The Upward Bound Series looking at launch vehicles and megastructures for getting into Space, as well as some awesome projects we might engage in while up there.

Upward Bound Series

Space and Science

Spaaaaace

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isaac arthur

interesting Stuff

If everything is free, what’s still worth striving for? From replicators to reputation, we examine the surprising economics of a post-scarcity world.
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Credits:
The Economics of a Post-Scarcity Universe - What Happens When Everything Is Free?
Episode 730; July 3, 2025
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:02 What Post-Scarcity Means Economically
5:10 Incentives Without Scarcity
8:17 Distribution, Duty, and Designed Idleness
14:27 Ownership and Property in a Post-Scarcity Economy
20:03 The Star Trek Economy & the Myth of a Moneyless Society
22:58 Wealth, Inheritance & Intergenerational Power
27:57 Upward Mobility and Inequality
29:02 Economic Failure Modes in Post-Scarcity
30:35 Where Economics Still Matters
33:02 The Infinite Price of a Meaningful Life

The Economics of a Post-Scarcity Universe - What Happens When Everything Is Free?

Continuing our look at Habitable Planets we look at worlds entirely covered in water, and how they are both harder and easier for life to develop and thrive on than we might expect.

HP06 - Water Worlds And Ocean Planets

This series takes a look at concepts for everything from Terraforming Planets and Interstellar Colonization to more down to Earth matters like Arcologies and Planet Wide Cities before examining using black holes as power sources for starships.We then leap into the far distance future at the end of time to examine civilizations surviving around black holes after all the stars have died out.
Watch the Original Video Series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqKQ94DtS54&list=PLIIOUpOge0LufQYxcfYVqcVQOFOHFynMl

CS01 - Arcologies

This videos covers two topics, the Anthropic Principle, which uses the idea that your own existence might skew the odds of events you witness, and the basic concepts of Super-Intelligence, and what we might expect of humans or artificial intelligence that achieve that.
www.IsaacArthur.net


EC04 The Anthropic Principle And Super Intelligence

This episode continues our team up with Fraser Cain to look at Colonizing the Solar System, we move from the inner solar system to the Asteroid Belt and beyond, all the way out to the Oort Cloud.

Video Version here: https://youtu.be/0W7IRBeDkj4
Part 1: The Inner Solar System, can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALBMdY9-SZs

Article: "COULD WE TERRAFORM JUPITER?"
http://www.universetoday.com/121691/could-we-terraform-jupiter/

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by: Dexter Britain “Seeing the Future”
 Kai Engel “Endless Story about Sun and Moon” 
Koalips “Kvazar” 
Frank Dorittke “Morninglight”
Chris Zabriskie “Mario Bava sleeps in a little later than he expected to”
Brandow Liew “Into the Storm”

Colonizing The Outer Solar System

This episode focuses on many of the problems with travel between stars at relativistic velocities, like collision avoidance, radiation, ship geometry, armor, and point-defense. 

We will also look at some of the possible engine types and discuss realistic maximum speeds they offer.

Watch the Episode: https://youtu.be/s6BQSgidbmc

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by: Dexter Britain "Seeing the Future", Kai Engel "December", Lombus "Hydrogen Sonata", Koalips "Kvazar", Frank Dorittke "Morninglight", Kai Engel "Endless Story about Sun and Moon", and Kevin MacLeod "Spacial Winds"

Interstellar Travel Challenges

In this episode we explore technological challenges and solutions for extending the human life span and contemplate some of the challenges an extended lifespan might pose for our civilization.

Visit the SENS Research Foundation: http://www.sens.org

Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/kKmdc2AuXec

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by
Dexter Britain
"Seeing the Future"
Lombus
"Hydrogen Sonata"
Sergey Cheremisinov
“Labyrinth” 
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Kevin MacLeod
"Spacial Winds"
Brandow Liew
"Into the Storm"

Life Extension

In this episode we continue our look at possible Alien Civilizations by discussing language and communication. How could we translate their language? How would they translate ours? What modes of communication are available besides sight and sound?

Watch the episode at: https://youtu.be/thdC-HlRHWg

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by:
Martin Rezny
"Lifelight"
Intro/Outro
Alessandro Fadini
"First Contact"
Lombus
"Hydrogen Sonata"
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Koalips
"Kvazar"

Cryptic Aliens

This episode discusses the idea over using chains of relays firing immensely powerful lasers or streams of particles to move spaceships between neighboring stars at near-light velocities.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/oDR4AHYRmlk

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by:
Dexter Britain
"Seeing the Future"
Kai Engel
"December"
Lombus
"Hydrogen Sonata"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Brandon Liew
"Into the Storm"

Interstellar Highways

The first installment in a new series discussing alternative means of getting in space, from better rockets to massive structures like Space Elevators, Skyhooks, and Launch Loops.

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/JgxkilF5XUM

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net
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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by
Intro/Outro:
Sergey Cheremisinov
"Sirius"
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Kevin MacLeod
"Spacial Winds"

Upward Bound: Getting into Space

In this episode we examine the concept of a Space Elevator, a popular piece of developing technology designed to lift people and cargo into space at a fraction of normal launch costs. We will look at technology as well as many of the misconceptions about Space Elevators which have emerged.

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/dc8_AuzeYKE

"The physics of the space elevator", P. K. Aravind:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d402/ba5f97884b7398ae2a1ff79136f9c1a03993.pdf

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Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/upward-bound-space-elevators
Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by
Intro/Outro:
Sergey Cheremisinov
"Sirius"
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Kevin MacLeod
"Spacial Winds"
Lombus
"Amino"
Cory Gray
"Technological 1"

Upward Bound: Space Elevators

In this episode we examine the Skyhooks and Rotovators, technology designed to lift grab spaceplanes or rockets at far slower speeds than normal and lift them into space at a fraction of normal launch costs. 

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/TlpFzn_Y-F0

Boeing's "Hypersonic Airplane Space Tether Orbital Launch -- HASTOL":
http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/library/meetings/annual/jun01/391Grant.pdf

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by:
Intro/Outro:
Sergey Cheremisinov
"Sirius"
Kai Engel
"Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Kevin MacLeod
"Spacial Winds"
Lombus
"Amino"

Upward Bound: Skyhooks

This episode feature Mass Drivers, Space Guns, and other means of rapidly accelerating a spaceship up to orbital speeds without a rocket. We will explore the basic concepts, the engineering issues, and the potential cost & safety advantages & disadvantages along with how these devices can be used in tandem with other systems we have looked at.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/KerG4ILWEa4

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net
Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583992725237264/
Support the Channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IsaacArthur
Visit the sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/
Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Music by:
Sergey Cheremisinov, "Sirius"
Kai Engel, "Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Koalips, "Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke, "Morninglight"
Kai Engel, "December"
Kevin MacLeod, "Spacial Winds"
Lombus, "Amino"

Mass Drivers

The concept of enhancing and augmenting animal minds & bodies to be able to use and understand human technology, known as Uplifting, has long fascinated us. Today in this two-part collaboration with John Michael Godier, we will explore this concept as well as the possibility of using such technology with alien races, the polar opposite of the classic Star Trek Prime Directive.

Watch Part 1: https://youtu.be/QzaYnrrEKbU
Watch Part 2: https://youtu.be/wfDHt68-ANU

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net
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Visit the sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/
Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/
Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Graphics Team:
Edward Nardella
Jarred Eagley
Justin Dixon
Katie Byrne
Kris Holland
Misho Yordanov
Murat Mamkegh
Pierre Demet
Sergio Botero
Stefan Blandin

Script Editing:
Andy Popescu
Connor Hogan
Edward Nardella
Eustratius Graham
Gregory Leal
Jefferson Eagley
Luca de Rosa
Mark Warburton
Michael Gusevsky
Mitch Armstrong
MolbOrg
Naomi Kern
Philip Baldock
Sigmund Kopperud
Tiffany Penner

Music:
Dexter Britain, "Seeing the Future"
AJ Prasad, "Staring Through"
Markus Junnikkala, "A Memory of Earth"
Sergey Cheremisinov, "Labyrinth"
Lombus, "Hydrogen Sonata"
Markus Junnikkala, "We Roam the Stars"
Chris Zabriskie, "Cylinder 8"
Dexter Britain, "Seeing the Future"
Chris Zabriskie, "Cylinder 5"
Chris Zabriskie, "Cylinder 7"
Kai Engel, "Endless Story about Sun and Moon"
Chris Zabriskie, "Cylinder 3"
Kevin McLeod, "Space Xplorers"

Uplifting

An Introduction to our Upward Bound Series looking at launch vehicles and megastructures for getting into Space, as well as some awesome projects we might engage in while up there.