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

interesting Stuff

space

Isaac Arthur

Daryls Tunes

One of the best known Hunters and Collectors tracks, Throw Your Arms Around Me has been released three times as a single. The 1984 single version is rare and can be found on the Spare Parts album (in the Horn of Plenty box set or purchased as a digital album). The 1986 version can be found on the Human Frailty album and the 1990 version on the Collected Works album (Australian versions - now out of print). Here we include the live version featured on the Natural Selection 'best of', which originally appeared on the Under One Roof live album.

Under One Roof

Throw Your Arms Around Me (Live)

If everything is free, what’s still worth striving for? From replicators to reputation, we examine the surprising economics of a post-scarcity world.
Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net
Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IsaacArthur
Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-arthur
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583992725237264/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Isaac_A_Arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
SFIA Discord Server: https://discord.gg/53GAShE
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?

Welcome To Wherever You Are

Baby Don't Cry

Around the Fur

Live In The 80s

Smut (Live in the 80s)

A series looking at concepts for truly huge structures that we might see in the future. This is an audio-only compilation of videos created originally for Youtube, and is best watched rather than listened to, the video playlist can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQLDwY-LT_o&list=PLIIOUpOge0LtW77TNvgrWWu5OC3EOwqxQ

MS09 Nicoll - Dyson Beams

MS08 Shkadov Thrusters

MS07 Hoopworlds

MS06 Discworlds

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

A look at Dark Matter, what it is, what it isn't, and what it might be used for.

Visit our Website:
www.IsaacArthur.net

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

Dark Matter as Primordial Black Holes discusses:
http://www.space.com/33122-dark-matter-black-hole-connection.html

Dark Matter

A look at Dark Energy, explaining and simplifying the concept around it, the Cosmological Constant, the Lambda-CDM model, and Vacuum & Zero-Point Energy.

Watch the video version:
https://youtu.be/7w1t5ipDkjE
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:
Dexter Britain
"Seeing the Future"
Frank Dorittke
"Morninglight"
Dexter Britain
"After The Week I've Had"
Kai Engel
"Snowfall"
Kevin MacLeod
“Spacial Winds”
Phase Shift
“Forest Night”
Brandon Liew
"Into the Storm"

Dark Energy

Hits

Little Darling

Today we're teaming up with Joe Scott to look at the Great Attractor, a mysterious and massive source of gravity obscured from our vision, and the concept of Dark Flow, movements of whole clusters of galaxies in directions with no obvious cause.

Watch the Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbVoMaZwH4M

Companion Episode at Answers with Joe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg1Q9yvlaPw

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/
Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: 
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"
Brandon Liew
"Into the Storm"

Dark Flow & The Great Attractor

A look at advanced means of altering or controlling the planet's climate and geography, drawing on concepts  proposed for terraforming other planets. We look at existing and proposed ideas of controlling the weather, creating artificial islands or mountain ranges, using orbital mirrors and shades, and many other concepts.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/1yzmuwDTwAU

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/
Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/weather-control
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”
Raphae
"Flore"
Phase Shift
"Forest Night"
Frank Dorittke
“Morninglight”
Kai Engel
"Snowfall"
Kevin MacLeod
“Spacial Winds”
Brandon Liew
"Into the Storm"

Weather Control

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
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
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

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/
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 explore Quantum Computers, from the basic theory to the potential applications, as well as many myths and misconceptions this groundbreaking technology has accumulated.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/wgCuKTN8sX0

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
Dexter Britain, "Seeing the Future"
Kai Engel, "December"
Lombus, "Hydrogen Sonata"
Koalips, "Kvazar"
Frank Dorittke, "Morninglight"
Brandon Liew, "Into the Storm"

Quantum Computing

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

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:
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
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/
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

A look at the future of warfare in the void between the stars. Today we will examine the concepts from science fiction of how such conflicts might occur and see how realistic they are under known science.

Check out the companion videos with Legion Tech studios:
Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrUvtdg-Mk0&list=PLEGMUt83iL3shDrIEpgeWeK-MdD1T8j4M
1 - Worldbuilding in Scifi: https://youtu.be/HrUvtdg-Mk0
2 - Character & Roleplaying: https://youtu.be/r8pIA2z2EZs
3 - Ship Design in Hades 9: https://youtu.be/h0Cdosr_eIA
4 - In the Beginning: https://youtu.be/cHqBXnpr1lI
HADES 9 Website: https://hades9.com

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
To help us grow your SFIA community, follow https://twitter.com/Isaac_A_Arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
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/interstellar-warfare
Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Script Editors:
Editors
Darius Said
Edward Nardella
Keith Blockus    
Mark Warburton
Matthew Acker

Graphics Team:
Edward Nardella
Jeremy Jozwik
Jarred Eagley
Justin Dixon
Jeremy Jozwik
Katie Byrne
Kris Holland of Mafic Stufios: www.maficstudios.com
Luuk Warringa
Mihail Yordanov
Murat Mamkegh
Nick Talmers Nieuwoudt
Pierre Demet
Sergio Botero: https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc
Stefan Blandin

Music Supervisor
Luca De Rosa

Brandon Liew, “Into the Storm”
Markus Junnikkala, “Plotting A Course”
Ross Bugden, “Unstoppable”
Evan King, “Enchiridion: Singularity”
Sergey Cheremisinov, “Night Snowfall”
Sergey Cheremisinov,“Phoenix”
Kai Engel, “Endless Story About Sun and Moon”
Kai Engel, “Periculum”
Miguel Johnson, “Revelation”
Dan Mcleod, “Alpha Protocol”
Dan Mcleod, “Lucky 13”

Interstellar Warfare

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.