...AND CHEAPER...:

Airlines aren't the worst polluters in the world, but planes do account for an incredible 2.5% of the world's carbon emissions. So by any measure, flying is a privilege--the exact sort of 20th-century excess that we need to reassess. Which is why the strategic design consultancy Manyone is thinking about radical alternatives to flight. The studio's solution? A giant train that loops around half the world like a mega subway system.

Dubbed the AeroSlider, it's an elevated train line that passes through a series of unobtrusive magnetic loops instead of running on a track. Much like the principles behind a rail gun, the loops speed up the train sequentially, propelling it up to speeds of 500 mph--or the average speed of a plane.

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