High-speed maglev technology offers four main advantages: non-contact operation; low-mass vehicles (on a per seat basis, maglev vehicles weigh approximately one-third to three-quarters as much as high speed trains); high speed; and wayside system control and self-propelled vehicles (each car contains its own secondary part of a linear synchronous motors).
Non-contact operation means that vehicle traction does not depend on adhesion between contact surfaces, e.g., wheels and rails. (more…)
All electromagnetic suspension-based systems employ some type of feedback control mechanism to maintain stable levitation. (An interesting exception to the above rule, which has been demonstrated in the laboratory, consists of a permanent magnet suspended below a block of high-temperature superconducting material held below its critical temperature. Stable suspension results from a property of the superconducting state that immobilizes magnetic field lines in the superconducting material.) (more…)

Nuclear power plants have many different designs and shapes. Early technology restrictions in nuclear power plants make huge plants with the capability to produce the greatest amount of power possible. But with more recent technology, nuclear plants size are smaller , making them less costly and easier to build. But despite their many technical and engineering differences, nuclear reactors come in two basic types: pressurized water reactor systems and boiling water reactor systems. (more…)