Space Habitats: Life Onboard An O'Neill Cylinder

O'Neill Cylinders space stations are examples of large rotating habitats able to be constructed in space in which people and even a complex ecology might be transplanted. But what would it be like living in one and how would civilizations based inside them in the future tend to operate?
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Credits:
Life on board an O'Neill Cylinder
Episode 223; Jan 30, 2020
Writers:
Isaac Arthur
Editors:
Darius Said
Phonetic Failure
Dillon Olander
S. Kopperud
Produced & Narrated by:
Isaac Arthur
Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics
Bryan Versteeg spacehabs.com
Fishy Tree www.deviantart.com/fishytree/
Jarred Eagley
Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
Katie Byrne
Ken York / ydvisual
Sam McNamara
Udo Schroeter
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator

[@alethearia]

All I can think about is that epic moment in The Expanse when Ashford says "spin the drum" and you see an O'Neill cylinder spin for the first time. Like, imagine that moment for humanity, when you test the tech on that scale for the first time!

[@jimpatterson5524]

I so not want to change the direction of this thread, but that was the point which solidified my vote for him over the young female firebrand.......

[@MGAGAMR-zq9ko]

Too late to explore the world, too early to explore the universe....and too old to experience something breathtaking like a O'Neill Cylinder. I weep for our short lifespans...

[@aaronhpa]

If we would organice economy we could arrive to early o'neill cilinders in 25 years, but people fear order 😢

[@MGAGAMR-zq9ko]

@@aaronhpa People don't fear order. They fear tyranny which exemplifies excessive and oppressive order. THAT is what people fear.

[@aaronhpa]

@@MGAGAMR-zq9ko that's a good point 🤔

[@suthinscientist9801]

Well, we almost have the tech to build ONeill cylinders, at least the smaller ones. The biggest problem is the cost of launching people and cargo into orbit.

[@ianmeade7441]

Gotta hold out for some life extension technology. It's so close.

[@markzimmerman1899]

Imagine jealously spying on a neighbor's garden, but you're looking 75 degrees upward while doing so.

[@z-beeblebrox]

and if you decide to go sunbathing by the pool...choose your sky carefully

[@johnwang9914]

You could have cylinders within cylinders providing multiple levels with the outside of each cylinder painted sky-blue or with active displays of the sky thereby blocking the view of your neighbour overhead and providing more living space.

[@markzimmerman1899]

@@johnwang9914 Yeah.... But that sounds slightly less cool, so...

[@jbtechcon7434]

You mean enviously. We're jealous about things we have and fear losing, envious about things we don't have and covet.

[@FrogsOfTheSea]

John Wang in this case you’d had to either have differing gravity on the different levels, or figure out a way of having the different level rotate at different speeds

[@pinkninja1410]

Sounds like the place is pretty well rounded.

[@jozsefkalmar7054]

Nobody puts Baby in a corner

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

That's how we roll. :)

[@kevincrady2831]

One good turn deserves another.

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

@@kevincrady2831 You spin me right round

[@ronschlorff7089]

No squares need apply!

[@levigriffin5553]

My favorite part of living on an O'Neill cylinder would be having Isaac Arthur living in our neighborhood.

[@baibai4897]

Lin Yen Chin let’s just hope we don’t get dropped into Earth 😂

[@rojaws1183]

The problem with that is that everyone would like to be his neighbour. His neighbourhood would be a bit too crowded. So there is just one thing we can do: Make enough AI clones of Arthur for everyone.

[@elijahgrimm8052]

By time we have them, your neighborhood or the habitat itself might be named after him.

[@lazylillies1438]

Define neighbourhood

[@levigriffin5553]

lazylillies Neighborhood (without a "u"): a district, especially one forming a community within a town, city, or O'Neill cylinder.

[@Dima-ik3bt]

Don't forget to grab a drink and a snack, see Grabbing Drinks & Snacks episode for details

[@1FatLittleMonkey]

It goes without saying.

[@david2869]

the best snack is a cheeseburger

[@mj6463]

david2869 a quantum cheeseburger to se specific ;)

[@ronschlorff7089]

a bit early for my "drink of choice" but my cup of coffee is nice!! :D

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

Isaac should make a video about Drinks and Snacks of the future. That would be awesome.

[@LazarusRemains]

O'Neill's picture on the cylinder made my afternoon better :)

[@llanorick]

LazarusRemains Indeed! @:-)

[@viktorbimmel4007]

I was laughing hard. I want that for my O'neil Cylinder, as a gigant pun.

[@joshperry7643]

That's O'Neill. With two Ls!

[@pentagramprime1585]

Is Col. O'Neill really a pathetic paintball player?

[@jjbinx]

BRING BACK STARGATE!

[@jgr7487]

"it would be a pain, but it is doable" should be the motto of this channel! Happy Arthursday!

[@ms-fk6eb]

"it would be a pain, but it's possible and sounds great"

[@ronschlorff7089]

no pain no gain, always been that way in history!

[@MrDNMock]

The first rule of warfare: It would be a pain, but it is doable.

[@Thatguywiththelaptop]

I'm a bigger fan of "If brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it."

[@BatteryExhausted]

Achievable

[@StarboyXL9]

God Isaac you have no idea how much I needed this video. This might be oversharing but I really, really needed to hear somebody talk about the future in a positive light today.

[@rRekko]

Constant fear mongering and climate activists are always sharing and popularizing everything negative about humanity. I love this channel because it narrates, explains and theorizes about the future tech humanity will be capable of or already capable but not profitable to create. Life is a piece of shit, as the song goes, and will always be so, no matter how many issues we try to fix. It's all about enjoying the good things of life instead of focusing on all the bad stuff more than we need to like the activists do. If we did that, if we were more positive, then we'd see a change in news and social media too, instead of murders, cancel culture, hypocritical culture and political wars, etc. Everyday I wake up wishing for a positive change and check on tech news, also hoping they go for better ways of communicating need in more engaging formats like the one from Isaac.

[@ianbuttery8693]

www.youtube.com/@arc_forum/playlists

[@faizanrana2998]

He wants you to massage his hole

[@unintentionallydramatic]

Isaac "Tyranny is also an option" Arthur.

[@veejayroth]

The Emperor approves.

[@DavidEvans_dle]

Rule it like "Judge Dredd" Mega-City One. :)

[@sakiel5402]

The best governments in history have been dictatorships.

[@johnwang9914]

Judging from history, a very likely option.

[@johnunderwood-hp8rj]

@mdx There are no democracies on the earth thee days. They are all republics of one type or another. It becomes mob rule.

[@lastsilhouette85]

One thing that saddens me is that the speed of light will prevent MMORPG's from being viable across every colony at once :(

[@wesleypickles945]

Yeah, that's one of the many definite advantages to the idea of FTL communication lol I hope that one is possible somehow

[@stefanr8232]

MMORPGs should be perfectly viable. You have everyone get one hour delay. You see the effects of what everyone ordered an hour ago start to impact the game.

[@eliasbouhout1]

Lol get better at coping with lag scrub - this post was made by 700+ ping gang

[@403902]

Unless we develop quantum-entangles internet relays (rumour has it China's already trying pretty hard to get there) - though the labour and transport costs might limit use to military/government applications...

[@milky_wayan]

@@403902 yea quantun entanglement does not permit ftl communication at all. like not even a little bit

[@jgr7487]

that awkward moment when you realise that, in the future, the "exit" part of Brexit would be quite literal: a part of a confederation of habitats would physically Leave the structure of the Conglomerate!

[@josephedmond3723]

Prime minister confirms that Britain WILL leave Europe geographically.

[@volcryndarkstar3283]

@@josephedmond3723 That's how the English Channel formed.

[@BlackEpyon]

In Gundam, it wasn't unusual to see a colony pair or two being moved from one "Side" to another. And yes, they are built in pairs. That's for ballistic stability, so that they always remain facing the sun.

[@z-beeblebrox]

@@BlackEpyon It always blows my mind when I'm reminded that the anime about ridiculous giant fighting mechs piloted by angsty teens also used hard science to create their space colonies

[@HellsRaven4444]

@@z-beeblebrox Considering it was literally pretty much the one that really started the Real Robot genre, not really that surprising in just how much hard science and thought were put in its world building.

[@dillonbaker1750]

Icarus station? I dunno if I’d wanna name my space station after the most famous fail story in existence.

[@stevennickell2604]

@ 5:51 I thought who would want their space colony to look like Detroit? Then I remembered Dark City.

[@Deridus]

Still one of my favorite movies.

[@Datan0de]

I thought about Dark City a few tunes while watching this.

[@ronschlorff7089]

Detroit wasn't always the Detroit of today; it was once referred to as the "Paris of America". Don't know about now if that is even a recommendation! Motown, good music and great old muscle cars were from there (I have 4 in my collection). Anyway, it shows what decades of liberal democrat government rule can do, not only to Detroit, but to other once great cities such as L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, and NY. :(

[@agalah408]

Dark City was filmed in Sydney with lots of Australian extras. Incredibly visionary

[@videopirate9138]

Seriously, why hasn't Hollywood been in contact with you about consulting for tv or movie production? I would love to see this stuff folded into a movie franchise or tv show.

[@richardwicks4190]

Hollywood has had the film rights to RingWorld for over 2 decades. They'll F it up, you know they will.

[@michaelcnorth1982]

The movie Interstellar did just fine without him

[@richardwicks4190]

@@michaelcnorth1982 ​ *"The movie Interstellar did just fine without him"* At the end of the film where they are in a rotating habitat, try to find the light source. Also, try to explain why people had to land on a planet to find out if it was habitable, instead of a machine. They were just checking for a breathable atmosphere after all. Also, try to explain why going off world would be superior to staying on Earth? What exactly was the problem with Earth? A plague killing off plants? Why would moving to a new planet fix that? Interstellar was nonsense. If you spend anytime actually thinking about the film you realize it's just BS. Nothing about the plot made any sense at all.

[@chodeshadar18]

What...Babylon 5 wasn't good enough for ya?

[@ronschlorff7089]

Hollyweird, no!!!!! They'll fill it full of "woke madness", the way they ruined the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises, both unwatchable, for me at least;......... and gone would be most of Arthur's best jokes!!

[@sasquatchycowboy5585]

Mr, or is it Dr, Arthur your channel has restored my hope for the future. I’m from Huntsville Al, and my grand father was involved in the Saturn VI project. After NASA stalled, and with the current state of our culture, I feared we had climbed the last mountain, and were just costing to our eventual fall. But I now believe there is at least the possibility of a bright future, and understand some of the path to get there. I made my profession in aviation hoping to one day be able to fallow in my grad fathers foot steps. Wile it saddens me that our generation seems unlikely to be the ones to take those first tentative steps to a permanent presence in space. I do now have hope that we can lay the ground work for the permanent setting of the cosmos. And I see that there is still work to do, and purpose to be found in doing it. For that thank you.

[@patrickseaman]

Thank you for the Jack O'Neill moment!!!

[@mattstorm360]

I like the idea of a raining O'Neill cylinder in constant twilight. Pumps in the middle of the cylinder constantly pumping water out like a sprinkler. the water would come down and run off into grates or ponds before being cycled back around to the sprinkler.

[@theghostofpatrickhenry4516]

This is great, listening in while riding an electric bike in an beautiful park. Really stokes the imagination. Thanks Issac! Enjoy your day fellow travellers. - Man on the Blue Marble

[@giarnovanzeijl399]

That sounds like the name of some far future YTer who vlogs about what life on earth is like to everyone living elsewhere in the solar system or galaxy.

[@dragslay8096]

@@giarnovanzeijl399 oh my God it does

[@juanredshirt4226]

That last line about if we're still human made me chuckle - I pictured a retired battle cyborg living in a stereotypical suburban home telling the neighborhood kids to "Get off of my lawn!"

[@alanmcintyre9296]

"O'Neill, with TWO L's!"

[@PerfectAlibi1]

There is one with one L and he has no sense of humour XD

[@nealsterling8151]

Because the other one has no humor at all.

[@jpaulc441]

Indeed

[@demogorgonzola]

"Never run with scissors"

[@gilgamesh310]

I don’t get this joke.

[@Drew_McTygue]

Isaac's introductory remarks are absolutely epic, and they're set to am epic soundtrack.

[@volcryndarkstar3283]

"This episode is sponsored by Brilliant." Really brings tears to my eye.😢

[@Drew_McTygue]

@@volcryndarkstar3283 hahahaha! It's beautiful

[@faizanrana2998]

He wants u to massage his hole

[@Akasar101]

These videos are a masterclass for budding science fiction authors. Thank you!

[@twt3716]

Read Gradisil by Adam Roberts. It's not a bad yarn, spun nicely.

[@KirstenBayes]

I find the idea of humanity being a trillion people, mostly living in these things strangely comforting. Our true home is out there, not down here.

[@clementello]

and we can still play baseball there 0:41

[@KirstenBayes]

@@clementello and bonus, curve balls are easier to pitch!

[@sumreensultana1860]

Heh our solar system is our home for now

[@htf5555]

i see your soul is not weighed down by gravity

[@briarfisk]

I agree, the universe is rightful human clay.

[@Dac85]

I can imagine someone in the future looking at us aghast. "Wait, so, you wanted to build these giant megaprojects... in space... so that you could dump dirt, water, and rocks inside it?"

[@Baalur]

*enters a simulated reality to build a rotating habitat as imagined by Isaac Arthur 10.000 years ago*

[@marcpeterson1092]

I wonder where the dirt would come from. Earth (expensive)? Or the Moon? How do we make Moon dirt able to support plant life?

[@Joshua_N-A]

@@marcpeterson1092 crushing some space rocks? Isn't dirt just disintegrated rocks?

[@marcpeterson1092]

@@Joshua_N-A Yes, but different chemical composition (on Mars). Also needs lots of organic matter, worms and microbes. Also, how do you crush them?

[@franksmedley8619]

Hello Issac. Although I am not a Doctor of anything, I am well read, and have spent decades thinking about Science and Technologies both as a form of entertainment, and as research to base my Science Fiction stories upon to make them more 'real'. One thing not mentioned in this episode is that the Cylinder's inhabitants might have a use for more vertical buildings of the old 'traditional' shape. One such example would be a Medical Complex, where the higher one goes (more towards the cylinder's core), the lower the perceived 'gravity' gradient. This should prove helpful in the treating of certain injuries and medical conditions. For an example, I refer to the movie: Contact, starring Jodie Foster, where her benefactor was prolonging his life in zero G aboard a space station, while receiving anti-cancer treatments. Since all structures inside the cylinder would be built to withstand vacuum, and such 'safety procedures' would be 'built into' the structures, one tends not to think of them normally. But, such engineering would enable a hospital as above to have hyper-barbaric chambers, low pressure areas, and 'gravity' zones from the 'normal' 1G, right down to zero Gee. Such a vertical structure would benefit the cylinder's inhabitants in many ways, such as low Gee areas for manufacturing items, and assembly of small parts into larger units. Near zero-gee would probably be very good for computer manufacturing alone. Making the cost of construction of the spire worth the expenditure of resources for that alone. But, like the hospital, such a building would have many levels at differing perceived Gee Force ratings. This could result in many modifications of existing entertainment, along with the development of totally new ones. Such as the following examples: Low-Gee Football (both Soccer and American Style). Low-Gee Golf. Near Zero-Gee Flight. And many, many more. The last example listed is not a new idea. It was written about by Robert Heinlein in a story entitled: 'The Menace From Earth'. A story I recommend to anyone new to science fiction. I am quite certain you could find more ideas based upon the 'spire' buildings inside O'Neil Cylinders, and perhaps do a episode of your series upon them, and their various uses. As a final side note. Such 'Spire' buildings would make great 'old age' home locations, since one could move further and further 'upwards' away from perceived gravity as one's muscles and bones deteriorated with age, until one was living in full Zero-Gee by the end of one's lifespan. Speaking Frank-ly Frank Smedley

[@emmettobrian1874]

My first thought for why a company would be interested in an O'Neill cylinder is "fielding" genetic experiments. If you want to build your dinosaur theme park, you'd have to prove that the chicken DNA you used isn't going to mess with other species or habitats. An O'Neill cylinder is a great place to test all that.

[@genelomas332]

that's a _really_ expensive test tube dude..

[@GeorgeMonet]

As opposed to just buying some chicken wire at home depot? Also why would changing the DNA of a chicken that is kept confined in a cage mess with other species or habitats?

[@emmettobrian1874]

@@GeorgeMonet I've kept chickens. They periodically get out.

[@Joshua_N-A]

@@genelomas332 test tube funded by taxpayers.

[@genelomas332]

@@Joshua_N-A unlikely.. Consider the funding NASA has to fight and bargain for.. that's literally chicken feed (pun intended) compared with what an O'Neil cylinder would cost.. Any massive infrastructure built in space is gonna be privately funded. Even rockets which by comparison are tiny are now privately funded.

[@prexp9026]

We're beginning to have real Gundams, now we just need actual O'Neill cylinders to start the Universal Century

[@UNSCPILOT]

And with Neural interfaces like Neuralink you could get a lot of the (plausible) benefits of a Newtype without having to wait generations

[@prexp9026]

@@UNSCPILOT we be doing CyberNewtype augmentations

[@Ramash440]

Careful that we don't start mistreating them spacenoids, lest they obliterate Australia with a cylinder.

[@deathmerchant8662]

As bad as flat earther's

[@Menaceblue3]

@@Ramash440 Sydney, Australia: O' Neil cylinder: It's free real estate!

[@devinfleenor3188]

Happy Arthursday everybody!

[@justinpyle3415]

Bro!!! The Jack O'Neill reference from Stargate is PERFECT! I think we can be best friends, Isaac.

[@jjbinx]

BRING BACK STARGATE ATLANTIS!

[@natehigman3987]

@@jjbinx No, bring back Stargate Universe

[@sid2112]

Bring back The Jeffersons. It was a good show.

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

I have one significant concern about having no horizon: it is very difficult to achieve a desert climate because the desert here on earth naturally accumulates a lot of heat in sky-exposed rocks during the day (achievable) and then radiates all of that heat back out into space during the night (not so achievable because of the covered roof). By having more land above you, your sky is essentially 100% greenhouse and the only way for heat to escape is through an artificial HVAC system, which means vents everywhere dotted across the land.

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

this applies not only to deserts like the Sahara, but also icy deserts like Antarctica and other cold places like Siberia, as well as rainfall patterns wherever it rains at night, Attempts to replicate rain-forests would suffer as well because a lot of rain condenses out of the sky at night when the temperature drops, but if your sky is just the ground on the other side of the habitat, then the temperature won't drop. Instead, we'd need nighttime structure that replaces the artificial sun and sprays water mixed with chilled air from some reservoir in the mechanical room to replace the failure of rain.

[@gubzs]

Last night I was walking into Walmart and the thought hit me - Just how unbelievably luxurious would future humans think this is? An open night sky. Natural wind. Cool night air that isn't just breathable, but near perfect. An array of stars and clouds reaching infinitely above with no limit. Walking into a store with so much abundant space that it's nearly comical, all to pick up naturally grown meat to cook on an open flame at a price that is nearly negligible to me. It made me feel awfully silly for complaining about the traffic I'd been sitting in before.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Gubzs - Should be idyllic for many generations yet. Just need to get out of the big cities. Even if there is a major cataclysm, things will reset and within a few decades it will be idyllic again. But yes, you’re right, we DO live in blessed times.

[@yeheheshhddh6254]

Sir Rather Splendid I am grateful for having connection to be able to live in the mountains instead of the suburbs

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Yehehe Shhddh - Envy you the mountains. I live in one of the most beautiful open flatland areas, pristine forests, deer, hares and moose in abundance. You can walk for hours and not see a soul. Bliss.

[@arcturus9366]

That sounds nice, I live in Florida near the coast myself. The thing is any nature that was once here is now under a layer of concrete and where I am it's a bustling noisy city. It is nice once you get away from the coast but I feel like all the people, activity, and hot summer heat has just gotten to me. I went in vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains last year and it was paradise compared to where I live right now, hiking trails, clean forest air, temperatures that are actually tolerable even in the middle of summer, rivers, and waterfalls. But I agree with you, nature is amazing and especially when you get away from cities and it's very underrated.

[@absurd0000]

This is the best futurism channel. Love your work!

[@zell9058]

Super stoked for this episode! Happy Arthursday everyone! Edit: I was correct to be stoked. Awesome episode.

[@blackkittyfreak]

I would love to see a more in-depth exploration of the politics of dynamic modular communities. The idea of individual communities being able to just move if they don't like the local laws is so far beyond our historical experience that we might not have any political models capable of dealing with it. It would probably require our entire understanding of politics to be rebuilt from the ground up.

[@tariqahmad1371]

This reminds me of the Navoo from the expanse

[@UNSCPILOT]

Indeed that is likely the inspiration for the Navoo, as it is essecially a mobile O'Neil Cylinder

[@ivanfreely6366]

Babylon 5

[@kaiservilhelm7731]

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this episode.

[@mjk9388]

KaiserVilhelm Same here!

[@kaiservilhelm7731]

@@mjk9388 yo, is that thee, mary-jane, last name Keenan

[@mjk9388]

KaiserVilhelm Nope, sorry. Matthew James and K is the first letter of my last name.

[@kaiservilhelm7731]

@@mjk9388 Damn, worth a shot. :P

[@RichardCookerly]

A week? :)

[@lausenteternidad]

For the Mayor of my cylinder, I would vote the self replicating swarm of drones controlled by self improving simulations of Isaac Arthur's mind.

[@403902]

When I hear O'Neill Cylinder: "Wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal." "A self-contained world five miles long ... A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space . . . all alone in the night."

[@K_i_t_t_y84]

SAME!!! Babylon 5 was the BEST ♥

[@stephenfritz7493]

I could almost hear the season 3 intro. "But, it failed."

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Babylon 5 -- Absolutely! Let's do it. Or at least we can try for Deep Space 9.

[@JLHunter61]

@Lexington73300 That's funny, because the economy is absolutely ROARING along, the jobless rate is at a FORTY-NINE YEAR LOW, and both African-American AND Hispanic jobless rates are at ALL-TIME lows...as in NEVER lower in history. You sure have a fucked up view of what constitutes "failure." You're probably a flat earther, too.

[@stephenfritz7493]

@Lexington73300 maybe we're just fighting the shadows right now.

[@Pencil0fDoom]

The thoroughgoing way in which you contemplate these conjectural future scenarios really gets ones mind going. It’s a fantastic exercise in applying the rigor of plausibility to unconstrained speculation. Great work Mr. Arthur!

[@grantdonnelly5885]

Happy Arthursday!

[@mikedrones537]

How cool would it be if we all had jobs operating robots in space, building space stations?

[@judgeomega]

i would prefer work in the 'repopulation of the species' department

[@mikedrones537]

@@judgeomega Lol, that might not be as glamorous as you think.

[@anhilliator1]

"The year is Universal Century 0079..."

[@Stringfreak]

This channel makes me both hopeful and terrified for the future! Love the content. Keep it up sir.

[@0cujo0]

Tonight, on a very special episode of the Real Housewives of O’Neill Colony: “Space Divorce - The Constellations of Secrets and Lies”

[@PazLeBon]

love cylinder

[@f2doublep645]

In other news: Pro 'Cylinder Jumping' Association (PCJA) has just finished it's first week qualifiers'. With only one over shoot this year, looks like things are shaping up to be* quite intense. Now for the Weather!

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

24 contests, 62 earth standard days, 1 Survivor. This is: Survivor: Cylinder 249

[@69Kazeshini]

Imagine having to leave because your wife took the whole cylinder in the divorce.

[@linz8291]

lol... if you are divorced, you can re marriage with your loved one on the other extroplanet.

[@llanorick]

This is the first time I noticed a golf course in one of your habitat environment pictures. I’d love to see a video about how sports would be effected in a space habitat! Centrifugal force might FEEL like gravity, but the difference would be a real game changer!

[@user-mi3wo4wd9p]

I have waited for an episode entirely dedicated to the O'neill Cylinder and space habitats in general for a long time. And next week we are going to continue with moon crater city. What a pleasure. Thanks Arthur, I'll be waiting for the next episode!

[@BlackEpyon]

There isn't some Gundam related anniversary coming up, is there? Because O'Neill cylinders and crater cities go together so well... For reasons...

[@jacktribble5253]

As a writer and RPG designer, I have to say that having a shot at "Real" World-Building would be wonderful...

[@dougm3037]

Great video Isaac. Don't know how I missed it. You covered a wide range of issues I've been thinking about. I believe that such such habitations are the future for humanity. Once we source raw materials from space and have self replicating robots massive space based structures will mushroom. The transition from planet based living will be much faster than people realise as a major tipping point is achieved.

[@MAD-SKILLZ]

19:27 I suspect the people living there enjoy having their things tossed around the room.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

I think most people missed that. It would be an out of this world Tilt-a-Whirl.

[@volcryndarkstar3283]

I kept looking at it thinking, what a horrible design. Cool to look at though.

[@peterkamau2014]

Seems you don't understand how centripetal force works.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

I understand. Look at the paths an individual "pod" takes as it is doubly rotating. It's not a smooth circle with constant acceleration - it accelerates and then decelerates.

[@jbtechcon7434]

Yeah, that thing is ridiculous, designed by some animator with no grasp of physics.

[@dewetolivier2362]

This channel has more quality content than most big networks.... Keep up the good work Isaac

[@CorwynGC]

14 kids per classroom sounds excellent to me.

[@rayceeya8659]

Here's a puzzler for you. If your plan is to disassemble the entire planet Earth to make space habitats, what happens to all the heat of the core? As you reduce the radius of the planet the surface area reduces as the square of the change in the radius. So the planet's ability to radiate heat is decreasing, but the heat is mostly still there. How far do you have to strip the Earth down before the entire surface is molten lava? This is why I love this channel. It makes me think of weird shit like that.

[@itsmeagain7246]

Another Video about O'neill Cylinders? Finally!

[@mattmckenna9320]

20:30 is Zeon

[@Joshua_N-A]

Is your soul weighed down by gravity?

[@colonelgraff9198]

Life on a Shaquille O’Neal cylinder

[@jbtechcon7434]

Very high ceilings.

[@tsamuel6224]

Basketball cylinder? I suspect folks into sports might prefer multi sport cylinders. Tennis before lunch, basketball this afternoon, soccer tonight, tomorrow whatever. Naming a cylinder after a legend like Shaquille O’Neal would certainly give your address prestige in that social group.

[@mosalah8551]

Col.jack o neill

[@chodeshadar18]

Size matters...

[@bobinthewest8559]

That makes me imagine a court, enclosed on all sides, (floor, ceiling, and 4 walls) and zero G... could work for any sport played on a court. No breaks in the action, since such a court has no "out of bounds"... and very interesting with no gravity.

[@brianarbenz7206]

This video has really brightened up my world -- or should I say, my cylinder! (Better get used to using that term in place of "world," in case I'm lucky enough to someday live there.)

[@josephdavis8877]

I've seen every last one of your episodes, and each one is amazing, you've given me hope for this world when everything else screams that we aren't going to make it, I need more episodes to feed my new found addiction, the scenery, physics, and philosophy of this channel are truly awesome

[@witheringliberal2794]

A rotating habitat makes a lot more sense than Mars! Closer and without a ridiculous gravity well to fight.

[@nolan4339]

The problem is that the Moon, Mars and asteroid mining needs to come first because building those things with earth-based resources and getting them all up there would waste a horrendous amount of energy.

[@witheringliberal2794]

Nolan totally agree about asteroid mining IA once mentioned hollowing one out to be a rotating habitat. I’m 45, but healthy. I hope I live to get up there one day!

[@nolan4339]

From what I hear, hollowing out an asteroid and spinning it up isn't actually too feasible. The amount of reinforcement and structural support needed to keep it from fracturing apart is huge. While the compression strength of dirt and ore might be quite high, the resistance to tensile/pulling force is very low. Combine this with millions of tons of rotating mass and the asteroids will just pull themselves apart. Probably easier to build a rotating habitat inside an asteroid than to actually rotate the asteroid in a stable way. You need refined materials that have high tensile strength for a rotating colony.

[@witheringliberal2794]

Nolan ahhh yes, that’s what he had said! So one hollows, builds a cylinder inside the asteroid, and only that part spins. Makes perfect sense! The gravity is so weak on those things they probably would totally fly apart if spun. It would look like a dog drying itself off from a swim!

[@alexandernorman5337]

Not to mention you can build it to shield you from harmful cosmic radiation and it has Earth-like gravity (simulated).

[@halo3soap114]

Hey Isaac, I just wanted to say my favorite day of the week is always thursday because I get to wake up and watch your videos. Been a channel regular for a couple years now and it never gets old.

[@JohnYalda]

Am I really the only one who caught that Jack O'Neill Stargate SG1 cylinder? Loved it BTW!

[@michaelolsen2760]

No but you did beat me to the post

[@dongiovanni4331]

I didn't. Where is it?

[@bertbaker7067]

Love your channel, and I really appreciate all the hard work you and your team put into the videos. Thanks!

[@peterxyz3541]

Devoted fan from the first episode, my dream bucket list (involving other people) is to see you with a PBS and a Discovery Channel series...for that “legitimacy” 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@UNSCPILOT]

I think they would better legitimize themselves by presenting Isaac's existing backlog of episodes, especially since Discovery wastes everyone's time with a lot of non science related garbage for years now

[@dickimusmaximus9086]

That cesspool doesn't deserve this level of talent.

[@agalah408]

I can imagine the angst of a O'Neil space farmer when a meteorite punches through the centre of his field. "Arrgh! My Cabbages!"

[@DigitalJedi]

I sincerely hope there are people like this man in the futures we imagine. Just try to think about what the Isaac of the time when O'neill Cylinders are common would be posting for his audience. They'd likely be discussing similar things to what we talk about with the far future things, but what other options will they have to think about when discussing those things?

[@cannonfodder4376]

Another most informative and superlative episode as always Isaac and team. My mind was running with all ideas of stories that can utilize these concepts. Great stuff Isaac.

[@extropiantranshuman]

this is such a good episode, really detailed. I love that now that the tech has been presented, now there's a start towards life on them, yay! I still like learning about other tech, so I'm ok with seeing more of them though, hope those still exist if it's necessary to post them.

[@johnwang9914]

The problem of large space habitats as nature preserves are that the various species would over time adapt to the small differences from their natural habitats as the habitats can not be identical in every way to habitats on Earth. For example, air pressure is unlikely to drop with altitude but gravity would drop much more quickly and birds would likely adapt to take advantage of this. Bees would not have the same UV navigation clues they receive from the Sun on Earth and migratory animals would either need extremely large habitats or eventually forgo the instinct to migrate.

[@zekefartin409]

O'Neil Cylinders are my favorite . So happy you made another episode about them.

[@GNARGNARHEAD]

I might be movin' to Montana soon just to raise me up a crop of dental floss raisin' it up waxen it down in a little white box that I can sell uptown by myself I wouldn't have no boss, but I'd be raisin' my lonely dental Floss

[@annoyed707]

Come along, little flossy...

[@666scottypotty]

YIPPIE YI YO TI-YAY!

[@massacmongo995]

One question ' is that a REAL poncho or a Sears poncho ?"

[@charlesrast4235]

Potato head Bobby was a friend of mine!

[@gregbrockway4452]

I, myself, prefer muffins

[@Ugotsomemilk]

Oh is see a Wormhole eXtreme fan ^^

[@veejayroth]

Great one!

[@jjbinx]

BRING BACK STARGATE ATLANTIS!

[@lukasmakarios4998]

The mobile house that plugs in thru the floor/skin of the habitat, and can choose to go elsewhere if the local conditions are unsatisfactory, is a truly brilliant idea. Sounds like something Bucky Fuller himself would come up with. I love it!

[@simonrobertson1966]

Excellent video. Thank you Isaac.

[@LeloushviZero]

When somebody speaks about O'neill Cylinders I always have to think about the anime "Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo". It itself mostly is a parody of some other series and the story is about finding out what the best for humanity is while sentient and moving "O'neill Cylinders" battle each other 10.000 years in the future XD

[@gubzs]

I just imagine a space habitat with Chris O'Neal's (Oney NG's) ridiculous avatar drawn on it at absurd scale.

[@kurtjk01]

My favorite part about living on an O'Neill Cylinder would be watching Londo and G'Kar get into bickering matches. I'd bring popcorn, I tell ya . . .

[@havedrill1]

Another great video Isaac. Thank you.👍🏿

[@SirPeasant]

😍 O’Neill from start gate!

[@starsilverinfinity]

For reals - i wish we could have these things already, T_T

[@ebigunso]

I'd say 20 years for our first moon bases, another 30 before we get full scale moon mining, then you'd start seeing one of these things.

[@christophercombs7561]

There needs to be a push to leave the planet and by extension a dramatic reduction in shipping costs to get material off planet

[@christophercombs7561]

@@linyenchin6773 sure it can start that way but really you still need a significant reduction in launch costs to get the people and the tech out there

[@christophercombs7561]

@@linyenchin6773 no matter what piece of infrastructure you suggest there needs to be a precipitous reduction in launch costs first before any of it can get in orbit

[@christophercombs7561]

@@linyenchin6773 in order to use a mass driver like that you would need to put it up really high because the atmosphere has too much friction getting the drones in to space requires the precipitous drop in launch costs literally any proposed orbital infrastructure requires a significant amount of standard rocket useage which long before any thing gets built needs to come more in line with standard shipping costs

[@kingflamelame]

Finally, I’ve been waiting for this video for a while now. Happy Arthurs day

[@HaLo2FrEeEk]

19:05

[@sharkylpd4]

Thank you sir. Time to learn.

[@marlonlacert8133]

A well rounded neighborhood!

[@BlackEpyon]

"Hey! I can see my house from here!" ... Said everybody, ever.

[@marlonlacert8133]

@@BlackEpyon Some day, some will then say, "I cannot see my house!"... And people will jump to one of two conclusions, Poor fellow is blind. Two: Not from same neighborhood.

[@MontieMongoose]

We should rename them Richard Dean Anderson cylinders.

[@Deridus]

That's... not a bad idea, even if his characters tend to be kinda dumb.

[@volcryndarkstar3283]

Then we'd inevitably have one named Anderson Station. Have you read the expanse?

[@annoyed707]

@@volcryndarkstar3283 You 'butchered' his suggestion.

[@mosalah8551]

Col.jack 0 niell

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Another fascinating video today Happy Arthur day everyone

[@MichaelBrown-kk6ck]

I’m always amazed at the high level of detailed thought/analysis presented in these videos. Keep up the awesome work!! How many folks are involved in doing the research/analysis for these videos? Surely way to much work for one person to do alone. How many involved in writing/producing them? Awesome job and many thanks to all involved.

[@luckygreentiger]

I love your videos. I love the optimism, I love the love for real science, and I love the speculation. I sure hope the human race makes it off this planet and survives long term.

[@Joshua_N-A]

Aren't we all nomadic at heart?

[@iandennis7836]

There's just one teeny weeny problem......people. Over my lifetime, I have got to know quite a few and.....well, let's just say that with the sociopaths, narcissists, influencers, power mad, introverts, extroverts, sadists, god botherers and etc etc.....well you can see the problem I presume. The ONLY people you could let loose in these habitats would have to undergo extensive psychological profiling and would by absolute necessity HAVE to be people who put the wellbeing of society totally first, even beyond their own family......for example, the kid who decides it'd be FUN man, like really cool to bypass the airlock safety protocols and when they get caught, their mother saying to the authorities " 'e's a good boy, 'e is, 'e woont do nuffin' like that, 'e's a good boy 'e is" and refusing to hand him over or disclose his whereabouts.......see what I'm getting at? So despite the hand wringing do gooders complaining that the dregs of society are being excluded, for the good of the inhabitants of such a place, well they'd HAVE to be excluded and.......well I'm sure you get the idea. So in my opinion these will never get off the ground (pun intended).

[@tamasmihaly1]

Thank you for another eye-opener, Isaac. You never fail.

[@billc.4584]

Very nice Isaac. O'Neill cylinders have been my favorite since I stumbled upon the concept back in the mid to late seventies. There was very little extrapolation at the time. Appreciate it.

[@warren286]

The thing I wish you'd discuss in regards to O'Niel cylinders is how an atmosphere or gas would behave .

[@esquilax5563]

Yes, and oceans in the larger versions!

[@migkillerphantom]

How does it behave on earth? Which is also spinning.

[@forzee42]

@@migkillerphantom Rotates alongside earth, although slower. I'd imagine same thing would happen inside a cylinder. Or maybe atmosphere would stay in place while cylinder rotates? Someone do the maths, I'm not up for this.

[@esquilax5563]

@@migkillerphantom it's spinning orders of magnitude slower. I've heard there are potentially big problems with oceans inside rotating habitats, but I don't know the details

[@DrunkenUFOPilot]

One of the physics professors, maybe McKinley, at Oakland University when I was there (mumble) decades ago, did a study on how objects would move, water fountains, balls for sports, on an O'Neill cylinder. I don't remember much, other than Coriolis effects are obvious and with some surprises from the point of view of inhabitants. Fluid flow, and weather in sufficiently large cylinders.

[@reddragon2335]

HAPPY ARTHURSDAY!

[@siimkivisild2251]

I just imagine and O'Neill cylinder that's just made look like an fantasy world as something like a theme park

[@taylorsmith7229]

Awesome series, thanks for making them

[@mandaloretheangry9043]

zeon will rise again.

[@ruphite9521]

ALL HAIL THE PRINCIPALITY

[@RamonChiNangWong078]

Zieg Zeon!

[@johnnyfortpants1415]

Interesting Isaac, thank you. Just wondering if you think the Coriolis effect will be a major problem in the O’Neil Cylinders and what size they need to be to make this negligible.

[@matthieuanon3476]

Isaac TY for your work

[@crhuskey]

Could the future on the horizon be a future with no horizon? SFIA, your word play is as masterclass as your explanations of physics.

[@arcadeashdown3579]

How does a farmer know when there's crows on their crops? They check their Haydar.

[@I_leave_mean_comments]

Idea for future video: femtotechnology. Not nanotech, but femtotech... it's implications and what one could do if you had the ability to manipulate femto-scale things.

[@joshuarichardson6529]

Basically, Femtotech is space magic. You're messing around with energy rather than matter at those scales.

[@I_leave_mean_comments]

@@joshuarichardson6529 More like quarks and sub-atomic particles, so that you can alter the nature of elements and such. That's why it's be a great video. Greg Egan had some interesting ideas about it in a few of his short stories.

[@harrisonhunter9433]

What an amazing video. Great upload.

[@francoischaput5117]

Amazing job Isaac you are the best .

[@Julez60]

I believe conglomerations of these cylinders should be called Sides... Keep an eye on Side 3 tho..

[@Zero01k]

Daily reminder Gihren Zabi did nothing wrong

[@Julez60]

@@Zero01k 😂😂

[@HeIsAnAli]

@@Zero01k Spot the Space Neo-Nazi.

[@Joshua_N-A]

ARE YOU WEIGHED DOWN BY GRAVITY?

[@HeIsAnAli]

@@Joshua_N-A Do you _believe_ in Gravity?