thyssenkrupp
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Cable-free elevator moves you in any direction
Elevators are absolutely vital in tall buildings, but they have their limits -- they can only move so quickly, and they can't usually move sideways to fetch you from the far side of a building. Both of those problems should be solved at once if German firm ThyssenKrupp has its way. Its new Multi elevators ditch cables in favor of magnetic linear motor technology (also used in maglev trains) to move both horizontally and vertically, letting them service very wide or unusually shaped buildings. They can operate in loops and aren't limited by heights, either, so it's easy to put multiple elevator cars in one shaft. You'll ideally never wait longer than 30 seconds for a lift, and the space-saving design lets building owners offer more (or at least larger) apartments and offices.
Germany gearing up for maglev railway
While folks living near Shanghai are already enjoying the luxuries of a maglev (magnetic levitation) railway, Germany is getting set to build a similar line to shuttle citizens from Munich's city center to its airport. The €1.85 billion ($2.61 billion) project is finally on track to become a reality after securing the necessary funding, and it should be able to whisk travelers around at nearly 310 miles-per-hour when it's complete. Sadly, there's no word as to when the Munich service will launch, but at least we're moving in the right direction, eh?[Via Slashdot]
