Micro-Swimmers: Hunting Alien Life with Robot Submarines

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com... for 10% off on your first purchase.
Got a beard? Good. I've got something for you: beardblaze.com
Simon's Social Media:
Twitter: / simonwhistler
Instagram: / simonwhistler
This video is #sponsored by Squarespace.
Love content? Check out Simon's other KZbin Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
Geographics: / @geographicstravel
Warographics: / @warographics643
SideProjects: / @sideprojects
Into The Shadows: / intotheshadows
TopTenz: / toptenznet
Today I Found Out: / todayifoundout
Highlight History: / @highlighthistory
Business Blaze: / @brainblaze6526
Casual Criminalist: / thecasualcriminalist
Decoding the Unknown: / @decodingtheunknown2373

[@megaprojects9649]

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off on your first purchase.

[@kennygibson7445]

There is a scammer on your channel saying people won a sweepstakes you r having there acting like they are yo

[@younghannibal7434]

Mammoth 🦣 cloning video please

[@Valhallonex]

you might have a scammer posing as you on telegram

[@banzairx7]

I'm the lead Mechanical Engineer for Stone Aerospace and was super surprised to see you guys cover this subject never mind get a mention! Been a long time subscriber to the channel. I'm usually toiling away in semi obscurity with people having no idea what a cryobot even is. Thanks for the coverage and really good explanation of the subject Simon!

[@JusNoBS420]

That’s really cool

[@flexinclouds]

Thats awesome! Thank you for what you do & for sharing the passion to learn more about our neighbors in space, and for searching for signs of life on them. To me its a certainty there are life forms all throughout the universe. Especially other humans just like us. But Im curious as to the nearest planet/moon with signs of past life or the capability for life. The endless discoveries to be made in space are mind-blowing.

[@kevinstachovak8842]

A Megaprojects about the high-tech clean rooms these probes and orbiters are made in would be cool. It's insane the lengths they go though to maintain a sterile environment

[@Darth-Claw-Killflex]

No, it wouldn't.

[@weasel1959]

@@Darth-Claw-Killflex it's just an idea dude. If you aren't interested don't watch.

[@hallofo8107]

That's a good point, I hope he puts that idea on his list!

[@mrexists5400]

@@tst-ccnt we do *not* need bacteria that can turn hulk

[@ethanroumpf8923]

You guys should do a Megaprojects episode about all the channels you have. Would help people find out how many channels you have and what they go over.

[@carston101]

Honestly, genius idea.

[@maxtube444]

Simon, get the writers trapped in your basement to start writing that episode

[@RT-pi6wc]

Have to be an 8 part video series there's that flaming many

[@scrablefire]

Shut up and take my money

[@phoenixfire8978]

The megaproject of Simons ego?

[@RetinaBurner]

"Units that function like Harry Potter money" - best phrase ever, Simon :)

[@redghost5705]

Can you explain the reference I don't get it?

[@RetinaBurner]

@@redghost5705 Rewatch the video, it's in there. It basically makes fun of US units of measure being inconsistent.

[@ShukenFlash]

"Like something dreamed up by stoned MIT Engineers between bong hits" had me in stitches

[@newbootgoofin24]

The way he said it was hilarious

[@MAJRRD]

I read this comment as he was saying it🤣

[@EmilyJelassi]

Absolutely fascinating video!! I had no idea NASA and JPL were even thinking about ice probes, never-mind trying to figure out how to power one, keep the planet sterile and beam back data! I know that space stuff aren’t Megaproject’s normal topics, but it’s just so fascinating! Great job Simon and team 😊👏🏻💯

[@apparentlynot1stLeonchubbs]

You've also been selected to be the recipient of a like 👌

[@mlee6050]

NASA always aim not to pollute other places, it like why they isolate the astronauts as they get back

[@Dj.MODÆO]

Like Goldblums character from Jurassic park said, “Life will find a way.”

[@cyrilio]

This is one of the best quotes in movie history.

[@nyarlathotep4389]

You forgot the uh.

[@waynebimmel6784]

Why not detonate a neuton bomb in the vicinity of the craft before letting it land?

[@rayceeya8659]

There are places on Earth where we could test this out. Subglacial lakes like Lake Vostok. 4000m under the Antarctic ice is a massive fresh water lake that's been sealed off from the rest of the planet for 15 million years.

[@TheCynicalblue]

Didn’t the russians drill into one of those lake and leaked the petrol they were using for anti-freeze into one?

[@patrickday4206]

And contaminate it with other micro organisms

[@TheCynicalblue]

You can, you just need the russians to agree to it. Same way the US used Roscosmos to put people into space for about 10 years. It's not impossible you just need to have less "antagonistic" vibe and talk it out, plus you will probably find a decent amount of natural resources under vostok.

[@irwainnornossa4605]

Ooooh, that insult of imperial „system of „units““, comparing it to Harry Potter money, that was so good and so on point! I'm very much looking forward to these missions. Amazing to see that they actually are working on it.

[@Vincent_A]

I believe Harry Potter money makes even more sense than imperial measures, as it has a system of vaults managed by goblins

[@Rebar77_real]

JPL has a "Europa Clipper Livestream" from the clean room where they are building it if you want to keep track now and then. Thanks Nasa, and Simon for reminding me. Cool missions coming up!

[@benjamindover4337]

Micro-swimmers? I've got tissues full of them. NASA, call me.

[@patrickday4206]

Lol

[@Reach41]

I picture a robotic probe spending months making its way through the ice over a lake on planet Xeno. The moment it releases thousands of robotlets to explore the depths, dozens of hungry bass show up…

[@TheTomBevis]

Or the probes soon look like barnacle-encrusted sea-turtles. lol

[@jacara1981]

I got a chance to talk to a guy that worked for a company that was working on a probe for Europa. He said that the best moment of his life would be if the probe broke into the ocean and then shortly after something ate it. His bosses hated that idea lol

[@somerandom3257]

That would be so awesome, especially if we were able to get footage from it as it’s eaten

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

Actually that's not such a bad idea. You could design a probe with sensors that can measure the creatures digestive system... before coming out the other end.😏🤭

[@MD.ImNoScientician]

Would the probe be chicken flavored? 🐓🍗

[@jackgibsxxx0750]

@@somerandom3257 ... I have seen this movie. Think it was a short movie on a big sci-fi Indy YT ch.

[@DebdenJohnny]

😂😂😂!

[@charlieduke6393]

I love this concept. We need to get these built en mass and sent out to Europa, Enceladus, Titan and Ceres.

[@demonic477]

you can always tell when Simon is really excited about a subject he's covering he gets serious about it instead of doing a half ass job and cracking jokes. It's going to be exciting when they finally get to sending these probes I just hope I live long enough to see it I'm no spring chicken

[@thetangieman3426]

SIMON!!! That was HELLA interesting and new, like, normally I have some pre-existing context going into your videos, this one was totally off the map; I had no idea interplanetary ice probes were a thing! And now I know.

[@katieholland4244]

Same. I clicked on the vid specifically cause it was Simon. Not sure i woulda done so for any other youtuber without having a context of sorts

[@rogerwilco1777]

Yeah this is probably the closest any of us will get to confirmation of alien life in our life-times. Even if its not 'intelligent', it will still prove that life is 'common' in the universe and totally change everything.. Last I remember Enceladus and Titan are the 'best bets' due to the lower radiation levels..? ..theres also a concern about using a nuclear powerplant. If we do find some new found 'friends' it would be polite to not contaminate their environment with radioactive waste or accidentally kill them all with some stowed away bacteria.. hope we find out soon!

[@kiwi_comanche]

"I'm gonna have to science the shit outta this." - Mark Watney.

[@David-fu4vi]

I love this stuff! Thanx Simon.

[@floydeakle2123]

Great video!

[@xyzpdq1122]

Imagine how many of these you could send into space for $44B…or you could buy Twitter 😂

[@CZPanthyr]

This is completely beyond exciting!

[@travisolander4749]

The billion-dollar interstellar equivalent of, "We're going to use a hot bullet, some Ethernet cable, and WiFi extenders to go ice fishing." Great video.

[@Raz.C]

Ok, new thought: Why not send a probe down one of the geysers? I mean, it SEEMS like there's a direct channel from the surface through to the water, if so, why not take advantage of this extant tunnel and go spelunking!!?

[@justingrey6008]

What do you suppose makes them into geysers? Pressure. How is that generated? Personally I can't say, but I can guess it's flexing of the ice sheet. I can assure you that we can not currently make something that can both go to space and survive a moving ice sheet.

[@Raz.C]

@@justingrey6008 While the geyser is "geysing," there's an open channel directly from the water to the spout. There are no occlusions from the ice for the duration of the geyser's expulsion. If there were, the expulsions wouldn't spout from the geyser, rather, they'd dribble around it. So if we see a geyser spouting water, we could take that opportunity to glide down the direct channel to the water below.

[@justingrey6008]

@@Raz.C they work because of pressure differential. This is a space probe we are talking about. Fragile and under powered. And because the location and mechanism of operation I would expect a jagged non linear path with the working fluid of the geyser being the consistency of a 7-11 slushy. Mechanical stress is keeping the geysers following, not heat.

[@Raz.C]

@@justingrey6008 If you're right about the jagged path, then I would expect the -ejaculation (too inflammatory)- expulsion to be brief and to certainly lack the power to send matter into orbit. Also, water is fairly- but not totally- incompressible. At higher pressures, the temperature of water changes only very slightly. However, there's a *significant* change- particularly in a dynamic system- to the melting and boiling point of water, at different pressures. I can't guess at the actual conditions of the water, under the ice. It may be highly saline/ contain various dissociated molecules. These may alter the boil/ melt temps much more dramatically than what we might expect to see from the changes in pressure. Alternatively, electrolytic activity might push these temperatures (melt/ boil) in one direction, whereas the pressure differences push the temperatures in the *opposite* direction, leaving this water with a fairly 'normal' boiling point and melting point. Anyway, all of the above is the reason why I'm NOT convinced that the water is _"the consistency of a 7-11 slushy."_ Once the water is ejected into space, I expect that both the *sudden* drop in pressure as well as the precipitous drop in temperature (pun intended and enjoyed), will cause the 'slushification' (slushyfaction?) of the water, but not before. Before its ejection, I suspect the water might be slightly viscous. It might even be a supersaturated solution of whatever ions, etc, have found themselves dissolved into the water. Again, I don't know, so I can't say with any certainty. Much of this is supposition. Based on what we CAN predict, though, it seems reasonable to think that the period of heaviest flow (pun unintended) of water from the geyser, would correspond to the straightest path for said water through the ice. There's that and there's the reasonable supposition about the consistency of that water. I believe that it's almost entirely liquid water, with little-to-no no solids and that this belief is made reasonable by the behaviour of water under pressure. I'm willing to concede that the water may be somewhat viscous, but not that it runs rich with solids.

[@justingrey6008]

@@Raz.C what I would be expecting is some fractured chambers with a water/slush mix being compressed and forced through a small number of openings on the surface, this sort of hydraulic action would allow for low pressure under the ice but high pressure at the outlet. As far as consistencies are concerned, your right, we can't tell if it's liquid or not, but moving water can go well before it's freezing point regardless of what is mixed with it, it can however slush up in the process. Ultimately I think we can both agree that we need deep imaging probes to scan the surface so we can get a better understanding of what lies beneath.

[@Blackadderthefourth]

Hahaa did not expect the Demon Slay shout out

[@martinstallard2742]

1:16 target world's 5:07 meltdown 8:11 advertising 9:53 into the depths 14:12 the swarm 18:06 shattered dreams

[@Mantis_Toboggan_TrashMan]

It's insane it's now believed that a ton of moons in the solar system have underground liquid oceans. Not only that but these oceans seemingly have every building block needed for abiogenesis.

[@wmffmw1854]

Thermoelectric generators have been in use since the 1960's

[@Beryllahawk]

It is SO fun all the ways your team has come up with to mock Imperial units.

[@vikinginfidel4293]

You know, these new technologies are absolutely amazing, but you know what's equally amazing? The acronyms they come up with to name these technologies lol

[@Robert80072]

Micro Swimmers makes me think “Oh if there’s no life there when we arrive there will be by the time we leave.”

[@patrickday4206]

Yeah wait there's mermaids on europa

[@EAcapuccino]

05:11 - Wowzas 😮 This has massively garnered my attention...

[@GeoffreyNoPants]

DEFINITELY not a penis 😆

[@TheAnticorporatist]

This should be titled “How the killer squids of Europa got nukes”

[@metalthrashingai2238]

What if a drill is mounted on it? Wouldn't that be a faster way to dig all the way down into the ocean? Plus it might be able to deal with any unexpected rock layers within the ice shield.

[@whatthef911]

JPL scientists were discussing swimming robots on Europa as a follow up when Galileo reached Jupiter in 1996.

[@134StormShadow]

Woohooo... all hail the superfreaky space dolphins 🤣

[@hamvak]

"...units that function like Harry Potter money." 😆I wonder who started THAT system?

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

Hrm. Does Simon know he made an anime reference there at the end?

[@pharmdiddy5120]

I feel like I should have known about this already!! Whaaaa??

[@hung8969]

I like the idea of us starting a whole world by just launching a a drone full of little bacteria and see what we can achieve.

[@danielreuben1058]

The contamination possibility seems to be the most difficult. It reminds me of the under ice lake, I think in the artic. There are worries about microbes not only fouling up data, but possibly destroying the life in the lake because the microbes are foreign to that environment. Imagine the damage 1% earth microbes would cause on a foreign ocean teeming with life.

[@waynebimmel6784]

It shouldn't be overstated too. In orbit we could be much more aggressive with sterilization (detonating a neutron bomb near the craft before it enters the jovian system) than at the arctic lakes. Also, better f up and spread life than sit around doing nothing. Panspermia is plausible enough. Helping it a bit on its way is probably not that bad.

[@patrickday4206]

@@waynebimmel6784 technology wouldn't survive the neutron bomb?

[@maxdanielj]

Simon making anime references 🤣

[@Dank-gb6jn]

“Micro Swimmers...” neat name for uhh...never mind.

[@nicholasharvey4157]

Random thoughts while listening to Simon and having a smoke 😁 So there is a set amount of space we can see and analysis. To me, it makes the most sense that there is no singular Great Filter, just lots of really "good filters". It's the calculation of the odds of life, multicell, intelligence, not fucking yourself up on your own planet etc. All together, it doesn't seem too unfeasible that we can still be the only intelligent life we are aware of and yet also not alone out there. I personally believe these past filters to also play a greater role than the predictions of the self inflicted ones to come. I find that it requires us to put too many human assumptions too broadly over all other alien civilizations. Though maybe human personality is the required step to "intelligence". In Which case, who knows. Then there is also the fact that we are not looking at the stars as they are now. Maybe it was God and he seeded life all over the world and all alien life is right now burning alien coal at the same time as us. The light from their stars or any other signals, simply wouldn't have reached us yet. Or more generally, maybe we are looking in the write place at the wrong time. High ramble over lol.

[@istvansipos9940]

" Maybe it was God and he seeded life all over the world..." or maybe it was Odin, Donald Duck, or Artemis. Jokes aside, what's the point in any deity-based argument in science? you cannot even define god. First, we need a reasonable god definition. All the current ones make 0 sense and/or debunk themselves in mere seconds. Then we need testable claims about a well defined deity. Once those tests bring us to some good evidence, THEN we can start the research and find out what that deity did and did not do. to sum up: you are several steps ahead in planning, and yet some MILLENNIA back in primitive mythology whenever you ask what a god did. Sane adults have n0 reasons to think that any of our deities exists. Thus the only sane conclusion now: deities did nothing.

[@vivangreco1710]

"All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landings there."

[@3ducs]

In the artist renderings there are thermal vents spewing water at the surface. Why not land at one of those and sample for life there?

[@42824Janette]

aliens are angels

[@rickgotner7596]

I'm thinking that making the micro-swimmers rechargeable (back at the drill) might greatly extend our explorations.

[@GateKeeper-nx8yq]

They are recharged at the drill 😂

[@transformlikeaphoenix]

Drop a probe down the vents that open up spewing water into atmosphere.

[@williammason1932]

I feel like NASA could slap together something to go check the surface ice for life near one of those cryo-geysers and maybe get there a lot sooner. If those oceans are teaming with something like alien microbes then they're frozen all over the surface in the ice that's spewed out of the cryo-geysers...probably for billions of years.

[@ProffesionalZombie12]

If we discover complex life on Europa, one of two things could happen IMO: 1. We discover a deep sea acid trip on steroids. Or 2. In the monstrous depths of Europa: No one can hear you scream. If it's option 2, I'm really glad we're sending robots 😬 But, if we're worried about contaminating Europa.... We could actually see if Jupiter could lend us a hand there. Let Jupiter's intense radiation basically completely sterilize everything.

[@jackgibsxxx0750]

SW is NOT trying to take over YT. But his whiskers are.

[@michaelripley4528]

YEAH LETS GET THERE🤜🏻💥🤛🏻

[@GrayFlare]

Please make a video on the F22 Raptor!!

[@x.s.bleeding7780]

I'm glad you covered this subject as the Sub had plans to be used for Accessing The Russian underwater Lake at the end of the now contaminated SG3 Bore hole. Amazingly capsule like robot heating it's way while sealing its entrance to minimise environmental interference.

[@karintippett753]

The disease theory isn't farfetched as that is exactly what happened to the First Nations peoples in what is now Canada from the initial french explorers who landed here. The diseases they brought decimated the indigenous peoples.

[@47f0]

"All these worlds are yours. Except Europa. Attempt no landing there.”

[@beeftec5862]

Harry Potter is a wizard of metric, he just observes imperial measures

[@adrianhenle]

"something stoned MIT engineers came up with in between their bong hits." Don't be ridiculous! It's Caltech engineers who come up with the crazy space stuff.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:20 - Chapter 1 - Target worlds 5:10 - Chapter 2 - Meltdown 8:10 - Mid roll ads 10:00 - Chapter 3 - Into the depths 14:15 - Chapter 4 - The swarm 18:10 - Chapter 5 - Shattered dreams

[@CartoonHero1986]

These are a lot better then the first sub probs proposed to go to Europa. Originally there was a prob on the docket for proposal that was something something like JIMBO and it was going to be a fully nuclear powered prob that would land, use heat from nuclear material to melt the ice, and drop a nuclear powered sub into the water table below that would just have been left to fall apart after the fuel was depleted. I think this was back in the mid to late 90's when they were proposing this as their best option for searching Europa and it's possible oceans.

[@travellingshoes5241]

No probs.

[@younghannibal7434]

Mammoth cloning video please

[@PicardoFamily11]

I've been excited about the prospects of Enceladus for a couple of years now. If we want to find life outside of Earth, we should put Mars on hold and focus on Enceladus and Europa.

[@j.p.6932]

6:20 Wouldn’t they need to be good conductors to create heat?

[@analogalbacore7166]

There already here my friend's.

[@mrspaceman2764]

Hey, you mentioned Universe Today! Great channel and interview!

[@nefelibatacomingthrough2707]

That's an impressive beard you are rocking, Simon! +1+1+1 edit: plus some nice jokes and fascinating topic. Well done. +2+3+4+5

[@acmelka]

I needa try me some icy moon calamari! I bet it would be very salty and translucent!

[@antonw6082]

The real question about drilling into an alien world is less about "could we" it's "should we" do we have the right to potentially destroy an alien world just to satisfy our curiosity?

[@gregc8831]

I would definitely sign up for a year long round trip to Venus if there was a stable base set up. I am curious though, what would it take to land in the atmosphere of Venus without hitting the melty bits.

[@shollmann77]

on this side of the pond we call them freedom units...lol

[@sptownsend999]

Excuse you, Simon; in terms of measurement units that function like Harry Potter money, 1 km is just less than 1/5 of a League, or ~4.971 Furlongs 😜I remember in Physics, in High School, giving my teacher my answers in Furlongs per Fortnight, rather m/s. Mr. Corbin tried his best not to encourage me 😂😂

[@padawanmage71]

I remember reading Arthur C Clarke’s ‘2010’ when it came out and loved the depictions of life not only in Europa but also in the clouds of Jupiter, and when you mentioned how NASA crashes probes into the Jovian atmosphere, i couldn’t help wondering if we’ve already contaminated that possible biosphere?

[@magnusgreel275]

Possible, of course, but very unlikely--the pressure and friction caused by the plunge, e.g. of the Gemini probe into Jupiter, would be enough to crush and vaporise the probe, including any bacteria etc. That said could the act of crushing and vaporising the probe cause contamination? Maybe. Temperature does tend to be a good sanitiser, but who knows? Hopefully not.

[@pakde8002]

Man is a plague.

[@padawanmage71]

@@pakde8002 And I heard that in Agent Smith's voice. 🙂

[@patrickday4206]

Melt probes using radioactive material

[@wmffmw1854]

100 baud is used to transmit data through drill mud. Slow but it works.

[@jordanhicken7812]

5:30 killed me 😂

[@AsmodeusT]

FUNKY SPACE DOLPHINS 🐬🤣

[@redriver6541]

This was great. I always wondered how they would get data back up through the ice after collection. I hope I'm still alive when, and if, they do this. My opinion....we should be spending lots more on exploration than we currently do. Also...if there's not life down there...we should put it there. Just for seeing what it does....if it could survive.

[@banzairx7]

We're working on that problem right now- kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5DJhImCe61jjcU

[@snakeinthegrak8969]

Seems like it would be easier to get these things in (I believe) Saturn's moon that has existing steam vents on its surface. Further away but saves all the digging.

[@m_sedziwoj]

It would be interesting if they try beam energy from main probe to robots and up (if connection was cut), is not best form of transporting energy, but it would allow probes to work longer. Something as wireless charging but advance version with directional beam of energy (as Starlink is beaming to terminals on Earth)

[@wmffmw1854]

Rechargeable Swimmers come to mind

[@Hipporider]

Imperial , Harry Potter reference, love it Inside! 🇦🇺

[@CoryWHoffman]

Imperial system burn 🔥

[@twocvbloke]

I'm betting they just find water, lots and lots of water, and none of it drinkable cos it's just salty as heck... :P

[@brucepettengill6183]

Thanks Simon!

[@ironpurush]

SIR, PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ON INDIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONISATION PROGRAMME. YOU WILL DEFINITELY FIND LOTS OF FASCINATING INFORMATIONS.

[@marcusellby]

They should send a group of oil riggers

[@ianblake815]

Project Europa! 🧊

[@WaddedBliss]

The film and book The Andromeda Strain deals with 'alien' contamination.

[@sandervr10]

We need to speed thees kind of missions up .... Humanity Will go to the stars .. why is that not today..

[@insertoyouroemail]

Why not get samples from the plumes?

[@jsl1271]

Heat could be taken from a radioactive element encased within the spacecraft as it would be the likely choice for the fuel due to time constraints with other sources of energy.

[@TheBooban]

10:27 maybe watch first then comment.

[@Jeromeots]

Why not send the probes through one of the gas vents. So you wouldn’t need an ice probe ?

[@mlee6050]

I was thinking like fins come out the side to angle the probe then turbine on back then Radiation? What if it affects any living that use tunnel to go up to and get killed

[@treebeard840]

Heat the cable. Go full nuke. Or have the drill autonomously send drones and then drill back to send data back home. Satellite constellation around the planet and a loitering repeater booster in-between satellite . Or booster repeaters dropped off by the drill on its way down

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

To really make it worth-while, the micro-swimmers would HAVE to have Cameras.

[@jaesdarkness]

Makes me sad, we're busily making Urth uninhabitable simultaneously casting about all over whatever we can see of the observable cosmos looking for "life." The Stoopid is...monumental.

[@zinussan50]

Imagine popping a hole on surface of enormous liquid pressure underneath.

[@LemonJackRazer]

If we found microbial life, I hope we’re not stupid enough to bring it onto earth lol

[@UnicornMeat512]

"Everywhere we find water, we find life." To be fair, where on earth don't you find life? Look under a microscope and you find life literally everywhere here