WEBVTT - Subterrenes: Like Submarines but Underground 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.040 I recall, as it were, but yesterday, the night of 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.400 that momentous occasion upon which we were to test the 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:10.639 practicality of that wondrous invention. It was near midnight when 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:13.720 we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.360 constructed his iron mole, as he was wont to call 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:21.120 the thing, the great nose rested upon the bare earth 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:24.159 of the floor. We passed through the doors into the 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.080 outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.519 which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:36.320 on the electric lights. Perry looked to his generator, to 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.760 the great tanks that held the life giving chemicals with 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.320 which he was to manufacture fresh air to replace that 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:49.159 which we consumed in breathing, to his instruments for recording temperature, speed, distance, 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.680 and for examining the materials through which we were to pass. 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.040 He tested his steering device and overlooked the mighty cogs 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:01.040 which transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:05.000 the nose of his strange craft. Our seats into which 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:09.200 we strapped ourselves were so arranged upon transverse bars that 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.240 we would be upright whether the craft were plowing her 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.240 way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:19.600 horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.399 towards the surface again at length, all was ready. Perry 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.800 bowed his head in prayer. For a moment we were silent, 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.000 and then the old man's hand grasped the starting lever. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.840 There was a frightful roaring beneath us. The giant frame 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.119 trembled and vibrated. There was a rush of sound as 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.480 the loose earth passed up through the hollow space between 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.680 the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake, 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:51.360 and we were off. Welcome to stuff to blow your mind, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:02:00.520 the production of My Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.040 stuff to blow your mind. My name is Robert Lamb 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.200 and I'm Joe McCormick. And that was that little coal 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.240 reading there was from at the Earth's Core by Edgar 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.280 Rice Burrows, published in nineteen fourteen. Is that the one 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.440 where Tarzan goes to the center of the Earth. No, 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:19.840 and I know you're joking, but Tarzan does go to 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:21.640 the center of the Earth in a follow up novel. 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.079 Because this particular novel, because this was this this kick 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.800 started a series that dealt with essentially like an inner world, 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:34.639 a hollow earth environment. This was the the Pellucidar series. 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:37.679 Uh yeah, so Tarzan I think goes to Pellucidar and 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.320 a follow up and we'll we'll talk more about Pellucidar 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.840 here in a in a few minutes. But the reason 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.320 that we're were we kicked off with this reading is 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.720 that this is this is pivotal, This is uh this 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:54.560 what is being described here. The iron mole is a subterine, right, 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.720 So that was not a mistake. You weren't trying to 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.760 say submarine that is a subterrean as in beneath the earth, 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:03.320 as in the same way that a submarine is beneath 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.200 the ocean. So what we're talking about today is a 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:10.919 submarine for the ground. Yes, like submarines, but underground. Some 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.600 sort of vehicle uh that has some sort of drilling 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:18.800 or melting apparatus um on its front end or perhaps 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.760 on the rear end as well, then enables it to 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.880 travel through the earth to so to burrow through even 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.720 solid rock, as if it were some sort of giant 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.120 worm making its way through the ground. Now, you might 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.960 not have heard of a subdarine before but I bet 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:38.600 you have seen one in science fiction. Uh So, before 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.520 we dive into the science and the actual and in 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.840 some cases alleged technological history of the submarine, I thought 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.360 we might run through some fun examples from film and TV, 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.000 and then we'll also come back around to Edgar Rice 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:56.480 Burrows again before we venture into the real world. Now, Robert, 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.960 right when I jumped in the video chat today, you 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.840 and Seth were tall king about the like seventy thousand 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:05.320 episodes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated TV series, 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.680 and immediately it came to mind, like, oh, yes, didn't Shredder? 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.160 Was it Shredder or was it Krang One of the 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:17.040 villains rides around in a giant underground drill in that show? Oh? Yeah, yeah, 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.240 I was. I was chatting with Seth about this because 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.400 I'm not sure if it was the first time I 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.479 saw a sci fi vision of a subterarine, but I 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.880 have a very clear memory of those um but believe 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.599 it was the especially the arcade Beat Him Up teena 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.480 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. I think it was a 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.080 good week Konami, right, Maybe it was Konami. Anyway, I 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.400 remember the arcade version was a lot better than the 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.360 port to the nes Oh yeah, yeah, the arcade version 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.800 was really kind of beautiful, and I've seen some more 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.520 recent ports of it, uh that that you know, really 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:50.320 really felt all right, you know. I mean it was 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:53.280 a total quarter guzzler. It was just how many how 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:55.400 many quarters can you put into this machine at your 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.640 local pizza hut in order to beat it? But it 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:00.719 was it was so much fun. And and one of 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.400 the things was that frequently the boss at the end 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:07.720 of the level would arrive via a transport module this 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.880 thing that looked like a rocket, except the cone of 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.160 the rocket is a big drill and it comes burrowing 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.320 up through the earth and then it opens up and 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.960 here's the bad guy for your fight. Here's Bebop the 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.040 punk bore yeah or yeah, or it's Shredder, or it's 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.800 Crane himself, and they're coming up. The idea is that, 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.400 of course Krane's layer is the subterranean techno dome, this 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.760 big uh you know, domed vehicle base that is often 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.640 like in the molten core of the Earth, and they 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.840 have to send up their their myrmidons, their their foot 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:43.640 soldiers up to the surface in these specialized subterranes and 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:47.640 the techno dome or the techno drome. I always thought 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:49.960 it was like the like video drome. Oh, we have 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:52.839 just received an update from Seth. It is in fact 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.320 techno drome um, which can be a little confused. I 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.240 think I trans figured it into my head because it 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:04.160 is a a like a spherical looking structure it had. 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.800 It looks kind of like a dome. It is a 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.240 technodrome whatever that is actually supposed to be. You would 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.200 imagine that the interior has a domed ceiling, perhaps painted 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.240 by michel Angelo or something. Is yes, but it's a 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.599 picture of of crying and shredder about to have this 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:26.240 divine type yeah, crying reaching out. Yeah. So there's the series, 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:28.800 which which certainly Seth can attest to and I have 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.119 memories of. It was a lot of fun and had 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.920 these vehicles in there as well. There was even a 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.440 toy version of it. I included a picture of this 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.839 for you, Joe. I don't know if you remember this 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.279 or not from your the toys of your childhood, but 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.040 it is a more ornate version of the subcarine from 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.480 the cartoon. I remember it, but I didn't have it 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.320 that this was an object of coveting for me. Yeah, 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.560 I I remember for me personally teenage Mutan, Ninja, Turtles, 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.039 the cartoon, and just the overall like sensation of the 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.159 toys and all. It came around this weird time where 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.080 I still very much I certainly watched all these shows 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.760 and I wanted to have the figures. I wanted to 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:10.720 have these action figures, especially Shredder and Crane. But there 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:13.960 was this kind of feeling at that point that you 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.680 weren't supposed to have toys anymore, Like you weren't supposed 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.480 to enjoy this stuff, which is total b s. And 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.400 I'm thankfully snapped out of that and have spent the 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:25.840 rest of my you know, adult life, um, you know, 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:30.120 realizing that action figures are awesome and and I should 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.920 buy them for myself or my child. Uh. It's it's 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.040 that horrible middle period. I mean, it's just like with 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.440 movies too. It's like how Roger Ebert talks about how 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.680 you know, when you're a little kid, GAMMERA is great 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.080 because it's a rocket powered turtle. And then you get 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.800 older and more mature, and you think this is stupid 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.600 because it's not realistic. And then you get even more 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:51.040 mature than that, and then you realize Gamera is great again. Yes, 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.160 and Gamera is great. Um and and and I and 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.320 I will say that you look back at Teenage Ninas, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.680 I had so many crazy just on zo elements in it. Uh, 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:04.480 it was fabulous. I mean you had this armored Ninja 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.400 and he's with there with an alien brain that's in 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.840 this giant android body, and they're sending Ninja's up to 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:15.600 the surface in these crazy drill submarines to fight. Uh. 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.360 You know, obviously teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, which is in 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.840 itself such a strange concept. So that was one subterarine 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.520 that I think a lot of people probably remember. Older 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.160 viewers or certainly viewers who caught this show like on 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.960 Sci Fi Channel in reruns, might remember the Thunderbirds, you know, 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.960 like Thunderbirds or go well the this was the nineteen 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.800 sixties puppet show with these very signature looking characters. Um 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.080 that I understand. I was reading that they were partially 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:45.200 inspiration for the animation style on the long running Star 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.679 Wars clone World War series that I'm watching now with 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:53.240 my son, Um. But in this show, the characters had 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:57.400 these crazy vehicles and one of them was the Thunderbird too, 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.360 and it featured all these different pods, and one of 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.679 them was called the Mole, and it was a drill 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.400 headed vehicle then enabled the team to venture into the Earth. Now, 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.720 this establishes a theme that's going to continue throughout the episode, 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.640 which is that there is a lack of imagination among 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:16.160 the people who create under underground drilling machines for science 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:20.400 fiction because it's always a mole. It's always a darn mole. Like, 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.400 why can't you think of some kind of other burrowing creature. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.760 Why isn't it a sicilian or or something like that, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.200 you know, I mean, come on, how many moles can 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.000 there be? Or even a naked mole rat that's close enough. Yeah, 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.240 there's there's so many other ways to go, but everyone 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.760 comes back to the mole. And and that also includes 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:40.600 Pixar because I know a number of Certainly, if you're 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.520 you're too young to remember a teenage Mutiny Turtles or 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.360 certainly Thunderbirds, then perhaps you remember the Incredibles. At the 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.480 very end of this film, we're introduced to a new 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:54.480 supervillain called the Underminer, who arrives in an epic uh 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.720 and an epic subterine with a drill, this time on 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.000 either end. Uh. It's a a fun scene, just kind 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.400 of like a way to close out the film. He's 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.920 a bigger character in the sequel. Have I have seen 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.480 the sequel? Uh, Yeah, he plays a larger role in that. 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:15.199 But he's also mole themed. Clearly, Yes, yes, clearly mole themed. Um, 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.240 let's see. Oh and and this is so weird. We 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.520 were we kind of decided to do this episode and 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.520 I had it in my mind, and then I happened 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:25.400 to check out. Uh, this new series on Hulu titled 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.280 Solar Opposites. It's a it's a new show from Rick 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:32.959 and Morty co creator Justin Royland along with Mike McMahon, 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.480 who also worked on that show. Uh. They dropped the 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:37.480 entire first season on Hulu, and it's it's it's a 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.720 lot of fun. It's it's definitely for grown ups. But 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.880 it's the you know, a similar vibe to Rick and Morty, 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.280 but perhaps a little less meta and um, with characters 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.640 that are a little more likable. Um. But I've started 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.120 watching it in BAM. Right there in the opening of 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:57.160 the first episode, there's this vehicle called the Earth Drill 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.800 that's used by the character Corvo to obtain nickel alloy 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.000 from the Earth's core in order to try and fix 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.360 his spaceship. And there's this great sequence where core of 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.560 a you know, fires it up and starts drilling into 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.600 the earth to go get the nickel, and it started 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:13.960 immediately causes earthquakes in like China and London, and there's 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.800 a big tidal wave somewhere else in the world due 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.520 to the seismic disruption of the thing. I like that 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.480 the design is a little bit trown shaped, is a 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.840 little bit light cycle kind of in profile at least. Yeah, 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.560 it's a really cool design like that. They didn't just 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.640 you know, slap together something that looked like the like 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.080 the the transport module all over again. It has has 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.800 some really cool wheels. But anyway, these are just a 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.960 few examples. You'll find submarines all over the place in 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:43.679 science fiction if you really start looking for them, like 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.840 it'll just turn up eventually, I think, in any kind 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.000 of science fiction scenario. For instance, there's one in Fallout 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.600 seventy six, the current Fallout game. I looked around, I 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.520 was like, there's gotta be one in Star Wars somewhere, 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.200 and it looks like there is a combat drill in 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.559 the Darth Vader comic books, like Darth Vader rides one 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.880 into battle at some point, like an a T dril ty. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.839 that would be a T drilt. I like that, Um yeah, yeah, 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.680 because I figured Star Wars University's room for there's certainly 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.640 room for a subdarane. There's some rocky planet somewhere where 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.480 there's a battle between uh, you know, the the Empire 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:22.640 and um, you know, some hapless species of subterranean creature. 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:24.280 But I feel like we got to bring it back 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.080 to the Edgar Ice Burrows because I will admit so 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:30.040 I have never read this book. At Earth's Core his 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.480 novel about the drill that goes down, and uh, I 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.040 don't know, actually, I guess timing wise, this would be 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.960 coming after Jules Verne's journey to the Center of the Earth, 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.160 So I don't know how derivative of it it is. Um. 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.480 But I did manage to watch about the first twenty 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.839 minutes of the nineteen seventy six film adaptation of this 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.720 book Last Night, starring our old friend Doug McClure. You 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.080 know the man. Hi, I'm Doug McClure. You might remember 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.000 me from such films as that one with the Fish People, 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.800 and it also had Peter Cushing in probably definitely, not 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.040 even no doubt at all, the goober reest role I've 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.880 ever seen Peter Cushing in, where he is just like 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.439 a bumbling doo fast with a high pitched, uh cartoon 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.760 professor voice. Yeah, this was This was the ninety six adaptation, 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:23.320 directed by Kevin Conner, and um, yeah, you might expect, 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.200 like Doug, with Doug McClure and Peter Cushing, you might think, Okay, 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.480 Doug's gonna play kind of the meaty doofist, which he 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.120 did so wellbe Doug McClure is awesome. He's a he's 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.080 a treat. When you see his name pop up in 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.240 one of these older films, you know you're you've got 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.280 a nice film ahead of you. But Peter Cushing, you 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.880 think especially all right, we're thinking seventy six, we're thinking 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:46.120 Star Wars is just after this practically, and you know, 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.720 you think the dignified, stoic Peter Cushing, He's gonna play 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.400 this dignified scientist who invince this thing. But no, he 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.280 plays this goofy doofist character as well. Uh, and it's great. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.120 I mean, Cushing is is wonderful. He has he has ranged, 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:00.960 so I guess in a way, it's nice to see 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.280 him flexes his acting muscles in another direction. I mean 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.200 it's an unfamiliar setup. Normally, I think you'd have more like, 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.320 you know, the Dufus in The straight Man, but it's 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.320 like a dual Dufus lead. Yeah. Yeah. And then you 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.120 have Carolyn Monroe in there as well, a screen legend 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.400 in her own ride. Yeah. She played still a star 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.360 in Star Crash. Yeah, she was in I think she 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.160 was in a James Bond film yeah yeah, yeah, and 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.640 and numerous so she was very much an icon of 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.200 of the day. Hi, I'm Doug McClure. And I didn't 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.840 get a haircut before filming this. Oh yeah, he's pretty 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.240 shaggy in this. Yeah. It looks and it doesn't even 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.520 look like it's intentional. It looks like he just, you know, 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.720 it was meaning to get it trimmed and he didn't. Yeah. Uh. Now, 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.280 a lot of people where I think we're reintroduced to 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.280 the summer, introduced to it to the for the first time. 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.480 The most recent season of Mystery Science Theater three thousand 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.400 that aired on Netflix, because this is one of the 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.600 films that they riff and it's I remembered as being 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.080 one of the best episode odes of the the MST 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.840 three K Revival. But the film in and of itself, 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.960 it's just is tons of fun. It's colorful, It's it's 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.080 weird and wacky, you know, it's it's I feel like, 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.960 even though I haven't read this particular Edgar Rice Burrows novel, 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.280 it does feel true to the spirit of them because 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.440 they're they're There are a number of cool things going 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.080 on in this. First of all, we do have the 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.760 Iron Mole. We have a drill headed subterine vehicle that 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.280 takes our characters deep into the earth and it takes 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:30.600 us to this hollow earth realm called Pellucidar and Uh 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.440 and here we have a number of crazy elements taking 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:37.040 place as well, because we have a species of telepathic 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.640 terra saurs called the Mahars that rule over stone age 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.640 humans that are also there. There's also like a giant 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.000 bipedal bird Tyrannosaurus rex thing. It's kind of like Sam 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.040 the Eagle and it runs around chasing Doug and Peter 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.960 Cushing in this giant underground corn field. I don't know 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:58.080 if that's in the book. Yeah, I don't know. I'd 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.280 love to hear from someone who who's who's red this one, 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.800 because I've read a couple of Burrows books um back 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.000 in the day, and I remember them as being pretty fun. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.440 You know. He gets into a little bit of scientific 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.400 speculation while also getting into lots of you know, swashbuckling 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:16.680 style action, but then occasionally like some really atmospheric you 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:21.560 almost kind of like pulp horror moments as well. Uh So, Yeah, 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.280 and of course he wrote a ton of books. This 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.840 was this one just kicked off a mini series that 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:30.240 he did dealing with this inner world he created. Uh 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.800 and and he was he was a highly influential fiction 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.920 writer at the time. So it seems to me it's 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:39.400 possible that he might be the originator of our like 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:43.440 popular culture and to a certain extent, scientific obsession with 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.560 subterranes in especially in the twentieth century. So I was 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.680 looking around to see if there were any hard bio 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.840 biographical details on where Burrows got the idea for the 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.640 iron mole um, because it seems like he might have 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.480 been the first I don't know for sure. It's you know, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.080 it's very possible that there's some other short stories from 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.560 the time period, or some book I'm missing in which 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.960 a character introduces the idea of a of the subterine, 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.320 but I wasn't able to come across it myself. Let 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.399 me know if you if you have an answer to 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.399 that now. Certainly, Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:18.520 the Earth came out earlier in eighteen sixty four, but 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.480 this book does not feature a fantastic drilling vehicle. No, 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.960 they just they just find a hole in the earth 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:27.080 and just kind of walk all the way down. It's 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.080 more of a spelunking adventure. They traveled down via lava tubes, 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.240 I think. So I ended up consulting I think three 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:37.000 different Burrows biographies in search of any answers on you know, 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:38.919 where he got his ideas. I'm just a little nugget 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.040 of like, hey, he was reading in Popular Mechanics or something, 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.400 you know, but nothing turned up. So it seems entirely 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.960 possible that Burrows might have invented the sci fi subterine 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.280 as we know it, and in doing so, as is 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.840 often the nature with sci fi influenced scientific minds all 0:17:55.800 --> 0:18:01.640 of that century to investigate the idea further. Um. However, 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.439 even if he invented the sci Fi subterine in his 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:10.159 own right, he was definitely inspired by technological achievements in 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.160 tunneling and burrowing that had taken they were taking place 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.479 at the time, and had taken place towards the end 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.800 of the previous century. Well, maybe we should take a 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:19.640 quick break and then when we come back we can 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.800 talk about some of the real science and technology of 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:30.320 burrowing vehicles. Thank alright, we're back. So like I was 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.439 I was saying here earlier, burrows I think would have 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:37.280 definitely been inspired by the real life advances and tunnel 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:42.359 boring machines during the nineteenth century. UH tunneling shield technology 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.840 came first successfully used for the first time to excavate 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:50.679 UH the Thim's tunnel beginning in eight But this is 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.000 just as the name implies a protective structure that allows 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:58.120 human excavators to work underground. It's not even a machine, right, 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.679 So describe briefly the the tunneling shield. This is basically 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.680 kind of like a movable roof shield that you can 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.000 take with you as you continually remove new material from 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.720 as the tunnel is made. Yeah, I would say combine 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.040 that with the concept of say a drilling template, and 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:16.560 that's pretty much what you have. But then this leads 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.399 into some of the first tunnel boring machines UH. And 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:23.040 what is often brought up as the first tunnel boring machine, 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:24.840 though it's a real stretch to call it a vehicle, 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.840 came in eighteen forty five with the Mountain Slicer. Is 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:30.680 that really what it was called. Yeah, it was called 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.600 the mountain slicer. It was not named it wasn't called 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.080 a mole at all. Again again, it wasn't a vehicle really. 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.760 But it was commissioned by the King of Sardinia in 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.520 eighteen forty five to dig the French rail tunnel between 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.840 France and Italy through the Alps. And it was the 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:50.720 work of Belgian engineer Henry Joseph Mouse And this was 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:53.760 the first UH. This is often considered the first tunnel 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:57.480 boring machine or TBM. It consisted of more than one 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.120 d percussion drills mounted at the runt of a locomotive 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:05.679 sized machine which was mechanically power driven at the entrance 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.600 to the tunnel. So think about what kind of of 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.399 an engineering project it is to do something like this, 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:15.520 especially to have a single machine, because tunneling is you know, 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.159 it's not just like moving through water, which kind of 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.359 like is is easily displaced around you as you dive 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.200 through it. Of course, when you're tunneling through hard material, 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.280 one of the big problems you're gonna have is continually 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:31.040 removing everything that you're drilling out of place in front 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.840 of you as you go. Right. And then if we're 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:36.159 thinking of saying, we keep talking about the mole as 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.760 the bio biological uh analog for all of this. Well, 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.520 when you're talking about the ocean, right, you're talking about 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.600 ships and submarines basically doing the things that other organisms, 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.960 even large organisms, are capable of doing. But when you're 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.920 talking about you know, you're not just talking about burrowing 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:57.359 through loose soil here, we're talking about burrowing through solid rock, 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.520 which is is not something that is general they considered 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.800 within the realm of certainly you know, a vertebrates capabilities 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:06.640 or or even or any kind of you know, or 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.439 organisms capabilities. This is this is something new well certainly 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.840 not at any speed that would be useful from like 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:17.240 a civil engineering point of view. Right, um, so uh 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:19.399 I want to talk just a little bit more about 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:21.639 the idea of the tunnel boring machine or t b M. 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.679 There there's tons of information out there written about t 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:27.560 pms because this is a this is a huge area 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.000 of engineering, right figuring out how to improve these machines 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:36.040 for the production of tunnels. UH. One particular definition I 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:40.439 came across in laboratory testing of materials for tunnel boring 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:45.760 machine drag bits by Catuition at All UH defines a 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:48.360 t b M as a quote machine used to excavate 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.800