Living underground
I'm a sucker for big engineering projects, but I really find it a compelling idea to move most of human living underground. Consider the benefits-
1. Total weather control
2. Cheap heating/cooling
--(temp stays nearly same year round, depending on lattitude can be 45-75)
3. Zero sun damage
4. Protection from attack (maybe even nuclear)
5. Cheaper than skyscrapers
--Advanced drilling machines make it cheaper to drill down than build up in some cities.
6. Artificial day night cycles could create two or three "shifts" maximizing resource use without making people screw up their circadians.
7. Underground living would necessitate a modern transportation system with revolutionary applciations.
8. Ability to create new real estate in high demand markets should provide significant initial investment
9. The opportunity to design a modern city from scratch.
10. Frees up land for agriculture and wildlife.
I'm iffy on whether it's feasible to dig deep enough to protect against a nuclear blast. I'm sure you could go deep enough to survive the impact, but the radiation is deadly for something like 90 miles with the really big ones. One possibility is to store liquid hydrogen in tunnels located above the city as liquid hydrogen is supposed to be the best radiation shield.
The new boaring machines go something like 40 feet in diamater so it wouldn't be cramped living, but I would guess people would like even larger open areas, maybe connected to several units (i.e. parks).
The need for ventalation systems would actually reduce risks from biological attack as the environment would be constantly monitored for contagions and an infected area could be ventilated indepent of the others.
Any other objections? Oh yeah, I believe research with drugs that induce tanning will prevent us from turning into ghost white mole people.
1. Total weather control
2. Cheap heating/cooling
--(temp stays nearly same year round, depending on lattitude can be 45-75)
3. Zero sun damage
4. Protection from attack (maybe even nuclear)
5. Cheaper than skyscrapers
--Advanced drilling machines make it cheaper to drill down than build up in some cities.
6. Artificial day night cycles could create two or three "shifts" maximizing resource use without making people screw up their circadians.
7. Underground living would necessitate a modern transportation system with revolutionary applciations.
8. Ability to create new real estate in high demand markets should provide significant initial investment
9. The opportunity to design a modern city from scratch.
10. Frees up land for agriculture and wildlife.
I'm iffy on whether it's feasible to dig deep enough to protect against a nuclear blast. I'm sure you could go deep enough to survive the impact, but the radiation is deadly for something like 90 miles with the really big ones. One possibility is to store liquid hydrogen in tunnels located above the city as liquid hydrogen is supposed to be the best radiation shield.
The new boaring machines go something like 40 feet in diamater so it wouldn't be cramped living, but I would guess people would like even larger open areas, maybe connected to several units (i.e. parks).
The need for ventalation systems would actually reduce risks from biological attack as the environment would be constantly monitored for contagions and an infected area could be ventilated indepent of the others.
Any other objections? Oh yeah, I believe research with drugs that induce tanning will prevent us from turning into ghost white mole people.
Comments
so no fscking way i'd live underground.
i'm scared of living on the ground level too. anytime i've lived in a house that has a ground level, i've never lived on the ground floor at all.
Originally posted by Giaguara
i am terribly scared of places underground. make me very nervous. like weddings, hairdressers etc (people with sharp metal objects around my neck), tunnels ... i once by mistake had to do the tunnel from paris to london and it was
so no fscking way i'd live underground.
i'm scared of living on the ground level too. anytime i've lived in a house that has a ground level, i've never lived on the ground floor at all.
Sound Freudian to me. Something wrong may have happen to you while you were a child.
For instance, it is perfectly feasible to build a private residence mostly underground even now, with many of the benefits you imagine (reduced energy costs, no sun damage, open space preserved up top, resistance to storm damage, etc.).
But not many people are willing to do it, cause it turns out they like windows and sunlight and not being buried.
I mean, I guess I could imagine a day when there is no choice, we have to go down cause monsters roam the earth or whatever, but I don't think it's going to be the wave of the future as long as there is still room under the sun.
I don't think underground living is going to happen anytime soon.
but, people should consider earthship style living for their homes.
Mens used to life outside, and go inside only to be secured. We are not built to spent our days and nights underground. My best pleasure is to stay in my house and watch all this green, blue and light thought the windows.
not that the eloi were much to admire...
Originally posted by Nordstrodamus
I'm a sucker for big engineering projects, but I really find it a compelling idea to move most of human living underground.
6. Artificial day night cycles could create two or three "shifts" maximizing resource use without making people screw up their circadians.
If I was assigned to the night shift (which means never seeing the light of the sun again) I'd commit suicide. Seriously.
You'd need some really powerful antidepressants mixed into the drinking water to maintain population levels, let alone have a thriving community.
To me this sounds like "I want the baddest, most powerful construction machines, and I need an application for them"
But not many people are willing to do it, cause it turns out they like windows and sunlight and not being buried.
Having worked in several bunker-like basements, I much prefer working in a second floor office with (some) natural light.
Originally posted by Smircle
If I was assigned to the night shift (which means never seeing the light of the sun again) I'd commit suicide. Seriously.
No, the idea is that there would be two or three different underground environments, each staggered by 12 or 8 hours, respectively. Within these environments everything would be synced so as to simulate day/night cycles through artificial sunlight. That is, all communities would perceive a normal sleep/wake cycle, but they might commute to a business district that is open and lit 24/7.
Large open spaces connected to living units could easily simulate life up above, so your brain shouldn't knnow the difference.
Originally posted by Scott
Maybe not the best idea for all areas.
Of course, you would drill way below the water table.
Originally posted by Wrong Robot
The big dig in boston has been going on for how long?
While it's right to point out that digging large underground cities would be a lot of work, the Big Dig has some special complications which have to be considered -- having to work within an already-functioning city, having to minimize disruptions to existing heavy traffic flows, poor conditions for digging (including unstable soil and water intrusion), etc.
If you went out into the middle of nowhere, picked a spot chosen especially for the purpose, started excavating, and no one was going to move into this new underground city until at least a good portion of it was well-constructed, the work could go much, much faster than something like the Big Dig.
That said, fresh air, sunlight, and expansive views are hard to beat.
"Mr. President, I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of human specimens. It would be quite easy atthe bottom of some of our deeper mineshafts. The radioactivity would never penetrate a mine some thousands of feet deep. And in a matter of weeks, sufficient improvements in dwelling space could easily be provided."
"How long would you have to stay down there?"
"I would think that uh possibly one hundred years."
"You mean, people could actually stay down there for a hundred years?"
"It would not be difficult mein Fuhrer! Nuclear reactors could, heh... I'm sorry. Mr. President. Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely. Greenhouses could maintain plantlife. Animals could be bred and slaughtered. A quick survey would have to be made of all the available mine sites in the country. But I would guess... that ah, dwelling space for several hundred thousands of our people could easily be provided."
"Well I... I would hate to have to decide who stays up and who goes down."
"Well, that would not be necessary Mr. President. It could easily be accomplished with a computer. And a computer could be set and programmed to accept factors from youth, health, sexual fertility, intelligence, and a cross section of necessary skills. Of course it would be absolutely vital that our top government and military men be included to foster and impart the required principles of leadership and tradition. Naturally, they would breed prodigiously, eh? There would bemuch time, and little to do. But ah with the proper breeding techniques and a ratio of say, ten females to each male, I would guess that they could then work their way back to the present gross national product within say, twenty years."
Just watched Dr. Strangelove again last night...brilliant even in today's comedy of reality...
Originally posted by Splinemodel
While we're at it, why not move to the bottom of the sea. . .
/marineboyandsplasher
Originally posted by shetline
While it's right to point out that digging large underground cities would be a lot of work, the Big Dig has some special complications which have to be considered -- having to work within an already-functioning city, having to minimize disruptions to existing heavy traffic flows, poor conditions for digging (including unstable soild and water intrusion), etc.
If you went out into the middle of nowhere, picked a spot chosen especially for the purpose, started excavating, and no one was going to move into this new underground city until at least a good portion of it was well-constructed, the work could go much, much faster than something like the Big Dig.
That said, fresh air, sunlight, and expansive views are hard to beat.
Yeah, but who is going to live in a metropolis in the middle of nowhere.
And yes, Fresh air, sunlight and expansive views cannot be beat.