Billionaire Elon Musk has been left red-faced after his claims that underground tunnels are “immune to surface weather conditions” were instantly proved wrong.
In a Twitter thread, Musk replied to a post about the cities with the worst traffic in the world – the top three being, London, Paris and Brussels.
Musk replied to the tweet writing, “tunnels anyone?”. He then went on to say that his infrastructure and tunnel construction services company, The Boring Company, is going to create a new travel system called a Hyperloop.
In his following tweet, Musk made the error of claiming that underground tunnels are immune from outside weather conditions and was quickly made to regret it.
He wrote: “Underground tunnels are immune to surface weather conditions (subways are a good example), so it wouldn’t matter to Hyperloop if a hurricane was raging on the surface.
“You wouldn’t even notice.”
Underground tunnels are immune to surface weather conditions (subways are a good example), so it wouldn\u2019t matter to Hyperloop if a hurricane was raging on the surface. You wouldn\u2019t even notice.— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1650840195
In response, his tweet was swamped with replies that evidently show that is absolutely not the case.
Someone shared footage of subway tracks in New York absolutely submerged in running water in September last year.
Alongside the clip, they wrote: “lol, k.”
lol, k.https://twitter.com/elizaorlins/status/1433269201721077762\u00a0\u2026— Eliza Orlins (@Eliza Orlins) 1650844404
Others followed suit, providing plenty of proof to contradict his statement.
One person said: “this man is heralded as the genius of our times lmao.”
this man is heralded as the genius of our times lmao https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518359943967121408\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/ANK0Zo99Qd— mike \ud83d\udea9\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 (@mike \ud83d\udea9\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8) 1650873482
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Another wrote: “I would like to introduce you to the NYC subway.”
I would like to introduce you to the NYC subway. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518359943967121408\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/XOro7VQBhD— Theo \u2721\ufe0e \u05d8\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4 \u262d\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Theo \u2721\ufe0e \u05d8\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4 \u262d\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1650852809
One sarcastic commenter replied: “Famously, hurricanes have never once damaged or disrupted subways or other tunnels.
“Water simply stays above ground during great storms. Scientists have never understood why.”
Famously, hurricanes have never once damaged or disrupted subways or other tunnels. Water simply stays above ground during great storms. Scientists have never understood why.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518359943967121408\u00a0\u2026— Nick Martin (@Nick Martin) 1650866104
It’s not the first piece of controversy Musk has stirred in recent weeks. In an interview for TED, the billionaire claimed that “almost anyone” can afford $100k to go to Mars.
Musk also claimed that the “woke mind virus” is making Netflix content “unwatchable”.
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