Deep Space Habitats

Every known planet, moon, and asteroid in our solar system occupies a volume of space both enormous and yet tiny compared to the vast empty gulf between stars. But interstellar space isn't truly empty and may one day be home to countless billion of isolated deep space habitats.
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Credits:
Deep Space Habitats
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur
Episode 350, July 7, 2022
Written, Produced & Narrated by Isaac Arthur
Editors:
David McFarlane
Konstantin Sokerin
Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics by:
Bryan Versteeg
Jarred Eagley
Jeremy Jozwik
Sergio Botero
Udo Schroeter
Music Courtesy of
Stellardrone, stellardrone.bandcamp.com
"Red Giant", "Billions and Billions", "Cosmic Sunrise", "The Night Sky in Motion"
Miguel Johnson, / migueljohnsonmjmusic
"Expedition" & "So Many Stars"

[@kobebarka8633]

Born to early to travel the stars but born right on time to learn from Isaac. Thank you for your hard work. Live long and prosper friends🖖🏻

[@kingmasterlord]

we'll have it in your lifetime

[@davidk7212]

I fear we were born at the worst possible time. Late enough to know that travel to the stars will become common and that practical immortality is also all but inevitable, but early enough to realize that we're probably going to miss both.

[@kevink1575]

@@davidk7212 disagree. I lived long enough to learn this. Born a little earlier and I might've died in childhood. I like the era I was born in!

[@kobebarka8633]

@@DomyTheMad420 just trying to spread some positivity in this world. You could use some

[@WtfYouMeanDude]

Would you travel the stars, if you could right now, even if that meant leaving everybody you know behind?

[@Daltem]

13:20 morbius truly transcends time

[@SeniorDuplicity]

He Morb’d all over the galaxy

[@MyZombieLick]

There will be a Morb Station 10.

[@Deathnotefan97]

Truly one of the sci-if protagonists of all time

[@mjk9388]

My favorite channel for the last 5 years since I joined. Proud to be a Patreon supporter of this great work.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

That's a long time, thank you for your support :)

[@robertheinrich2994]

you missed a chance at the beginning of the video. "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." I guess you recognize the book.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Oh I'm paraphrasing that bit by Adams there but only the first part, I try to keep the intro one-liner short :)

[@robertheinrich2994]

@@isaacarthurSFIA true... but I think the full quote is better, maybe just the first part, then it would've been a short phrase.

[@InquisitorMatthewAshcraft]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Don't forget your towel, and thanks for the fish 😀

[@jimshockey6789]

@@InquisitorMatthewAshcraft I will occasionally tell someone, "Thanks for the fish." Sometimes to a smile of recognition. More often to a blank stare. All good. :)

[@jeshuamathis9013]

M. obsolesces lpl😅😊lool0p9 e0l00😊

[@lukasmakarios4998]

2nd, @ 16 secs? Wow! Arthur, you are brave! For someone who struggled with rhotacism to venture the word "walruses" (and pull it off with aplomb) takes a high degree of confidence. You could have chosen any other 'uplifted species' to mention, but hey, why not show off your progress? Good job, my friend. You're doing great!

[@uncleanunicorn4571]

Nobody wants too many uplifted walruses.

[@aprofungus417]

How can this response be two days old but the video Is only a day old

[@boobah5643]

Didn't go so well with "Plants vs. Megatructures." I was kind of hoping for something about biologically constructed megastructures. Alas, a failure brought on by blowing my Listen check.

[@lutzererm5004]

That "history" story was just beautiful. Fantastic episode, as always.

[@timothycain8639]

These sorts of videos give me a sense of hope. A reminder that this narrow slice of time we occupy is not all that there is.

[@blakeb9964]

It's so miniscule. Pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

[@prakadox]

Come for the deep space habitats, stay for the uplifted walruses. Great narration and content, Isaac and Sarah!

[@BigZebraCom]

I was going to build a deep space habitat -- but then I got tied up with all the odd jobs around the house. And I have to dry wall the unfinished basement.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Yeah that will take a while. Good luck, don't forget to ventilate, and remember SFIA audio only versions are available for download so you can listen to them anywhere :)

[@BigZebraCom]

@@isaacarthurSFIA That's a great idea! And I can up the volume when sanding the drywall mud!

[@paulpippin9825]

Opening of video: Isaac: "Inside this vast, empty expanse of space we have our 8 major planets..." Me: *Watching intensely with nervous anticipation* Video animation: *shows Pluto right after Neptune* Me, with all of my childhood nostalgia: "Ha! BOOM!!"

[@humanoid2423]

This is my favourite yt channel alongwith event horizon & fraiser Cain. You guys quench all my thirst for cosmic awesomeness.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

They both do some great work :)

[@robertheinrich2994]

they are great take a look at PBS spacetime and anton petrov. I think they are a good addition to the other two.

[@Pemberdeer]

Cool Worlds is another good one.

[@barahng]

You might also want to check out Astrum and SEA. Nothing like astronomy described by a soothing English voice. Not great for falling asleep to though because I often find myself having to open my eyes to look at whatever image he's describing.

[@nou5440]

69th like

[@timesathousand]

You never mentioned the Ousters of the Hyperion Cantos as an example! Escaping tyranny has been a major drive in colonization efforts throughout human history and would likely be so again in space. And any philosophies of nomadism would also favor deep space habitation. Awesome video! Dramatizations like the DS10 bit shows off your fertile imagination, Isaac.

[@nicholasleone3494]

isaac, thanks for suggesting "the gods themselves". my first time reading a full length asimov and its a blast.

[@genericytprofile852]

Man I love your short stories that you fit in with topics like this. Really helps to visualize them. You should really consider writing a book or short novel one of these days, if you haven't already.

[@mizzshortie907]

I would love that! Definitely be a good read ♥️

[@Lukegear]

I almost read "Deep State" and thought this was a different channel lol

[@raezad]

shit isaac arthur went rouge

[@Eonwe]

@@raezad *rogue

[@Eonwe]

Isaac and his wife are government officials in Ohio. Deep Ohio State.

[@MardrukZeiss]

He did make videos about Conspiracional Aliens and Rogue AIs.

[@troymcguffey8801]

Deep space deep state faction will be watching us in the future.

[@stevenpilling5318]

I remember what Robert Heinlein said about taxes. "Beware of strong drink. It can cause you to shoot at tax collectors... and miss!"

[@dansmith1661]

*laughs in multiple gun household*

[@nmccw3245]

From the notebooks of Lazarus Long. 👍🏻

[@jastermereel4946]

i love the examples and stories. following the development of ds10 was amazing. i'd love to see a similar treatment as a full episode, either for an in-system hab cluster, or for an entire dyson swarm

[@SMiki55]

I, for one, await an episode on the history of Walrus Empire

[@artsofthewood5748]

Same here

[@shubhamkumar6689]

I love this kind of videos, colonizing space, colonizing planets, future world etc. are my favourite topics. Keep it up Isaac👍

[@dav9104]

I really like the stories you have included in latest episodes. It helps understand the concepts and the vastness better.

[@JamesDecker7]

“The future is bright in the eternal night” -Space Pioneer Mantra

[@nicknichols5283]

By far, one of the best written and captivating episodes you’ve ever put out! Love this stuff! Thanks Isaac!

[@deanlawson6880]

What a great episode! I love the concept of following the development of the DS-10 habitat all the way from founding to megastructure. What a great way to do it! Thanks for this Isaac!!

[@TalkingAboutYooh]

24:02 "I am the Walrus. Goo goo g'joob"

[@robotx4242]

All these speculative visions of deep space habitats and colonizing/terra forming various planets and moons always leaves me wondering, "What about the animals?" Not just pets like dogs and cats. What about birds, fish, and whales? What about lions and tigers and bears? I think it would be very difficult to live a lifetime in an environment without everything from insects to elephants. We depend the vast array of plants and animals to balance our ecosystem. I also believe humans would suffer psychologically from not being able to go outside and take a deep breath, listen to birds sing, or spend a lazy day fishing on a row boat.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

That's why I'm hoping for habitat cylinders at least 50 miles in circumference, big enough for a full riparian ecosystem running through a forest. The less manicured the better, so that we can at least pretend to practice our ancestral survival skills. My ideal biome would mimic the Appalachian mountains, and taper off into rolling farmlands. There are closely related biomes in Scotland and China too, I have heard, so the twin cylinder could hold one of those. Lots of biodiversity!

[@robertlipka9541]

We will ALWAYS have VR, eventually indistinguishable from reality. Reasonably soon we will understand genetics sufficiently to create animals that are viable but have never existed... and to simulate them in VR at the same level as if they lived. If you like nature, imagine what is possible at this level of genetic engineering.

[@zico739]

You would populate the habitats/planets with them. He’s talked about this. You can store DNA digitally and just clone them back into existence. From insects to Blue Whales.

[@robotx4242]

@@zico739 I was thinking more near future like the next one to two hundred years. Pretty much the technology we have now or a little better. Also to create a clone wouldn't you need at least one live host? Getting a live whale to Mars or Europa would seem to be a daunting task. But I'm no expert. I come here to learn things.

[@sheevpalpatine2128]

@@lukasmakarios4998 i would live in a tube of Scotland in space any day 😄👍

[@alphadraconis9898]

Great episode! I always liked the deepers, hiders, haloists and ousters etc in fiction, and it makes complete sense that intelligence would still colonise the remote fringes, in addition to making civilisation truly immortal by spreading out life to the interstellar and even intergalactic voids.

[@maxwellstarcevich]

Imagine an archive of minds, floating out in deep space, appearing totally defunct from the outside. But inside the local virtual world, thousands of people are living their lives creating and inhabiting strange universes.

[@cannonfodder4376]

Oh this was another informative episode. Complete with a good story. Excellent work as always Isaac.

[@Casavo]

Well as the child of a farm , im the exact opposite as your assumption. I want to get even farther away from people. I got an uncle who measures his land in Sq miles and that's my dream.

[@Dysputant]

Average person: space is infinite and empty. Isaac enjoyer: space is full of opportunities we could grab

[@richardgreen7225]

Near term, I think of 'deep space' as being the Kuiper Belt. Until we invent fusion torch drives, that is a long way to go. It might be an ideal place for A.I. and/or V.R. servers ... There are reasons to believe that quantum computers and ordinary computers will work more efficiently further from the Sun's radiation. (Not just photons, but neutrinos - which are penetrating and can cause additional decoherence in a quantum computer.)

[@DG-mk7kd]

deep space used to be beyond the moon, some day it will be beyond the galactic halo

[@gzbd0118]

@@DG-mk7kd Heck, people started saying Capstone was in deep space as soon as it passed geostationary orbit!

[@NullHand]

Getting shades of Vernor Vinge here. Escape the Slow Zone!

[@RCAvhstape]

"Deep space is a good place to banish your nightmares to." I guess Lovecraft was on to something.

[@linz8291]

And the places to meet your new friends to build spacecraft together.

[@Briggsby]

"Serial #00000010. Which we decided was good luck and adds 'vintage' value." This had me laughing my ass off.

[@WulfgarOpenthroat]

Doesn't matter how much energy there is in the vacuum, power/work can only be extracted from energy flow, and energy flow needs somewhere of lower energy density for that energy to flow to, and a false vacuum collapse tends to be unhealthy for anything in it's light cone.

[@robertlipka9541]

... as we can speculate based on what we CURRENTLY know. This is, of course, NOT the same as what we will learn in the future. For example, heat pumps are damn counterintuitive, but real.

[@WulfgarOpenthroat]

@@robertlipka9541 Heat pumps can get an effective efficiency of more than 100% because they don't have to produce heat, just move existing heat around. Once you realise that, they're pretty intuitive; conservation of energy only holds in a closed system, heat pumps get the heat they pump from the outside environment. We're going to get a lot wrong, but if you can get work from energy without it flowing you've fundamentally broken entropy in a way that would render thermodynamics a polite suggestion and you won't need vacuum energy.

[@RobotDeathMonkey]

"You can pay us in data" "What kind of data do you need out here?" "Ummmm..... data" "No problems, ill put 'special deep space data' on the invoice"

[@thecondescendinggoomba5552]

13:19 it's morbin time

[@Dark_Jaguar]

I always admire just how creative you can be coming up with new niches for our kind of life to expand into. At the same time, it's rather limiting to assume our current way of life (capitalism, prison systems, governments and so on) will always be the same for millions of years, especially considering how recent our current systems are even by humanity's time scale. I'd love to see some creative tackling of whole different ways of organizing society, such as anarchistic systems and so on truly explored in one of these videos.

[@wolfvale7863]

Me: Have you heard of the movie Silent Runn.... Me: Nevermind. Good movie!

[@thiagom8478]

I remember that when I was a child someone told me that a religious (catholic) figure wanting to explain how terrible hell was as "eternal" punishment used a image like that: Imagine there is a big mountain in one side of Earth, all made of grains of sand; a small bird catches a grain at the time, flies all the way to the other side of Earth and leaves it up there; the entire mountain will have changed places, and a soul convicted to hell will still be suffering up there. This was their images of a very, very long time. Sometimes watching this channel I get the impression that some of the images here could humble the theologist notions of eternity. Isn't too hard to imagine some Physic teacher braking Mont Everest into grains of sand, adding the medium speed of a small bird in the equation, plus the distance, and reaching the conclusion that isn't really a period of time particularly absurd. And, in fact, he could find a few cyclic events that could be measured in two or three moves of this mountain. Or a hundred of them. Of course, it is still not "eternity". As far as I understand eternity is not on the table, under know physics, according to most educated opinions. What is a shame. I do like eternity.

[@chemplay866]

idk why but all matter in the galaxy being either used or in storage is kinda scary. Like we got everything there was to be, and now we need to scrap shit to get material instead of just mining more.

[@mrnnhnz]

Yes, I did enjoy this episode, thanks Isaac. I particularly like it when you weave the facts into a story - I find it engaging, and really helps with visualising the concepts you've been introducing us to.

[@TheGelatinousSnake]

Debris scattering stealth mines! No explosion. Just cone pointed towards the target. Disk end spins via electronic motor, scattering tungsten and ceramic shards or whatever is hard to see but easily damages

[@tylerdruskoff9689]

So glad you brought up Doctor Morbius. I thought it was so funny so see his name after the movie Morbius came out but I couldn’t tell any of my friends because they wouldn’t understand the reference.

[@sharniek002]

When I saw the title I immediately thought it sounded like something a crazed and/or dangerous cult would do. Then he said it. The thought of some cult leader being able to potentially oppress people unchecked in the middle of nowhere is a worrying thought.

[@sharniek002]

I'm casually working on a story based on something similar to this. Long story short a cult broke off from the system and set up many isolated habitats in the Oort Cloud. They grew in numbers snd power and hid their habitats. They became more crazed and extreme as the centuries passed. They eventually take over defence stations and start shooting at the Saturn and Neptune systems over an old grievance. They start terrorising everyone in the system, going after people who descend from their old enemies. They are capable of taking out even the biggest O-Neill Cylinders with a single hit. However, the Dyson swarm can be converted into a Nicoll-dyson cannon with the press of a button. The question is, do you activate the cannon, find their habitats and blow them up? There are lots of innocent oppressed people on those habitats. Do you invade them to save the innocents, giving them more time to kill more people? How do you reintegrate the innocents into society if you do?

[@matthewparker9276]

A correction on the issue of dark energy: Within the milky way, the density of matter and regular energy is too great for expansion to occur, by orders of magnitude. There are no new plank volumes being generated anywhere near earth, because gravity is strong enough to hold everything in place. The regions of space that do experience expansion are intergalactic space. This can support the proposal for deep space habitats if we discover a way to extract energy from the expansion of space, as infrastructure to do so would have to be located far away from a galaxy, hover that infrastructure, including the nearby habitat, would also have to be much less dense than any galaxy is.

[@robertlipka9541]

... are you sure? Or is it that gravity and other forces overcome expansion of space? How to tell the difference between the options?

[@matthewparker9276]

@@robertlipka9541 within GR, which is the theory that gives us the expansion of space, there is no difference, because space is not quantised.

[@robertlipka9541]

@@matthewparker9276 I have a strong background in physics, but not in this part of it. Can you point me to a book or journal paper that covers your point?

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Matthew that's where the distance between objects is visible because it dominates all other forces, the expansion *appears* to be Universal, though of course we still have to say everything about that with a grain of salt, or dumptruck even.

[@davidalexander8083]

Thank you Isaac!! As usual, another brilliant bit of content there!!

[@KaizerKlash111]

Being a deep space tax collector could be a great setting for a videogame

[@WtfYouMeanDude]

Great show! Thanks for keepkng our minds wandering

[@liamr6761]

Your little example stories are always exceptional and fascinating. And surprisingly funny. All these videos are super useful for my own writing. Thanks!

[@freddyjosereginomontalvo4667]

Awesome channel with awesome content and great quality as always say 🌍💯

[@OpreanMircea]

Thanks for making this episode, the hope you talk about the future brings a tear to my eyes

[@Ryan-rq6dx]

I listened to the first bobiverse book recently and it makes being uploaded to a computer sound awesome

[@Runetrantor]

Love episodes with stories like this, makes one feel more attached to the narrative than theory and numbers can. Do it in all and we can get an Issacverse to rival Orion's Arm. ;P

[@tonyglover9596]

Isaac's understanding is insightfully deep and rich. So my curiosity is hooked on this channel. Isaac should write a move script :)

[@TheOracleofClocks]

This was a really cool video. Thank you for Sharing, isaac and co. :)

[@lukehamilton973]

That intro was so inspiring! Thank you Isaac!

[@innerstrengthcheck]

What a pleasant surprise! Always to have new Isaac on the feed. Genius as usual

[@successmeditations110]

So inspiring. Thank you 🙏

[@carbonstar9091]

Great episode Isaac.

[@bakdiabderrahmane8009]

this channel never ceases to amaze, great work.

[@Datan0de]

I love the picture you paint here, and I hope that the future that's in store for us is like this.

[@algorn5477]

Need more of this pls.

[@astreinerboi]

Really enjoying the world building parts!

[@Immashift]

25:12 - Isaac says uplifted walrus. My brain, its 86 billion neurons, in their awesomeness, take 0.4 seconds to hand me the mental picture of a walrus with a graduate cap on. Then they all collectively laugh at themselves for having come up with it. Seriously though sometimes you paint a very positive light on the future of humanity. Imagining this empire, even if lightspeed is never attainable, is incredibly fun.

[@leenshelly]

love it good job

[@dq814]

Thanks for the great video!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Glad you liked it!

[@patrickmchargue7122]

Excellent episode, sir.

[@gemmel3197]

Really enjoyed this one.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Awesome, thank you!

[@zico739]

Great stuff as usual.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@cpasr8065]

Thanks for this.

[@aprylvanryn5898]

Oh thank goodness. Finally something worth watching on my feed.

[@mizzshortie907]

Look forward to Thursdays solely for your videos!

[@rhuiah]

Great episode.

[@jamesfry8983]

Deep space hermit druid sounds great to me where do I sign up.

[@dani-uf1eo]

What kind of social change would have to happen for people to live in your universe Isaac? I feel like the biggest wall keeping us from living in a post scarcity time is humanity itself.

[@virutech32]

Mostly economic i think. We already have more than enough base resources for everyone on the planet to be physically post-scarcity. It's the distribution where all that efficiency & capacity goes down the drain.

[@sierra1513]

Capitalism needs to go

[@Jojojo09]

"dark energy is the energy of 20 millenia from now and always will be" xD

[@nmccw3245]

Dark Energy = Dark Matter * the speed of dark squared.

[@notlessgrossman163]

Wonderful thank you. On the topic I can't help but think of A.C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama, a fully functional ecosystem built for interstellar travel

[@fanOmry]

Loved that 26th century bit...

[@warcam2592]

I like to envision deep space and end of universe lifestyles similar to creatures in the deep ocean- drifting on low energy, filtering for any usable material, and opportunistically latching onto anything they come across

[@palfers1]

Highly enjoyable!

[@uniqutilities2831]

You should livestream for the JWST image reveals next week! Your content is so inspirational!

[@JeffBilkins]

Space is big, weely, weely big. Welcome to SFIA.

[@volatilesky]

I NEED to know more about the uplifted walrus colony!

[@robertthomas4234]

Love those graphics man 💪😎

[@brookestephen]

Isaac: love your research! Perhaps you should do research on banking! I seriously question just how banking & finance could advance as fast or as far as colonization. Somehow I imagine that only barter could exist at the leading edge of colonization.

[@mizzshortie907]

I live in Alaska and the PFD you are talking about fluctuates greatly but is normally around 1,000 which doesn’t even touch the cost of rent for one month up here. Yes we get the PFD once a year (there is plenty of stipulations that cause you to be disqualified) but the cost of living up here is so much higher than the other states it’s ridiculous.

[@drewd6144]

I had a beer and thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you.

[@beethimbles8801]

Highlight of my week 🧡📚🔭📡🌠🚀🛰🛸🌏🪐☄️

[@septegram]

OK, I love your "fire and forget" 😂😂😂

[@DanielGenis5000]

Awesome work; you keep finding more to think on! Have you read Children of Time? It was recommended to me…

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Not yet Daniel but his name's been hitting my radar more and more the last few years, and almost universally positively

[@DanielGenis5000]

@@isaacarthurSFIA I ordered it on Audible five minutes ago, but you know I have to listen to you first!!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

@@DanielGenis5000 Let me know if you like it :)

[@SirHeinzbond]

Silent Running, i loved that Movie as Kid... do not think it would be this hard to find people who want to live there... when you have the thousand stations and the ability to build 1000 more, than you have the people numbers to find some...

[@aidonbug]

I've stopped watching...but I'm back and I'm addicted again! I love your videos idk how I stopped watching for a bit. You make my day with your videos, hope you have a great day :)

[@BlastersandBladesPodcast]

One day I'd like to get the funds to buy a homestead and leave the suburbs. ~JRH

[@etanneriii]

great content.

[@commiedeer]

Never considered this concept but now that you mention it, I can see... possibilities. Many, many possibilities...

[@ericrose419]

"You might think that it's a long way down the street to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space" - douglas adams

[@elmastero1]

I love these episodes, even though I'm of the mindset that the answer to the Fermi paradox is as simple as all intelligent life forms just don't colonize other worlds. But that's just me.

[@DanMcLeodNeptuneUK]

I don't think we've 'seen' enough of the universe/galaxy to even claim a paradox yet.

[@elmastero1]

@@DanMcLeodNeptuneUK The paradox exists only if one believes that interstellar travel is possible. If there are worlds older than our own, that gave rise to intelligent life and that life was capable of interstellar travel, then they would have visited us and their presence would have been known. If one believes that interstellar travel is either impossible, improbable or highly rare, then we would have to have the technological capabilities to detect them in their own home worlds. We currently lack that capability. We would only be able to detect them if they targeted radio signals directly at us (unlikely) or if they built a dyson swarm around their sun (???).

[@pressurechangerecord]

Nice episode.

[@greggweber9967]

After that they holding nearby volumes for later sale reminded me of the railroads keeping a checkerboard pattern of land near the Transcontinental Railroad.

[@deejayaech4519]

Idea for a video, this is a bit of a clarktech but hypercomputing, which are computers capable of solving the halting problem.

[@wagon9082]

Good video

[@literalsarcasm1830]

I think you would like the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde.