Colonizing Io: Can Humanity Thrive on Jupiter’s Fiery Moon?

[@cannonfodder4376]

The answer is yes. Cause if Isaac can give very good reasons on how we can colonize the sun, Io will be child's play. Informative as always, Isaac.

[@Rishi123456789]

Isaac made a video on colonising the fucking SUN? Holy based. lol

[@michaelporzio7384]

Future space miners on Io will be paid with an IO-u .

[@katarishigusimokirochepona6611]

...

[@scottthomas3792]

That could become the official currency of Io...

[@greggweber9967]

Is that a dad joke? LoL

[@hamanu666]

@@greggweber9967dad jokes are best jokes.

[@anon9579]

Ba dum tish

[@ultrahd3388]

Wow, you know it is going to be juicy episode when it runs over half an hour on very specific moon.

[@Trabb86]

Nice! Was fascinated with Io as a child, and still still am. Can't wait to relax after work and watch one of the best spacetubers share his thoughts

[@innerstrengthcheck]

I love that your release schedule is right on my bedtime, it's the most informative way to drift off 😊

[@Yoel_Mizrachi]

Memories come back to me, it's the 22nd century Unthinkable events occur on the 3rd moon of Jupiter I'd leave this hellhole if I could The mining's hard but the pay is good There is only one way to survive I take the drug to stay alive The shuttlecraft has landed, the killers have arrived I know I'm alone here, there is no one on my side I'm ready for the showdown, so let the chase begin I will not be defeated I have made a solemn vow to leave here soon High moon High moon High moon High moon

[@DavidChipman]

"Outland", anyone? *tips-hat in recognition*

[@glensmith491]

I really liked that movie!

[@carlbell2226]

Thanks my brother I thought exactly the same thing the musical has yet not been made Andrew Lloyd webber perhaps?

[@carlbell2226]

Io on ice in space suits and fireworks

[@caejones2792]

The talk of moon-sizes suggests a science question: was IO originally as icy as Europa? More? It strikes me as likely that Io would have been similar in composition to the others, maybe a little more rock-and-metal-heavy just because of its proximity to Jupiter, then blasted its icy crust away. If so, can we estimate how tick the lost ice was? Where did it go after Io lost it: Jupiter, the other moons, oblivion? Can we tell, seeing as the Galileans probably formed from the same debris disk and should have fairly indistinguishable isotope ratios?

[@chuckzilla3000]

Now I want to watch ‘Outland’ again.

[@InoceramusGigas]

Perfect background noise for marking linear algebra exams. Thanks SFIA team !

[@stonergaming-vy8ub]

My question is how do you not have a million subs yet? I love this channel and i love the work you do. Also thank you for your service!

[@comentedonakeyboard]

I guess one could try out the Fermi Paradox Solutions and see if one of them works here to😂

[@hololightful]

I thought the flyby of the Discovery fitting, but remember, its only in the movies that they went to Jupiter... In the original book, they went to investigate Saturn's moon Japetus. When he wrote 2010 later, he retconned it to match the movie. Even then, the only interaction with IO that I can recall is that they comment on how Discovery is getting coated in 'stuff' (sulfur compounds?) from passing close by on each orbit. I love the whole concept of a skyhook... I believe my first introduction to the concept was in Neil Stevenson's Seveneves, which was very well done...

[@DeathLands]

Ironically I was just starting to worry because it's Thursday, I picked up my phone and found the video right before I got the notification of the video

[@sarcasmo57]

Io has a cool name too.

[@LezlyLikesYuri]

That was pretty heartfelt there at the end. You stared into the void inside and divided and answer. That's more than most of us can do. Be proud and be 🥔

[@cb-7422]

I’m thinking a purely mathematical video on the largest possible population numbers for a Type 3-4 civilisation… Or also, a video on those Galaxy-sized Dyson swarms mentioned in ‘star fleets’ My mind is hungry for those large-scale possibilities…

[@Imagine_Beyond]

The cool thing is that there is probably so much energy available in the total universe that a type 4 can seem like a small civ. The Kardashev scale it is just about energy consumption, with type 1 being 10^16 Watts, Type 2 = 10^26 Watts, Type 5 = 10^56 Watts. There is 1,5 * 10^53kg in the visible universe, with 6% in the reachable universe. Using the equation E = mc^2, that would be E = 0.06 10^53kg * (300 000 000 m/s)^2 = 8,1e+68 Joules. This is only with positive mass. Dark matter & energy is 95% of the Universe, twenty times the amount (8,1e+68 * 20 = 1,62e+70 joules). Using the upper limit of the cosmological constant, the vacuum energy of free space has been estimated to be 10−9 joules (10−2 ergs), or ~5 GeV per cubic meter. The reachable universe is around 16 billion light years in radius, meaning V = 4/3 * pi * r^3 & (r = 9,461e+15 * 16 billion ) = 4/3 * pi * 151376000000000000000000000^3 = 1.45298×10^79 cubic meters. Which is 10^-9 = 1.45298×10^70. There is a lot of vacuum energy (strangely around the same amount as mass energy… coincidence?). This is the absolute limit that we can get to. If we have FTL, with the visible universe being 94% bigger we get: 5,1216333e+71 Joules. To calculate the maximum we can get to and the size of the invisible universe, we got to make some assumptions, since it is literally invisible. We know how old the universe is and we also know how fast it has been expanding, so we can calculate the theoretical size. Estimates assumed it would be at least 23 trillion light years in diameter and contain a volume of space that's over 15 million times as large as the volume we can observe. For the sake of argument, I will assume the energy density is the same in the observable and unobservable universe. That is 5,1216333e+71 * 15 000 000 = 7,68245e+78 Joules. I calculated joules in the Universe, but the Kardashev scale is measured in watts. Therefore to figure out what the highest civilisation on the scale that is possible, we have to divide the joules by the time the civilisation exists (Since Watts = Joules / seconds). This means that longer lived civilisations would be lower on the scale, but there is a catch. Since 1 used joule of energy isn't lost energy, but just converted into a different form. As long as the energy isn't converted into heat, we can reuse it. A civilisation with a perpetual motion machine could in theory get way beyond even K10, since there is no theoretical limit (the type just depends on how many watts the perpetual motion machine uses). Unfortunately, a perpetual motion machine doesn't exist due to the second law of thermodynamics and entropy, but we can get close, possibly even over 99.99% with a few more nines. In any case, what this means is that there is NO limit in theory of what type a civilisation can become in our universe. There is no need for trans-reality or metaverses, even though they would change the equation dramatically.

[@GariFFUSA]

Isaac is getting back to basics ❤ I love your numbers and calculations.

[@rayceeya8659]

Living in orbit of IO? Man I can't imagine the amount of fuel you'd need for station keeping. It's so close to Jupiter it makes long-term stable orbits impossible.

[@davescott7680]

He touches on this half way through with magnetic shoves. Can selectively get boosts from Jupiter to maintain orbit. I assume an orbit that runs across the poles might work best for that, but there's plenty of energy to work with to stablise orbit, just would be quite different to how do it on earth

[@Emdee5632]

In 1981 sci fi movie ''Outland"' with Sean Connery, there are large manned mining colonies on Io in the... not too distant future, judging from the weapons and other displayed levels of technology. By the time I saw it in the theatre I already knew the real Io was too volcanically active for this to be a plausible scenario. You can't build any infrastructure that lasts decades and the radiation makes it even worse. At best any Io mining establishment would be AI or remotely controlled, and with mining equipment not unlike the spice harvester machines from Dune. But does anyone know how active the surface really is? Are there stable volcanoes, erupting at predictable times? Or is the surface pure chaos and you never know where and when exactly the next volcano erupts?

[@valentincuc4101]

Emdee....i remember that movie, was 12 years old and realistic and very chilling the movie.

[@fakename7901]

My favorite moon! Let's do this already guys!

[@beskamir5977]

I think we could safely expect to find life on or rather in Io considering there's somehow life deep within our crust... it won't be life as we're used to, but some insane bacteria would absolutely thrive in those conditions.

[@anekdoche7055]

man do i love putting on one of these videos before sleeping

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

Another whisper, sir, near Io. We have probes en route.

[@matttaylor2009]

Been waiting on this on more for a minute

[@Caligator89]

isaac, ever the hard-working skyhook-pimp is at it again XD good vid man. Io always seemed to be a bit of a writeoff in my head for exploitation due to all the problems. like maybe it would work out for drones who would pit-mine, and pull back out to armored space stations in orbit but that was about as far as I could imagine it being useful. 'ball of jello' is about right for it.

[@katm9877]

Two nitpicks: 1) Io probably has a thin atmosphere of sulfur or sulfur dioxide, as a result of all those eruptions 2) The regolith is probably irradiated too, so not a good idea for a radiation shield

[@fireshredder24]

Typically you need neutron radiation (e.g. from a fission or fusion reactor) to "activate" material, making it radioactive itself by neutron capture (which turns stable isotopes into unstable ones). All other kinds of ionizing radiation are great at breaking chemical bonds, but they mostly don't turn stable isotopes into radioisotopes.

[@Gifftek802]

Rotorvator spins backwards too. 11:35.

[@jt9602]

Maybe this has already been covered somewhere but, could we harvest electricity from the moons or Jupiter’s increased gravity, magnetic field or auroras?

[@Area51byDaveReale]

No place is too difficult to colonize, just more fun. :)

[@EliasMheart]

Thank you for always lifting our eyes above the horizon ❤

[@guardsman-against-the-chaos]

I'm writing a book based on a IO colony tho it is mostly made up of synthetic human "works" basically clone slaves tho the public believe they are a type of robot. so after watching this I might have to change a few things about the colonys but I really enjoyed the video, your upward bound videos are what originally inspired me to start writing back when they came out.

[@wolfvale7863]

With an interest in geology, Io has me drooling. Low gravity and oxygen, who knows what nature can create there.

[@nekomakhea9440]

Since Io is blasting large portions of its mass into space, there isn't strictly speaking a need to go to the surface to mine Io, you could scoop up the smog of ejecta shot into space by the volcanic activity instead, such as with electrostatic collectors on an orbital ring. Perhaps you could even synthetically stimulate activity to increase the ejecta amounts similar to starlifting.

[@chrisvig123]

Jupiters magnetic pull and radiation would tear you apart and roast you alive before you even got close. They don’t call it the planet killer for nothing

[@waspsandwich6548]

I have been looking forward to this for so long

[@AllYourMemeAreBelongToUs]

4:14 “I suppose they could be called Io quakes instead of earthquakes but let’s keep to what we know.” I don’t see a problem with calling them earthquakes because remember Earth with a capital E is the proper noun that refers to our planet earth with a lowercase e is a term that means dirt or ground.

[@scottthomas3792]

The old movie " Outland" was set on a Io mining colony...

[@ericpode6095]

"old movie". I remember seeing that when it was first released ....😮

[@scottthomas3792]

@@ericpode6095 So did I..44 years ago.

[@glensmith491]

​@@ericpode6095it is sad when you realize 'old movies' now include movies you saw in their original theater release. One of the first movies I drove myself to see.

[@Amipotsophspond]

so a note on buoyancy, what are these hydrogen balloon floating in? lighter then air does not mean it always goes up, if the atmosphere is really thin the same amount of hydrogen will not be able to lift as much, as it would on earth. it might lift some but supporting it's container structure becomes harder. in a vacuum even a hydrogen balloon will sink.

[@ebonaparte3853]

Can you do an episode about colonizing Europa or Callisto?

[@comentedonakeyboard]

The locals will call the colonisation of their moon "Ionisation", much to the confusion of the rest of the solar system.

[@nikolodeon55]

Another video. Another good day

[@bassmanjr100]

Another colonizing video! Yes!!!

[@djdrack4681]

REMEMBER: Io = low gravity. A tank isn't an issue from the 'earth mass' of the vehicle. It'll be like 1% the mass on Io. As long as suppling the resources (not issue on lava world) is good: you MIGHT PREFER large vehicles 2-3x the size of a tank or those rockcrawlers in Armageddon (movie). you have plenty of shielding, REDUNDANT systems (when vehicle integrity = survival), emergency suits etc...

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Even more so since you dont need a gun, turret etc, reducing weight, cost and complexity problems.

[@djdrack4681]

@@comentedonakeyboard All very true. Altho in place of all that you'd have emergency oxygen (not just hrs, but days worth); emergency water rations, etc... Imagine being stranded 500miles from anything, no guarantee the closest ppl even have right vehicle to mount a rescue and tow you. You might need to 'stay put' 1-3 while some1 brings rescue equipment. Galilean moons do appear to be the most appealing for terraforming/long term colony habitats: outside of Titan: You'd never worry about getting destroyed by a meteor etc cuz of likelihood Jupiter will eat it.

[@stevenman013]

Arnold Rimmer's homeworld

[@reallyryan_]

Thursday again fellas :D almost the weekend! I really enjoyed this one :D

[@ConnorAustin]

One question that keeps popping into my mind is why don’t we make the planets further out like Mars and Neptune and Jupiter have more sunlight by just building stellasers to aim at them.

[@Self-replicating_whatnot]

Offworld Trading Company: Jupiter's Forge expansion :)

[@richardkenney9636]

Chance of Injury? Likely. Chance of Rescue? Almost Zero. Food & Water? Scarcer than Gold. Likelihood of Death? Almost certain. Sounds like a great place to live.

[@VainerCactus0]

No competition.

[@digitalnomad9985]

What are we waiting for?

[@LaikaLycanthrope]

I think the answer to all of it is underground, where atmosphere and temp can be controlled no matter what the surface conditions are like, and the colony is protected. Whole civilizations of previous Earth life could have done this, and we'd only know by the venting of waste heat and gas (assuming they didn't recycle that, too). The old school dome idea is really dumb.

[@zico739]

Great stuff as usual.

[@carminedesanto6746]

And there’s no vision (government wise) openly spoken as to where humanity will NEED to GO and explore and exploit this solar system….and beyond.

[@waderiggle5687]

I suppose the algorithm might dock you so I get it- but seeing classic works of art be censored made me a little sad 😂

[@ericpode6095]

The Simpsons predict the future yet again (s2 E9 "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge").

[@glensmith491]

Well, those pics were also usually censored on TV in the 70s, at least before 9pm. The PBS channel probably didn't but I don't remember. Further, before HS, most of the text books that I had either didn't show them or censored them.

[@maxpayne2574]

Given the difficulties of habitation of any other planet I think we should put those great minds to work on saving the Earth.

[@boobah5643]

Dude, the Earth isn't in any danger. Not until the sun expands during the red giant phase. Dealing with that (should our descendants care to) will require resources not found on Earth. The best way to ensure they save the Earth is to make it relatively cheap, and that means making humanity wealthy by turning the random rocks of the solar system into wealth. Which means going out there and living, because everything is so far from everywhere else.

[@notlessgrossman163]

There's a lot of energy available in the Jupiter Io orbit: "Io can develop 400,000 volts across itself and create an electric current of 3 million amperes. This current takes the path of least resistance along Jupiter's magnetic field lines to the planet's surface, creating lightning in Jupiter's upper atmosphere."

[@davidlewis8640]

I have always been fascinated by these techniques and the wider astronomy field. The problem is that, while I understand the ideas, I completely suck at math. Therefore, I have a question. Considering the mass, orbital velocity, and height of the ISS, could that be used as a tether for a skyhook in Earth? If so, what materials would we need to make it effective?😊

[@jeffrogers210]

On Earth, we watch the Weather Report, while on Io, they watch the hourly Geography Update.

[@sobertillnoon]

We don't use the Richter scale for earthquakes nowadays. Not for nearly 50 years. The scale used is called the Moment Magnitude Scale.

[@nickcarroll8565]

My whole life has been a lie

[@digitalnomad9985]

We? He's podcasting in English.

[@sobertillnoon]

@@digitalnomad9985 he lives in Ohio, so the USA. So yes, "we." We live in the USA and in the USA the Richter scale was phased out in the 70s because it was inaccurate outside of a very small window. If he were using some other measurement system that has since been phased out by every scientific body and our government, I would correct him on that too. If you live in a different country and you guys use the Richter scale that's fine. It's incredibly wrong. But you wouldn't be included in the we.

[@nickcarroll8565]

@@sobertillnoon most of us didn’t realize the news erroneously still calls it the Richter scale

[@arcdecibel9986]

Setting up any operations on Io sounds expensive for starters, but given the resources and potential for yield, could one say you might pay for it with an "Io You"?

[@mrspeakman4021]

Wouldnt the orbital ring have to be connected to the surface to stay in orbit though? Gravitational pulls from other objects would move it around right?

[@isuckatusernames4297]

yeah but considering we're talking about a moon, with a lower gravity, there might not be a need for a space elevator and you could probably just use thrusters.

[@boobah5643]

The orbital ring contains material that is actually in orbit, rather than sitting stationary. That deals with most of your problems, because Io is _right there_ and everything else is not.

[@GadZookz]

People hanging down in pods in orbit around Io might need to bounce up and down for exercise. If they all watch the same live exercise program they might become known as the orbital jumping beans of Io. 😁

[@somethingforsenro]

the biggest problem with colonizing io isn't the volcanoes, actually - it's jupiter's radiation belts, which can give a human a lethal dose in a matter of hours, and which io orbits smack-dab in the middle of. kind of a big thing to overlook, isaac…

[@manny6878]

Why is this even a question? theres so many other sustainable moons we can inhabit why the hell would we even chose IO

[@giovannifoulmouth7205]

Io has resources, it's not for human habitation but for resource extraction.

[@francoiseeduard303]

Ah Io, home of the space Puerto Ricans (at least, that’s what the old book says). Which means I’m hitting Epaphus‘ convenience stores that somehow smell like the like ole’ neighborhood!😌

[@srb20012001]

Curious why Isaac pronounces Methane as "Mee•thane", the British English pronunciation.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

He is a deep cover MI5 agent, send their to subvert the rebellion of the colonists. Hence his positive views on colonising stuff. 😂

[@josephdocis1488]

Just watch out for protomolecule hybrids running around on Io, iykyk

[@giovannifoulmouth7205]

Ik lol

[@jessparish8302]

first time I've ever been here within a minute of posting lol

[@pluto9000]

🥇

[@tanin34]

Nice! That was me like a week or two ago!

[@Ethan-iv8fs]

This is a wild concept

[@smorrow]

New to the channel? He's done colonising Jupiter and *colonising the sun*

[@Ethan-iv8fs]

@smorrow actually I'm a long-time viewer. I can't remember their year but it was definitely more than 5 years ago

[@doltsbane]

But how many cloned Sean Connerys would you need to provide an adequate police force for all this?

[@comentedonakeyboard]

911?

[@davidbrennan660]

If the IA Algorithm colonises somewhere, by the Power of Greyskull does it get colonised ( if only for the Missile silos sites).

[@andrewepp6763]

Would it be possible to build a mechanical habitat that utilizes the massive gravitational tide to produce energy, thinking of how much energy must be produced by io being squeezed as it orbits around. Seems like a lot of extra energy to be had

[@germanpatis9136]

it's gonna be a little difficult after that Garou vs Saitama fight

[@CyclicCipher]

Can you imagine if any of these things' velocities were just 1 m/s off?

[@Gifftek802]

RotorVator in these animations is spinning backwards!! It needs to spin clockwise to closer match the speed of the lower orbit not counterclockwise.

[@CaptainSword_Lady]

Have you done a bit on the newer magnetic assisted Artificial Gravity using copper plates that has had some science articles coming out about it? Thought it would be in your channels wheel-house. Would love to hear our thoughts ^_^

[@Sophie.van.Rerum.37]

Isaac broer this giant magnetic feeld is best thing if a moon or planet haves this kind of the magnetosweer its perfect . But no admosweer we wil use co2 for thikning admosweers of bodys

[@joshuacampbell289]

Colonizing Triton please

[@AutiSam1974]

Io looks like a Pizza so it should be no problem living there until the 24th century intergalactic Pineapple wars at least

[@kamikazetsunami9137]

Io you a comment, like, and share!

[@JamesBarry-j7m]

My question is this is all after we found a way to create earth-like gravity

[@Jacstaoisitio]

19:52 To irradiate your water supply? 😮

[@thealexanderbond]

It's not a question of whether it'll be technically possible in the future to live on Io or anywhere else off-Earth. It definitely will. The question is why would any sane person want to live on Io instead of Earth?

[@Wasko1312]

It would be less comfortable in the beginning, however we'll adapt.after getting rid of them ...

[@Wasko1312]

dino saurus

[@hainavidotcom]

Miss this content, thanks

[@wk8219]

20:16 You can tell if a person grew up in a tectonically active area by how they pronounce Seismometer. In all fairness the way our host said the word makes more sense but as we all know English all too often makes little sense.

[@arcturuslight_]

So both a Magma Core and Radioactive Exclusion Zone biomes on this moon?

[@tulsatrash]

Cool.

[@EnioGuedesPereiraJunior]

Is there enough material to build space elevators or huge artificial structures? I mean, this seems impractical at all, also because of the costs and available material.

[@boobah5643]

Yes. They're big, but despite the illustrations that show them visible at a scale that shows the whole planet, they're really not. And while the Earth is a lot of the solar system's solid material, unless you're talking about disassembling the planet, there's far more material in the asteroids, and you don't need to haul them out of a planetary gravity well.

[@vasileseaman5872]

On the far side of Io tremors might not be that bad and radiation should be lower

[@giovannifoulmouth7205]

Idk man, I think we'd have to be pretty desperate for raw materials to even touch Io. With all the asteroids and the other 3 massive moons orbiting Jupiter, I just don't see any scenario where we could be that desperate. Robotic missions are guaranteed, resource extraction is a maybe imo.

[@slowercuber7767]

You call it a rotovator, I call it a skywalker.

[@bromine_35]

3.6^¹⁰ Siverts Not great, not bad.

[@MrBishop077]

surprising amount of adverts this episode. dang youtube.

[@donhoverson6348]

Some missed information. You did mention the dose rates from the radiation but you didn't give a breakdown of which kinds of radiation Jupiter's belts are composed of. Certainly not gamma rays or neutrons because neither of those are affected by magnetism. Also you mentioned the impetus for going to Io would be for resources (presumably minerals) but you didn't mention which resources specifically. What is there on Io that we couldn't get from Callisto which is conveniently outside Jupiter's radiation belts and further up the gravity well?

[@giovannifoulmouth7205]

Callisto is an icy moon, isn't it? you'd have to dig pretty deep to get to the minerals, whereas Io is all minerals on the surface. As for specific resources, I think Io has all the metals and non-metals we need.

[@furtdrven2512]

You got to love censorship on paintings. :p

[@demonicsquid7217]

...or not. It's sad that there are other humans who find parts of the human body somehow obscene, when they have them themselves. What happens when they look in the mirror, or go to the toilet?

[@CrazyDontMeanWrong]

7:52 there's some sort of low hum in the audio, changes pitch throughout the video, and is constant until 21:08. I realize it's a "me" problem, but once I'm aware of it, it just burrows into my attention I have this nagging feeling that I've said basically the same thing before, in which case, my apologies, same person, same situation, shit memory.

[@moroteseoinage]

It’s pronounced “E-oh”

[@misterflibble6601]

Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul not Constantinople- The Four Lads

[@demonicsquid7217]

Was also Byzantion...

[@TheLastStarfighter77]

If you possess advanced enough technology, you can potentially colonise most moons or planets 🤔

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

I'm not sure Io would be my 1st pick in the solar system

[@giovannifoulmouth7205]

but would it be your 69th pick though?

[@dibbidydoo4318]

Can you do the topic of hyper capitalism in the future? like corporations owning whole planets for mining and agriculture and shit? Corpocracies, ferengi like cultures, etc.

[@deebusoh9023]

How to terraform IO?

[@hyrumhanson3390]

I would guess that the first step would be an orbital ring to create an artificial magnet field, then build an atmosphere high in sulfer hexafloride followed by bringing vast amounts of water ice in.

[@BurtonShotton]

We live in a bizarre time when the Karens running youtube demand that classical art pieces be censored, but they're OK with videos of young girls twerking.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

To be fair I censored that without prodding just in case it might cause a problem, ten seconds to blur, 3 hours to reremder and upload, seemed a safer bet :)

[@BurtonShotton]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Sadly, you likely to be correct.