Subterranean Civilizations
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- čas přidán 16. 01. 2019
- Historically humanity has often taken shelter in caves or underground, and it is often thought we might do so again, on other worlds, in event of disasters, or simply because we run out of room on the ground above. In this episode we'll explore the concept of building underground, from simply subways and basements to advanced bunkers or entire cities beneath the Earth.
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Episode's Narration-only version: / subterranean-civilizat...
Credits:
Earth 2.0: Subterranean Civilizations
Episode 169, Season 5 E03
Written by:
Isaac Arthur
Editors:
A.T. Long
Darius Said
D. Hemanshi
Evan Schultheis
Keith Blockus
Matthew Acker
Steve Nixon
Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics by:
Bryan Versteeg spacehabs.com
Fishy Tree www.deviantart.com/fishytree/
Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
Justin Dixon
Ken York / ydvisual
LegionTech Studios
Sergio Botero www.artstation.com/sboterod?f...
Space ResourcesCGI
Produced & Narrated by:
Isaac Arthur
Music Manager:
Luca De Rosa - lucaderosa2@live.com
Music:
Denny Schneidemesser, "Across the Universe" / denny-schneidemesser
Scott Buckley, "Snowfall" www.scottbuckley.com.au
Paradox Interactive, Andreas Waldetoft, "The Imperial Fleet" www.paradoxplaza.com
Miguel Johnson, "The Hunt" / migueljohnsonmjmusic
Kai Engel, "Endless Story About Sun and Moon" www.kai-engel.com/
Chris Zabriskie, "NirvanaVEVO" chriszabriskie.com
Scott Buckley, "Cobalt" & "Static" www.scottbuckley.com.au - Věda a technologie
Quick notes/corrections:
For those planning to join us this afternoon on Discord at 6pm EST, discord.gg/53GAShE is the server, please enable push-to-talk before joining
and, of course, please be courteous about talking over top of others in there.:)
Also about 19 minutes there's a typo on temperature with depth, it rises about 25-30C per km or 72-87F per mile, I say 130, wasn't paying attention.
I just wanted to say I really appreciate you. thanks for all the hard work. I was sure to grab a snack!
Really loved that warhammer chaos reference;-)
Isaac, respectfully, can we get some actual space futurism? Like your early stuff. I swear this days i expect you to do a video on future smartphones or something.
I love caves.
are you sure, really sure, about the shape of the earth?
"He'd probably be a funghi."
Good old Arthur, knows all about space and therefore is always finding shroom for a joke.
Haaaa.
I had to pause the video, grab a water and come back to get over that joke. love it
Yes, and he never keeps us in the dark (well maybe) and feeds us lots of bullshit!
@@ronschlorff7089 What bullshit are you referring to?
Time stamp?
As someone with a history in mycology I would say feeding a populace off of fungi is extremely plausible. It is not slower than agriculture in any fashion, in fact mushrooms are much faster to grow. The startup time from spore to fruit takes 4 months but the advantage of fungi is that you can offset the batches so as to effectively be constantly harvesting. In fact fungus can become too fast to handle if you do it right. I got my system down to a nearly daily harvest. Each time I transferred a batch of grain spawn to substrate I would also split 1 jar between a whole set of 10 newly sterilized grain. You can only do this so many times but a single jar inoculated with spores can very easily birth a thousand spawn jars over its lifetime. With that much mycelium you can very easily take spore prints every once in a while off of fruiting tubers and be able to keep your system going indefinitely. Just as one person I was able to grow more mushrooms than I would ever be able to eat myself, so even if only 10% of a subterranean populace was mushroom growers they could easily feed the entire populace. The thing that really separates fungi from crops is that you have to babysit crops to harvest them, with fungi it is hearty and will grow even when you don't want it to. There are many people that have tossed their spent substrate into the yard and ended up with mushrooms constantly growing in that area.
I don't have a background in mycology, but knowing what I do about fungi I wouldn't be surprised if, especially with some gene editing, we could make them produce every macro and micronutrient that we need. Anything not abundant enough in the substrate for them to concentrate for us, like trace metals that humans need, we could supplement from mining underground lol.
A better life underground brought to by Vaultec.
Just hope you get into a control vault... XD
Just as long as I get to be in a control vault. GECK included.
Vaultec, owned and operated by Morpehous, Inc.
Have you thought about investing today? Spots are filling up quickly!
I got my Fixer and handmades ready bud.
I like how Isaac has stopped putting the notices about his speech impediment on his videos. It's nice to know that he got comfortable enough with it that he no longer felt the need to apologize for who he is. Or maybe he's just cultivated a community of people mature enough that the comments about it stopped after a while. Either way, love the vids!
16:23 That concept is so unbelievably awesome. Someone who's been living as a consciousness loaded on to the internet or something returning to their physical apartment buried deep in an undercity after centuries, unsealing it like some kind of pharaoh's tomb. What a crazy and evocative image that is, now I'm dying to see it used in fiction somehow.
all in all this episode was quite down to earth.
Alright boys and girls, place your bets. Are we gonna get an "in case you've been living under a rock" gag this episode?" House is giving 7:1 odds, place yer bets
I think we had a 'in case you've been living underground' already
@@isaacarthurSFIA Yeah, and just in case "your head's been in a place where the sun don't shine"!
@Shimikaze1 He's named Pubert Spore Haywood, he's a piece of fungus.
23:40
I've been in some pretty impressive underground shopping districts in Singapore. They're actually building down for security reasons. The idea is if they were attacked, these areas could be used as giant bunkers. Apparently there are tunnels connecting them too, which are not open to the public.
23:40 you made me spit out my coffee. Well played.
That was terrible and I loved it.
The same "fun guy" joke my dad throws out lol
Do you want Orks? Because this is how you get Orks.
@@Shatterverse Have you ever talked to an Ork?? They are hilarious .... when they aren't trying to krump you that is
@@mikeloeven you do not talk to Orks. You kill them, twice, and burn what's left. Unless you're another Ork in which case you kill them, point and laugh, and eat what's left.
As a Fungi lover and also a fun guy. that joke hit me hard.
I suppose if a guy was named Gustav.....well, you see where I'm going with this!!!
R D R R
Why did mushrooms go to parties because he's a fungi ha ha ha. Friiiiibid frrrrrrrribid < Mr bean
Jan Bastrup what exactly is fun about fungi
@@loganlin6109 I don't know about shitake mushrooms but psilocybe varieties are a hoot
I gotta say - the visuals have really been improving recently. Keep it up Isaac!
I agree!
The volcano scene (except for minor effect clipping) almost seemed real!
Pretty sure most of it is stock footage, though I'm sure he's the one selecting them.
@ 23:40 "... who wouldn't want to talk to a giant mushroom person ? He'd probably be a fungi."
... Oh Isaac, you slay me ! LOL
Is that a warhammer reference?
That...or the fact that fungi sounds like "fun guy" and it is in fact a fungi. Terrible but hilarious pun
Yea but it's a very old joke. But we'll placed in his narration. 👍
"...we are breaking new ground here...", that made me chuckle.
"He's probably be a fun guy"
I never imagined I'd be able to injure myself rolling my eyes, but there it went...
The civilization becomes type 3 when they can make a pickaxe that can mine bedrock.
In minecraft right?
Unless you've been living underground it should be obvious how great Isaac is
Lukegear even so it’s evident, unless you have zero intelligence and rely on the status quo... 🤣
That is also true for those STONED enough. Everyone else know that Isaac ROCKS.
Always mind-expanding, but perhaps he went into this subject matter especially deeply.
Ophelia Bawles ...far be it from him to leave the subject earthed, buried in speculation, hidden from view... awright awright cut it out now kiddies
I was trying to come up with a clever response too, …...but never mine!
Have you heard about Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) and Bob Potter? in the 1970s they experimented with something called an atomic subterrene, a thermonuclear tunnel boring machine that should melt its way trough granite and other rocks. Even if they didn't go any further with it, it did show a lot of potential.
Just looked this up, thanks for the tip! The best info I found so far is here: atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2012/07/those-magnificent-men-and-their-atomic.html
23:41 **BA DUM TSSS** 🙄
This episode was brought to you by:
V A U L T - T E C : "A better Future Underground"
I haven't watched this yet as it came out 5 mins ago. but i already know its amazing.👍
23:40 *"Who wouldn't want to talk to a giant mushroom person, he'd be a FUNGI."* - Isaac Arthur 2019
As a mining engineer, I really enjoyed this episode. Thanks for all your work Isaac!
Well guess i know what to do, *Puts on a worker's helmet gets a Microphone and a drill* "BEHOLD THE UNDERMINER WILL RISE!!"
Love the fitting Stellaris soundtrack.
I often listen to the Stellaris soundtrack while working on other things. I thought I was going crazy because I couldn't find the tab I left open with the soundtrack playing.
There's a subterranean civilization event in Stellaris. You can either establish peaceful relations, or flood their tunnels with nerve gas and send in the death squads.
@@icyknightmare4592 one version is definitly better
"every stellaris game in a nutshell" song starts playing
@@icyknightmare4592 I actually thought that came with one of my mods
@@justinlacek1481 there might be mods that add or expand on it, but it is a default event.
"Regarldless what a city is first constructed upon. Over time what its most built on top of, is itself."
My mind went straight to Ankh-Morpork :D
The mycological spirit god of the Psylocybe Cubensis Mexicana told me to hollow out a giant cavern for his kind to live.
Happy Arthursday everybody.
MontieMongoose 🥳
You too, buddy.
What day is that?
Happy Authwaw day!
And happy birthday, arthur!
17:50 I can already hear Thunderfoot already reeeee'ing in the background.
Good.
Thunderf00t, reeing at hyperloops, feminism, and dehumidifiers.
Ah Dr. Strangelove ..... Towards the end of the film when he discusses the options for living underground, and who would be selected lol 😂😂😁
This is amazing. As a kid back in the day I used to constantly fantasize about underground civilizations. I even used to spend my time digging for Fraggles because I thought they were real and would invite me to hang out with them if I found them. Anyway, great video was always. Thank you.
"A city is oftentimes built on top of itself." I guess Futurama had a point... (Even though this is seen in other fictitious settings; Atlantis as shown in Aquaman, for example.)
"If you're gonna live underground long-term, you may as well grow some plants and have it well-lit." Sounds like EthosLab again.
You also had me at mushroom people. (I also thought how cool it'd be if my university had underground tunnels connecting some of the buildings together because it's been raining all week.)
My school has underground tunnels connecting all the buildings and an old fallout shelter, but the students don't have direct access to any of these most of the time.
0:44 "we're not breaking new ground here"
That's literally what we're doing
I have no desire for my descendants to become a Morlock, so I'll stay above ground thank you very much.
Yeah but you would not want them to become Eloi ether would you? ^_^
@@Cythil If the women looked like Yvette Mimeux, that would not be so bad! The men were all a bunch of "snowflakes" though, I agree!
Well then they'll just be the people the Morlocks eat
Or dwarfs from dwarf fortress
Nurgle loves you
and is so free with his gifts too, you should read Chris Wraight's Lords of Silence if you haven't already :)
@@isaacarthurSFIA The description of Mortarion's plague planet is amazing.
Andrew Finck
heretic
Space Man i have a Dark Angels army, so that may or may not be accurate. ;)
Andrew Finck
I will destroy you heretic for the god king emperor of man
Are you sure earthquakes are worse underground? I remember the opposite being told in a few videos explaining the hyperloop in tunnels. "Earthquake is essentially a surface phenomenon"
>hyper loop
There’s you’re problem.
@@kevinbarber2795 subterranean civilizations + hyperloop = 💕
Awesome topic! Just finished my own video on colonising the "Caves of Mars" where we explore some of UK's caves to better understand this new frontier. Its over on my channel if you're interested.
That's really well done, and I wish I'd had some of those clips for today, was quite a hassle coming up with good underground footage :) You should post the episode to the SFIA Facebook group, find some new subscribers.
Thank you so much! Going underground is amazing, but filming there is super painful - I can see why getting stock footage would be difficult. Thanks for another great episode.
I like before I watch. There's absolutely no reason to ever dislike Isaac's videos anymore. We know about the speech impediment. But I see it as a sexy accent. Always excited about thursdays. Thanks brother keep up the great work.
I think, since he didn't mention it at the beginning of the video, he dealt with it in his head. Which is nice
Never ever bothered me. I first thought he was german or something. I love accents overall, especially Scotish.
At this point I'm jealous of the accent.
Wait, he has a speech impediment ?
Always thought it was an accent.
look i feel bad and need to apologise to Mr Arthur; i only saw my first of your vids about a month ago; and i made the comment "what am i hearing hear; is that an accent; south african + canadian or a speech impediment - every 'er' sound has been replaced with an 'or' sound"... there was no elmer fudd heads up on that vid.... a month later and i have watched a lot of your vids; i like the way you talk, it is engaging and grows on a person. Besides you are also a very clever man... so sorry, really for rushing in with a dumb comment. Subbed and always liked.
Great video as always! Maybe subterranean bases could be a great option for Mars
The best option for Mars colonies would be buildings partially covered by Martian dirt, this would provide radiation protection while still allowing windows to let sunlight in. You'd probably want windows if you're going to be stuck inside a hab 98% of the time.
They did that in Netional Geographic's "Mars" series, I recommend them
You're exactly right! Mars' lava tubes might be a nice pre-made option as well, especially if you want to skip on the digging and get straight to exploring. They're also a great place to start looking for life. If you're interested I just made a video on the topic where we go into some of UK's caves to find out more on this new frontier. The video is called "Martian Caves", hope you find it interesting!
Find a lava tunnel next to that giant lake of water ice, that'd be smooth.
And for the moon. The spectacular asteroid collission with the Moon during this last lunar eclipse, visible for all to see, demonstrates why a surface-level colony on a body with no significant atmosphere is a big no-no
To answer one of the questions on this video, the city forcefully made my mother saw them the property under her house. They told her it was for sewerage and they never even gave her a choice! They simply mail her a check for $1 with a partial explanation what it's for and hey have a nice day kind of ending with no thank you in sight! On the subject of thanks, I got to say thank you very much for all your great videos! I binge watch them daily! Your the man Sir Isaac Arthur! Today had a ring to it, no?
Subterranean is my favourite kind of building. Lets become big dwarves.
I'm not tall. I just have long bones!
Best CZcams channel by far!!
Yeah its a good dose of fiction
"We aren't breaking any new ground here"
*I see what you did there*
Cooling is the biggest issue for under ground bomb shelters. Where I live bed rock is typically few meters below the ground. It works as insulation, bad insulation but when the thermal energy has heated enough of the bed rock heat dissipation will be minimal.
when i was 6 my mum told me about when she lived in osaka that they had cafés and convince stores under ground and since then ive often thought about huge underground cities
its a fascinating subject and i wonder if it will ever be implemented (on earth) on a large scale
23:44 - He'd probably be a fungi." Da-dum-dum!
Either that or an Ork! Get stuck in wit da Boyz!
WAAAAAAAGH
I have already asked this, but I'll do it once again. Can we have these cool Thumbnails as wallpapers? Could we download them somewhere?
all the thumbnail art is available as wallpaper sized downloads on Jakub Grygier's artstation page
Your videos are so cool, and you always give me ideas for my sci-fi stories and help me improve my existing works in progress. Keep up the amazing work!
I have often wondered how deep of an open pit mine one would have to dig on Mars or Ganymede, before the temperature and pressure would be better suited for humans, and if the would take care of the radiation concerns? If it were below sea level pressure even, seems like that would be a stable and energy efficient environment?
That's actually a solid idea. Only a few meters of the ground will block radiation so that is no longer a concern. Gravity is much lower on Mars and Mercury and even more so than on Ganymede so digging is much easier. Though you would have to go much further. Probably a few kilometers but nothing too unmanageable especially if you have functioning colonies. This also deals well with micro meteors and heat nicely. And the best part is as far as we know (Unless some one proves me wrong.) is that all three are geologically inactive. So the earthquake risk is minimal. It's a good way go get desired materials as well.
@@mill2712 My thinking is if you dig deep enough, a few km/miles, the atmosphere would be thick enough even open to space that colonists wouldn't have to worry about meteorites or alpha and beta particles just like the atmosphere protects us here on Earth?
Mars' thermal gradient is roughly 10°C/km, so you'd have to go down some ways down - but it would definitely work. However, since rock is a good-enough insulator (and insulation is pretty easy to make anyway) you could probably get away with being only a couple of metres deep. That's also deep enough to block damaging radiation! In terms of pressure you'd need to go really deep (>100km) to even begin approximating that of the Earth, however as long as you put a door at the entrance to your hole its pretty easy to keep the pressure high. But all of that is super doable. In fact, one way we're considering colonising Mars is by setting up base in its lava tubes! If you want to see a bit more explanation I've gone into more detail over at my channel (the video is called "Martian Caves"). Hope that helps!
@@AtomicFrontier Awesome answer! Thank you!
@@AtomicFrontier I like the idea of lava tubes as colonist shelters/habitats,.... made by nature long ago on Mars,... silently waiting, and waiting, for someday.....someone.....
D&D, nurgle, and a fungi joke? You might as well be playing in my D&D campaign.
Thank you so much for these Mr. Arthur! Being the science junkie that I am I've come across a wide array of videos in this genre. I find your contribution to be the most imaginative while being the most realistic. I follow well but have to pause occasionally to absorb some of the math but it is worth it to have a firm grasp of the subject. Very entertaining, please continue for as long as it rewards you!
Isaac, thanks for doing this!
In the video game Project Eden you command a team tasked with investigating the hidden depths beneath a futuristic city that had built upon itself many times.
Wow I’ve never been this early to an Isaac Arthur video
0:43 "We aren't breaking new ground here..." Hahaha.
My favorite way to fall asleep is listening to Isaac whispering sciency things in my ear.
SFIASMR
And might I add I love these videos, keep up the good work sir.
23:41. Ok, that cracked me up.
>He'd probably be a fungi!
I see what you did thar Isaac!
Great video as always, informative, beautifully made, and a video I was hoping you'd make!
This episode is helping rekindle a story I started to write 3 years ago being that I didn't have a good idea for stabilizing fault lines. Now I do, thanks Issac.
What the hell im at work ..... Ok i quit. Now i can watch it
can't you "work" from home? ; )
@@ronschlorff7089 lol lineman so nope ..... But now yes
5:00 Our Precious Bodily Fluids!!!
I Love this channel! Hyperloop was briefly touched upon...yeah, I watched a video a while back that showed a length of tube Imploding. The violence of it doing so was stunning!!!
Thank you for explaining this and making it interesting.
At the beginning of the video Issac says "We are not braking new ground here", but isn't it what subterranean building is all about ? ;)
I think especially for big cities, moving most traffic underground would be the best way to go. It would definitely make cities more pleasant to be in and it could greatly enhance logistics of city. That cobined with with good design and less urban sprawl, you could achieve quite high functioning cities. And ofc good public transport, individual trasport is huge logistics problem. One bus can easily take tens of cars from road. Trains and metro can take hundreds. That's not a small thing as far as traffic is concerned. It's also a *lot* cheaper when done right.
I'm personally don't think there's much motivation at all to live underground on earth, but I could see some important infrastructure moved there. I think main motivation to build underground would be to allow more quality living aboveground. And improve logistics. More people walking and biking would also be better for business.
Basically, Pyongyang or Moscow metro system good, L.A. traffic bad.
another incredible, inspiring video, as usual. thanks so much Arthur
Oh boy, I waited for this episode all the time, thank you very much, have a good day.
There as I'm browsing your channel searching for a video I haven't watched yet, I scroll up and there's a new one! what a nice surprise
Every Thursday at the same time! Welcome to the community.
Keep up the good work Isaac
Hi Mr Arthur, I've been watching your videos for about 6 months and I wanted to tell you that I love you man! Your scripts are well researched and entertaining as hell, please keep it going man I look forward to your posts.
I absolutely enjoy your videos. Your levels of knowledge and continuing effort to make ME come up with my OWN answers are absolutely refreshing. I just wanna let you know that i really do appreciate all the work that you do. I'm sure there is sooooooo much research and editing / etc that goes in to these. Thank you again Isaac and i hope you have a terrific day!!!!
Did I just see a Starship when Isaac was talking about cloud citys?
The idea of living in a mushroom forest actually terrifies me, knowing that their spores could get through filters, cause nasty infections or end up unleashing mushroom zombies!
Great vid, I've had a thing for underground for decades, D&D often a decent source for concepts and how energy efficient underground can be, w LEDs and other lighting being figured in.
Super satisfying episode!
I like to theorize that if a hypothetical subterranean civilization was a thing, that we would call it, "The Jeff Consortium."
This video got me interested on countries civil defense and almost none of the countries have bunkers for its civilian populations the only 2 would be Switzerland and Israel
And Albania.
They have thousands of them.
The US briefly promoted people to build fallout shelters during the cold war and many people were provided with small bomb shelters in England during WWII.
I thought Russia was doing it too.?
Except, the Albanian bunkers were built to please a narcissistic dictator.
Thanks for another awesome video
This channel is like a breath of fresh air.
As a cave dweller i approve this video.
Me too, I even have a sign over my desk!
"... He'd probably be a funguy." 😂
thx for all this awesome videos
I really enjoyed this, thank you!
Great topic idea...
"Who wouldn't want to talk to a giant mushroom person?... He would probably be a FunGi."
~Isaac Arthur
Notch Andreas's work up a notch in the background! Fantastic as always. This and the Stellaris Soundtrack were meant for one another.
I really dig your channel. Thanks!
Never thought I'd see Toad in an IA video.
Einen wundervollen Arthur's Tag Euch allen :-)
Danke gleichfalls
du auch Timm
Sie too.
I completely forgot about the day today! This is the best reminder! Thanks!
Keep up the great work!
For anyone who curious Edinburgh has underground streets that were used during the late medieval and early colonial era of Scottish History. The most famous being Marry Kings Close. If you were interested in this video then you will be interested in that.
Crazy to see this, was a tour guide there for 6 years!
During the video I was thinking of Isaac Asimov's novel, The Caves of Steel.
Truly some of the most fascinating content on the web! They should be hiring you for TV shows, so you can share this with an even wider audience.
I think I am in love with this channel.
It occurs to me SpaceX is going to need pre-fab underground structure components for Mars that have ventilation and a means of distributing power built into them at least for the first few years. Probably shaped charge explosives to expedite digging too. I don't buy for a second that the landing craft is going to pass muster as semi-permanent "Shielded" residence.
When your cargo capacity is 100t or more and you have many ships, you can transport heavy construction equipment and even small factories. Obviously lightweight versions designed specifically for this would be much better, but SpaceX could literally just use existing heavy machines at a reasonable cost. They just have to be converted to electric, due to the lack of Oxygen on Mars. If only they knew a company that makes electric vehicles ...
@@andrasbiro3007 , Elon's brother Kimbal is into hydroponic farming, ~ could be useful.
It might be easier to plonk an inflatable hab on the Martian surface and then bury it in dirt.
ESA have been researching the viability of laser-sintering lunar regolith to add 3D printed structural reinforcment to habitat cover material.
@@massimookissed1023 even at .38 or .17 g I think I'd want a little more structural rigidity than "inflatable". That could work easily though and it would seem to be the least time-intensive it's just a matter of how much regolith do you have to throw over the top and how deep down do you have to dig then I guess it's how refined does the hole have to be. if I remember correctly Moon regolith is supposed to be very abrasive so making the habitat air tight might be a major problem on the moon if you are using something less solid than metal.
The extended fairing for the Falcon Heavy happens to be 12.2m at its widest point... perfect to fit a standard 40' commercial shipping container, either steel or aluminum. And in those containers you don't put cargo, you put modular pre-fab industrial and commercial micro-factories, laboratories, aquaponics/hydroponics, etc. You don't want to ship your entire industrial base from Earth to Mars of course, but it's a good way to get started quickly. Ship the manufacturing capacity to make your own stuff, then you can immediately start to make your own stuff on Mars. Of course, neither steel nor aluminum does a bit of good as radiation shielding- so you bury them. Or lower them into a lava tube "skylight" and haul them away from the rubble pile and into the flat-floored lava tube proper. If they need human tending or operation, you'll need to create a pressurized and climate-controlled volume around them: an inflatable tent-like structure, or seal and pressurize a big section of the lava tube, whatever. Packaging plug-and-play industrial capacity into cargo containers has been around since just after World War 2, and it is gaining favor again: www.theengineer.co.uk/box-of-tricks/
You said the issue of metal expanding and contracting under heat is manageable. That we design train tracks with this in mind and we can do the same for things like the hyperloop. But think you are underestimating the problems here. The hyperloop is supposed to be a vacuum tube. It is much harder to keep a it airtight if it is expanding and contracting under the days heat. Railway tracks are open air and therefore a much more manageable problem. I suppose you could make the joints out of a flexible material but then it becomes much weaker, not a good thing in a structure meant to hold a vacuum. This is the main problem with Musks hyperloop. The design has been there for a century, but so has the problem. Maybe Musk has solved it?
Read the "Hyperlop Alpha" paper. It deals with many of these issues. But it's also outdated, now it's pretty much guaranteed that it will be underground, which solves a lot of problems automatically, including thermal expansion.
Then I'm all for it. Don't think I'm against it because of my post. Why would I be? Anything that advances our technology is good. Especially thing that go towards space and vacuum tech. I am watching Issac Arthur afterall :)
This episode's subject matter is deep.
Keep up the great work, this channel is phenomenal