Could humans live in underwater cities? 6 Minute English

92,642 views ・ 2020-10-22

BBC Learning English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:07
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
0
7320
1760
00:09
BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
1
9080
2140
00:11
And I'm Rob.
2
11220
1020
00:12
From the ancient Roman sea god,
3
12240
2120
00:14
Neptune, to myths of mermaids,
4
14360
1900
00:16
to modern Hollywood films
5
16267
1583
00:17
like Finding Nemo, people throughout
6
17850
2227
00:20
history have been fascinated
7
20077
1767
00:21
by the idea of living
8
21844
1326
00:23
underwater. In this programme, we'll be
9
23170
2443
00:25
hearing about projects to
10
25613
1597
00:27
create liveable underwater
11
27210
1660
00:28
habitats and the challenges they face.
12
28870
2480
00:31
We'll be finding out how realistic it is
13
31350
2356
00:33
to believe that in a few years we could be
14
33706
2474
00:36
eating breakfast whilst watching fish
15
36180
2660
00:38
swim outside the kitchen window,
16
38840
1680
00:40
before heading
17
40528
892
00:41
off to work in an office under the ocean...
18
41420
2470
00:43
... and we'll be learning some related
19
43890
2011
00:45
vocabulary as well. But first it's
20
45901
1993
00:47
time for our quiz
21
47894
996
00:48
question. One of the first adventure
22
48890
2270
00:51
stories to fire the public's
23
51160
1960
00:53
imagination about the
24
53120
1200
00:54
underwater world was the 1870 novel,
25
54320
2651
00:56
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
26
56971
2177
00:59
the Sea. But who wrote
27
59148
1652
01:00
this underwater classic? Was it:
28
60800
2300
01:03
a) H G Wells?, b) Arthur Conan Doyle?, or
29
63100
4000
01:07
c) Jules Verne?
30
67100
2260
01:09
I think I know this one, Neil.
31
69360
2340
01:11
Wasn't it a) H G Wells?
32
71700
2200
01:13
OK, Rob, we'll find out later if you're
33
73909
2371
01:16
right. Now, one of the
34
76291
1374
01:17
most ambitious designs
35
77665
1374
01:19
for an underwater city is Ocean Spiral,
36
79039
2803
01:21
a huge transparent globe attached
37
81842
2423
01:24
to the seabed -
38
84265
954
01:25
the solid ground which lies
39
85219
2176
01:27
deep below the sea level.
40
87395
1875
01:29
The top of the globe stands above the
41
89270
2039
01:31
surface of the ocean and
42
91309
1349
01:32
running through the centre
43
92658
1461
01:34
is a tower to add strength, and to provide
44
94119
2825
01:36
space for homes, offices
45
96944
1651
01:38
and even an amusement
46
98595
1444
01:40
park for five thousand
47
100039
1939
01:41
underwater residents.
48
101978
1851
01:43
Ocean Spiral has been dreamt up
49
103829
2032
01:45
by the Japanese Shimizu Corporation.
50
105861
2399
01:48
Here's Shimizu engineer,
51
108260
1599
01:49
Maksaki Takeuchi, explaining to BBC
52
109859
2355
01:52
World Service programme,
53
112214
1645
01:53
CrowdScience, the motivation
54
113859
1920
01:55
behind the idea:
55
115780
1500
02:00
At the moment the world is facing a lot of
56
120420
4140
02:04
serious problems regarding
57
124560
2000
02:06
food, energy, water,
58
126560
2440
02:09
natural resources... however we are trying
59
129000
3660
02:12
to solve the issues just by using our land.
60
132660
4080
02:16
Our idea is to connect the sea surface
61
136740
3700
02:20
and the deep sea vertically
62
140440
2560
02:23
and that way we believe
63
143000
2540
02:25
that we can utilise the capability of the
64
145540
3313
02:28
deep sea and that's the purpose
65
148853
2562
02:31
of this whole project.
66
151420
1700
02:34
The effects of human activity on the land
67
154880
2560
02:37
have led some to look to the
68
157440
1900
02:39
oceans for natural
69
159340
1400
02:40
resources - naturally existing things
70
160740
2600
02:43
such as minerals, oil, coal
71
163340
1740
02:45
and other energy sources
72
165097
1553
02:46
that can be used by people.
73
166650
1570
02:48
This search deep underwater is
74
168220
1793
02:50
happening vertically - at a ninety
75
170013
2066
02:52
degree angle straight up or
76
172079
1641
02:53
down from the ground, as opposed to
77
173720
2195
02:55
horizontally, or flat across the
78
175915
2049
02:57
Earth's surface.
79
177964
1025
02:58
But as yet, Shimizu Corporation's plans
80
178989
2345
03:01
for an underwater city
81
181334
1351
03:02
are still in the planning
82
182685
1535
03:04
stages - no part of the project has yet
83
184220
2226
03:06
been built and the total cost
84
186446
1689
03:08
is thought to exceed
85
188135
1165
03:09
26 billion dollars.
86
189300
2400
03:11
In fact, the longest anyone has spent
87
191700
2310
03:14
living under the sea is only 73 days.
88
194010
2358
03:16
That record
89
196368
701
03:17
was set by Roger Garcia, ex-military diver
90
197069
2775
03:19
and head of The Aquarius,
91
199844
1688
03:21
currently the world's
92
201532
1418
03:22
only underwater research station.
93
202950
2129
03:25
Here's Roger Garcia, explaining to BBC
94
205079
2379
03:27
World Service programme,
95
207458
1532
03:28
CrowdScience, what happens
96
208990
1660
03:30
to the human body after living
97
210650
2365
03:33
underwater for so long:
98
213015
1814
03:34
... perhaps a change in their voice, not
99
214829
2292
03:37
much 'cos we're not very deep,
100
217121
1901
03:39
that's because
101
219022
887
03:39
the air becomes denser. Physiologically
102
219909
3079
03:42
the most important thing though,
103
222988
2012
03:45
is that since
104
225000
1620
03:46
you are in this case at two and a half
105
226620
2820
03:49
times atmospheric pressure
106
229440
1968
03:51
you do take on more inner
107
231408
1892
03:53
gas, and in this case - inside The Aquarius
108
233300
3051
03:56
we just breathe normal air - you're gonna
109
236351
2909
03:59
take on more nitrogen and depending on
110
239260
2530
04:01
how long you stay in The Aquarius,
111
241790
2313
04:04
that's going
112
244103
817
04:04
to incur some sort of
113
244920
1580
04:06
decompressed obligation.
114
246500
1720
04:08
In addition to engineering challenges,
115
248220
2780
04:11
living underwater for long periods
116
251020
1600
04:12
of time also affects
117
252620
1340
04:13
the human body. One example is the
118
253969
2491
04:16
bends - or decompression sickness,
119
256468
2548
04:19
a serious medical
120
259016
1274
04:20
disorder created by nitrogen bubbles in
121
260290
2282
04:22
the muscles when returning
122
262572
1553
04:24
to the surface of the
123
264125
1255
04:25
sea too quickly.
124
265380
1620
04:27
The bends, and changes to the voice,
125
267000
2292
04:29
are examples of how underwater
126
269292
1946
04:31
living changes the body
127
271238
1492
04:32
physiologically - relating to how the
128
272730
2419
04:35
bodies of living humans
129
275149
1537
04:36
and animals function.
130
276686
1404
04:38
As divers descend deep below the
131
278090
1912
04:40
ocean's surface, there is
132
280002
1524
04:41
an increase in atmospheric
133
281526
1584
04:43
pressure - the normal air pressure
134
283110
2091
04:45
within the Earth's atmosphere.
135
285201
1882
04:47
The deeper they dive,
136
287083
1317
04:48
the higher the pressure. Physiological
137
288400
2444
04:50
reactions like the bends are
138
290844
1833
04:52
caused by divers incorrectly
139
292677
1833
04:54
readjusting to normal
140
294510
1330
04:55
atmospheric pressure.
141
295840
1330
04:57
Well, Neil, with so many difficulties,
142
297170
2781
04:59
it's no surprise that HG Wells’s
143
299951
2390
05:02
fantasy of living
144
302341
1259
05:03
under the sea is still science-fiction.
145
303600
2540
05:06
Ah, but are you sure it was H G Wells,
146
306140
2760
05:08
Rob? In my quiz question
147
308900
1660
05:10
I asked you who wrote
148
310570
1700
05:12
the classic underwater adventure
149
312270
1861
05:14
Twenty Thousand Leagues
150
314131
1373
05:15
Under the Sea.
151
315504
836
05:16
Yes, and I said a) H G Wells.
152
316340
3100
05:19
Which was... the wrong answer!
153
319440
2131
05:21
It was, in fact, c) Jules Verne,
154
321571
2169
05:23
the French author who also
155
323740
1880
05:25
wrote Around the World in Eighty Days.
156
325620
2490
05:28
In this programme, we've been discussing
157
328110
1881
05:29
the challenge of living underwater, going
158
329991
1929
05:31
down vertically - at a 90 degree angle -
159
331920
2538
05:34
to the seabed - the solid ground hundreds
160
334458
2602
05:37
of metres under the sea.
161
337060
1790
05:38
Ocean explorers search underwater
162
338850
2120
05:40
for natural resources - useful
163
340970
1950
05:42
materials like coal and oil.
164
342940
1700
05:44
But they face many physiological
165
344640
2140
05:46
problems - problems relating
166
346780
1800
05:48
to how the human body
167
348580
1120
05:49
functions, such as the bends - a painful
168
349700
2563
05:52
medical condition caused by returning too
169
352263
2627
05:54
quickly to atmospheric pressure -
170
354890
2006
05:56
the Earth's usual air pressure.
171
356896
1884
05:58
That's all for this programme,
172
358780
1569
06:00
but we hope
173
360349
575
06:00
you'll be diving back into 6 Minute English
174
360924
2196
06:03
very soon. Bye for now!
175
363120
1600
06:04
Bye!
176
364720
820
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7