Living In Lava Tubes

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  • Опубліковано 17 кві 2024
  • Beneath the surface of the Moon lie vast underground caverns, some of which are miles long and wider than football fields, and they may make for excellent settlement sites.
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    Credits:
    Living In Lava Tubes
    Episode 443; April 18, 2024
    Produced, Written & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
    Graphics:
    Jeremy Jozwik
    Ken York
    Sergio Botero
    Udo Schroeter
    Music Courtesy of
    Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 355

  • @MrIzzyDizzy
    @MrIzzyDizzy 3 місяці тому +274

    from cave man to lava tube man. what a journey.

    • @GotMyTowel42
      @GotMyTowel42 3 місяці тому +10

      destiny is funny

    • @seanhewitt603
      @seanhewitt603 3 місяці тому +5

      In less than two million years too!

    • @thecrazycapmaster
      @thecrazycapmaster 3 місяці тому +15

      What can I say except, we yearn for the mines. When we left the mines we made a game about it, when we go to space we’ll live in natural ones 🤣

    • @wolfvale7863
      @wolfvale7863 3 місяці тому +2

      "spaceman" is in there too!

    • @PerfectAlibi1
      @PerfectAlibi1 3 місяці тому +6

      Lava tube man on the moon! ^^

  • @howiefuzz6894
    @howiefuzz6894 3 місяці тому +285

    Lave tubes used to be a real hot commodity. Now the market is a hollow shell of what it used to be.

    • @Deletirium
      @Deletirium 3 місяці тому +27

      I forgive you for that blatant dad joke.

    • @darkhorse13golfgaming
      @darkhorse13golfgaming 3 місяці тому +15

      Get out 😐

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  3 місяці тому +76

      Damn, there's always good lines in the comments I wished I'd had when writing the script but that one is priceless :)

    • @Mousse9
      @Mousse9 3 місяці тому +9

      You’re fired! Get out. 🤣

    • @christophermullins7163
      @christophermullins7163 3 місяці тому +4

      This is serious.. not a joking matter sir.

  • @GuiAntonioli
    @GuiAntonioli 3 місяці тому +80

    "Let's go inside a gigantic hole inside the moon" sounds a LOT like a plot for a terror movie. Haha

    • @Deletirium
      @Deletirium 3 місяці тому +12

      There's a recent, terrible (but fun) film called "Moonfall" that has that exact plot.

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  3 місяці тому +18

      Hah, that's a good point, they really would be a natural monster-filled dungeon for a horror flick

    • @coreyander286
      @coreyander286 2 місяці тому +6

      There aren't enough pulpy aliens based on the bird-headed skeletal humanoids from the old Melies silent film _A Trip to the Moon._ So many aliens based off _John Carter of Mars,_ but none I know of based off the bird-headed skeletal humanoids, despite their striking design.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 місяці тому +3

      Bombarded by radiation on the surface is scarier.

    • @wstavis3135
      @wstavis3135 2 місяці тому +2

      "This isn't a cave!"

  • @jimcameron6803
    @jimcameron6803 3 місяці тому +161

    We all live in a lunar lava tube,
    A lunar lava tube,
    A lunar lava tube.

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому

      ...with PhD Jeremy Boob!

    • @classarank7youtubeherokeyb63
      @classarank7youtubeherokeyb63 3 місяці тому +10

      "But there ain't no whales, so we tell tall tales"

    • @jamesfowley4114
      @jamesfowley4114 3 місяці тому +1

      ​@@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63who know what lives way in the unvisited back of the lava tubes.

    • @ladypiperfaye
      @ladypiperfaye 3 місяці тому +4

      In the tube
      Where I was born
      Lived a bacteria
      That sailed the cosmic sea
      And he told
      Us of his life
      In the tunnels
      Down below

    • @williambrandondavis6897
      @williambrandondavis6897 2 місяці тому

      The best art is never the most popular. The Beatles are so highly over rated. The majority of the fans back in the day were 13 year old little girls. Let that sink in.

  • @erichtomanek4739
    @erichtomanek4739 3 місяці тому +37

    Q: Are you a Lunatic, living in a lava tube?
    A: Why, yes!

    • @Khannea
      @Khannea 9 днів тому

      I half wrote a short story a few years back of a degenerate civilization of half a billion of p3rv3rted creatures living in lunar lava tubes that skipped colonizing the universe but settled on living in paradise-like greenhouse caves, their every whim realized by automated systems - so the big thing to do was just having s3x and partying non stop - and this became a tourist industry where visitors inhabited a sleeve body to spend some time with those lunies. Great place to unwind, de-stess - but you might lose a few points SAN.
      I postulated most communities were b1s3xual, others were strictly lez/bear/f3mboy/cis ... others were mixed futanar1 and a few ones near the polar regions were distinctly more wild. Think centaurs and hentaicles and goo-girls.
      One can hope I'll live to see this future.

  • @christineshotton824
    @christineshotton824 3 місяці тому +53

    The first words of the video are a Heinlein story title.
    Automatic upvote! 👍

  • @snaffu1
    @snaffu1 3 місяці тому +31

    Time for my weekly dose of positivity and wonderment. Thanks Issac, cheers.

  • @TarkMcCoy
    @TarkMcCoy 3 місяці тому +18

    Dusting off the ancient sign besides the tube which snaked down into the darkness, the language specialist squinted and replied, "It says 'Human Food - This Way'".

  • @tonyportcullis488
    @tonyportcullis488 3 місяці тому +46

    Totally tubular dude.

    • @jburgmedia
      @jburgmedia 2 місяці тому +2

      Totally .

    • @spiffygonzales5160
      @spiffygonzales5160 2 місяці тому +2

      Bro this comment is so radical! Righteous man, righteous! 🤘😎

    • @jburgmedia
      @jburgmedia 2 місяці тому +1

      @@spiffygonzales5160 gnarly man ...
      Gnarly

    • @spiffygonzales5160
      @spiffygonzales5160 2 місяці тому +1

      @@jburgmedia Bitchin'!

  • @UrdnotChuckles
    @UrdnotChuckles 3 місяці тому +10

    I reckon any lava tube settlement would need to have certain safety features like we implement in big road & rail tunnels now. Namely side tunnels for utilities, evacuation, etc. Likely pressure and fire shelters too, plus said side tunnels would need to run along the main tube to serve as evacuation routes between damaged segments. As for the surface, here's hoping we'd be able to both have enough solar & thermal / chemical storage to get through the weeks of night. Though no doubt there'd be all manner of backup systems there too.

  • @ajr993
    @ajr993 2 місяці тому +5

    I feel like Isaac is going to write a series of novels about the development and emergence of humanity to colonize the solar system

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      best to start as an editor of a collection fo short stories.

  • @CODENAMEDERPY
    @CODENAMEDERPY 3 місяці тому +8

    Nice intro. The first time I was introduced to lava tubes in scifi was in KSR's Mars Trilogy, it blew my mind when I found out that our moon has them too.

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      try robinson carusoe on mars. movie from the 60s.

  • @wolfvale7863
    @wolfvale7863 3 місяці тому +27

    Since this is probably what we will actually do on the moon, pay extra attention to today's lesson.

    • @GotMyTowel42
      @GotMyTowel42 3 місяці тому +5

      indeed

    • @ZionistWorldOrder
      @ZionistWorldOrder 3 місяці тому +1

      todays assumptions..

    • @williambrandondavis6897
      @williambrandondavis6897 2 місяці тому

      Except idiocracy is real.

    • @wolfvale7863
      @wolfvale7863 2 місяці тому +1

      @williambrandondavis6897 "Idiocracy", not until we abandon all hope of leaving this planet. If we give up on that, then our extinction date can be set in burnt stone. So far, we are still pushing to get into space. As we should.
      Be positive. That is what this channel is about.

    • @ebonaparte3853
      @ebonaparte3853 2 місяці тому

      @@ZionistWorldOrderWe’re going in a few years. Today’s assumptions are probably right.

  • @Anthrofuturism
    @Anthrofuturism 3 місяці тому +7

    A lava tube surveillance recon rover would be a fairly straightforward and useful product for a company to make (and likely to receive SBIR funding).

  • @arcadiaberger9204
    @arcadiaberger9204 3 місяці тому +18

    When my kids were listening to a *_Sesame Street_* song in which Ernie sang that
    _I'd like to visit the Moon_
    _But I wouldn't like to live there_
    I responded by writing my own version and sang it for them, in which I sang,
    _I'd like to live on the Moon_
    _In a cavern with green plants and air_
    _I'd like to live on the Moon_
    _I think I could live happily there_
    Just as Ernie found fault with the depths of the ocean and other locations, I praised life in the sea, in deep caves, in Antarctica, and concluded,
    _I could learn to love any land_
    _Any place I could possibly dwell_
    _I could learn to love any land_
    _Even though it's some other folks' Hell_
    _From a high windswept peak to the depths of the Earth_
    _I'd adapt to it like it's the land of my birth_
    _I could take any place for whatever it's worth_
    _Yes, I think I could like to live there_
    _I could happily live . . . anywhere_

  • @SendyTheEndless
    @SendyTheEndless 3 місяці тому +11

    So the moon is peppered with holes? It really IS made of cheese!

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому +1

      But how many would it take to fill the Albert Hall?

    • @marcpeterson1092
      @marcpeterson1092 Місяць тому

      And will be explored by Wallace and Gromit.

  • @raivis2300
    @raivis2300 3 місяці тому +11

    Living la vida lava tube 🎶

    • @annoyed707
      @annoyed707 3 місяці тому +1

      Ya gotta lava it!

  • @josephreagan9545
    @josephreagan9545 2 місяці тому +22

    The lava tube colony on the moon was eventually destroyed. The lunarians delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of the tubes: Shadow and Flame.

    • @IM2awsme
      @IM2awsme 2 місяці тому

      Dwarf world or rim fortress?

    • @josephreagan9545
      @josephreagan9545 2 місяці тому +7

      @@IM2awsme Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings the fellowship of the ring.

    • @IM2awsme
      @IM2awsme 2 місяці тому +1

      @@josephreagan9545 I thought this was a dwarf fortress reference, the new update has had it on my mind.

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      And then the Master Chief showed up with a bunch of Skinnies and put a bell around the neck of the zenomorph. Yes, I purposefully mis spelled it.

  • @phaedrus000
    @phaedrus000 3 місяці тому +41

    Do you want Morlocks? Because this is how you get Morlocks.

  • @brianramey273
    @brianramey273 3 місяці тому +1

    Thanks for your constant work and research!

  • @jarivuorinen3878
    @jarivuorinen3878 Місяць тому +2

    I think that one way to use lavatubes would be to use structural supports to it, and support inner walls from it, effectively leaving vacuum insulation in between like a thermos bottle. And maybe having some sort of plumbing to the rock and/or to the surface for managing heat inside the inner structure. This would alleviate most dust problems, as that could only enter through airlocks, and also fluctuations in temperature of surrounding rock material doesn't affect the living space practically at all. We don't yet know anyway how dangerous or toxic local stones, sands, and dusts, are everywhere on the Moon. What we know however, is that most of the stuff formed in anaerobic conditions near surface. We wouldn't like something like asbestos inside habitats, even if stuff is chemically inert...

  • @mrnnhnz
    @mrnnhnz 2 місяці тому

    Another great episode, thanks Isaac. Good info, plus I like the story element - really helps to bring the subject to life.

  • @cannonfodder4376
    @cannonfodder4376 3 місяці тому +1

    Informative with a good world-building story to go with it. 😊
    Wonderful video, as always, Isaac

  • @evananderson1455
    @evananderson1455 3 місяці тому +5

    I just want to say how much I genuinely appreciate this channel and all of the work that goes into it. I'm 36 and grew up watching the Discovery Channel when it was still worth watching.. SFIA has been in my top 5 youtube channels for years now and I hardly ever miss an episode. Thank you so much, and please never stop!!! lol
    Edit: There are so many unknowns that hide behind whether or not humans can have children in low gravity environments.

  • @doltsbane
    @doltsbane 2 місяці тому +5

    You're definitely going to need a liner or at least some kind of spray on coating. It's going to be cold in a Lunar lava tube, well below zero Celsius. Once you heat it up and introduce humidity and oxygen there will be a constant rain of rock spalling off as it expands, hydrates, and oxidizes.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 місяці тому

      Excellent point and one I rarely see mentioned as well.

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      see my post . . . essentially, tunnels are paved over but if you had sufficient energy, you could glass the walls of a lava tube. I think a lot of techniques from modern tunnel boring would be a good place to start.

    • @digitalnomad9985
      @digitalnomad9985 Місяць тому

      The temperature variation on a lava tube near the surface will be far greater NOW than it will be after we climate control the interior. Less than on the surface (+250F to -210F), but more than that of a habitat.

  • @mariusbendiksen163
    @mariusbendiksen163 2 місяці тому

    I love this. Been waiting for this topic a long time.

  • @Celestial_Reach
    @Celestial_Reach 2 місяці тому

    Thank you for doing more stories to show what the future could look like. It inspires me greatly, and i was sad when you said that you officially retired the traveler and would be reluctant to do similar stories again. Thank you

  • @johnjohnson68510
    @johnjohnson68510 2 місяці тому

    Great job, Isaac!

  • @CartoonHero1986
    @CartoonHero1986 2 місяці тому +2

    Your New Souterraine description is very much how the author of The Expanse described the Ganymede Agricultural Settlements. The only difference is instead of lava tubes they just tunnel into the ice and cover it over with a plastic (since the ice will burn the flesh off you if you touch it), and they used solar reflectors to give the Ag Domes enough light for the plants. In the Expanse these Settlements have replaced Earth as the system's Breadbasket that is how much they could out produce anywhere else in the system for growing crops.

  • @ebonaparte3853
    @ebonaparte3853 2 місяці тому +2

    I can’t wait until the Ganymede episode comes out!😁😁

  • @gcqsopus
    @gcqsopus 3 місяці тому +3

    Today I learned Aluminium oxynitride exists. 🤯

  • @droneee3478
    @droneee3478 3 місяці тому +3

    I love your optimistic outlook. As a father of 2 with one more on the way. These videos give me hope for my children's future. Thank you

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  3 місяці тому +2

      Thank you and congratulations on #3 :)

    • @droneee3478
      @droneee3478 2 місяці тому +1

      @isaacarthurSFIA Thank you Sir, children are a blessing.

  • @0p161
    @0p161 2 місяці тому +2

    FOUND THIS ONLINE "I would imagine that the main difficulty will be ataching some kind of 'bulk head' with an airlock system will be the most technically challanging part. The stresses at the transition of pressurized to vacuum will result in siginificant tension of the rock. This could result in fracturing. A rough idea of the amount of force acting on a bulkhead holding 10psi for a 30ft by 20ft lavatube (mathematically rectangular for simplicity):
    30 ft*20 ft *144in2 /ft2*10psi = 864,000 lb
    The force concentrated around the perimeter of the bulkhead is approximately: 864,000 lb/(2*30ft +2*20ft) = 8640 lb/ft of perimeter.
    If the bulkhead sill is 2 inches thick this suggests a shear force per unit area of about:
    (8640 lb/ft * 1ft/12*in)/2 in = 360 psi.
    If the bulkhead were curved and set well into the bedrock, then perhaps a safe pressure tight bulkhead could wall off the open end of the lavatube on the moon. Interesting.'' People are thinking about it

  • @robertfraser9551
    @robertfraser9551 2 місяці тому +1

    Will definitely need structural liners. The loads applied by even modest atmosphere pressures are simply immense !! And domes on the surface will need deep hold down piles.

  • @barahng
    @barahng 2 місяці тому

    Been waiting for this one since you briefly mentioned living in lava tubes years ago.

  • @chuckjones23
    @chuckjones23 3 місяці тому +1

    Grat episode! I can see a lava tube as a home for a base, but not a colony.

  • @alexiordache760
    @alexiordache760 3 місяці тому +1

    Excellent, as usual.

  • @annakeye
    @annakeye 2 місяці тому

    So cool to see what you and your spouse look like, Isaac. Great photo and now I can put your face and your - shall I say - interesting accent, together.
    In all seriousness, this is a fascinating concept and I have often wondered about the practicalities and challenges of going all Robinson Family, even if not Lost In Space.

  • @larrysouthern5098
    @larrysouthern5098 2 місяці тому +1

    It always amazed me how realistic things looked like on the moonrise in the movie ..
    "2001:A Sapce Odyssey "....
    The scene of Dr Heywood Floyds meeting gave me the scene of a place deep under the surface and almost felt claustrophobic....
    That meeting was very interesting in what he had to say too.. it always made me wonder if a meeting has happened like this on Earth...recently.....

  • @Deathnotefan97
    @Deathnotefan97 2 місяці тому +1

    I have literally seen neighborhoods being built at the base of active volcanos when I was in Hawaii, I think there are going to be plenty of people okay with the risk of collapse in a lava tubes

  • @smoore6461
    @smoore6461 3 місяці тому

    I Love these story episodes! I cant wait for Isaac to write a novel!! That will be fantastic! Great episode sir!

  • @josephreagan9545
    @josephreagan9545 2 місяці тому +5

    If we ever do make a base in lunar lava tubes we should model the inside like the dwarven halls of Lord of the Rings.

    • @timothy8428
      @timothy8428 2 місяці тому +1

      This!

    • @brentmartin6833
      @brentmartin6833 2 місяці тому +1

      Just leave out the Balrog and Trolls.

    • @digitalnomad9985
      @digitalnomad9985 Місяць тому

      @@brentmartin6833 We needn't dig too greedily or too deep.

    • @brentmartin6833
      @brentmartin6833 Місяць тому

      @digitalnomad9985
      Humans aren't Dwarves but some can rival even the Dwarves for Greed. However, if most of the water ice & other riches are near the surface, we don't need to worry as much.

  • @slo3337
    @slo3337 2 місяці тому +2

    It's not truly colonized until moon war 1 breaks out 😂

  • @theangrysmurf12
    @theangrysmurf12 2 місяці тому

    "The moon is a harsh mistress"
    I am pogfacing Isaac, you cannot see it, but I am.

  • @ivandemiguel8607
    @ivandemiguel8607 3 місяці тому +5

    I have always tried to avoid definitions such as “black doctor”, “female pilot”, “hispanic astronaut”, “gay actor”, “feminist judge” when you have to use another adjective to qualify a person beyond his profession or function …. there is something wrong going on …. I don’t need a white doctor or a black doctor O need the best doctor, when
    i take a plane I don’t want a female pilot or a gay pilot I want the best pilot period…..🤷 it’s easy

    • @Deletirium
      @Deletirium 3 місяці тому +1

      You'd get tarred and feathered for daring to suggest that individual merit is the best measure of a human, rather than some arbitrary, faddish quota box filled, if we were in a more public forum.
      I very much agree though...

  • @dalriada842
    @dalriada842 2 місяці тому +2

    If the radiation levels, and micrometeorites, on the Moon would be tough on materials like domes, why build them? Wouldn't it be better to build an airlock inside the tube that was set back from such exposure? I think I'd be prioritising safety over aesthetics if I was living there. Hobbit holes can be comfortable.

  • @robertmiller9735
    @robertmiller9735 3 місяці тому +1

    Half a kilometer? Sounds like enough headspace even for claustrophobes.

  • @FQuainton
    @FQuainton 2 місяці тому +1

    As a longtime fan of Robert Heinlein I loved the opening of this video!

  • @quintinkrivacek9800
    @quintinkrivacek9800 2 місяці тому

    I grew up in Pittsburgh and took many field trips to the Carnegie Science Center as a kid, great memories. Best of luck to Astrobotic and their next mission.

  • @Kombrig_2
    @Kombrig_2 2 місяці тому +1

    Make one more step and understand that we can explore the Cosmos only INSIDE the asteroids, if we curve out it's guts, build a decent living space and construct the engine, power enough -- to move a few millions ton mass in space. In complete safety!

  • @GadZookz
    @GadZookz 3 місяці тому +4

    Pre assuming these lava tubes could be a mistake because the roof could be brought down by loud music. 🙂

  • @DerekJones1081962
    @DerekJones1081962 3 місяці тому +2

    I have found that it's difficult to maintain close relationships even on earth. So I often wonder why people worry so much about the psychological effects of isolation. Any introvert personality who is proven to be self-motivated would thrive in isolation where dealing with difficult people is an infrequent occurrence. Give me a task to explore and report back periodically, and I would be a very happy person. The isolation of the moon seems ideal for a person like me.

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому

      The experience of Israel's early kibbutzim (and the first Mormon settlers of Deseret) would be very instructive here. A sense of mission insane by the standards of 'society' would seem to be requirement One!

    • @Deletirium
      @Deletirium 3 місяці тому +1

      Same. The appeal to me of greatly reduced exposure to humanity, combined with an entirely new environment to pioneer/homestead in, cannot be overstated.
      There are an increasing number of people like us- probably an organic result of overcrowding and our isolated social media age.

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому

      @@DeletiriumIn the constricted space of an early extraterrestrial habitat, your exposure to 'humanity' will be greatly expanded, not reduced. Under the circumstances you will need a very strong extrapersonal reason to keep up with this kind of thing. Something akin to a religion, in fact.

    • @Deletirium
      @Deletirium 3 місяці тому

      ​​@@wynnschaibleLol, given up on all pretense of awkwardly trying to make religious analogies out of speculative science?
      I'll take a hard pass on the cringey evangelizing for judaism. For a plethora of excellent reasons.

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому

      @@Deletirium No, I'm stating that the effort that will be required to get a settlement going as a real proposition on other worlds will be of a religious or quasi-religious intensity. Whether it will be possible either financially or technologically or in the "how bad does the power structure want to get rid of 'us'?" sense is where the speculation comes in.

  • @brunocesarcerqueira2525
    @brunocesarcerqueira2525 2 місяці тому +2

    With a large low-gravity environment, it seems like an ideal location for artificial oceans with giant artificial waves for surfing, and giant low-gravity plants and insects. Imagine surfing in New Hawaii. Giant waves, artificial sun, giant coconut trees and other giant plants in low gravity environments. And a giant fauna of insects and crustaceans like in the Carboniferous. Giant Dragonflies and Butterflies seem like a great tourist attraction to me. 😊

    • @comentedonakeyboard
      @comentedonakeyboard 2 місяці тому +2

      Are there any discounts if i book early😂

    • @05Matz
      @05Matz 26 днів тому +1

      Sounds fun. I'd be a little intimidated by a giant dragonfly up close though (much like a big bird of prey). I'm sure they'd be beautiful and impressive, but I get the feeling that a bite could do some damage, and it would be hard to read the intentions/annoyance level of an invertebrate, though I guess as long as they aren't large enough to mistake babies or pets for prey it's probably fine... The larvae might be pretty scary-looking, though! And I dunno if those would bite swimmers -- aren't dragonfly larvae pretty nasty aquatic things with raptorial jaws? I suppose we've got snapping turtles and alligators and stuff on Earth already, people just have to watch their fingers and toes in waters with bitey critters.

    • @comentedonakeyboard
      @comentedonakeyboard 25 днів тому

      @@05Matz the giant dragonflys are probably harmless, unless the gene editing AI misinterprets the promt and makes them actualy fire spiting.

  • @DavidEvans_dle
    @DavidEvans_dle 3 місяці тому

    Lava tubes plus surface silicon daises fiber optical cables pumping in sun light for lighting and growing crops - seems cozy.

  • @paperburn
    @paperburn 3 місяці тому +4

    As a counterpoint, The submarine service has overcome most of your questions. Now how do we get a submarine on the moon,🤔

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому +3

      But there it would be a subselene!

    • @paperburn
      @paperburn 3 місяці тому +2

      @@wynnschaible LOL, yes it would!

  • @MidwitObservations
    @MidwitObservations 3 місяці тому

    YEAH YEAH YEAH
    Happy Arthur's Day!

  • @aenorist2431
    @aenorist2431 3 місяці тому +30

    As a gardener, I will add a bit of caution here.
    You say "a plant can undergo a period of low lighting" and then imply a cloudy week would be similar to lunar night.
    Now I am aware you know better, as even thick clouds let a lot more solar radiation through than the pitch black of lunar night.
    But for those viewers of you that were unaware: Two weeks of complete darkness are an extreme amount of stress for most plants we grow for food.
    Seedlings would be killed for certain, and larger plants suffer extensive damage, very likely more than 2 weeks of light can bring back in growth.
    All farming on the moon would rely on artificial light and (for lack of atmosphere, as plants can get sunburnt just as humans do) artificial shading as well.
    Maybe you could genetically engineer plants to survive it, and some lichen, moss etc might be hardy enough to survive, but default farming requires technical infrastructure for atmosphere, humidity, radiation management -> pretty much the same life support machinery humans also require.

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  3 місяці тому +16

      Very correct, if I was ambigous there, I was implying low-wattage LEDs comparable to cloudy days for during dark phase.

    • @NullHand
      @NullHand 3 місяці тому +5

      I think aquaponics would work better.
      An algea->brine shrimp light harvesting setup could run a couple generations in the 2 week sunlight window.
      If modern "food science" couldn't convert those directly to some fair facsimile of ramen and spring rolls, you could always have a dark cycle feeding those to blind cave trout and deep sea snow crab.

    • @muninrob
      @muninrob 3 місяці тому +2

      @@NullHand Here's another cycle to think about: Algae to produce oxygen, sugars & bulk biomass (the latter for turning regolith into soil for later, more advanced crops), then yeast tanks to turn those sugars into CO2, edible proteins, and (most importantly) ethanol.
      IMO, when it comes to available food stocks, the answer isn't "better" or "best", it's "yes, please" followed by a lot of hard work to make it happen. It's going to take a lot of colonist feces & bulk organic matter to make enough soil to grow anything conventional, which we'll need in order to have bread and feed for livestock.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 місяці тому +1

      As someone currently raising about 50 seedlings of various species under LEDs in my closet I appreciate this post. 😂

    • @neolithictransitrevolution427
      @neolithictransitrevolution427 2 місяці тому +1

      ​@@NullHandI'm a big fan of space aquaculture too. Also think Lobster and shell fish for recycling composts and human waste.

  • @Miguel-Del
    @Miguel-Del 2 місяці тому

    At first I thought this was about tunneling into a planet and using the internal heat as an energy source for your home, and living inside that tube. That would be a great video topic too!

  • @robertheidler5315
    @robertheidler5315 2 місяці тому

    Given the huge size of the tube#, up to half a mile wide and miles long, it doesnt have to be claustrophobic. I loved the picture with the plants, river and waterfall. It could be a beautiful landscape. And given the low lunar gravity, it opens the real possibility of experiencing one of mankind’s oldest dreams: human powered flight! Strap on a pair of wings and go exploring!

  • @elliotalderson8358
    @elliotalderson8358 2 місяці тому

    Thanks for coming to Pittsburgh. Did you enjoy it?

  • @ciprianivan9366
    @ciprianivan9366 2 місяці тому

    That would be so Awesome

  • @adriancastillo7657
    @adriancastillo7657 2 місяці тому

    I think it would make sense to build a structure some kind of research station inside a lava tube here on earth to see and learn from the challenges that we face in the process before venturing out to the moon or mars.

  • @timacuff332
    @timacuff332 3 місяці тому +1

    I always especially enjoy the "daily life" anecdotes, saying that they fertilize the plants with algae and look up at the artificial sun, like. To actually get a feel for how these colonizations work...

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      there are irish islands entirely devoid of vegetation until soil was greated by harvesting kelp from the ocean.

  • @nutterbutter1133
    @nutterbutter1133 3 місяці тому

    Isaac, I've been waiting for years for you to make just such an episode! Drink and snack ready...Engage!

  • @zak7181
    @zak7181 2 місяці тому

    I don't get to watch many SFIA videos these days but this one caught my attention, as it's a near-term sensible step in space exploration. It's not a solution for finding a 2nd home, but it's the only real solution for having a place to live for the people who'll be turning the moon into useful products for the next steps.
    I figure it'll go: Moon base > Moon industry > O'neill cylinders (put them wherever you need them). The industry will help us build things in a lower gravity well. I figure we could mass-drive blocks of regolith to lunar orbit for assembly, but iirc the orbital dynamics might not work? too elliptical an orbit? Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Thanks for the video.

  • @tetraquark2402
    @tetraquark2402 3 місяці тому +1

    A robot mission to investigate one would be interesting. I'm thinking some sort of tethered RTG powered rover with a base station to transmit back to the earth.

  • @SebRomu
    @SebRomu 3 місяці тому +1

    All these eons of civilization building, just to become exo-cavepoeple again? Sign me up.

  • @greypatch8855
    @greypatch8855 3 місяці тому +1

    Move to the moon, for super earth!

  • @montypython5521
    @montypython5521 2 місяці тому +1

    I don't see this as a negative 12:45 because in the event of an accident on the surface you have zero places to go.

  • @connorgeshwiler2319
    @connorgeshwiler2319 3 місяці тому

    Could you do videos about The Future of Cuisine/Food, The Future of Medical Technology, and The Future of Communications please? you are the best science channel.

  • @minhmeo9506
    @minhmeo9506 3 місяці тому +2

    A paradise for our descendants in the harsh worlds ❤

  • @user-st8fe7iv3t
    @user-st8fe7iv3t 3 місяці тому +2

    It's gonna be a hot home for sure

  • @dansmith16
    @dansmith16 3 місяці тому +1

    I never thought of an actual lava tube to be anything but enclosed lava and used as heating coils beneath the surface.

    • @digitalnomad9985
      @digitalnomad9985 Місяць тому +1

      I don't think they call them lava tubes till the lava pours OUT of them.

  • @raphlvlogs271
    @raphlvlogs271 3 місяці тому +2

    can you connect lava tubes by digging tunnels allowing people and supplies to travel in between underground settlements?

  • @JasonCummer
    @JasonCummer 3 місяці тому

    Fun episode, sounds like a nice place to live :)

  • @Lngbrdninjamasta
    @Lngbrdninjamasta 3 місяці тому +1

    Yay a New England non base sounds wicked pissah 🎉❤

  • @patrickryckman3341
    @patrickryckman3341 2 місяці тому

    Im sure the astronauts who have a sunrise every 90 minutes would be happy for the longer datk periods.

  • @malcolmt7883
    @malcolmt7883 3 місяці тому +1

    Couldn't you spray the walls with water to seal up cracks and cement loose debris in ice?

  • @evensgrey
    @evensgrey 2 місяці тому

    As a general rule, if there's a way to make a permanent living in a place, people will bring family and have more there. The only places people don't bring their family or start one is those rare outposts that have no locally generated way to make a living, like isolated lighthouses on small, barren rocks, or research bases like the ones in Antarctica.

  • @389293912
    @389293912 2 місяці тому

    Instead of lining rhe entire tunnel (huge requirement for strong material) run detector lines to warn about leaks or loose ceiling rocks snd deal with them on demand. Selenites might be living in those tunnels. We'd have to neutralize the Queen to stop the egg laying.

  • @georgemann3760
    @georgemann3760 3 місяці тому +1

    So that's what the Clangers were doing...

  • @jamesfowley4114
    @jamesfowley4114 3 місяці тому

    People hande weeks, and sometimes months, in submarines. We have enough experience handling that. We could probably make some predictions to choose the initial crews that would inhabit lava tube structures. Starting with a smaller tube that could be lined and sealed to enable moving around without suits would also help prevent claustrophobia.

  • @nathanielacton3768
    @nathanielacton3768 2 місяці тому

    One of the problems of lava tubes on the moon is in sealing the tunnel to pressurize it. Putting aside the problem of fissures\cracks it boggled my mind trying to work out how to build a pair of walls to section off some. Natural holes may seem like a good idea until you recognize that that's where it already collapsed, so it probably a bad place to start construction of a massive crane system to lower all the gear and materials down. It might be easier to find an area of larger collapse where the sides are caved in, so you could construct a road.
    It might be easier to use seismic sensors and pound the ground looking for an entirely underground tube with no openings, and bore in to it. The hard part is making martial concrete. Maybe use mud ice for the outer layers?

  • @iainballas
    @iainballas 3 місяці тому

    I think lava tubes will also serve as emergency shelters or privately operated bases. The easiest way I can think to set up a base would be like those inflatable robots. A collapsed bag is stuck in the entrance, and as it inflates, it unrolls inside-out and fills the cavern. After that, you could stay there for a bit... or start pouring cement. Protection from radiation, micrometeors and the ability to better prevent lunar death-dust from getting any further inside by putting static filters along the entrance.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 місяці тому

      Depends on the size I guess because a lot of them are way too big for just one person. Some have ceilings tall enough to fit skyscrapers and are kilometers long.

  • @tim2024-df5fu
    @tim2024-df5fu 2 місяці тому

    Using the temp difference between the surface and below ground they could use memory metal to generate electricity. Someone would have to do the calculations of power to weight to see if it's comparable to solar power.

  • @istvansipos9940
    @istvansipos9940 3 місяці тому

    will we build up those random lava tubes, just to keep non-stop guessing which part collapses when under what load?
    or
    will we inflate some huge habitats with well know properties and cover them with Lunar regolith?

  • @AnimeShinigami13
    @AnimeShinigami13 3 місяці тому

    One interesting individual factor determining whether or not a family or person settles in a lava tube could be psychological trauma. For example if someone decided to leave earth fleeing warfare. If you experienced having to watch the skies for bombs coming in over your head, you might be more comfortable underground. This thought occurred to me a year or so back when I was trying to apply futurism concepts to the universe of Resident Evil via fanfiction. And I realized that even though the scenario I came up with ended with an O'neill cylinder's worth of space on an ark ship, and a few tens of thousands of humans remaining split between being awake and cryo, (with the possibility of using cloning and mind uploading to revive even more than that), that the survivors in that scenario had just seen an end of civilization scenario that involved missiles containing bioweapons and nukes alike, as well as AI driven drones from the WBE of a madman attacking them with both bombs and nanites. (The madman was Albert Wesker, if you're familiar with that universe's lore.) And they may not want that giant cylinder to live in if they had a choice, or open sky over them, and may well give it over to the few animal species they managed to save and take with them or the surviving J'avo (a species of mutant from RE6 that really do need a lot of room compared to normal humans, see google). Even though they'd gotten safe breathing room, the people in that scenario I'd come up with just didn't feel safe in a wide open space. They wanted more rock armor melted onto the outside of their ship to carve apartments out of instead, because many of them just couldn't sleep well with open or seemingly open skies.
    It makes me wonder what kinds of cultures those early settlers might come from or create. If you lived through war with a lot of bombs being dropped on your head, why would you want to even think about living in a dome that could become a target? You might just put your cropland and animals in the dome and come topside for some sunlight during the lunar day, then drive your animals underground into a shelter when you go to sleep so that if you're attacked while sleeping you don't lose a good chunk of your food supply.
    BTW, I wholeheartedly endorse mushroom farming on the moon. Just please give me enough heat and humidity to raise pink oysters. I love them so much they're my youtube avatar pic!!! 😆
    🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄

    • @rembrandtshadows
      @rembrandtshadows 2 місяці тому

      I think it would depend if you were a long term resident or a transient technician working on something for a few weeks or months. Humans are ver adaptable creatures. Personally, I would love to get away from most of the people who now have their heads buried in cell phones. I know quite a bit about algae and aquaculture and would really enjoy raising fish on the moon both for ornamental purposes and food.

  • @AFNacapella
    @AFNacapella 3 місяці тому +10

    made _from_ lava or made _for_ lava?

  • @bingusbongus9807
    @bingusbongus9807 2 місяці тому

    one of the more ridiculous moon ideas ive thought of is driving constantly so you are always in the amount of light you want as the moons slow rotation allows for transport to keep up

  • @mastercharlesdiltardino8058
    @mastercharlesdiltardino8058 3 місяці тому +4

    Id kill to live in a lava tube on the moon. I know it would suck, i just wanna get away from people.

    • @xObscureMars
      @xObscureMars 3 місяці тому

      Careful what you wish for

    •  3 місяці тому +1

      And still there will be people. A lot of your time will be work and cooperation with "people" and Android robots. 😅

  • @SeattleShelby
    @SeattleShelby 2 місяці тому

    In the olden days, they dug the well, built the barn, and then finally built the house. And they did it in that order. Colonizing Mars (or any other planet) would likely be just as pragmatic. Shiny glass domes would likely come last, if ever.

  • @ManBearPigCreative
    @ManBearPigCreative 3 місяці тому +1

    Awsome!

  • @the_primal_instinct
    @the_primal_instinct 2 місяці тому

    Jumping inside a lava tube on the Moon could be dangerous.

  • @jlmwatchman
    @jlmwatchman 2 місяці тому

    One thing that wasn’t mentioned about living in other worldly lava tubes was that Earthlings will need 1G gravity to grow a family… The needed hyper gravity infrastructure will need at least 300 meters square for one ring, ‘I am guessing?’, but a square mile would be best. In a mile wide lava tube that is on the Moon, ‘No wonder people think the Moon is hollow?’, so a hyper gravity habitat to grow children is posable and needed for colonies, ‘Adults would stay healthier in 1G, also.’

    • @digitalnomad9985
      @digitalnomad9985 Місяць тому

      300 meters maybe, but rings don't need square sites. Once you get past gravity trains you might as well splurge and go with a multifloor parabolic high rise. If his estimate of the diameter of the largest lava tubes is correct, you could have a multifloor parabolic carousel completely inside a lava tube. For smaller lava tubes you could put the high rise in a cylinder over one of those "skylight" openings he mentioned.

  • @russellnolan9212
    @russellnolan9212 3 місяці тому

    Look, even stars will leave iron, but I heard they rang the moon like a bell. IT'S HOLLOW, MAN!
    Wazzup with that?

  • @Borvo1
    @Borvo1 2 місяці тому

    So, has there been any study of the effects of growing in 1/6 gravity on the height a young person born on the moon would grow to?

  • @ReinReads
    @ReinReads 2 місяці тому

    Recently read Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson. Did a great job of exploring life inside these tubes in to not to distant future.

  • @Ratat0skr0
    @Ratat0skr0 3 місяці тому +2

    I’m always more interested in space colonies than an actual planet side base. Once in space there’s no real need for a planet, go in whatever direction you want. Decentralize and spread out.

    • @wynnschaible
      @wynnschaible 3 місяці тому +1

      The infrastructure demands of living in space are HUGE. And it takes resources from our ENTIRE PLANET to build something as small as a cell phone! There is a certain minimum startup size for a colony, depending on its culture. An entire functioning Polynesian society could be transported on something like the Hokule'a. The germ of English society (with sooner-than-eventual follow-up missions of resource exchange projected) was transported on the Mayflower. What would such a transplant look like NOW?

    • @digitalnomad9985
      @digitalnomad9985 Місяць тому +1

      Space has room and (close enough to a star) energy. But our current tech can't build stuff without MATTER. Our Moon has the same sort of stuff you would find in an asteroid, except more of it than the whole asteroid belt combined and all in one place, and close to Earth, and far easier to launch into space than from Earth. Perhaps eventually the majority of the human population will live OFF of celestial bodies. But this will never happen without an industrial Moon base first and from then on. You can be interested in whatever you like, but not everything that bores you is unimportant.

  • @thomaskalbfus2005
    @thomaskalbfus2005 3 місяці тому

    As far as communication is concerned. Sound travels through solid rock. What if you put a ground contact microphone on the surface, the microphone is powered by the Sun and a rechargeable battery, it converts the sound it receives through the ground into a radio signal and also receives radio signals and converts them back into sound for transmission through solid rock to reach the lava tube.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 місяці тому

      Surely it would be easier to just drill a small diameter hole down to the roof of the tube and run a cable to a transceiver.

  • @jamescooper5598
    @jamescooper5598 2 місяці тому

    If the moon is a hollow Dyson sphere, there would be no lava tubes, durr!