- 2 days ago
Scientists are developing a wild new idea that could one day give us practically limitless energy from the Moon, and it all revolves around a giant “catapult”-style launch system that works like a hammer throw. Chinese researchers recently proposed this concept: a massive fifty-meter-long spinning arm on the lunar surface that whips capsules fast enough to reach the Moon’s escape velocity. Instead of using rockets, the system would build up speed, release the payload at just the right moment, and send it flying straight into space. If this works, it could launch materials, fuel, or even harvested lunar resources incredibly cheaply, opening the door to huge energy projects that aren’t possible on Earth because of gravity and cost. And in this video, you’ll see how this futuristic catapult could completely change how we power our civilization. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00This catapult-like system on the Moon might bring us limitless energy.
00:12It's a launch system concept that was recently proposed by the Chinese scientists.
00:17It would work like a hammer throw, spinning a launch arm that flings objects.
00:22This arm is supposed to be about 165 feet long.
00:25It will accelerate until it reaches the Moon's escape velocity, and then whoosh!
00:30The capsule is sent into space.
00:32This crazy idea will cost around 18 billion dollars.
00:36Ooh, pricey.
00:37But trust me, it's totally going to be worth it.
00:40The system would be powered by solar panels and nuclear energy.
00:43It could also recover more than 70% of the energy used after each launch.
00:48The Moon has a very weak gravity.
00:51There's also barely any atmosphere.
00:52So the air doesn't weigh you down.
00:55This makes it so much easier to launch stuff there.
00:57But why do we even need this?
01:00The main purpose is to transport helium-3.
01:03It's a really cool isotope of helium, and one of the most insane things about it is that
01:09it could become fuel for nuclear fission.
01:11This is the same process that happens in stars, including our sun.
01:15If we manage to recreate nuclear fusion here, on Earth, we can make it a clean and basically
01:25limitless source of energy for power plants.
01:28But helium-3 is super rare on Earth.
01:31We can sometimes find it in volcanic rock formations on the ocean floor.
01:35That's because it's a product of another rare element called tritium, the element we usually
01:41make in nuclear reactors and put in cool stuff like glow-in-the-dark paint.
01:46But the catch of tritium is that it takes forever to decay and turn into helium-3.
01:52Now, there's a bunch of helium-3 on the Moon, around 1 million tons.
01:56Just 20 tons of helium-3 could meet China's yearly electricity needs.
02:00In fact, lunar soil has enough helium-3 to power the entire world for over a thousand
02:06years.
02:07But why is there so much of helium-3 on the Moon, and barely none on our planet?
02:12Well, that's because helium-3 comes from the Sun and travels in solar winds.
02:17Solar winds are like streams of dangerous particles.
02:19They're super radioactive.
02:21Our planet's thick atmosphere and magnetic fields serve as a shield for us.
02:26They almost fully protect us from those particles.
02:28But, unfortunately, they also prevent the good stuff like helium-3 from getting here.
02:34The Moon's atmospheric shields are super thin, though, so it's under a constant shower
02:38of solar winds.
02:40So, helium-3 accumulated there over billions of years, and now it's just scattered around
02:45there.
02:47But mining it and bringing it back to Earth is no easy feat.
02:50It's super expensive.
02:52Just think about it.
02:53Rockets need tons of fuel to break free from gravity.
03:00Every single bolt and screw on the spacecraft must be engineered to survive extreme conditions,
03:05like radiation.
03:06Not to mention, you need a team of rocket scientists, literally working around the clock, to make
03:12sure nothing goes wrong.
03:13You can't call a repair guy if something breaks on the Moon.
03:16So, generally, it costs about a half a million dollars to send one pound of payload to our
03:21satellite.
03:22That's based on estimates from NASA.
03:24To get some idea, let's calculate how much it would cost to send an apple to the Moon.
03:29A typical apple weighs about 0.4 pounds.
03:33So, that funny mission would be at least $200,000.
03:36Now, for comparison, the Chinese launch system weighs around 80 tons.
03:41Another problem is that the lunar surface is pretty harsh on the equipment, like the
03:48freakish lunar dust, for example.
03:50You might recall this small thing that happened in the 60s called the Moon landings.
03:55But when the Apollo astronauts came back from the Moon, they found something weird was happening
04:00to them.
04:00Their throats were sore and their eyes watered.
04:03Luckily, it wasn't some scary Moon sickness.
04:06Turns out, there's a lot of lunar dust clinging to their spacesuits.
04:09This dust seems harmless, but it's made up of sharp and abrasive particles, much smaller
04:15than a human hair, yet sharp like glass.
04:18It contains silicate, a thing that can cause severe lung problems on Earth and is a common
04:23issue for miners.
04:24So, it caused a lunar hay fever.
04:27At least, that's how NASA astronaut Harrison Schmidt called it.
04:32All 12 astronauts who walked on the Moon were then sneezing and experiencing nasal congestion.
04:38Sometimes, it took days to fade away.
04:40The dust even got inside their spacecraft, smelling like burnt gunpowder.
04:45This nasty stuff can be harmful to both humans and equipment.
04:49It managed to damage spacesuit boots and even ruin the seals on the containers used to bring
04:54back samples during the Apollo missions.
04:56As we mentioned, they're glass-sharp and jagged.
04:59So, they start scratching, grinding, and wearing down any surfaces they come in contact with.
05:05They don't care if it's metal, glass, or humans.
05:08And since there's so much dust, this causes equipment to malfunction and fail quite quickly.
05:13And that's just one of the possible hurdles with lunar missions.
05:17So, scientists really need to come up with some weird ideas to get that precious helium-3.
05:22The Chinese scientist project looks like a weird sci-fi invention.
05:29But it's a cost-effective way to transport materials back to us.
05:32It could throw stuff to Earth twice a day, and it would be 90% cheaper than current methods.
05:38Since it only needs electricity and no fuel, the system would be small and easy to set up.
05:44Besides the beloved helium-3, this catapult would also help advance technologies in space mining
05:50and heavy launch vehicles.
05:52No lunar dust scares this thing.
05:53It should last for at least 20 years.
05:56It would need to be transported to the Moon using China's super-heavy lift rocket.
06:04But the idea is far from new.
06:07There was a novel called The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein.
06:11In the story, there's a lunar colony that uses an electromagnetic catapult
06:15to send weed and water ice back to Earth.
06:18It gets quite wild when the colonists, known as loonies, eventually take control of this catapult.
06:24They threaten to launch rocks at Earth, unless their colony is recognized as an independent world.
06:30Sounds kind of funny, but a large rock, if thrown at us from the Moon, could wipe out a city.
06:35The damage would be like from a meteorite strike, with fires, houses destroyed, and worse.
06:41But scientists have been talking about this catapult idea for a while.
06:45For decades, they were trying to find a way to use electromagnetic systems to send resources from the Moon to Earth.
06:51There are also some challenges.
06:55For example, scientists forgot to mention how exactly helium-3 would be extracted from the lunar soil.
07:02Installing this launch system on the Moon's rugged surface would be difficult as well.
07:06Also, they would need to make sure that the system remains stable at high speeds,
07:11and that it could withstand the Moon's extreme temperature changes, cosmic rays, and intense solar radiation.
07:17So, it would take some time to develop.
07:20China hopes to have the key components of the system ready by 2030.
07:24The full-scale operations might start by 2045.
07:29China has tons of plans for the Moon.
07:32For example, they want to build a research station at its south pole by 2035.
07:37But China's not the only one in this space race.
07:40Considering that NASA plans to send humans on Mars by that time,
07:44oh boy, the 2030s will be a crazy decade for space exploration.
07:49There's also an American startup that's part of the lunar economy.
07:54The ones that plan to land astronauts on the Moon have people actually living on our satellite in a decade or two.
07:59One of the goals of this colony is to boost economic growth and create new jobs.
08:05Most of them will likely involve some mining activities.
08:08And if there'd be two space colonies, well, they'll have to figure something out.
08:13Some places don't look important until the world realizes they hold the keys to the future.
08:23That's the case with Canada's Arctic.
08:26For most of history, it was just ice, snow, rocks, caribou, and, uh, even more ice.
08:32But now, it's about to become one of the most important places on Earth.
08:37And maybe make Canada a global superpower.
08:39Why? Because it's hiding minerals that power electric vehicles, satellites, and missile systems,
08:46while the demand is skyrocketing.
08:49However, it's not just mining and having resources.
08:52It's also about control.
08:55Right now, China has a massive head start because it refines over 90% of the world's rare Earths.
09:01That means if you want to launch a satellite, manufacture advanced electronics,
09:05or even just keep the lights on in your fancy smart home,
09:08odds are, you're relying on China.
09:12And that makes a lot of world powers very nervous.
09:15Because when everything's going electric,
09:17the last thing you need is being dependent on your geopolitical rival.
09:21So now, the global clean tech treasure hunt is officially on.
09:26The US, Europe, Japan, Australia, they're all competing.
09:30However, the latest technology and untapped potential might give Canada the upper hand.
09:36Canada's had these minerals for decades.
09:39But with low prices, tough terrain, and no global rush, they mostly stayed untouched.
09:45However, Ottawa is finally stepping up its game.
09:48Back in 2022, Canada rolled out the critical mineral strategy with billions in funding and tax perks to get companies digging.
09:56There's also plans to build the necessary roads, ports, and power lines to tap into those remote deposits up north.
10:03Canada already produces more than 60 minerals and metals, but 31 of them are now considered critical.
10:11Six of those are having VIP treatment.
10:14Lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements.
10:19But digging it up is just step one.
10:22The real plan? Keep it local.
10:25Melt that frozen treasure into shiny new batteries right at home.
10:28That means not just mines, but also refineries, processing centers,
10:33and high-tech factories popping up where there used to be nothing but snow drifts and silence.
10:39While others are talking, Canada's busy paving roads and stringing power lines.
10:44Slowly, but surely, they're turning snowfields into a high-tech playground.
10:49Getting to all that buried treasure used to be nearly impossible.
10:53After all, we're talking about land so remote that roads literally stop hundreds of miles too early.
10:59The ground is frozen solid for most of the year.
11:02And even if you found something valuable, just getting out was a logistical nightmare.
11:07So what changed?
11:09Canada has an ace up its sleeve.
11:11Don't know about you, but I use it mainly for making memes and music.
11:15But geologists?
11:17They're scanning the Arctic like it's Minecraft with X-ray vision.
11:21Instead of drilling blind, they're using decades-old core samples,
11:25plugging them into AI and getting shockingly accurate predictions about what's underground.
11:31It's like upgrading from a pirate's treasure map to a GPS that actually says,
11:35companies like Geologic AI and Cobalt Metals are already doing this,
11:42pouring data into AI and getting X marks the spot hits for nickel, cobalt, and rare earths.
11:48In the Northwest Territories, Canada is running a pilot lab that uses AI and digital scanning
11:54to reanalyze decades-old rock samples.
11:57The goal is to spot hidden mineral deposits that old methods might have missed without digging a single new hole.
12:06All that sounds great, but maybe I made it sound simpler than it is.
12:10Digging up the Arctic is a logistical nightmare.
12:13For starters, this isn't just a remote patch of land.
12:17The Canadian Arctic is huge, almost half the country,
12:20stretching over Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
12:24We're talking about a region larger than India, with fewer people than a small city.
12:30Most of it is permafrost, wilderness, or ice-covered islands scattered across the Arctic archipelago.
12:37Temperatures go from barely 50 degrees Fahrenheit during summer to negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder,
12:43with ground that stays frozen for most of the year.
12:46Fun fact, did you know that negative 40 degrees happens to be the same as negative 40 degrees Celsius?
12:55It's the one temperature where both scales intersect.
12:58They climb at different rates, but eventually cross paths when it gets cold enough.
13:03Just a small trivia nugget for weather nerds like me.
13:06Anyways, you can't just roll in a truck and break ground in the Arctic.
13:11Up there, roads just stop.
13:13Want to build something? It can take years, and one nasty winter can put everything on ice.
13:19And if you want to continue up north, you need more of everything.
13:23More food, more fuel, more machines.
13:26Which means even more money.
13:29Speaking of money, another chilling fact is how much this all costs.
13:34Mining in the far north is way more expensive than doing it in, say, Australia or Chile.
13:39An AI might tell you where the minerals are, but people and big machines still have to dig, and that costs a fortune.
13:48But that's not all.
13:49Most of the Canadian north is indigenous land.
13:52First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities have lived there for thousands of years,
13:57and mineral hotspots often sit right on their ancestral grounds.
14:01So when Canada talks about unlocking the Arctic, it's not just a question of roads and robots.
14:07It's a question of partnership and collaboration.
14:10And that's not optional.
14:13Legally, projects on indigenous land require consultation and, in many cases, consent.
14:19The good news?
14:20Some communities aren't just involved, they're leading the way.
14:23In regions like Nunavut and the Northwest Territories,
14:26indigenous-owned corporations and world powers are already shaping how development happens on their terms.
14:33If Canada wants to pull this off, it's going to need more than tech and funding.
14:37It's going to need trust.
14:40So with all that in mind, can Canada pull this off?
14:43Honestly?
14:44With technological advancements and partnerships, it doesn't seem impossible.
14:49But Canada isn't just doing one thing right.
14:51It's doing a bunch of things at the same time.
14:55Let's recap.
14:56Hidden resources?
14:58Checked.
14:58New strategy?
14:59In place.
15:00Big funding?
15:02Approved.
15:03AI tools?
15:04Deployed.
15:05Indigenous partnerships?
15:06Underway.
15:07Infrastructure?
15:08Already breaking ground.
15:11It's a snowball turning into an avalanche.
15:13Exploration boosts investment.
15:15Investment speeds up roads.
15:17Roads unlock more deposits.
15:19More deposits attract more factories.
15:22It's a feedback loop.
15:23And if they keep feeding it, the whole Arctic operation could go from an idea to empire faster than anyone expects.
15:31Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase frozen assets.
15:35But this doesn't just help Canada.
15:37It could save the U.S. a whole lot of trouble.
15:40If all goes to plan, the U.S. won't need to ship rare earths halfway across the planet.
15:45It can just look north, wave at the caribou, and get what it needs from its closest neighbor.
15:50That's why the U.S. has publicly backed the effort, offering support and funding to help build a trusted North American supply chain.
15:57For Canada, this could be the moment it stops being just a supplier of raw materials and starts becoming a critical power broker in the clean tech economy.
16:06For the U.S., it's like discovering your neighbor has been secretly building a battery factory in their backyard while you were building electric vehicles.
16:15And globally?
16:17Well, the abundance of resources tends to lower the prices.
16:21And that's always a good thing for us regular people.
16:24Cheaper cobalt, nickel, and lithium mean cheaper batteries.
16:28And cheaper batteries mean more affordable electric vehicles, energy storage, phones, laptops, the works.
16:35Now, don't get too excited just yet.
16:37Like we said, mining in the Arctic isn't cheap.
16:40But in theory, once Canada's clean tech engine is fully up and humming, more supply and shorter supply chains should gradually bring costs down.
16:49And it's not just about price tags.
16:52It's about stability.
16:53Right now, if one country cuts exports or gets caught in politics, everything down the line gets shaky.
17:00But with Canada stepping in as a reliable supplier, the global system might get a bit more breathing room.
17:07Manufacturers can stop sweating over single points of failure and start building with confidence.
17:13That's it for today.
17:14So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
17:19Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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