What's ACTUALLY Preventing Us From Colonising the Solar System

[@astrumspace]

Is this a future that excites you? Or do you recoil from the idea? Download Star Trek Fleet Command on iOS & Android and battle in the Star Trek universe here: pixly.go2cloud.org/SH3iZ

[@libertycowboy2495]

Exciting

[@Bikewithlove]

Thank you for mixing your narration louder than the commercials - It’s refreshing :) Now, on to the rest of your show…

[@stevewilliams2498]

How can we get excited in a positive way when you start to imagine the potential of a human with the ambitions that Hitler had. What would he have created ? What superhuman "powers" would he have designed. ?

[@CrackCocaKolaine]

This a future that I can laugh at. Imagine them shapeshifting. I will absolutely laugh at. They don’t know beauty ahahahahaha. We already have that.

[@timmiller9599]

The inevitable is coming. Whether we have done it to mother earth or not.... Star Trek coming to life, over and over again. If we can eradicate human poverty, like they have it on Star Trek, I am all for it

[@jus10lewissr]

As someone who is hearing-impaired, I've always appreciated the extra work gone into the captions for this channel.

[@sjsomething4936]

To ensure that my intent isn’t misconstrued, this is a real comment with only your best interest in mind, not a troll comment or any way making light of your disability. It’s quite interesting that with the very concept of gene editing covered in this video could be used to reverse your hearing loss, if you wanted to be able to have an improved hearing ability.

[@handlmycck]

@@sjsomething4936 doesnt matter if he wants it, the problems are 1. country of birth 2. wealth 3. more luck. all of those need to be met and more

[@goytabr]

I have a slight hearing impairment as well, and it appears to be genetic and Y-linked, as all men (but not the women) on my father's side of the family get it eventually (it started in my 30s, and when my father died at age 92 I'd been unable to talk to him on the phone for several years because he couldn't understand anything). Additionally, although I'm obviously fluent in English (I'm a professional translator, actually, but I only work with written material), it's not my native language. So, the subtitles are much welcome here, too.

[@aazhie]

Only if it's a genetic issue. Plenty of hearing loss problems are nothing to do with genetics​@@sjsomething4936

[@RanEdgar-ok3wk]

I don’t have hearing issues but.. I’m so happy you enjoy the channel can I recommend a few others I think you would enjoy? The octopus lady Lindsey Nicole casual geographic trey the explainer :D?? There all very good and I think you would enjoy them❤

[@danieldan136]

"one day we might be able to eat plastic" ...bro we already have mc Donald's

[@Miss_Trillium]

As well as consume microplastics via regular water and food intake, McDonald's or not

[@daMillenialTrucker]

​@@Miss_Trillium them 50 cent plastic bowl from Walmart are delicious, cheap and easy meal

[@d1want34]

😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@pandaxpres]

😂😂

[@nickkorkodylas5005]

Yeah but it's a reproductive burden. Maybe in the future we can genetically modify women to be attracted to manboobs, babyfaces and scarce neckbeards.

[@orbit1894]

We will slowly become the aliens we thought we would encounter.

[@allineedis1mike81]

Aliens should terrified of ever encountering us if they exist. Every scary alien in every story really is just us projecting.

[@JB52520]

I hope we get the chance to change much faster than that. If AGI develops the technology for us, we could become pure information. (Sci-fi says pure energy, but information seems like a better way to go post-physical.)

[@DarkDiamond-jx2gx]

That's such a raw line, love it!

[@jerrytheant]

Just like in Dune! (Somewhat)

[@Space_Rebel]

Best sentence on YT so far this year…in my opinion. Evolution works to fit in niches over time according to its environment.

[@christopheradams3271]

I really liked how Civilization: Beyond Earth explored this idea further. It envisioned three possible futures: We terraform a place to conform to us, we adapt our DNA to conform to the host planet, or we somehow transfer our consciousness to electro-mechanical systems.

[@Oborowatabinostk]

There were some really cool things in that game

[@ajohndaeal-asad6731]

So basically we either become - terraformers - adapters - or transformers

[@AJ-ui1tr]

So just to sums up things here... option 1: If we dont restart the core of a planet and reignite the main geology processes, to create the magnetosphere, we can try to create local/artificial atmosphere as much as we want. Untill we wont secure our selfs from space radiation and local star's coronal mass ejections, consider anyone who signs up for such a trip, a walking dead. option 2: DNA adaptation will take milenia and will be filled with a generations of cancer modifications, before we get to that optimal DNA configuraiton. In the end, I assume, it'll be hard call us humans, at that point anyway... Option 3: as far as i recall, electronics dont like high energy radiation as well so, yeah...

[@spaceman9599]

I agree: it was a nice take on possibly trajectories.

[@holdinmuhl4959]

@@AJ-ui1tr , the Voyager probes seemingly like the radiation.

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

favorite video of yours yet. radiation was something i obviously knew about but not to that extent. when you talked about the radiation exposure on a trip to europa alone, that really put it into perspective. absolutely insane

[@ProgressiveEconomicsSupporter]

Don't worry, talking as a biochemist, we are a very long way away from reparing radiation damage to somatic cells in astronauts. We are also far from understanding who systems work and could be implemented to give humans new features. There is so much more than just editing a few genes. The genetic and epigenetic interactions are unbelievably complex. Nature is the greatest engineer by far! 😎

[@donaldsilberger5253]

Humanity with its science and technology may be considered just one of the tools that Nature develops.

[@astrumspace]

Do you think it could one day happen though?

[@ProgressiveEconomicsSupporter]

@astrumspace I'm confident they will find suffieciently many properties which can be modified easily enough to either help the body to quicker adapt to new environmental challenges (which is one function of epigenetic features) - providing enough folate or engineered proteins or pre-adaptation trainings - or to edit certain gene loci to enhance resistance to factors like radiation, thereby learning from nature. This however might comprise gene editing which might only be efficient at embryonic stage, hard to imagine to modify all somatic cells of adults. Who's baby shall be primes to live on Mars later? So it's tricky beyond genetics and engineering, regarding also ethic issues of modifying human nature for some of us.

[@AlexthunderGnum]

@@donaldsilberger5253 We are not very good in dealing with complexity. The first thing we always do is - looking for the way to simplify. Split, divide and simplify. This is our way of adaptation to complexity, but it is not embracing it, it is escaping from it instead. My point is - we are not very useful tool, it seems. We might be not a tool at all, but rather an object of the study, a specimen or a sample...

[@Stop_Gooning]

IDK I feel like if we had 100 years and no morals we could make a whole lot of progress in the field.

[@6uiti]

Everything evolves into a crab 🦀 eventually

[@louielouie6259]

Crab people! 🦀 We will need more butter.

[@2IDSGT]

😂

[@EMT_Artesania]

Why not Zoidberg? 🙃

[@rinotilde2699]

​@@EMT_Artesania lol

[@t-vis6330]

When you pick up tongs do you click them?

[@peterway7867]

I envy the generations to come for the possibility's that await them. At age 62 I can see in the near future my declining strength and health. It's frustrating to think that I may have just missed out.

[@judemorales4U]

Peter, I'm 69 and am not optimistic for the future. Compare the 60's to today, then throw in AI and the continued governmental corruption. A Mad Max world filled with mankind continuing to create chaos and destruction. I think we've done our part.😊 Nice video and interesting content though.

[@italovidigal1990]

The research of Dr. David Sinclair might interest you.

[@youtubeconnollyfamily]

You did not miss out my friend. Your generation paved the way for the rest of us. Thank you very much.

[@jayBBvid95]

Dude with the upcoming climate crisis my generation are about to experience, and the nightmares that will come with future adults who have spent their entire childhoods on the internet I would rather be dead 💀

[@mannyk2755]

Save your DNA before you die.. You never know, in the future they might bring you back to life!

[@alaly1027]

This made me go watch one of my favorite movies, "Gattaca".

[@SomeRandomPersonOnTheNet]

This

[@oblivionfox]

I often hear “500 years from now”, or 1000, longer. I believe these timeframes are incredibly pessimistic given the astounding progress we have made in just the last 50 years. I welcome these rapid changes/challenges, and hope to see as many of them as allowed by my lifetime.

[@SVJoe]

We went from horse drawn carriages to walking on the moon in just under a century, so anything is possible.

[@Jymboslicx]

Id say its more on optimistic side. Personally I think 500 years to 400 is the most realistic.

[@ImYourOverlord]

It's not as though humans are likely to continue to exist very much longer than 1000 years from now anyway.

[@miscbits6399]

50 years ago, it was expected that flying cars would be commonplace and the kind of communication we have in our pockets was beyond even the depictions of 23rd century life in Star Trek (their communicatotrs didn't do video) What you think is "close" may not be. What does happen in 50 years might surprise you. As an engineer deploying and testing mobile phone networks in the 1980s, none of what we see now was on anyone's mind (the most enthusiastic adoptors were truck drivers (it's hard to find a working phone booth at times), construction companies (no facilities onsite) and travelling sales reps for wholesalers (phoning in orders)). IPv4 was new, the Internet barely existed (it was NSFnet and commercial uses were verboten), international phone calls cost $3/minute (they had done since the earky 1960s and inflation made them affordable) and telcos dictated demand for bandwidth along with pricing models The fact that you could make calls to antarctica via inmarsat had _JUST_ happened (I worked the last shift of the HF radio link between New Zealand and Scott/McMurdo before turning the 40-year-old transmitter off for the last time) and didn't change the $15/minute cost of doing so WRT gene editing, we keep finding that "junk" DNA is anything but, and protein folding is a critical part of the coding/gene expression system which hadn't even been considered 15 years ago. It will probably take decades to fully reverse engineer our code, not helped by these kinds of complications (it's essentially self-modifying instruction code)

[@nickkorkodylas5005]

We are slowing down due to increasing mutational load allowed by the abundance and consequently tolerance brought to us by previous technological advancements, right now we run mostly on technological momentum and we can't even return to the moon.

[@arctrooper12]

In my opinion, what makes us human is the fact that we do have our physical and mental limitations. Being human is to know that we can't do the impossible, but still stride towards it. It's about reaching the limit of our capabilities and subsequently pushing those limits higher and higher. Yes, changing our DNA would be beneficial and I agree about changing damaged cells to repair our bodies, but we aren't indestructible and were never meant to be. We can't take the easy way out for the sake of it, all historical figures, good or bad, had to get themselves to the top of their game through incredible hard work and dedication and I cannot respect the work of someone who did something spectacular by choosing to change something fundamental about that, by making them less human, by breaking our limits and being something else completely. Anyway, great video as always Alex, thank you

[@dangerfly]

I couldn't disagree more. The DEFINING characteristic of humans ISN'T that we have limitations. What animal doesn't have limitations? That's nonsensical. In fact, the ability to create and use tools to surpass our animal limitations is actually what makes us unique therefore defines us as human so you couldn't be more wrong. Genetic manipulation is a tool like any other. Therefore it's MOST human to alter ourselves through that tool.

[@edumazieri]

Meant to be? By whom? If you want to argue for a creator, I'm out. But otherwise I'm willing to engage. Our DNA is not a special thing, it's simply the result of natural selection up to this point, that is to say it is simply the result of survival and reproduction. "what makes us human" then is simply a snapshot in time. These limits are only there because natural selection didn't require anything better in order for the species to survive and reproduce up to this point. If we want to progress further, we should use all tools at our disposal, as we've had in the past. A human born with a naturally occuring mutation is still a human. And a human made by humans is a even more human than a human that just naturally occured. If some people have a problem with that, they can keep the name human, and the new ones can call themselves something else as they venture the cosmos while your human descendants get obliterated by some natural disaster.

[@Deecon1332]

I totally agree, limitations are our defining feature. It is what makes us work together to overcome and make the world a better place. I agree that once you fiddle with humanity, I could not respect any accomplishment one might gain because of it. Good point.

[@astrumspace]

Thank you for the donation! And interesting points you raise

[@SnootchieBootchies27]

Realistically (for the forseeable future), the only way to produce a genetically fully altered being is to do it at the point of conception. Which means you would have to design and produce someone who would survive better on Mars. But they get no choice in the matter, they're going to Mars because they are more suited to it.

[@michaelklim8277]

If the cost is low enough and the understanding is high enough, every parent that wants to could have their baby made to be ABLE to go to Mars, but because it was a low investment by the parents themselves, they will have a choice. The only two main problems for going to Mars are radiation and deterioration due to low gravity. Both problems are already partially solved by tardigrades and bears, respectively. So it may not be that hard to develop in the near future.

[@z3ntropy]

We should all be so lucky to be given tangible purpose so easily

[@asoul3919]

@@michaelklim8277 Why would we even bother with parents at that point

[@TURBOMIKEIFY]

"But they get no choice in the matter...". But, they should have a choice to go to Mars if they have the genes to protect them. If they choose not to, move on, and create a baby that IS willing to on their own fruition. Simple as that. What about individuality? Just because many people may have the traits to survive on other planets doesn't mean that they should be forced/coerced to go. Simple as that, in my eyes. I'd love hearing a differing POV though.

[@inventiveowl395]

@@asoul3919“Making the baby's the fun part” - ROBOTS (2005)

[@Smooth_Lime_Nine]

If we become an interstellar species then the genetic diversity between these colonies would most likely lead to them being considered a different species anyway. Perhaps in the far future we will use these gene-editing techniques, not to diversify but instead, to maintain the base level of what we have then outlined to be a human. Not to say that we wont have individualised gene edits dependent on personal preference but that keeping us all human using some sort of base line human genome template may be important to cohesion as a species. After all, who wants to colonise the galaxy with potential rivals?

[@verivihattu1400]

That just sounds like galactic fascism and tbh I think the most sensible solution for this not-a-problem problem is to just not colonize to begin with

[@Smooth_Lime_Nine]

@@verivihattu1400 it's likely that we will never colonise the rest of the galaxy. Should we choose to we will definitely be considering the fact that once a population is a few light years away from its origins it will begin to diverge. Over 10 thousand years or so its culture will be it's own entirely. Cultures that boarder each other on earth still fight to the death over some of the dumbest things. It is less about fascism and more about not seeding the galaxy with possibly hostile aliens

[@orbit1894]

@@verivihattu1400 thats a very backwards solution. Actually its not a solution, its avoidance. Being multi-planetary species is our future, we should have a back up plan to survive in case anything out of our control happens here on Earth. Earth was almost wiped out several times in her history, and there is so much we can foresee or predict let alone prevent any disaster. By experimenting on other planets, trying out things that would make those planets livable, we can use those tech to repair the damage we've done to earth. Just like medical field, we need subjects to experiment on to learn our world, so we can repair and thrive here and many other planets.

[@pacevy3798]

@@verivihattu1400 yeah so you can stay in one solar system so when it dies, you die with it

[@AlmostEthical]

It doesn't matter what extraterrestrial humans become because it will be impossible to control another world from millions of kms away. Civilisations have enough trouble controlling neighbouring countries, let alone one that is a few years' away, and at a prohibitive cost. If humanity spreads out, there needs to be recognition that the new colony will be a backup for the story of Earth's history, but the links may largely end there, depending on whether Earth and the colonised world can remain friendly as long distance pen pals.

[@shanastroskyphazer8172]

radiation shielding technology should improve over time. Using the Russian dolls concept. A spaceship within a spaceship. The outer ship could be run by AI. The shielded inner shuttle would protect the human crew much more. Love your work Alex ! keep going !

[@PsRohrbaugh]

I already had homework on changing genes in school back in 2004. We exposed fruit flies to various mutagens, and then did gel electrophoresis to compare the results.

[@Chrisilch]

You can biohack the sensing of electricity very easily. Just stick a tiny super strong magnet in the tip of one finger and Boom, you feel it vibrate near live wires. Cody from Cody's lab actually did this to himself and it apparently worked pretty well

[@deltachanger714]

idk if this is satire or not

[@DreadlordofArch]

The guy from The Thought Imporium did too.

[@mitseraffej5812]

Make multiple wraps of fine insulated copper wire around your ears, connect the ends of the wire to a headphone jack and plug it in. Place a small magnet just inside your outer ear and the wire vibrates and imparts the vibration to the skin. The clarity is quite surprising. I did this as a kid 50 plus years ago.

[@LittleBlueSubie]

when I did this, a key stuck to my neck and Marjorie Taylor Greene made sense. It's true! I found it on the internet! You should try it too!

[@Junior305able]

Can you link the video

[@tiagdvideo]

If you've not done so already, you may be interested to read the Lilith's Brood trilogy by Octavia E. Butler. They revolve around extra terrestrials who take gene editing to an extreme, taking many of the possibilities you hinted at to an extreme.

[@livingood1049]

​@uPtrade Skill issue..

[@openperspective]

The Bene Tleilax from the Dune saga also do massive levels of gene editing, taking it so far as to basically form a religion of it.

[@terfalicious]

J Varley's "Millenium" where humans have evolved to need pollutants!

[@DeanStephen]

Excellent reference; great books.

[@Lissbirds]

Sounds interesting, never heard of that series before. The first thing I thought of when I saw this video was Gattaca. :)

[@adityabadukale6353]

I just get emotional when I think this little blue orb will one day be swallowed

[@DontTripChocolateDrip]

Oh God, that old archaic question: "Just because we can, should we?" I say to hell with hobbling ourselves for the sake of conserving our ego. If there are willing people who wish to volunteer to have their genes edited then I say inform them of all the possible negative effects, really educate them about it. If they're still willing to undergo gene editing: Go for it

[@LARPing-Wolf]

I would. I really want to die witnessing Olympus Mons with my own eyes.

[@si-melamme7837]

Has anyone ever seen a technology that was not used, even when it was obviously risky? This is happening, whether we want it or not, and it will probably be both awful and wonderful at the same time, as with any technological breakthrough the humanity's ever made. I personally choose to be excited about it!

[@edumazieri]

That's more like it :) Now let's just wait until someone replies with some never-heard-before warning that we will face destruction or something. I always wonder where would we be if there weren't people like that. I could be a space pirate watching spacetube in a far away galaxy if people didn't try so hard to delay technological progress, but instead, it's likely this rock is all I'll get to see.

[@zweisteinya]

Thermonuclear weapons, for one, and don't it make you wonder?

[@that_deadeyegamer7920]

There's a lot of technology that was scrapped because it wasn't feasible, but I get the gist of your optimism

[@Szgerle]

@@zweisteinya Nuclear weapons were and are used.

[@riplikatlnloki5091]

@@edumazieri we would be destroyed. Change might be good but not too much. It should be controlled for obvious reasons

[@openperspective]

I think we need to re-examining what we consider to be a person soon. AI may not currently be conscious, but chances are good that it will eventually reach a level where we can no longer describe the difference. One day some scientist may decide to edit animals to be as intelligent and communicative as humans, regardless of the ethics. Whether or not we like the idea of these things, people need to start accepting that they are possibilities. Unethical decisions are made all the time, the question is whether or not the rest of us deal with the aftermath in an ethical way.

[@Astra2]

It's increasingly seeming like consciousness and free will is just an illusion anyway, so we may not be as different from AI as we think.

[@AndrewMacLaine]

Very interesting idea and something I had never thought about!

[@meshakvb6431]

Animals already are intelligent.

[@openperspective]

@@meshakvb6431 I agree. Unfortunately they are not viewed as such by almost any regulatory agency, and thus do not get protections afforded to those "able to engage in human society and economy." But at some point that is very likely to change, and that should begin to be a point we address proactively. I live in a country where certain groups of people were viewed as "not actually being human", so that they could be exploited inhumanely for free labor. Nearly 200 years after we changed that policy and we are still trying to repair the damage

[@kayskreed]

Agreed, although many will resist the idea, both out of fear and for profit. It's unethical and illegal to own a person nowadays, much less sell, trade and profit off of one (although various forms of slavery and trafficking do still exist). If AI and animals were deemed 'persons', they could no longer be sold as goods and used for profit in certain places, and those that currently benefit the most from those markets would stem to lose a lot of money and monopoly. Economies would collapse. The profiteers especially would lobby against it and influence the politicians and public narrative to get others to do the same.

[@wizzardofpaws2420]

Ethics always goes out the door when it comes to making a ton of money on something as big as this.

[@lillith-kagari]

this sort of tech would quickly become a new form of eugenics, i just know it.

[@Ghost_Hybrid]

@@lillith-kagariReminds me of the movie, Gattaca

[@enihil7713]

This video should be called how genetic engineering could affect humanity instead of it’s current title

[@daisukiii]

This is so amazing! I can't even begin to really understand the real importance of gene editing is for us as a species, but the implications alone are giving me shivers. Real amazing!

[@supremereader7614]

Incredible ideas! Thank you for sharing that. Keep making videos like that and smart people will continue sharing resources. Perhaps one day the offspring of great KZbinrs can live indefinitely on the royalties what the original KZbinrs produced.

[@astrumspace]

Thank you! And we'll see haha

[@daveyr7454]

Many Science Fiction writers have always seemed to have a ‘crystal ball’ ability. And with regard to this fantastic video’s topic, no more so than legendary Iain Banks, and his Culture species of humans. What a fantastic insight into a possible future, bound up into page turning stories that man gave us.

[@anydaynow01]

A.C. Clarke had a pretty insightful speech at the NY Worlds Fair in the '60s, pretty much spot on with his predictions!

[@dante7228]

I hope our spirit/mindset will evolve as well, seeing how primitive we still are even if we have amazing technologies, my only concern is how we will handle such a great power

[@pietpetrus2343]

he said enchaned inteligence tho

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

We are still dependant on primitive dinosaur juice to sustain our development.

[@michaelklim8277]

@@pietpetrus2343 hopefully that comes with enhanced ethics too.

[@rhoanjenson7475]

I agree. I remember my grandfather once said, "when men think they are smarter than God than man will destroy himself".

[@edumazieri]

@@rhoanjenson7475 Maybe if god didn't create a universe that destroys man, we wouldn't have to outsmart it. By that I mean, stars die, meteors hit, radiation... either we do it, or we get destroyed anyway.

[@FUL0H8]

You need a pocket magnetic field to traverse this region, turn back now or die from radiation sickness.

[@ariadgaia5932]

I am grinning from ear to ear as this is the EXACT PREMISE for my fantasy, sci-fi, romance novels~ Glad to know I read the trends accurately~

[@rleclaire87]

Seems like with the advances of AI, in the future we will be able to model and predict what effects certain gene editings have on the whole of the human being. We won't have to test, we can simulate.

[@markmurex6559]

AI could figure out what kinds of editing is needed for all wanted results of modification.

[@tomc.5704]

Perhaps. AI has excellent results at predicting how a string of amino acids will fold into a protein, but predicting what effects that will have is a very different problem (and probably not suited for machine learning). As an example, lets say you wanted to improve the performance of your neurons. (Probably a terrible example, but it'll do). You might want to change the sodium pumps in an effort to decrease the firing delay of your neuron's electrical signal by 10%. There's several layers to that problem. 1.) Predicting what shape the protein will be 2.) Predicting how that protein will interact with the other proteins in the complex 3.) Predicting how your new protein will change shape as it functions 4.) Predicting how other molecules will interreact with your protein as it changes shape. You need to be able to regulate the sodium ion pump; turn it off and on. That means there's part of its shape that you can't change. Or parts that you DO want to change to increase the speed that it can work. And maybe you're trying to make it more efficient (though good luck beating evolution on that one). But then you can keep scaling out. 5.) Will the increased pump speed actually result in a decreased neuron fire delay, or is there something else conrolling the speed? Something else as the bottleneck? 6.) Will increasing the neuron firing speed break the functionality of the neuron? For example, will the signals become too close together and start to interfere or overlap? 7.) Did you forget to make other changes in the neuron associated with this new change? If it fires 10% faster, does it have the infrastructure to support that? And then finally, even if you successfully improved the sodium pump and got the neuron to be capable of firing 10% faster, 8.) Does that actually result in the effect you want? The problem is well out of reach of current AI design. But computing power and algorithm design aside, we fundamentally don't understand a lot of these processes well enough to train an AI. We don't have training data for it. Because we don't yet fully understand cellular pathways. (Oh, duh, a better example would be Sickle Cell Anemia -- it's caused by a single point mutation. One base pair change in a crucial spot. We can identify that point by observation, and we can use gene editing to fix it. But we are NOWHERE close to being able to predict what effects that single mutation would have had. I can see how we would figure out how the mutation in the genetic sequence would change the shape of the protein, and how that would in turn change the shape of the hemoglobin protein complex, and how that in turn would change how it works. But would we be able to predict how that changes the shape of the cell? Would we be able to predict that this would make someone resistant to malaria?) I guess the point I'm trying to make is: AI will help us solve this problem, but it won't be enough on its own.

[@speedbuiz]

@@tomc.5704 Someone's got a degree in science :0

[@tHEHEAd1138]

​@@tomc.5704 You are a very learned person, who clearly understands the problems involved in predicting the outcome of a genetic change. But now imagine this... And intelligent machine with not just a level of understanding of this subject that makes yours seem parochial at best, but also has that same level of understanding in all of the sciences, and the ability to accurately model outcomes from literally every possible angle and variation, and you can start to see the potential of a true AI. It's like having every human expert in every possible field, even the seemingly unrelated, all under a single skull, able to collaborate instantly, with total clarity and understanding. I think it's almost impossible to conceive of all the possibilities that could produce. From the perspective of the average human, it's an almost God like intelligence.

[@TechnicalTactician]

@beam gigachad unfortunately I am not understandable, I know what I talk about usually but only few friends I have understand me. Its hard to talk to people. :(

[@dreglanoth3320]

Two things, Immortality and cat girls. That's all we want.

[@khairulhelmihashim2510]

reminds me of All Tomorrows lore. Hypothetical human evolution.

[@glenrosarian2352]

I've read the comments regarding ethics/money but like it or not it's the future. Excite me? No. Terrify me? Somewhat. Fascinate me? Ultra verba. As Spock would say, 'Fascinating'. Thank you for such an insightful and interesting video.

[@ventura1957]

The same way companies are planning to emulate gravity in a space station; is not possible to emulate the magnetic earth field to protect from radiation?

[@nixl3518]

One very serious concern that you didn’t cover in this very intelligent episode David, is how gene editing, at least at this point in time, affects the act of procreation. How do the edited segments interact with the other “carbon unit’s” genes? Has that aspect been studied, or is it being studied? If so, are there any rules developed as to how these interactions work, so that one can project experiments beyond a single generation into multiple ones and the consequences that might result?

[@ili_711]

😅

[@PhilipMurphy8Extra]

This video is so well edited, Good job

[@yurigansmith]

The vintage look will be quite popular.

[@markthompson4859]

I believe that this video is the truer representation of who we are and what makes us human. We are curious, we adapt to what we learn and what we desire. Theism is our obstacle. Nothing else

[@spaceman9599]

Interesting. The big issue is how adaption can be done without the associated problems from, essentially, mass immune response?

[@Sothisishowitis]

Good point. Anything seen as a foreign chemical or bacteria will cause our bodies to respond. I believe natural evolution is a slow process, but technology is taking shortcuts that might be more harmful than good. Who knows it's only 2023 and still no flying cars.

[@captainzappbrannagan]

I'm all in for gene editing to live forever without disease and in harsher environments, also in for tech upgrades to enhance everything. I'm ready to be borg but without a queen and optional participation.

[@jwr2904]

That's the thing, in a Borg/communist society you must participate. Just like you can be a communist in a capitalist country, but you can't be a capitalist in a communist country.

[@jerrytheant]

@@jwr2904 A borg hive mind is not a communist society 💀 the borg hive mind is literally a twisted reflection of what happens if technology controls us. The United Federation of Planets is a great example of a communist society.

[@mrpengeux]

Please keep expanding your range of subjects, even tho I love the space theme, I could see you transitioning to general science in a couple of years

[@pietpetrus2343]

bigger audience = bigger cash

[@cmdrgraves3308]

Nah

[@carlomaratta5636]

Anyone interested in these ideas about the future of humanity, I highly recommend the book 'Last and First Men' by Olaf Stapledon, written in 1930 it's a fascinating work. His later book 'Star Maker' is in my opinion even more profound, and I agree with Arthur C Clarke who said of this book; "probably the most powerful work of imagination ever written".

[@Iosaiv]

My thoughts: ‘Oh, overdue for the asteroid, hmm interesting…. WAIT DID HE JUST SAY DINOSAUR ENDING EXTINCTION EVENT LEVEL ASTEROID’ … 😅

[@DeAlpineBro]

Years ago I read a very nice article on Star Trek. The first season had aired and the author noted that the aliens were all related to earthlings. We could be the first to spread ourselves throughout the Milky-Way. We could be the aliens that we meet in the far future. I like that.

[@Markfr0mCanada]

If you do requests: Any chance you could cover those plastic eating worms in more detail? They sound very useful!

[@p4nnus]

Some bacteria like this has also been discovered. Look it up!

[@anydaynow01]

@@p4nnus I think the worms would be more controllable, unless the bacteria only process the plastic in a specific type of environment that can only be replicated in a lab or digester like how speed up the production of RNG, or now that I think about it, in the gut of a certain special worm.

[@DeanStephen]

I regret I won’t be around for this future. To me, it sounds very exciting. 😢

[@edumazieri]

@JohnLA There's always those that every time they hear of something new they feel the need to warn us of doom and talk about how humans are awful and are playing god or whatever. Isn't it a bit cliche by now? And are you sure you're in the right youtube channel? I'm sure there's content out there more suited to that point of view.

[@WWLinkMasterX]

@@edumazieri Yeah, but is there _no_ point at which eventually they're correct?

[@edumazieri]

@@WWLinkMasterX They're usually not very specific, it's always VERY generic, so it's not like we can even really rely on what is being said even if it wasn't just a cliche. Their point isn't to save the world from impending doom, they've just consumed one too many dystopic media and feel the need to sound "prophetic" by pointing out "oh but it can go wrong, remember terminator?" or whatever. My point is that it's played out, and it's not even an argument, if there was an actual argument I could engage with, then maybe the question of whether it's correct would be relevant. That is not the case.

[@WWLinkMasterX]

@@edumazieri Isn't what you're saying right now also "very generic" though? You say it's cliché for people to profess doom as a result of social/technological change since it's happened so many times throughout history that it should be "played out. But isn't it also true that the overwhelming majority of human societies, civilizations, cultures, and even subspecies are extinct now? Not to say anything about the 90% of non-human species that are extinct.

[@edumazieri]

@@WWLinkMasterX Did those species get extinct because they made or didn't make cliche comments on their respective youtubes? Can you help me understand your point?

[@dnichol2760]

I would love a future like this, only for the fact that as humans, we like to self-destruct and destroy .when we learn to live harmoniously, will we evolve .

[@robbierobinson8819]

Very exciting and with so many advantages - cancer cure, aging diseases and so on and on. There are risks,to be sure, but as you said, the genie is out of the bottle. Excellent cover of the topic and amazing graphics.

[@DeborahRosen99]

That is how this stuff is sold - as eventual cures for diseases and aging and impotence and everything about our bodies that we want to change. But the dark side is that this stuff can be and will be, and maybe already has been, weaponized. Imagine if a government, run by ideologues, decided that targeting a hated ethnic group's ability to reproduce through gene hacking was a new and novel way of committing genocide that wouldn't be noticed until years later, when people of the "undesirable" group saw their rates of childbirth go through the floor?

[@captcorajus]

I've been saying for years that the only way we can really consider going into space long term is through genetic modification. We'll become the aliens we've always thought we'd encounter. To be fair, if we really intend to colonize other worlds, adapting our genetics to live there will be a neccessity. Who's to say that in a billion years, the galaxy will be populated.. by .. us.. perhaps WE are the first intelligent life in the galaxy. Its an interesting thought.

[@chrisbingley]

1) NASA (and the US Navy) are far too cautious when it comes to radiation exposure. 2) Gene editing sounds more like we will end up with a Brave New World type situation where people will be bred for certain roles with no way of escaping their lot in life.

[@WildWombats]

That may be so, but none of us ever asked to be born either and even without gene editing, this already happens and has happened for much of human history. So in reality, it's not much different from what already goes on. Not even trying to justify it, but just saying the pros it would give seem to outweigh that downside. I'm sure if I was in that position though I'd say otherwise. But maybe not. If they can also control the way you think, then they could quite literally "program" you to even enjoy what you are doing. Now we're getting into some super gray area here, but would it even be bad if you enjoyed doing it at that point? Isn't what makes it bad the fact you hate it and don't want to do it? Or is it something more? Just posing some potentially hard questions.

[@DexitronPrime]

Love your work, I try to catch every video.

[@igavinwood]

This has been a question I have had for decades. I don't have an answer but I'm glad to see that this question is starting to gain more public awareness. I came to ask this question from a social perspective. I can see how the social class structures, built on wealth and resource management, has started to effect people already. Better health care is almost always associated to wealth. There are a great many ways this tech, along with AI can develop. Now is the best time to deal with setting these questions, before we unleash an uncontrolable unwanted future.

[@GODOFEARTHREALM]

I'd love to see a longer, more in depth video about this topic.

[@wwrafter]

I'd really like to see this made available at nearly free cost to anyone anywhere who wanted it. We, as a species, incessantly choose previously immutable characteristics to oppress our fellow humans. If everyone had "stars upon thars", this kind of abuse would decrease. It's obvious that any humans who venture into space for any significant time would quickly become a separate species, and the humans on earth would just as quickly find a reason to "dehumanize" (despite them being a new species of human) and exclude them in any number of ways.

[@whitehorsept]

This could be a very interesting future, full of potential, but also depending on how it is implemented into society and the mind set of society itself at that point in time it can turn into something really awful.

[@squod1]

We (unaltered humans) would be a slave race to AI developed genetically modified people. It's madness that we should let it continue. We need moral structure influencing human hybrid development

[@karlmarxii1898]

It would certainly be ethically immoral because it would violate a core principle of Western democratic society that every person is born equal. By changing the genes to create enhanced babies that would literally violate equality of all humans. Gene editing to cure diseases after the fact is less ethically problematic, but I have serious concerns with creating those so called "designer babies", especially if it's used to give genetic advantages. Using it to cure genetic diseases in babies like down syndrome would be more acceptable.

[@whitehorsept]

@@karlmarxii1898 I think the concept of "everyone is born equal" is actually to mean that no matter the physical differences between the people, they have equal rights and are not targets of discrimination. So no core principal would be violated on that sentence, even if there would be bigger physical diversity among humans.

[@DanielWisehart]

What these capabilities to modify our DNA show is that what it is to be human will not change, but it will be highlighted. Aristotle said that to be human is to be a rational animal. If we were less than we are, we never would have developed the capabilities to change our DNA. No matter how much we change our makeup, we remain and become even more, a being who survives by pursuing values, making choices and exercising our rational faculty.

[@ScionStorm1]

Maybe future A.I. will consider human too.

[@NintendoHighSchool]

Red Rising by Pierce Brown does an amazing job showing humans in the future after 700 years of both genetic and social engineering to create a caste system. Highly recommend it.

[@andrewchart147]

Another great video, thank you Alex.

[@thomyoutube3478]

You lost me at "we come in all shapes, sizes and GENDERS" 😂

[@trentbateman]

Hey im gender 31! You got a problem with that?!??!!??😂

[@MarikHavair]

We do come in all genders, all 2 of them, because the human species is bisexual like most living organisms. But we do still come in all 2 genders that exist in all of nature. Sometimes both are together in one place (hermaphroditism) but that's still only 2.

[@Captain.AmericaV1]

We'll be lucky to still be here in the next 100 years, let alone 1000.

[@edumazieri]

Who knows...

[@MarikHavair]

No, given the age of the human species and it's level of technological development the probability we won't be here in 100 years is astronomically low. We're currently further away from extinction than we've ever been in human history. The only thing that can be said to wipe out entire species that have already established dominance in an ecosystem is what I'll call 'acts of God', giant ass meteor/mankind. (being struck by mankind is basically an apocalyptic act of God.) The extinction of the human race is highly improbably on the micro scale, it only becomes probable on the macro scale and only then in the sense that the survivability of everyone and everything is ultimately 0% on the macro scale.

[@DarioVolaric]

I'm actually looking forward to a future of humans with traits like wings, tails and cat ears. Sadly I don't think I will live long enough to see this happen but it would be so amazing.

[@MrSimonw58]

Or a donkey errhm

[@_Machitsu]

Nah bro we ain't getting catgirls

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Gimme that mantis shrimp vision. More colours and I'll know where your WiFi is 😈

[@horatiohuffnagel7978]

I bet you're a furry!! 😂

[@JesusChristDenton_7]

"We regard the present human norm as a transitional state. We will not give up our humanity, but we will perfect it in a thousand diverse ways." - Ian R. Walker

[@poopyfartboi]

Who’s Ian R Walker? I searched on google but the results were inconclusive.

[@WWLinkMasterX]

@Scott's Precious Little Account Great point. Doubtlessly, the existing diversity of human viewpoints coupled with this technology taken to its logical extreme will eventually result in separate human species (again). And when these species become sufficiently different that their fundamental interests don't align, well... Let's just say we'll just go back to being a single-species genus again.

[@Svensk7119]

I don't know what is worse. The idea of this happening or Alex' seeming enthusiasm for this. This is an ability we should never learn. Fortunately, I doubt we will ever leave the planet.

[@TheTapMusic]

I feel like there's a line somewhere between this tech saving people who would've otherwise had to live incredibly painful lives, and going completely off the dystopian end. The problem is I doubt anyone will be able to agree on where that line is, and we will end up dance around the line of morality and what can or should be changed.

[@HighRaptorjr]

Somewhere, out there in the world. The Emperor is frothing at the mouth thinking of all the vampire & werewolf soldiers he can make

[@powerofanime1]

My main worries with this tech is that as you mention, it's being pushed before we completely understand all the interactions it causes - which is a task that would last decades at least, maybe centuries, so I understand the impatience but it's still a terrible idea - and the fact that the current line of development is completely Brute Force. You can't bend an already tempered iron bar into shape and expect it to remain structurally sound, so why do that to the human body? If they can avoid those dangers, though, I foresee this being just another tool in our arsenal. One that is uniquely threatening to our health and independence if it's available to the corrupt, but a tool that can be turned to good uses nevertheless. I would say being conscious and able to reason is the most important marker of "humanity", so regardless of the methods used the pure capacity should be our launch point for "beings with divergent biology". Perhaps that would mean the end of calamari, but it hasn't stopped the cannibals yet so lifestyles probably wouldn't change too drastically at first. (I know I would stop considering calamari the instant we proved that octopi were fully reasoning, conscious beings with intellects that matched our own, though) Basically I would only trust the results if they took ALL the time they could in its development, and in the meantime I would hope people focus on less intrusive methods to solve our problems. The image you paint is a beautiful one though. If we reached that point with the proper respect for people's freedoms and health then I couldn't possibly protest.

[@faenethlorhalien]

In 1000 years? Genetically, pretty much the same, but more mixed. 1000 years isn't enough for any significant changes, as in "huge brains, underdeveloped limbs"-type of science-fiction gaff.

[@mattelder1971]

Have you ever read the book Man After Man by Dougal Dixon? It talks about just this topic, with wonderful illustrations and descriptions of possible future humans.

[@terfalicious]

Great book! Thanks for the reminder!

[@brianstiles1701]

In the original guardians of the Galaxy comics, they were each from a different planet in the solar system and their powers were the result of genetic engineering for different environments. Some of them appear in the movies as Ravagers, Including Stallone's character Vance Astro, "The Captain America of the 30th century."

[@uss-dh7909]

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop and ask if they should" or something along the lines of that.

[@TheOneTrueGesta]

I embrace and look forward to such a future!❤

[@emmanuelm361]

We can think what ever we want to think about this. It's already happening behind closed doors. Let's cross our fingers for an awesome outcome and not the realisation of a science fiction thriller 😅

[@powerofanime1]

My fingers are crossed.

[@JRD876]

0:10 nah just 2 gender.!

[@xenon3759]

The possibility of future humans with echolocation or other strange features to protect them from extreme environments is something I’ve never even thought about

[@mightyhadi6132]

Well this idea of new type of human is not new, we have Gundam scifi from Japan anime where human are born generically engineered to adapt space and evolve into new type.

[@Bikewithlove]

If gene editing can cure psychopathy, then it absolutely has to be done. If, as a side benefit, humans can travel to other worlds, then all the better - but before we do anything, psychopathy needs to be a thing of the past, like scurvy.

[@WWLinkMasterX]

I'm no expert on this, but I've been told before that psychopaths make the best surgeons. Would you still hold your viewpoint if "curing" psychopathy meant eradicating certain kinds of needed, useful people? More importantly, is "psychopathy" an easily differentiated, discrete trait? (Honest question, I don't know). Because what if it's not. Ie: what if people's empathic tendencies fall on a spectrum due to various gene influences. Where do we draw the line for idealized amounts of empathy? And can someone have _too much_ empathy? I certainly think so, considering there are some who will sympathize with inanimate objects, or give to much benefit-of-the-doubt to evil, abusive people.

[@Bikewithlove]

@@WWLinkMasterX - “I’ve been told before” Before you write anything, do a little research.

[@WWLinkMasterX]

@@Bikewithlove Cool. Next time I'll just lie and assert these things as facts without any reflection, like everyone else on the internet. If what I've said is wrong, the least you could do is say that much.

[@Bikewithlove]

@@WWLinkMasterX - You’re a nitwit.

[@MarikHavair]

Nah, psychopathy manifests in something like a fraction of a percent of the human population, nothing that rare is even worth the time. That's like curing the human species of men with 2 dicks, it's totally unnecessary.

[@maavet2351]

whatever way they chose to look like

[@JonnoPlays]

We, not they.

[@JesusFriedChrist]

Choose, not chose Future, not past

[@maavet2351]

@@JesusFriedChrist It's may dayalekt ov Inglish

[@JesusFriedChrist]

“…all shapes and sizes, colours, and genders.” All genders? Like…all two of them?

[@FrJohnBrownSJ]

We are in agreement

[@MarikHavair]

There's only 2 in all of nature, so yes, all 2 of them.

[@horatiohuffnagel7978]

Agreed and I'm glad there's no alphabet people here to whine and cry. I don't think their brains actually watch anything intelligent.

[@stefanschleps8758]

Thank you Alex. I've thought about this problem for many years now. It seems to me that with the right propulsion unit we will take a magnetosphere with us as we travel to the stars. All the best.

[@andycordy5190]

Whereas I would hate to see these avenues of the imagination closed off, the implausibility of many of these, given the evolutionary crossroads we currently face as diverse societies driven by competition, makes even the most open minded of us baulk at such suggestions. Ambition has altered us so much already but our ideas have left a trail of unresolved problems such as the global climate crisis, which will soon become so difficult to manage that they threaten survival let alone progress. Science fiction has always been populated by elites because it is too difficult to assimilate the broader populations which support them. In order to project any realistic ideas about what may be possible for one individual or a few it will be essential to understand and manage the whole of global society/ human resources much better than we do now just as we currently make projections for what is possible, technologically but which are unscalable such as carbon capture or EV charging.

[@bastooopanooo2311]

This is one of the best videos. This has been my favorite topic, and you covered it really well. Can you create another video on ChatGPT?

[@Janizzary]

I wonder if the recent AI advancements will allow us to alter our DNA even sooner that we expect.

[@reedr1659]

Gene editing is playing with a kind of fire we don't yet understand. A doctor can do almost instantaneously what takes nature tens of thousands of years to do. They might unintentionally introduce a harmful mutation or weakness which spreads by reproduction. It's an interesting concept, but it's probably more likely to be our undoing rather than a boon

[@miniskitproductions6955]

I can already imagine a really dark distopian future with this

[@rabidwasp]

Excellent video - good thought-provoking stuff! As long as we can avoid wiping ourselves out over the next few years, the future looks interesting indeed...

[@imbadatcod7208]

0:10 genders actually only two 🧐

[@jongeduard]

This video only discusses all the positive kinds of outcomes that these super powerful developments could have, but does not consider any negative outcomes that might evolve out of these, while all of these things are extremely sensitive to be abused in all kinds of ways. And apart from that, before diving into this whole transhumanism rabbit hole, we have a ton of other things to worry about. Currently we live in a world that still suffers from horrible wars and tons of environmental problems like climate change, problems that are of a much more direct danger to us than a future sun expansion or possible astroid impact. In other words, first things first. Let's first focus on how we humans can solve our real problems that we currently have and start working together for a far more peaceful and environment respecting life on Earth before we ever even consider the idea of making it to anywhere else in space. And then I did not even talk about the fact that we have already started poluting space too with all the space debris, even before permanently living there.

[@stardough1894]

Wow, gene editing for colonization sounds very exciting! Can't wait for the all tomorrows of our species!

[@Never-mind1960]

What will things be like in 100 years? We'll all be dead.

[@lancerevell5979]

Humans 5,000 years ago looked no different than today. Just different clothing styles. So, no. Humans only 1,000 years from now will still generally ook the same.

[@paul4000]

The video is about IF gene editing is introduced, not about what has naturally happened thus far.

[@jcheck1107]

You guys didn’t watch the video right?

[@pa5287]

and genders ????? you mean just male female right

[@FrJohnBrownSJ]

Right

[@flarvin8945]

So what gender is a hermaphrodite?

[@FrJohnBrownSJ]

@@flarvin8945 In humans, this depends on XX or XY chromosomes. This exceedingly rare condition is an unfortunate malfunction of nature, but the remedy is to recognize what might not be apparent on the surface. There are even some conditions where humans don't fit the XX or XY model. These are extremely rare and hardly justify wide acceptance of more than two genders.

[@pa5287]

@@flarvin8945 dont try to twist my words i know what this is and is so rare ...are you one you know of one or what ?

[@flarvin8945]

@@FrJohnBrownSJ so ignore reality, to fit your simple views? Sorry people exist that don't fit in the only 2 genders narrative. You can't simply hand wave them away.

[@maestroaxeman]

"I present to you: The 5-Assed Monkey." ~Mephisto (South Park)🤣

[@maestroaxeman]

🎶Doot-n'-dooo-doo-dooo! Pig & Elephant DNA just won't splice!🎶 ~Loverboy (South Park)🤣 "Pot-Bellied Elephants? You don't say." ~Chef (South Park)🤣

[@maestroaxeman]

This is the FIRST TIME that I have EVER thought Alex McCalgan was up his own @$$ with nonsense🤔🙄😒

[@maestroaxeman]

I think Alex's hint at "changing children" was his veiled support of this present insanity of genital mutilation & sterilization🤔 Tread lightly, man🤔

[@pjflynn]

Very interesting, thank you. We have evolved and will continue to do so on this or another world.

[@GuiiBrazil]

Some huge Cyberpunk vibes on this video.

[@Neceros]

Theoretically that's what the grey aliens are: genetically engineered drones for spaceflight

[@tlrlml]

Sometimes it is more important to answer the question, 'What should we do', rather then, 'what can we do'!!! Take it from a specialized hybrid Human.

[@watsontcbc]

This is messing with something of which we have no real long-term comprehension and are playing God. It will certainly end badly. I agree with the video title which says, “We must not go here”.

[@jamesmoore5630]

Looks like a real challenge when most humans can't even balance a checkbook.

[@SatisfyingWhirlpools]

Does wearing a lead suit reduce the radiation?

[@MikaHusk]

I'm gonna be a giant blue anthropomorphic dog and there's nothing you can do to stop me