Russians Building Tunnel to Alaska?

Hey tell me this don't sound like science fiction! According to this article in Dvice - Russia is spending 65 Billion dollars on a tunnel under the Bering Straight to Alaska. The word is that within 10 year you will be able to take a train from N. America and travel to eastern Europe and do so in about an hour. The tunnel will be about twice the length of the Chunnel at 64 miles and will cost $12 billion just to dig the tunnel itself. The balance will be the cost of rail lines connecting the Bering Strait area with the rest of the Russian rail network.

Now it is not completely a Russian government undertaking, but rather some sort of commercial partnership that is not completely clear, but the U.S. has been "invited" to participate.

Check out the artwork of the proposed project. It might be pie in the sky, but it is definitely on the edge thinking, I like it just for the scope.

Elevator to anywhere on earth!

Ok, you found me out - when I get bored I sometimes look for strange stuff on YouTube. I got this link, that has science fiction written all over it, there that describes the craziest elevator of all. One that could take you anywhere in the world, in 42 minutes. Press play

Other than the obvious objections, there is one that they missed. The system is not without it's losses. If you don't add energy at the start or near the end, the "elevator" can't come all the way to the end. Just as in a pendulum swing, there is a loss that has to be addressed or the capsule is going to end up stuck at the center of the earth!