Today the majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels we find beneath the earth in the form of cool natural gas and oil
We've seen a rise in renewable energy, but fossil fuels are still the main source and without them the economy would collapse
But these are going to become harder and harder to find and extract in the efficient way
Which way I'll turn the forms of energy are going to take over
Solar is one alternative
That's becoming more and more popular although it is more expensive to get power from solar energy
Currently the cost of fossil fuels is going to rise and the cost of solar is falling once
equilibrium is met market forces will do the rest and
note that solar cells are actually not that efficient so to engineering options are to make them more efficient or
Reduce the cost to make and install these in bulk these are two directions that research has gone
Wind is another popular form of energy
But it will not be what supplies the bulk of energy for the world in the future
I mean it can only work when the wind blows and they can only generate so much during this time
But there's a form of energy that doesn't supply any of our electricity or power right now cuz science is not there yet
But if we figure it out
it could solve all energy problems and that is nuclear fusion, and this is hopefully what the future holds
a fusion is what the Sun uses to create energy, but first. Let's make a very important distinction
We have nuclear power plants right now, and when you hear about these and nuclear energy
This is usually all reference to nuclear fission. This is where uranium atoms are split and when they're split
They create a lot of energy that we can use and send out to homes and businesses
And this is good because when you do that
You don't create greenhouse gases, which is good for the environment of course?
So why don't we just have nuclear power plants?
Well one big thing is they leave behind a lot of nuclear waste
a typical reactor can create 30 tons of nuclear waste a year that can remain radioactive for millions of years
This is so dangerous that we have to keep them in special cooling ponds this makes nuclear power plant meltdowns also
Catastrophic and there have been some in the past such as Three Mile Island or Chernobyl
nuclear fusion is different though
It's about
Fusing two atoms instead of splitting one and these are normally hydrogen atoms where the two things you see on the left are just
isotopes of hydrogen and this releases a lot of energy
This is also much safer than fission, but achieving. This is not easy to do
Imagine this you have two cars each with very strong magnets on them
They have the same magnetic pull, so they repel each other, but there's some latch
Where if you do manage to get the cars close the latch holds them together so powerfully that they don't come apart
This is one big obstacle of fusion
hydrogen atoms repel each other a lot until they get
Extremely close hence when the Sun is able to create nuclear fusion their gravity so intense, but here on earth
It's a different story
But again when you do fuse two atoms it releases a ton of energy in fact fusion releases ten million times more energy than gasoline
pound-for-pound
an eight ounce glass of water contains the energy of 500 thousand barrels of petroleum
And we could potentially harness the issue of fusion power is it's hard to do though
No one has created an operating fusion power plant and scientists all over the world are trying to unlock this potential energy source
in the US there's the National Ignition facility where they have over a hundred giant laser beams that fire down a tunnel and
Focus on a small pellet sending it to around 100 million degrees which releases the power of fusion in
France at the International thermonuclear experimental reactor
They create a thin ring of plasma that is trapped due to a magnetic field then they heat it using several methods
Which starts to cause the plasma protons to start fusing?
There are many other experiments out there are big labs, and if you're looking to go into a field like physics
This is something you could potentially do
now one last thing about
fusion is that we've done it in fact sown it at 14 years old and it can be done for around three thousand dollars just
Getting the right equipment
So why isn't it powering your home right now because these experiments have all been net negative
It took more energy to fuse the atoms than was released
I mean big experiments using things like giant lasers
And those take a lot of power and the fusing of atoms need to create more
This might not come up for another few decades
But considering this method of energy will be safe produce more energy than any other source be cheap and not harm the environment
People are hopeful for it to become reality for soon
Now let's move on to superconductors
If you ever thought about having a car that can hover above the ground and travel well over a hundred miles an hour
While using minimum fuel this might be our best
Just remember that most of the fuel in your cars used to overcome the force of friction on the road if the road was
Perfectly smooth ice and you could get up to speed you could just cruise to your
Destination that is assuming the path was completely straight though, but you get the idea, and this is where superconductors come in
over 100 years ago
we found out that mercury loses all electrical resistance aka becomes a
Superconductor when cooled to just four degrees above absolute zero or four Kelvin this means electrons can move around freely with no friction
Unlike in your electronics that get hot due to that friction
High-temperature superconductors have also been discovered since then but quote high temperature means like
138 Kelvin or minus 135 degrees Celsius
so a problem with just getting and keeping a material as a
Superconductor is we need to have a serious cooling system to maintain those temperatures
This is why scientists are looking into room-temperature superconductors
That would change the world but currently they do not exist although we can easily see what they will do for
Example when it comes to transmission lines to deliver power to our homes up to 30% of electricity generated is wasted due to friction in
The wires which also means electrical power plants need to be closer to our homes
That's increasing the danger of nuclear power plants, but with superconductors those losses disappear and our electric bill goes down significantly
Room-temperature superconductors would also be capable of producing super magnets that can lift cars or even trains above the ground and this is due to
How magnetic field lines bunch up since they cannot penetrate a superconductor this creates a cushion that can hold up the object in
the future we might have roads made of
Superconductors allowing cars and trains to hover above the ground with such little friction that even a breeze could get them started
there currently are magnetic levitation trains that use magnets to hover but the economics of these have prevented them from being adopted all around the
world and
superconductors might change all of us
Last century was considered the age of electricity that made new technology possible
Superconductors may soon open up the age of magnetism
Also when it comes to energy one thing they're considering is space-based solar power where hundreds of satellites in orbit would absorb radiation from the
Sun and almost all hours of the day, and then send it down to earth
But the trouble with this is that would be very expensive
Prices that need to go down which brings us to the future of space travel
Here's a rocket. This is a SpaceX rocket. I randomly chose to show, but when it comes to rockets in general typically by mass
They're like 80 percent fuel 16 percent actual rocket and the rest is the payload which goes right here in the top
This payload might be a satellite going into space that will provide safe government communications
Or it could be supplies for astronauts at the International Space Station
It's normally the purpose of the launch so yes the actual cargo of the rocket is a very small part of it volume wise
So why I Rockets so big?
Well because they need to hold a lot of fuel and why is this because the Rockets have to go fast
Remember going into orbit is not expensive because of how high you have to go
It's because of the speed the rocket needs to get to plans can already go fairly high
But they go 600 miles per hour or 965 kilometers per hour
Rockets need to go like 18,000 miles per hour or about 29,000 kilometers per hour to actually reach orbit and that costs more money
now for most of history
Rockets were launched into space and their multiple stages were burned up or landed in the ocean and never used again
And this is one reason why it costs around 10 thousand dollars on averages into pound into space
one thing being worked on a change
this is
Reusable rockets if it cost a hundred million dollars for a company to build a rocket then some company wants to put their satellite in
Orbit it'll cost them more than a hundred million in order for a profit to be made
But if the rocket can be launched 10 times or something it could cost 20 million dollars per lunch and profit would still be made
SpaceX is one company
You've probably heard of that's made these we're their first stage or the lower part of the rocket is
Detached during flight and comes back to earth and land standing up to be used again
Thus saving the money from having to make a totally new one?
Now this was oversimplified because the entire rocket is not reusable only certain parts are plus
You got to refurbish the used rocket as it. Just went into space, so it's not like it's all good to go back immediately
It needs to be fixed up a bit
But there are other methods being looked at or that have been trying to get things to space cheaply
You could try and launching the rocket from higher up
Using powerful lasers to propel the rocket and one very famous idea is the space elevator at
A certain height above Earth objects in orbit will be in geostationary orbit
Which means they orbit at the same rotational speed that the earth is spinning at?
This means objects in that orbit are always above the exact same location on earth
So imagine having something in orbit like that and you attach a really long cable from that object to earth and tied the cable so
It's fixed or just imagine those white and red lines are just long cables, then it would all rotate together
Now to put something in orbit
It would literally just need to go up the cable like an elevator from basic math or physics
We know the actual speed something in rotation is moving at is the radius of its motion
times the angular velocity or basically a multiple of rotations over time
Omega is always the same as Earth's angular speed and
unchanging
But if you increase the radius or distance from the center of rotation by going up the elevator you increase your velocity
Which again is the thing you need to truly get to orbit, but this takes way less power
Now engineers and scientists still need to figure out the material
That would be used for such a cable plus of course there are many concerns with how long it would need to be
safety concerns and more, but who knows what the future has in store when it comes to this
Cheaper access to space would mean more potential for a moon base as well as a base on Mars
Average people who aren't billionaires might be able to go to space in the future
Also, this will allow for asteroid mining we're using equipment
We could collect various elements that are found in asteroids such as carbon water silicon and metals like iron and nickel
These could have economic benefits here on earth through selling these materials however
It is assumed that these elements will likely be used to continue to settle space and increase how fast we explore the solar system
Now there are of course so many more technologies that will be here in the future that didn't talk about
Some include the driverless car will you'll be able to drive a car while at the same time
Doing things like going on the internet through the use of your contact lenses or glasses
in
Nanotechnology one of the big goals would be to put nanobots in our bloodstream that constantly Patrol for diseases or abnormalities to keep us healthy
Another, holy grail of this field is making nanobots that can assemble anything we need where you basically put in raw material to a machine
And the nanobots can just make what you want by taking apart the raw material molecule by molecule
3d printing is also a big field where for example General Electric is using it to produce parts that are more lightweight
Thus saving millions of dollars?
3d printing may also get to a point where we all have a 3d printer and people share files on the internet that you can
Download and just use to 3d print something you need
Entrepreneurs might make money off of making and selling these files that 3d print something unique and are useful for consumers
There are also be applications and printing organs to remove danger from transplants and plenty more
To make this video I gathered information from various books such as physics of the future
Soonish rise to the robots and a few more which all gives so much more detail on all these fields that just going to get
into
I'll provide a link below to the major prep Amazon store where you can find all those books
plus some more of my favorites if you're interested in buying and supporting the channel and
Lastly before I go one reason for this video is people asking me
What fields of science or engineering?
Will and won't be around in the future and it's safe to say that not many people know what will happen
We could only make predictions
I mean petroleum engineering will probably go down significantly as alternative energy becomes cheaper
But right now petroleum jobs are increasing. It looks like space travel will not go away and with it getting cheaper
Maybe they'll open up more opportunities for aerospace engineers
It seems safe to say that computer engineers software engineers and computer scientists. Have a safe future for now considering
How much is going into software programming data storage artificial intelligence and so on?
Physicists and even materials engineers might get more job opportunities as funding for superconductors is increased considering
It will have a huge impact on the economy if nuclear fusion becomes a thing we'll still need electrical engineers to handle all that electricity
distribute and plenty of other scientists and engineers to maintain the plants
You can see how some industries could die but others will be born it's more important that you stay
Knowledgable on future technologies and have a broad knowledge of them while also a deep level of knowledge in your field
This way you can prepare for any changes not be blindsided by big shifts in the industry
For those going to college students unlikely any big field especially of engineering or science will die in the next few years in
Fact according to the statistics most engineering fields are growing
Yes
Some don't have nearly as much job
Opportunities as others so make sure to do your own research on that I can only tell you so much
But hopefully this is a start now. I'm gonna end that video here again
Links are below, and if you like the video don't forget to comment like and subscribe and I'll see you all next time