How to Travel Anywhere on Earth in 45 Minutes

[@StarTalk]

Between which 2 points on the Earth would you want the first Gravity Train Tunnel to potentially exist?

[@littlemoomintroll3271]

I'm just glad when I no longer have to trävel wiz deutsche Bahn any more.

[@Akshajkapoor2011]

From bed to my bathroom🤣🤣🤣

[@westgravity6601]

My bedroom to the local nuclear reactor (they will none the wiser about the missing plutonium).

[@StarlahMutiny]

Australia and anywhere between NYC and Boston and DC. lol

[@goldowolabi7377]

Yes it would solve traffic

[@dailypodclips247]

the best part of this show is when chuck gets confused and then gets realy excited when he understand, hes a reflection of most of us

[@jafaarahmed-g9r]

real

[@jafaarafaar]

yeah but sometimes i dont understand at the end of the video

[@osmoticcosmos32]

@@jafaarafaar skill issue

[@loniwilliams82]

He makes it accessible! I love it. He's a needed commodity to help process the information with little education and great comedic relevance.

[@loniwilliams82]

​@jafaarafaar keep watching! No one wants to learn things they already know! That's how you know you're ready, the desire to learn. ❤

[@seventoast]

4:01 Singing along "Gravity Train! Gravity Train!" with Chuck Nice is the intersection of science and blackness that continues to make StarTalk a must-watch for me

[@ScarlitWidow]

Chuck is the reason this show works. Most of us are Chuck. He's not an idiot, he's just not NDT, much like the rest of us.

[@stevemurray6543]

Chuck is every person but only he has is a cool and very smart friend. I live vicariously through Chuck. I thoroughly enjoy you both, stay well and remain positive.

[@petert834]

The animations make these even more enjoyable. I love watching Chuck in freefall for 45 MINUTES each way. Can you imagine that experience? Instead of "flying cars" and very, very expensive tunnels or raised roadways I wonder if we'll basically have elevated cables or poles that your vehicle would attach to and whisk you towards your destination. Sort of like those ski lifts that attach to cables at the top. That way you'd have multiple levels of traffic flow without the same kind of infrastructure cost and without all the problems of vehicles having to fly (and due to the danger they'd likely have to be self-flying somehow too.) Of course we'd probably need some kind of netting or light barrier below because people suck and woruld intentionally drop stuff onto the cars below. So how would those tunnels through the earth work to actually get you to stop at your destination? Would there have to be something to essentially catch or latch onto your vehicle once you reached the end so that you don't fall back into the tunnel?

[@stewi009]

I imagine that, in order to remain practical, a gravity train would need to literally be a train, like a subway. One vehicle for many passengers, making regular 90-minute round trips back and forth, with stops at each end to let people on and off. The entrances to the tunnel would be walled off and capped by a terminal at each end to prevent people falling in (and conveniently also stop people throwing stuff in. And since there are tracks (maglev, whatever), stopping at each end would just be a matter of applying brakes or clamps of some kind, and then releasing them when you're ready to move again. Most of the inertia from the trip is cancelled out by gravity pulling back after you pass the midpoint, so the brakes wouldn't need to do much work other than being able to support the weight of the train to stop it falling back in until they're ready. The Fall (from Total Recall 2012) would be a sci-fi example of this sort of thing. Not sure how realistic the weightlessness bit is, but it's essentially the same idea.

[@GhostysClub]

Awesome! You guys are so funny yet so smart at the same time. I hope when I’m older I’ll be a rocket engineer so watching you’re videos is always a fun break from life.

[@ATL_Meek]

My bedroom and the fridge

[@pablotorres6232]

I hope you achieve your dreams ❤

[@GhostysClub]

@@pablotorres6232 Thanks:) I want to help colonize Mars and help create rockets😁

[@pablotorres6232]

That’s awesome! I’ll forward to seeing the progress that you and everyone else on that front makes 😊 I also can’t imagine how difficult it’ll be but I’d say nothing matters more than to try your best! Any effort is good effort and I bet you’ll get far, no matter how long it takes! ✨May you reach the stars and beyond✨

[@GhostysClub]

@@pablotorres6232 Thank you so much!:) My mother never believed in me being a rocket engineer and always wanted me to be a doctor since SpaceX and NASA only Hire the best of the best of Rocket scientists. But I’ve had this dream since I was 3.5 years old so I’ll hold on to it until I graduate college

[@christishusbandakastan7618]

You two make learning quite enjoyable. Keep up the great work!

[@mkcstealth7624]

Idk about anyone else, I'm absolutely giddy and geeking out over the idea of the tunnel/flying car equivalency

[@Flexy59]

when i first heard NDT speak on this on one of joe rogan's podcasts, I was also really excited about the idea and when the topic of flying cars came up at the dinner table at my aunt's birthday, i was excited to share this piece of intel with them as a means of rethinking our infrastructure. all i got was branded as a killjoy and nerd lmaoo

[@nigeh5326]

I’ve spent a week in hospital with a broken hip when any good laugh brings with it pain. But it’s been worth a little discomfort to see Dr Tyson and Chuck educating me with facts in such a charming way. Thank you gentlemen for all that you do 👍 🇬🇧✌️🇺🇸

[@M8keitezer123]

I love this channel. Watching these 2 guys is so much fun and learning on top of that is awesome.

[@katherandefy]

Keep looking up

[@Mike-jn3du]

Yeah, I did that once while I was drunk at my friends house, and I fell off his deck. Should have kept looking down that night.

[@chriscastagnetta]

Love these explainers Tho wonder how deep you’d need to dig to have a gravity train from NY to LA

[@brucesmith9206]

You two are crazy. Keep it up, please. It makes learning more interesting. 😂

[@ChrisGreene801]

We've got the Earth Train, but what about the Wind Train, and the Fire Train?

[@huldu]

I like the soul train the most.

[@alejandroberrios4756]

This one took me a second but well done lol

[@ProProboscis]

I'm glad you remember.

[@tested123]

i love science mixed with funny. what a great channel.

[@AdvantestInc]

Appreciate how this video tackles both the science and the practicality. It's ideas like this that keep pushing humanity toward the next leap in innovation.

[@ProProboscis]

As practical as the hyperloop...

[@parmenion6298]

Love these guys please keep making science accessible.

[@Silvia6]

Neil is your personal astrophysicist and a rockstar 😎

[@Mix56awesome]

I love these short form videos

[@Madiela]

These are the best sorts of videos on this channels

[@susankaye3468]

Ingenious, start working on it at MIT. Dedicate a full department to it.

[@powertrip1050]

what speed are you doing just before the centre and start to slow down on the way out (on the longest trip)?

[@mickeybrumfield764]

Gravity Train is quite a crafty concept for someone's mind to come up with. Not just anyone would think of such a thing.

[@Untruest]

The system won't be perfectly lossless. So to make it out on the other side, you likely have to start higher than the surface. I am picturing a roller coaster that climbs up to a high height, goes over the peak and the drops straight perpendicular into the ground towards another city. Pretty cool concept

[@dre3k78]

Gravity takes care of that as the middle point would be closer to the center of the earth. You are already on a hill so to speak.

[@rickkwitkoski1976]

No. At each end you catch the train on a line/chain and then pull it the rest of the way. Building a start ramp at each end... it would have to be pretty long and high!

[@JumboFPS]

What would the angle of decent be from NY to LA?

[@Damonpeters1950]

O’Jays from Cleveland Ohio- “ Love Train” - 70’s monster hit

[@mrbux6295]

Thanks!

[@supernova1163]

New startalk video i drop everything and watch this

[@Mekea1000]

The emoticon in thumbnail of the co star falling is the laugh I didn't know I needed. 😂😂

[@FAKKER_rap]

Is there any minimum distance when it will be possible to dig and be efficient? Or we just can't dig that deep enough

[@Flexy59]

purely in terms of travel time, i'd say anything thats further than a 45 minute car drive i already efficient since youre faster than by car in terms of cost, i dont think it will be efficient anytime soon because with our technology atm im pretty sure it'd take aaaaages to get built and lots of money and energy and raw materials and stuff, i dont think the world is realy for a full-scale project like that yet

[@umudew]

Hey guys , great to see you back. I missed science :)

[@s7evin79]

Unfortunately, it can't be done due to the enormous temperatures and high pressure already at a depth of let's say 100km.The deepest hole ever drilled was, I believe, 12 km deep. But a nice theory, though. It blew my mind that all connections would have the same travel time.

[@dre3k78]

Plus seismic activity.

[@DKchedda61]

So the max distance would be about 380km (line, not arc)

[@dre3k78]

Using NY - LA as an example for a tunnel like this(almost 2,800 surface miles)....i wonder how deep the middle portion would have to be from the surface? It could be possible to build but i don't know how you could get around seismic activity eventually destroying the project.

[@BassBadA]

You can probably do the calculation, you know earth radius, you know the length of the arc (surface distance), arc lengh formula will give you the angle from earth center to NY and LA. Draw that direct line between NY and LA and you have an isocele triangle. Drawn another line through the middle of the triangle to have 2 right triangles where u know the hypothenus length (earth radius) and the angle you just split in 2. Using trigonometry and the cosine of that angle you will find ur height of the triangle, i.e. the distance earth center to the middle of the in-earth path from NY and LA. Substract that from earth radius, and add the elevation of whatever city is half way. Thats how deep the center of the tunnel is.

[@zaqwe]

I’m here for my daily dosage of knowledge

[@chrisdiaz9061]

Chuck feeling like a straight genius when he figured out "gravitational difference" and I'm here for it!

[@jaredrich8573]

I wonder if negative Gs would come into play when the earth’s pull begins your deceleration. Would you need to flip? Like how, in more grounded science fiction, long distance spacecraft would need to “flip and burn” halfway to their destination in order to decelerate? 4:21

[@aloluk]

Get on a Concorde? Very proud of my Dad being an engineer on that.

[@rodicadraws]

Can this tunels have railways for a 'train' with individual cabins that will work like a rollercoaster?

[@Grubik]

there must be some minimal lenght to gravity train to apply 45 minute rule. Otherwise any trip on "flat" surface would take 45 minutes. Let me explain: 2:50 picture but you dont dig that deep just scuff the surface to have let say 100 km of absolutly flat surface (like a flat bottom in this tunnel). would any mag train ( no friction, no air) just start rolling by it self and after 45 minutes just stop by it self and the end of any lenght flat surface?

[@devankmanocha3874]

I am just thinking if we build multiple tunnels then the mass of the earth will not stay uniform and it will have many complications on the outer part, as well as the gravity trains which we will be building because the gravitational pull will change because of the mass so is it really feasible when we try to build a lot of them for long distances??? Just my thoughts.....

[@JimmyVermeer]

I dug a hole from one end of my property to the other and I can confirm that it took exactly 45 minutes to get from one end to the other.

[@Robin3615]

Chicago has Lower Wacker Drive which bypasses surface level traffic. It can save 45 minutes from Upper Wacker Drive.

[@Zombie_Problem]

Hope one day I can listen to Neil and Chuck doing the arrivals and departures announcements for the Gravity Train (Soul Train?).

[@alexander0the0gray]

Saying that flying cars are simply to solve traffic congestion is a very “I’ve always lived in New York City” mindset. Come up to Maine where most of our state is woods and there are no direct roads to any other town. A flying car would be AMAZING to fly in a straight line to any location, even though there’s only three cars and a moose in the way on the roads.

[@jjmusicfordummies]

That gravity train timing was gold chuck

[@Robinson8491]

So the gravity train is tautochrone and based on the workings of the shell theorem. So is there a connection between the workings of the shell theorem, and the (tautochrone) cycloid?

[@-jb5701]

From the makers of "Cat in a Box" and "Man in an Elevator"...Now brings you "Chuck in a Hole"!

[@rajmathew6220]

Hope it never takes me 45 minutes to go to the bathroom

[@Flexy59]

when you need it the most, that's exactly when it takes that long for you to access the bathroom unless you live alone lmao

[@Akshajkapoor2011]

These are the best videos I watch. Who ever has the same like the comment.

[@bryanreeve4961]

You can’t go 9 miles deep without getting cooked at 450F degrees

[@Dropz_RSA]

Which degrees? I can't react if I don't know how bad it is.

[@dre3k78]

Not to mention the normal seismic activity.

[@Kiwizqt]

This video while great doesn't showcases why it's not possible for smoothbrains like me, would've been great :(

[@leightaft7763]

It’s hypothetical

[@huskytzu7709]

Chuck is like the biggest hype man in this video lol

[@ArcadiaAds]

We love you Neil.

[@persuademe]

Is the idea of the tunnel from new york to LA taking the same time doing so with the assumption that the gravitational force is in the center of the tunnel no matter where it is placed or that it would be 90 degress below them half way through? Would'nt you come to a stop in the middle like holding a magnet under a swinging ball bearing.

[@rickkwitkoski1976]

No. At the center point you begin to Decelerate. Assuming NO friction, you stop and reverse at the other end.

[@persuademe]

@rickkwitkoski1976 I know but that's including the theoretical non gravity effected train to feel the effect of the gravity. Say each end point is 80/85° vertical to the center of the earth, you are getting pulled down already, unless you create something that isn't affected by the gravity, but then use the gravity to theorise it's movement through their interaction. If the force was at the center of the tunnel between new York and LA and you had to pass directly through it to get to each side, perhaps you are accelerating for less time and reach a lower top speed meaning it takes the same amount of time as the longer journey you go faster on.

[@ianoxenham4219]

Regarding the energy requirements of operating a gravity train that can transit between two points, Neil is skipping over the problem of air resistance. Though his mag-lev suggestion would address the problem of friction with a track, unless you are using some sort of hyperloop concept to create a new vacuum along the track, you would need to expend a lot of energy to accelerate the gravity train past terminal velocity and maintain a speed in excess of terminal velocity. So I doubt the operational energy requirements would be "near-zero" in practice, despite how cool a concept this is.

[@Ssesto_elemento]

Then what do we do with the mass we are removing to make the holes????

[@jd-tg1ox]

Bury our garbage

[@AdamSmith-gb9pq]

use the earth to make the overpass

[@rimbusjift7575]

Make a proper moon for Mars.

[@dragonsauce358]

This is really cool! But what about tectonics and earthquakes?

[@frankcaruso1506]

If you fell through a hole from the US, to the Indian Ocean, the rushing water would stop your exit to the Indian Ocean. The force would cause you to reverse direction and as you pass the center of the earth, The heat and the water would steam you and you'd probably pop back out of the US and onto a platter at Long John Silver's.

[@Speeddymon]

There must be some minimum distance at which this applies, right? How do you calculate that?

[@lrmacey]

I do think that flying cars could be great for industry, in areas that don't have roads or have very difficult terrain. I'm an exploration geologist and there are many times side by sides don't even cut it. Disaster relief and rescue and research in environmentally sensitive areas also comes to mind. Also, Neil, can you give us the math for the 90 minute time from points A to B? That's fascinating!

[@dre3k78]

There are helicopters for things like that. And more currently drones.

[@BaithNa]

Would a hole from New York to New Jersey also take 90 minutes? There has to be some kind of distance required for this to always take 90 minutes.

[@Vinceras]

I'd be curious if you could build a generator using the same principle as the gravity train? You'd probably need the friction to cause the power generation, so I'm not sure how much energy would be required to counteract the loss of momentum due to friction...or even how much energy it could generate to begin with. hmmm

[@lordcrayzar]

Like in the book Ultima, or maybe Proxima I can’t remember ha

[@jonathonwidmer4015]

An ant hill styled bridge and tunnel transportation system? More people movers too?

[@davidmunsch8899]

How deep or deepest point would you be, from the surface going from New York to LA. That would be cool to know. Great stuff as usual Later

[@jimliu2560]

Humans can feel acceleration… Such a rapid acceleration will break our brain cells against our skull…

[@marlygee3859]

The more you know 💫💫💫💫💫

[@Jack_McKalling]

What is more expensive to make, designing the technology to make flying cars and building them, or digging more tunnel networks and bridge levels to support the amount of traffic that would be possible with flying cars?

[@brooos]

When falling through the earth using only gravity, wouldn't you stop just short of coming out the other side and then fall back in, each time traveling a shorter distance until you eventually ended up in the center of the earth? Like letting go of a ball hanging on a string, it would swing to the other side and then return just short of it's starting point.

[@neviestix]

Ooooh how about the Ikeda Route highway in Japan. It goes through a building 🎉

[@7_of_9]

Geothermal energy harnesses the Earth's natural heat by drilling deep wells several miles into the ground. This technology can efficiently provide heating and cooling for entire cities. The remarkable aspect is that it requires minimal energy to circulate the liquid. Thanks to the temperature difference between the surface and the Earth's depths, the liquid moves naturally through a process known as thermosiphoning, making it both energy-efficient and sustainable. It would cost very very liquid outside of initial cost

[@prkhar_gl]

Correction : you would do oscillation if you jump into hole through earth, you migh not come out, water might not flood, it will oscillate

[@zenhydra]

The biggest flaw in this concept is the inconsistent structural integrity of the earth/rock surrounding the tunnel. Not only is it variable and inconsistent, but the mass of the surrounding rock will be exerting tremendous pressure into the vacated tunnel space. Also, the means to excavate that much material is a much harder problem to solve than it is to make safe and effective flying vehicles that pilot themselves (because no sane person wants to share the sky with millions of drivers/pilots who can't put their phones down for more than five minutes).

[@DBrent-jf2wu]

"Hey kid, wanna learn about physics? First one is free." Dr. Tyson on the subway.

[@BrianG61UK]

If the hole doesn't go straight through the middle of the earth, you will just get smeared along the side of the tunnel. It was nice knowing you.

[@epicplayz2983]

best co host ever

[@dosesandmimoses]

Come on ride that train, choo choo ride it.. Switzerland has a train similarly!

[@glenncurry3041]

Every path through Earth if only gravity is used. If all you did was step into the hole on one side with no existing velocity and frictionless travel, you would slowly emerge feet first and stop as your head appeared. And you better reach out for the edge or you could just bob back and forth forever. If you used a constant velocity entering the tube instead, very different results.

[@cyc2140]

Bowling For Soup need to update their song - Belgium "[...]And now your halfway round the world and I'm just a day behind[...]" for "[...]And now your halfway round the world and I'm just 45 minutes behind[...]"

[@istvantorok4819]

May I have a question? According Einstein's laws when you fall in you will accelerating and you feel 0 gravity. How much gravity will you experiencing at the second half of the trip, while you slow down?

[@kdeal5522]

Question. If there were multiple holes through the earth, could gravity pull you back through the wrong one assuming the holes intersect

[@notarealperson87]

i like how cartoon Chuck and Neil don't wear shoes

[@frankjohnson123]

Not related to the video but Chuck is so smartly dressed

[@IngramSnake]

How I watch this show: skip the first 2 mins cause it’s just jokes and laughter. Then get to the real theory/discussion.

[@yourdestroyer2secter195]

Does that mean that on any celestial body (comet, moon, planet or sun) theoretically a person will take 45 min to travel from point A to B using gravity as an engine with no friction?

[@chocinspired]

Thank God I have you,

[@starling-]

Loki: I Have Been Falling For 30 Minutes!

[@walternullifidian]

What's neat about the gravity trains is that you would never feel any acceleration or deceleration!

[@bf99ls]

The practicalities of maintaining one are the main barrier. The ‘tube’ needs to be free of air-pressure (so a vacuum from beginning to end). It needs to be insulated from the extremely high temperatures outside the tube. Passengers would essentially be like astronauts, with self-sustaining suits in case of ‘accidents’. As NDT stated, it’s just an engineering problem: or rather a series of engineering problems, that mean what started out as a ‘thought experiment’, is unlikely to become a reality. But when it comes to human ingenuity, never say never.

[@Ssesto_elemento]

Does the math work for any spherical shaped objects? For earth, it is 45 and 90 minutes based on its mass and gravity.. How about Jupiter, the sun, and even the Alpha centauri??? I'm assuming yes but would be cool to have it confirmed.

[@TheRabbitRonin]

Reminds me of the remake movie of Total Recall with Colin Farrell

[@dundundata7603]

I hope we can all get on the peace train someday.

[@aliwaqasahmed]

I just have one question. When scientists finally finds Earth 2.0 a perfect habitable space, does Earth have a holiday?

[@ZZZachFL]

Now, what is the speed of falling man as he falls through the exact center of the earth? Why, it would be exactly the same as if he were in orbit near the surface.

[@ChronicKPOP]

like driving on the sun (5000ºC) or more

[@Mephistahpheles]

The brilliant politicians/developers around here have been removing & reducing overpasses and replacing them with traffic lights, "to improve traffic flow". Many intersections formerly no-lights, no-stops in a cloverleaf, is now 2 sets of lights, no merge lanes.....and guaranteed to stop at at least 1 set of the lights no matter which way you're going, or what traffic is present. (Also less safe for cars, pedestrians and cyclists. I have NO idea why they've done what they've done.)

[@TerencioHorto-iw7fq]

I wanted to see the calculus formula ❤

[@ArchV]

If I was good at math, I'd like to calculate the deepest point underground that a gravity train from NY to LA would be... Since it's all based on the curvature of the earth, the closer to the two points are, the shallower it would be. Because at some point, you'd have to contend with real problems, like magma :)

[@rickkwitkoski1976]

Calculate the length of a chord with known length of the arc between NY and LA and take half that length. You will also know the dip angle at either NY or LA. Tangent trig function value of that angle multiplied by that half chord length. That's your depth at the deepest point. High school math.

[@JerrJang316]

i'll never understand how the AI generated captions have no trouble with weird names from video games or anime, but still think Chucks name is Jack 😂

[@massmanpro]

Wouldn't elevation on either side change how long it would take?

[@constantlyfabulous]

They are too cute together 😂

[@daestromm1043]

Wouldn't gravity tunnels throughout earth cause fault line issues, hence more earthquakes?

[@Damonpeters1950]

What about the lava ?

[@Joshiu1202]

Those are all engineering problems. Physicists don't care about those. They calculate and say it will work.