Terraforming Techniques

[@swapanjain892]

damn...what a gem I have discovered here...

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Welcome then, I hope you enjoy the other videos as much!

[@enoeht5519]

Totally enjoyed it. :) keep up the good work.

[@ivx8345]

Yeah this is a good one!

[@swapanjain892]

mrninninnin You high?

[@YoLo-ky8ig]

Lmao screw physics? Einstein? The scientific illiteracy is strong within this one, many ignorochlorians detected. May be the chosen one.

[@satviksoni6764]

I think its absolutely cruel to have R in Rhotasism

[@feynstein1004]

Made by the same guys who put an S in lisp 😂

[@jimmyjames5960]

AIBOHPHOBIA: THE FEAR OF PALINDROMES

[@Estenberg]

@@jimmyjames5960 = Able was I ere I saw Elba

[@NickFisherman]

Or just the word 'abbreviation".

[@Icewind007]

Hippopotomonstroses-quippedaliophobia - fear of long words

[@unfinished8kt]

these are really helpful for me writing my science fiction short stories. thanks Isaac.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I'm glad to hear that!

[@johnaddisoncull]

The Supreme optimist! The human race needs you.

[@richarddeese1991]

This is one of my main antidotes to depression! [I'm not being glib & insensitive; I DO suffer from depression & anxiety.] It's the wonders of the universe that take me out of myself & my own day-to-day existence. It's always been that way for me, and this guy's channel is the best at making me feel that humanity has a future in that larger universe! With the internet, I don't have to wait for something good on TV (thank heavens!) Besides, the History & Discovery channels are crap. And would someone tell me what you "learn" on the Learning Channel (TLC)? I'm subscribing to Curiosity Stream soon! tavi.

[@linz8291]

Our space development to galactic civilization needs more excellent people, too.

[@MarcErlich44]

I get so excited for each new upload. This is easily my favorite channel. Thank you for what you're doing, Isaac. Cheers!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+Marc Erlich Thanks Marc, glad you're enjoying them!

[@ronbaker3677]

Are you sure your name's not Issac Newton, sir?

[@thiefofa1073]

Me too. Is there a vid you've done on first contact themes? Could not find any. Thx and nice work!

[@RustyKControl_Line]

I figured his name might be "Isaac A. Arthur C. Dent," Lol. Or some combination of favorite authors. Hey, anyone fascinated with the Revelation Space universe is okay in my book. Those novels stuck with me like none other. Except maybe Simmons' Hyperion series. I want to be an Ultra when I grow up.

[@pedromigueldinis]

very good channel in deed, if u like these kind of channels you should check secureteam10 channel, tyler is changing the world and openng peoples minds all arround the world, breaking the control that the governaments and secret agencies have on us

[@operationmindfuck5723]

Would it be possible to hydrate a planet by towing a comet or ice covered moon near it so it's gravity could strip the water away?

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Huh... actually yes, leaving a comet in a slow degenerating orbit inside the roche limit of the planet probably would be a good approach. The usual notion is just to crash it in, that's easiest, or to detonate it right as approaches so it shotguns the planet with a lot of ice shards that will melt as they fall, but if you've the fuel to spare your suggested approach makes more sense. More like adding top soil with a dump truck than a catapult.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Someone probably has suggested that before but it is the first time I've heard, great notion!

[@operationmindfuck5723]

Thanks.

[@Cannabis_Connoisseur]

His speech impediment almost sounds exaggerated at times. Or maybe fake for some reason.

[@geekinutopia5899]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Don't worry about your speech impediment! It's similar\similuh to a non-rhotic accent! Non-rhotic basically means that Rs get " dropped " or not pronounced after vowel sounds.

[@canadiantinkerer3958]

I have watched almost all of your videos, some twice. I have come to the independent conclusion you are an omnipotent alien in disguise here to uplift us humans from our own stupidity

[@bratwizard]

Terraforming has always been one of my favorite "great projects speculation" topics. You make it seem so effortless! ;-)

[@BaxterRoss]

the bomb-terraforming technique is great because it also gives us a good use for all our bombs!

[@JohnSmith-cw1lf]

Baxter Ross china, middle east and north korea is also a good use for our bombs!

[@naami2004]

Thank you :(

[@PCGameNerd917]

Baxter Ross Yes, nuke it from orbit.

[@cortanathelawless1848]

John Smith you forgot the United empire of America

[@hamstsorkxxor]

John Smith Yes, nothing like mass murder and genocide of billions of innocents. Just asking, what are you hoping to achieve by doing something like that; destroying the world economy, ecology and being rightfully despised for the rest of history?

[@ServantOfOdin]

"It's either a [...] very long video." Yeah. Turned up the volume, wen't cooking, came back at about half way through the video and finished dinner with a minute to spare on the video. Impressive.

[@MotionMarks]

Dude. I get sick with all my frieds, and they get sick with me, because i talk about it all the time. Thanks for having somebody to listen to, for a change. Great knowledge.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+Motion Marks Glad you liked it. That's one of the reasons I put up forum/site suggestions, they're never as much fun as BS'ing with friends about it over coffee or beer but they make a nice outlet if one isn't available :)

[@marcosmillet7957]

Relate to this massively. Personally, im not necessarily the smartest guy in any room, but I'm mostly always the only one who wanna to discuss these topics

[@ChrisBrengel]

I'm totally with you guys. Why don't more of the people I know find this stuff at least a little interesting?

[@constitutionalbowsers6459]

this science is what I want to learn. I wish my science teacher would have given me this knowledge I would have understood algebra better to master physics.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

The good news is it is often easier to learn as you age

[@constitutionalbowsers6459]

Isaac Arthur I agree thank you for this logical insight I was right in my theory or hypnosis thank you. I failed to explain it .

[@haricotvert3904]

The movie the core really got Isaac spinning ^____^

[@HuntingTarg]

Approximately exactly why I chose to not watch it - some internerd picked it apart and I went *_wretchurl_* that's hideously bad plot, I can't watch that...

[@ronschlorff7089]

"mastered physics"? good for you; I got an "A" but never mastered it! :D

[@fernandokaminski1665]

It can be done! This channel is the perfect mix of some dreaming with solid science!

[@marknewman2187]

I subbed this channel about 2/3 months ago and every time I fancy a bit of brain food before bed I look about at what`s out there , try a few but ninety percent of the time end up back on Isaac`s channel , it`s absolutely the best by miles and I recommend it to all my friends many who have thanked me and joined the club. Great stuff Isaac , please just keep them coming.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks Mark!

[@thesaurusakasickakatheomc7688]

I've been watching your videos to help with technical and inspirational issues of writing sci-fi, and I've listened to your spiel on CC a lot. Maybe it's my ear, but I listen to your videos while multi-tasking frequently and never have any issues understanding you. The upside here is that either way one of us is underestimating ourselves.

[@timrobinson513]

It's nice to see a video from somebody who understands what they're talking about. Many people just give general info and keep things basic.

[@daniellindberg4167]

How are you not world famous yet? You have the best videos on space on youtube. You have a good voice, it is easy to understand, and you always include lots more information in your videos than everyone else. You should really try to get the science channel or Discovery to air one of your videos as a special.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks Danny, though truth be told I'm not sure I'd want the channel to be big like that. Right now its a bit of a hidden thing popular with folks who want to give stuff a deep look, if it were a lot bigger I'm sure I'd get pressured to water it down and I wouldn't want that.

[@kristianlittler-ward6063]

Hey Isaac, I started watching your channel last week and I have to say you have quickly become my favourite youtube channel! I know this is older content for you but I can't thank you enough for introducing me to all of these awesome concepts whilst explaining the science in an approachable fashion without watering down the concepts. I've never been more excited to be interested in space!

[@sab3403]

these videos are the best thing I have found since the Atomic Rockets site

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Project Rho is a great site, and I actually got to talk briefly with its founder Nyrath/Winchell Chung over on reddit recently when he popped into the new Spaceship Propulsion video thread to introduce himself.

[@fsmoura]

Thanks for the reference/tip to the Atomic Rockets site. Just gave it a check and it's awesome!

[@bugstomper4670]

Venus would be perfect for a 'cloud city'.

[@Giganfan2k1]

There is an entire episode of colonizing Venus now. Honesly it looks like the best place to colonize the first planet.

[@carlosandleon]

what if we force cool Venus by blocking all sunlight

[@Giganfan2k1]

@@carlosandleon that is in the episode! But then you wouldn't have all the cool floating city stuff. :/

[@chexhcatialo3889]

Those cloud colonies could be hung from giant blimps or balloons, provided we figure out how to make dirigibles and balloons that don't leak. You could have bigger versions of 1920s airships roughly 50 km up. Alternatively, large platforms could hold entire cities and towns. Venus often gets ignored in discussions of colonization as we wouldn't be able to live on the ground on that planet.

[@sdprz7893]

Carlos Leon not enough, we’d still have to bomb it

[@kimberleenormal1881]

Extremely interesting. I have now watched 3 videos and am looking forward to watching more. Thank you for this.

[@lucasbowering]

My favourite part of the video, "if brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it." I just discovered your videos about 2 weeks ago, it is great to see someone with such a keen understanding of physics who also has a military sensibility. Space and strategic thinking are definitely in my top three areas of interest. Keep up the good work these videos are awesome. "it's the difference between stacking a few stones across a creek to make a pool some afternoon, 'and' building the great wall of china

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Yes I used to joke that was my MOS's motto (...brute force...), unsurprisingly it was Field Artillery.

[@thewalkingtaco9736]

The long ones... and the incredibly long ones. This is part of why you are amazing

[@ppcgnamda]

You really don’t need to mention the way you speak. I have understood you perfectly from day one, and I have seen most of your videos. This is seriously good information laid out in a logical way. Thank you so very much for making these videos.

[@smunro1977]

I nearly came out of my chair when you mentioned "The Core". It has to be the least scientific "Sci Fi" movie ever made. Luv your channel btw. Your video's are as good, and more often better, than the top shelf science documentaries. I really hope you keep at it.

[@paulforster6229]

Technically the type of 'sci-fi' movie such as The Core is properly referred to as 'Utter-Shite'. Just sayin.

[@joejohns3543]

Man, I love classic Isaac Arthur. This is a great rewatch.

[@rogerbennett]

Loving your content. I should retrain as a rocket engineer and start solving some of the practical problems.

[@bugaboo7022]

Did ya do it?

[@Sandrainia3]

I've watched about 1/3rd of your videos in the past 24 hours, stumbled onto your site to watch the "Tabby's Star" presentation, and never left. I love that you put in photographs of yourself in subject relevant areas. I'm also very impressed that you include estimated costs, pre-needed technologies, relevant timelines, and number of workload trips, necessary for the projects you are detailing in each video ! It actually took my watching 3-4 videos to notice the minuscule speech difficulty you have, once I did, it immediately went back into non-noticeable state. Thank you most kindly for all the work, research, math, and time you've put in to making these videos available on line. I really appreciate the entire collection of them, and look forward to being able to see all the present and future ones. I think they could be longer and yet still not hold all the information you want to get across to us out here.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

You're very welcome, and sorry for the very delayed reply :)

[@Sandrainia3]

No problems on delay☺ I'm always happy to get answers on a comment. I'm such a delayed and slow typist on my own part I allow everybody else plenty of response time.

[@erispapps9929]

I love the get your ass to mar's flag

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Do you know, out of nearly a hundred thousand views and a year and half, I don't think anybody has ever mentioned it before.

[@Twigpi]

I love it too! I was looking to see if someone else had said something about it... It's so funny, but it's a great piece, and the placement of the Mars symbol is great.

[@annoyed707]

In case any animal rights people are worried, no asses were harmed in the making of this Mars colony.

[@BigDickEnergy777]

No, it is "critters" actually!

[@eridani1263]

Erik Papps ass-mar?

[@BelialsRevenge]

Coming back to watch your older videos as a subscriber of 10 month I have to point out one of your best qualities at 7:59, honesty. Thanks for your amazing channel!

[@andyg6585]

Lol rhotacism is difficulty in pronouncing "r" like dyslexia being a difficult term to spell 😂 to be honest I'm a new sub and am devouring your content. well done dude absolutely awesome

[@paulforster6229]

Dyslexia in NOT 'difficult to spell for dyslexics', it is difficult to spell for an illiterate or poorly literate person. Although 'dyslexia' can result in literacy difficulties, being illiterate does NOT mean someone is ALSO dyslexic. For analogy/clarity; a colour-blind person is NOT sightless, they may have 20-20 vision, though a sightless person would as a consequence ALSO be colour-blind. In the same way being poor at maths is usually down to problems with the concepts and education of the underlying algebra, this could be 'dyscalculia' based or poor education 'maths-illiteracy'. They are not the same at all in cause, but the results/consequences can appear very similar. I hope that clarifies a common misconception.

[@christophermarot5080]

We need more videos like these on KZbin Isaac, please continue to make them. Thinking about some of the incredible possibilities there may be in humantities future if we get our act together makes living through some of the folly of current events around the globe more bearable. If we had more people taking the time to think through difficult problems logically and focus on a "what can I contribute to humanity" vs a "what can I accumulate from humanity" mindset, the world would be a better place for it. Thank you for your contribution!

[@sahinyasar9119]

We could use nuclear winter For VENUS

[@PerfectAlibi1]

"Patrolling the Mojave makes you wish for a nuclear winter" ~ NPC troopers in Fallout New Vegas. ^^

[@nathanielcrosby2426]

Would that work though? Nuclear winter in theory works for Earth because of the massive amounts of dirt that would be kicked up and out from nuclear bombardment, which would block the Sun and reflect/refract its rays. With Venus' already thick atmosphere, I would argue that would be useless.

[@Inertia888]

I watch a lot of science videos and this channel is by far the easiest to listen to it is very thorough and extensive. Thank you you for the effort, Issac.

[@translumination2002]

No need to apologise for your speech "impediment". I thought you spoke with a European accent which is kind of cool. Just like Einstein really.

[@DanielPolanco]

I enjoy listening to it 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@moofymoo]

indeed... I imagine him sitting in victorian library enjoying a glass of favorite beverage and discussing limits of modern science.

[@deivytrajan]

The only wrong thing I hear is low quality of microphone the voice is not that crisp and clear...

[@sisyphus8870]

I now hear it as an accent, absolutely delightful. It has become my favourite way to learn.

[@dhege002]

I had a speech impediment as a child and took years to get rid of. I am glad to see you dont let it stop you from doing amazing work.

[@102728]

Only just discovered the channel and starting from the first, only 13 videos in out of 204 total (counted them). I'm really excited about the content and that there's so much more to watch and regularly being released as well. I love the practical and accurate approach to these issues and that there is always a very varied range of solutions presented instead of glorifying just one. Thanks for all the effort put in this channel over the years, looking forward to bingeing my way through!

[@ApEnNy4YoUrThOuGhTz]

Excellent production quality as always! Keep it up.

[@alexanderzhmurov9624]

The man, and yes, he is THE Man, is still keeping my optimism up, or at least keeping my depression in check, after all this time and disappointments Can't be thankful enough for the existence of public channels such as this

[@FelilunDxD]

Great video! You really deserve way more subs and views! Definitely showing this to my friends.

[@dkmooninite]

Please keep making videos. It's nice to see such high level concepts explained in depth and detail, but in such a way that a layman, like myself, can still understand.

[@gammaechofoundationproductions]

WOW! Another excellent video! Your videos are great blueprints for my "hard" science fiction novel! Isaac, wouldn't it be much easier in terms of time and scale if we were to incorporate para-terraforming, planetary terraforming, or building artificial habitats using nearby asteroids as oppose to terraforming in the classical sense?

[@codymartin1030]

Love your videos isaac and props for not letting your speech impediment prevent you from educating people keep it up man definitely one of my top five channels

[@nekoforever8428]

Thank you Isaac Arthur.

[@milwaukeebrewcrew484]

Love learning new things and ideas. Thanks for taking the time to make this. I'm not from a fancy school I earned my GED in prison on my own while serving 7 years. I am from a bad area, got involved with gangs ended up in prison still continued the gang lifestyle after 3 years of that I was stabbed and lost a lung. Since then I have changed my life and got interested in trying to learn as much as possible so my kids don't fallow in my path. Anyways I enjoyed this as it taught me something so thank you again.

[@pantsfortwo4611]

“Biology isnt my strongest subject” yeah i noticed the DNA animation when you were talking about proteins in the industry video 🤣 lots of brilliance in these vids tho, so ill let it slide

[@aisforrebel9310]

Isaac, Joe sent me over and it was great that you make light in describing your speech. Great vid you earned a sub!

[@h0Nt667]

I believe Venus flying cities is the best idea. You could get everything there. See, if city floats in twillight zone there isn't much solar wind and you also get light. There is some water in Venus atmosphere so you filter it from air. Also you can get materials from surface to build more of these cites. The only problem I see is energy, but it's not a big deal. After these steps you can slowly terraform Venus to make it just like Earth, excluding day-night change. Btw why don't you think faster then light travel is possible? There is a design of such engine, you could google it. Basically, there won't be particle horizon and parts of the universe moving away from us faster then light if it's not physically possible. It also solves Fermi paradox - if space colonization can be so fast then we could just don't live at the same time as advanced aliens or be even the first smart lifoform.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+h0Nt667 I completely forgot about the twilight band, but you're right of course, it moves at only a few miles an hour, easily kept up with by a solar powered engine. I'm not sure it would really be the best place to set up shop though, it kinda depends on what you're doing, you might want the extra sunlight, especially if you're hiding your habitat a bit deeper and running solar panels on separate wire attached bags floating higher up.

[@h0Nt667]

+Isaac Arthur You could just set them flying some miles away where Sun shines brightly, attach a flying wire and get power. Also you could regulate height by setting baloons lower or higher on a kind of "legs" for the best temperature.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+h0Nt667 Yes that's probably a good approach.

[@h0Nt667]

One more question. Could you theoretically find or make a planet with very high rotation rate to let the centrifugal force balance the gravity? This could make sence if you want a large planet.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+h0Nt667 Sure, planet Mesklin in Hal Clement's classic 'Mission of Gravity' is an example. If we're talking about making superhuge planets though, you just don't give them a rocky core. Saturn is 100x Earth's surface at the place where it's gravity is the same as Earth's, so if you built a thin strong shell around it (discussed in Megastructures videos) you'd have agiant planet with normal gravity

[@jameson-s]

Isaac, It doesn't matter about your speech issue, be proud of yourself for creating a good channel for us people to get a good understanding of what you tell us in your videos, I found your channel today and watched now 4 videos. Thank you keep up the great work.

[@babygarcia6390]

Great work you're doing here. You deserve more subs.

[@MauriceLeviejr]

The KZbin ad I had to skip to get to this video was a simplilearn ad that was over 2 hours long and half a course on data science - so don't apologize for the length of your videos :)

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+Maurice Levie Weird, you shouldn't have had to skip any ads, I enabled them for the first time only a couple days ago to test the theory that KZbin recommends monetized videos more, and that was supposed to only be the little lower-third on screen pop up. And yeah Rosetta was a bit of disappointment in designed scope and performance.

[@securion100]

No need to worry about your speech thingy we are to busy listening to the content of what you are saying. Keep it up mate!

[@MrCmon113]

Surely there are people, who have trouble understanding. Especially those, who have only recently learned English.

[@mackenziebeeney3764]

I’ve been looking into habitable mars concepts for a story world I’m making, and I’ve had to hand wave quite a bit of it for obvious reasons. This helped explain a bit of it, thank you.

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

19:20 "I'm a little high.." I know what you meant, but only after I did a double take. xD

[@shape_mismatch]

Jesus Christ Isaac, you're thorough. I don't know if anyone noticed or not, but at around 7:25, there's a very small, arguably unimportant point of humanity being stubborn, of humans spending centuries over a project. While doing so, he shows the pyramids, and at 7:37, he shows the Cologne Cathedral. I'm blown away by the level of detail because this cathedral has almost always been under construction since its beginning in the 1400s, upto today. Kudos!

[@jasondumb5706]

Thoroughly enjoying this series. What about directing comet and asteroids to crash on Mars to boost the necessary elements and mass to make it more earth like?

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Realistically there's better things to do with the mass, which we talk about in the asteroid mining video and the megastructures series, but yes comets and asteroids are very likely to be sources for water and any nutrients that there's a deficit of there.

[@FPVREVIEWS]

wer're not actually sure that the extra mass would be useful, and the planet would take a long time to cool we know what the human body does in earth gravity, and microgravity, but have no data on 1/3 earth gravity. we will just have to go there and see. or devise a test.

[@annoyed707]

The lack of info on one third gravity is truly appalling.

[@jonathancomeaux3209]

Finally, a drink of knowledge! I loved the terraforming theories and concur with methodology. 3 QUESTIONS ... 1. Could mars sustain its atmosphere if the polar caps were to be slowly melted in conjunction with processed greenhouse emissions from the artificial habitats? 2. Would you agree the atmosphere with manufacturing and extraction of those carbon materials in place, and brought with from Earth be a quicker means to establish a livable atmosphere enclosed or not? 3. While building compounds for larger living, with the ice being utilized to humidify greenhouses, like grass or moss farm domes for 02. Is there enough wind on Mars to circulate this 02 to create an atmosphere in a shorter time without assistance of some type of helium enriched atmosphere? Thank you again for your work, it was very insightful and thrilling watching.

[@MauriceLeviejr]

One of the sad parts of the landing on 67P was the under-engineering of the lander itself. With a little Pt239 we could have set up shop and make a free emergency landing spot for a hundred years. If nothing else it would have been our first outpost on a budget...

[@ryantaylor1142]

Love listening to your stuff as I fall asleep you read me night time stories and I appreciate it

[@oceanspace9688]

Venus is a good candidate it's the closest in size, mass, proximity, gravity, and atmosphere. The two main issues are intense heat and atmospheric pressure due to excess amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. There is a potential solution in a laser that can turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. You could put one of those lasers on a satellite(s) orbiting Venus and point the beam into the upper atmosphere removing the heat trapping carbon, creating oxygen while simultaneously decreasing the high surface pressure. Three bird's with one stone. Article source for the laser motherboard.vice.com/read/scientists-turned-carbon-dioxide-into-oxygen-by-zapping-it-with-a-laser

[@PCGameNerd917]

ocean space Terraform Venus and make Mercury moon of it.

[@JMFSpike]

I think the idea of colonizing another planet/moon, although extremely interesting, is just plain crazy and will never work. However, I'm very impressed with this theory or yours, because it's the only theory I've heard of regarding colonizing Venus that I think we could actually do today. The other ideas I've heard of sound ahead of our time.

[@Baalur]

@@JMFSpike building floating cities in Venus' atmosphere is easier than terraforming. Watch Isaac's Video on "Colonizing Venus" for more information.

[@HalNordmann]

Also, if you pumped the CO2 from Venus and moved it to Mars...

[@stevenpilling5318]

For Mars, nitrogen is the key factor.

[@Mmouse_]

I was night shift last night and decided to binge watch your videos, after watching around 5 hours, my internal monologue has taken on your speech impediment, kinda like when you go on holiday to somewhere that speaks the same language but the accent is different.

[@Titantr0n]

Maybe three are too many but I'd personally appreciate it if you gave the Celsius values as well.

[@nmccw3245]

Spent many hours in the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library within the ENMU Golden Library as an undergraduate. I did get to meet Jack and shake his hand at an award ceremony a few years before his death. Thanks for paying homage to him.

[@thefran901]

I think paraterraforming seems more of a realistic option to do, and expanding a dome until it becomes a worldhouse or creating several domes paraterraformed and eventually merge them into a single one worldhouse, seems more realistic and possible, but I'm a lego, so anything can be possible maybe :P

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+thefran901 There's a comment in a book by Peter Hamilton where two adventurers have stumbled across a giant Smoke Ring (Breathable Gas Torus around a star) and one of them wonders why anyone would build such a thing, being monstrously huge and not terribly efficient, and concludes their motive was "Because we can". I suspect that's probably the only reason we'd outright terraform any planet that wasn't pretty Earth-like. It's hard to guess at the sort of stuff post-scarcity societies with tons of automation and energy will get up to, possibly not much since they might be neurotic about efficiency, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mars ended up fully terraformed one day, nor surprised if we ripped the thing to pieces making swarms of rotating habitats. Short term though paraterraforming is the more realistic option.

[@paulforster6229]

a 'LEGO'? do you mean you are a brick? ;-)

[@alexwhb122]

Fantastic video. Thank you for your detailed explanations of all of these awesome topics. I wish I had found this long ago.

[@ChrisBrengel]

8:00 "...though I often get accused of excessive optimism..." No! I'm shocked! Shocked to find out that excessive optimism is appearing in a SFIA video!

[@billc.4584]

This channel makes me feel like I can let my inner science geek out to play! Great work Isaac.

[@rockochimp545]

Wow, lots of new stuff to mull over!

[@TwistedMesses]

I can't believe I've been listening to isaac arthur for 8 years. Time flies, what a trip

[@RatkaWreckz]

Great video. Just subbed and really love the idea of terra forming. Been simulating this with Terra Genesis. I recommend that app.

[@Pav56]

Just wanted to say I am really enjoying your videos, they're incredibly fascinating and I think you present each topic very well. Thanks!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks Pav!

[@AAmed1980]

If we use floating cities to cool Venus, wouldnt the thinning atmosphere make it harder for those floating structures to stay afloat?

[@kingdomofbird8174]

Yes but the pressure and heat in lower atmosphere would be smaller

[@linz8291]

Yeep, so we need to add some fresh air pump and recycling equipments as terraforming process.

[@Stringfreak]

This channel is an absolute gem!

[@froztbytes]

1. build a fuckton of dyson swarms 2.build artificial magnetosphere 3. use the dyson swarm to power artificial magnetosphere making air and water will come later

[@Horesmi]

Gamer Wannabe You really shouldn't waste your time at that point. Just disassemble the darn panet.

[@froztbytes]

I prefer the death star over star killer base

[@Horesmi]

Gamer Wannabe any Dyson swarm is a starkiller base by it's very nature.

[@froztbytes]

AlHoresmi starkiller base is/was originaly a planet unlike the deathstar which is %100 artificial

[@fsmoura]

make sure you save the game before starting it

[@flanders6892]

i love to watch these ones and see how long you've come. been watching 24/7 for a week :D thank you :D

[@deckuofm]

Why not to just drop asteroids from the belt to Mars? It will not need to much energy.Carbon asteroids have 50% of water or not?

[@ColasTeam]

He mentioned in the video that you'd need millions and millions of them.

[@zniffether6816]

even if you need millions upon millions it will be useful either way bot to create heat and pressure, just using atmospheric prosessors wont have to be relied upon 100%. asteroids contains resources useful in the future an even during the time used most asteroids contains water and ammonia and once its on the mars surface it can be useful once the planet heats up and gives pressure. id hate to die depressurization

[@carlosandleon]

the asteroid belt has way less mass than you think. Tbe dwarf planet ceres contains more than half the total mass of the asteroid

[@jasonasdecker]

@@carlosandleon I never heard that before. Got a link for that?

[@carlosandleon]

@@jasonasdecker yeah give me a minute

[@nNiceDreamsMadeTrue]

Amazingly well produced. The "thank you" on an earlier comment of mine is well appreciated. The distillation of knowledge you manage to consistenly put forward makes me, as a viewer, wonder if your channel shouldn't be put forward as the poster child of presentation of any subject. Great work. No words can express fully how we, the audience (interested in scy-fi allready, granted) are happy to fall asleep listening to your explanations and the passion that lies at its core. In the mornings, I curse the little red bar under most videos knowing that not all those viewed minutes are consciously absorbed, with that knowledge planning to watch it all again. And when I do, I cannot skip the parts I did not miss as it is still a near psychedelic experience in the minds eye to mull over these concepts.The depth of your knowledge has saved me many hours of brwsing and reading, and encourages me to read more and browse around. It's the Worm In Waiting, ouroboros, a symbol of our conceptualisation of infinity.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

:) I always wonder how well folks absorb the material while asleep, many mention using the playlists to fall asleep to, and I regularly fall asleep to audiobooks myself, but retain only a little of it when I wake.

[@OldsReporter]

Your videos are always so educating! I love your channel so much. I would really like to see one video on the feasibility of nuclear fusion. :)

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

+Empurror Katz (Empurror Meow) Ask and ye shall receive... though its more about the impact of fusion then its mechanisms. There should be one up on the Channel later this afternoon (Nov 21 Eastern time) :)

[@OldsReporter]

Isaac Arthur Yay! Hooray!

[@andrewblackman6158]

Thank you Isaac Arthur for sharing your vast knowledge and imagination.

[@corvusprojects]

Hey Issac, I'm a big fan! Thanks for all your fascinating content. Just wondering - you seem extremely well-informed. Do you have any formal qualifications in science? If so, which discipline? Hoping you can answer!

[@thefinestsake1660]

Check out his page on Wikipedia

[@caymanhilldesigns453]

Your animation quality has improved so much. Loved the blimp lol!!

[@tinydog1234]

+1 for D&D reference! :-D

[@sznoman]

man you rock!! the thing is your content is not only interesting but I think that what your are doing is really matter for me and a lot of other people. You are really reuniting a huge communitie who has interest in that kind of content. Keep the level up we need more people like you. PS: sorry for my english its not my native language, Greetings from Switzerland!!!

[@1776Lancer]

Would get rid of the Earth's nukes in a positive way, if we could get them off the Earth is a safe manner.

[@wazza33racer]

look up Isaac's "orbital rings" that is the answer to get cargo into low earth orbit and higher, very cheaply and safely.

[@diablominero]

Orion is the best use for nukes. Don't you want to go to Proxima Centauri in a human lifetime?

[@jasonasdecker]

@@diablominero I do believe Orion is a good use for nukes but you probably should have explained the Orion concept. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) The movie "Deep Impact" has an Orion spacecraft that sounds pretty feasible to me.

[@EuropaE]

So happy to have all these videos while I'm stuck at home

[@rebelbeammasterx8472]

Why not plants and algae for making Oxygen?

[@nikolaythebest]

If there's no oxygen bonded to anything in the atmosphere it's kinda impossible. And bioengineering plants to extract it from the soil makes the process (thermodynamically speaking) very inefficient. In the case of a Venus like world, because you have to cool down the atmosphere in order to keep the plants alive, CO2 would become dry ice snce the pressure on the surface is very hight.

[@chaoking3119]

In the long run, I think plants would be the best way of retaining oxygen. They would consume CO2 produced by humans, and convert it back into oxygen, while producing useful organic matter in the same process. Also, once its started, its maintenance-free. The organisms will multiply themselves on their own, and naturally evolve to get better.

[@NaturalManifestation]

RebelBeamMaster X84 in my research on the subject, algae (and possibly plants too since they are similar in biology) can only grow below a certain concentration of carbon dioxide, something in the high 70%, low 80%. There's an optimal growth rate somewhere in the mid 50-60%< and then it sharply drops off the closer it gets to 100% concentration. So it could work on planets whose CO2 concentrations are below 70%, but for planets like Mars, which have a 95% CO2 atmosphere, you'd need to develop some kind of enclosed growth system to feed them a diluted atmosphere. It could work, but at that point, you're diluting the atmosphere though other means so why not just scale those other means up on their own? For food and fuel and other biomaterials, plants and algae would obviously be the way to go, but for terraforming, they are only applicable in the right circumstances.

[@HuntingTarg]

+RJ WIlliamson For that application biomes with about 0.1 - 0.5 atm could be constructed, with a mixture of compressed (from external atmosphere) CO2 andN2 to dilute the concentration. Once they get rolling and start releasing O2, as the partial pressure of CO2 drops below 90% of total, the organisms could be released upon the entire planet; the growth rate and attendant conversion effect would snowball until the partial pressure of CO2 dropped below 50%, according to the ranges you provided. Not an approach I'd prefer, but definitely viable. I don't think I could square with a green mars...

[@paulforster6229]

@@chaoking3119 Nice idea in theory, trouble is getting some/any plants/organisms that could survive at all under the present conditions. Not even sure you could bio-engineer any to do it, those conditions are really extreme. Very cold, very dry, very low atmospheric pressure, unknown 'soil' contents etc. Best thing for Spacex/anyone to do at first is send up some automated 'gardening' systems that will collect/process what is there and do some proper tests with it regarding 'growing' anything on it. Maybe return some large samples to earth and do some test here (assuming that it doesn't bring any nasty 'alien' things back with it that likes earth conditions better than we can cope with, I know its extremely unlikely but you can't be too careful with that, it only has to be wrong once).

[@Chris-tm7if]

Isaac, huge fan. Thanks for all the exciting physics. Also, you do a great job with the speech impediment. I can understand every word, and you're very humble in each video when you suggest turning on subtitles. Bravo sir. Inspiring in more than one way.

[@KlaasDeforche]

I remember when we were told to get a drink and a snack at the beginning of the videos.

[@agoddamnferret]

These videos are always interesting, great to listen to and make the day go by quicker. Always informative and very well thought out in terms of the material presented.

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

New evidence from nasa has shown that electricity plays a larger role in gas escape from planets than we had previously thought, the evidence suggested that a voltage potential of 10 volts around venus is capable of sucking the oxygen and water right out of venus' atmosphere. It's quite spectacular.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Interesting, do you have link per chance?

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

+Isaac Arthur link to the nasa article: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/electric-wind-can-strip-earth-like-planets-of-oceans-atmospheres

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thank you, looks like another reason to do an extra follow up video on terraforming Venus, I've been getting hectored by the audience to do one mfor months :)

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

+Isaac Arthur Btw, your channel is pure gold (so glad I stumbled upon it), keep doing what you're doing because the content is fascinating and inspirational :D and i'm also very interested based on this new evidence of new ways to terraform planets!!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thank you! Yeah, Terraforming remains one of my favorite topics too, I sometimes regret doing this video rather than saving it for later as my skill improved and breaking it up into multiple more detailed looks.

[@adzaaahhh]

Isaac, you're an inspiration and a bloody legend. We need more educated visionaries like you in this world, and just as importantly, people in positions of power to sit up and take notice/action.

[@lewisrubery2291]

Im so sad I'm getting though these videos so fast, there really good

[@you3001]

Just discovered your channel a few weeks ago. Some of the best stuff on the Web. Liked, subscribed, and addicted. Well done, sir.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Welcome to the channel!

[@rebelbeammasterx8472]

If Mars has too little gravity to hold onto an atmosphere, than Titan that has less gravity than Mars shouldn't have a thicker atmosphere than Mars. But Titan does have a stronger atmosphere than Earth.

[@SolarpunkEnjoyer]

Mars doesn't have a magnetosphere, while Titan is protected by its parent planet's magnetosphere

[@fsmoura]

And also is way farther from the Sun.

[@dbrownbrown4769]

fsmoura it also constantly renewing the atmosphere.

[@jamesmeritt6800]

Clóvis Padilha it also has a different atmosphere

[@earshotmedia7629]

That was like one relevant point after another. Bam, bam, bam, bam.

[@gcarlindisciple6071]

Between finding you and Joe Scott on the same day, I've got a lot of watchin' to do!

[@geekinutopia5899]

Any way we can terraform Earth? Like to cool it down by a degree or two?

[@alainfelger93]

Plant trees

[@OGanKeffplz]

^^common sense.

[@slowburntm3584]

@@alainfelger93 There isn't enough land to plant enough trees to matter.

[@Crowborn]

@@slowburntm3584 actually there is, if you reclaim some unused farmlands and cattle fields

[@slowburntm3584]

@@Crowborn not even if you reclaim every inch of dry land and all living moves to the ocean... Still not enough. Trees don't do as much as you think they do. I love trees, and want more, but not for that reason.

[@jonathanhensley6141]

Each episode is a wealth of information. Keep up the good work.

[@highlandrab19]

We could build Columbia on venus

[@haricotvert3904]

We choose to go to venus? Not because it's hard but because it's easy? Woah very manly.

[@denverbeek]

The joke was the heat of Venus. See below the humor. "The average temperature on Venus is 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius). Temperature changes slightly traveling through the atmosphere, growing cooler farther away from the surface. Lead would melt on the surface of the planet, where the temperature is around 872 F (467 C)." Pulled from Google, top result ( www.space.com/18526-venus-temperature.html ) Furthermore, Columbia is a country in South America, likely VERY hot since it sits directly on the equator.

[@bubble_nut5000]

I get the joke.

[@matthewsteele5229]

I thought you meant Bioshock Infinite’s Columbia. I was wrong

[@Plankensen]

maybe he's right and meant Bioshock columbia since on Venus we'd have to build in the sky like we're some sort o'Vespid

[@martinwyke]

This is a good topic which I think you could/should revisit, science and engineering has moved on and your presentation skill have improved massively.

[@deisisase]

Titanium bones? It would be totally awesome if we could change our genes so that our bones were made out of titanium instead of calcium, we would be less likely to hurt ourselves when we fell.

[@Sara3346]

But then we would need to be able to eat titanium in a very literal sense.

[@southernsoul86]

It is expensive, however, we have ways of making metal chlorides that are biologically available. Titanium is not out of that category.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

:) Presumably you'd take a powdered supplement in pill form or something, considering how tough it is you'd probably only need a few milligrams a day tops. "Once-a-day vitamins for cyborgs, now with 20% more Rare Earths"

[@redeamed19]

titanium Flintstones vitamins

[@kekistaniattackhelicopter2242]

TiO2 is a commonly used food dye. So let's drink cool aid.

[@danieljum3392]

The Genesis device from Star Trek.Job done in a few minutes. :) Love your videos.Keep up the good job.