propulsion system, or the still-to-be-tested laser propulsion, we can be sure of one thing: it will make modern engines resemble their older, steam-powered counterparts.


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