WEBVTT - From the Vault: Subterrenes 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.360 Hey, welcome to Stuff to blow your mind. My name 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:12.000 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.920 Time for a Vault episode. This is our episode on Subterranes. 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:21.240 It originally aired June four. I say, let's dig right in. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.919 I recall as it were, but yesterday, the night of 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.319 that momentous occasion upon which we were to test the 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.479 practicality of that wondrous invention. It was near midnight when 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.680 we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:39.240 constructed his iron mold, as he was wont to call 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.040 the thing, the great nose rested upon the bare earth 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.040 of the floor. We passed through the doors into the 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.440 outer jacket and secured them, and then passing on into 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.479 the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube, 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.760 switched on the electric lights. Perry looked to his generator, 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.560 to the great tanks that held the life giving chemicals 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.560 with which he was to manufacture fresh air to a 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.160 place that which we consumed and breathing, to his instruments 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:13.160 for recording temperature, speed, distance, and for examining the materials 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.760 through which we were to pass. He tested his steering device, 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.399 and overlooked the mighty cogs which transmitted its marvelous velocity 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.880 to the giant drill at the nose of his strange craft. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.200 Our seats into which we strapped ourselves were so arranged 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.800 upon transverse bars that we would be upright whether the 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.880 craft were plowing her way downward into the bowels of 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:39.919 the Earth, or running horizontally along some great seam of coal, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.080 or rising vertically toward the surface. Again. At length, all 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.520 was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.440 moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.640 grasped the starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath us. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.240 The giant frame trembled and vibrated. There was a rush 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.840 of sound as the loose earth passed up through the 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.200 hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:12.239 deposited in our wake, and we were off. Welcome to 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:21.839 Stuff to Blow your mind production of my Heart Radio. Hey, 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.160 welcome to stuff to blow your mind. My name is 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.600 Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And that was that 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.160 little coal. Reading there was from at the Earth's Core 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.959 by Edgar Rice Burrows published in nineteen Fourteen's that the 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.360 one where Tarzan goes to the center of the Earth. No, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.760 and I know you're joking, but Tarzan does go to 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:43.560 the center of the Earth in a follow up novel 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.000 to this particular novel. Because this was this this kick 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.720 started a series that dealt with essentially like an inner world, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:57.519 a hollow Earth environment. This was the the Pellucidar series. Uh. Yeah, 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.000 so Tarzan, I think, goes to Pellucidar and a follow 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.520 up and we'll we'll talk more about Pellucidar here in 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.840 in a few minutes. But the reason that we're we're 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.040 kicked off with this reading is that this is this 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.239 is pivotal. This is uh, this is what is being 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:16.640 described here. The iron Mole is a subterarine, right, So 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.600 that was not a mistake. You weren't trying to say submarine. 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.919 That is a subterin as in beneath the earth, as 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.760 in the same way that a submarine is beneath the ocean. 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.080 So what we're talking about today is a submarine for 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.760 the ground. Yes, like submarines, but underground some sort of vehicle, 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.960 uh that has some sort of drilling or melting apparatus. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.560 Um on its front end, or perhaps on the rear 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.960 end as well, then enables it to travel through the 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:49.160 earth to so to burrow through even solid rock, as 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.760 if it were some sort of giant worm making its 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.520 way through the ground. Now, you might not have heard 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.760 of a subdarine before, but I bet you have seen 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.320 one in science fiction. Uh So, before we dive into 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.080 the science and the actual and in some cases alleged 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:08.280 technological history of the subterarine, I thought we might run 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.840 through some fun examples from film and TV, and then 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.680 we'll also come back around to Edgar Rice Burrows again 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.560 before we venture into the real world. Now, Robert, right 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.080 when I jumped in the video chat today, you and 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.400 Seth we're talking about the like seventy thousand episodes of 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.640 the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated TV series, And immediately 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.720 it came to mind, like, oh, yes, didn't Shredder or 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.040 was it Shredder or was it Krang one of the 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.920 villains rides around in a giant underground drill in that show? Oh? Yeah, yeah, 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.120 I was. I was chatting with Seth about this because 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.279 I'm not sure if it was the first time I 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.400 saw a sci fi vision of a subterarine, but I 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.760 have a very clear memory of those, um, but believe 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.520 it was the especially the arcade Beat Him Up teena 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.400 teenage muting Ninja Turtles game. I think it was a 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.880 good week Economy, right, maybe it was Konami maybe. Anyway, 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.359 remember the arcade version was a lot better than the 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.279 port to the nes Oh yeah, Yeah. The arcade version 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.719 was really kind of beautiful, and I've seen some more 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.440 recent ports of it, uh that that you know, really 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:12.240 really felt all right, you know, I mean it was 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.160 a total quarter guzzler. It was just how many how 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.280 many quarters can you put into this machine at your 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.520 local pizza hut in order to beat it? But it 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.520 was it was so much fun and uh. And one 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.080 of the things was that frequently the boss at the 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:29.200 end of the level would arrive via a transport module 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.679 this thing that looked like a rocket, except the cone 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.599 of the rocket is a big drill and it comes 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.000 burrowing up through the earth and then it opens up 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.239 and here's the bad guy for you to fight. Here's 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:43.520 Bebop the punk bore yeah or yeah, or it's Shredder 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.320 or it's Kran himself and they're coming up. The idea 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.839 is that. Of course, Krang's layer is the subterranean techno dome, 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:54.320 this big, uh you know, domed vehicle base that is 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.359 often like in the molten core of the Earth, and 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.320 they have to send up their their murmid and there 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.880 their foot soldiers up to the surface in these specialized subterranes. 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.760 And is that the techno dome or the techno drome. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.719 I always thought it was like the like videodrome. We 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.400 have just received an update from Seth. It is in 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:18.120 fact techno drome um, which can be a little confused. 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.159 I think I trans figured into my head because it 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:26.080 is a a like is spherical looking structure it had 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.680 It looks kind of like a dome. It is a 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.160 technodrome whatever that is actually supposed to be. You would 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.080 imagine that the interior has a domed ceiling, perhaps painted 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.520 by michel Angelo or something. Is. Yes, it's a picture 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.920 of of crying and shredder about to have this divine 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:48.120 type yeah, crying reaching out. Yeah. So there's the series, 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:50.719 which which certainly Seth can attest to and I have 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.960 memories of. It was a lot of fun and had 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.840 these vehicles in there as well. There was even a 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.360 toy version of it. I included a picture of this 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.760 for you, Joe. I don't know if you remember this 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.200 or not from your the toys of your childhood, but 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.920 it is a more ornate version of the subterarine from 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.360 the cartoon. I remember it, but I didn't have it 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.160 that this was an object of coveting for me. Uh yeah, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.480 I I remember for me personally teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:19.920 the cartoon, and just the overall like sensation of the 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.640 toys and all. It came around at this weird time 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:25.600 where I still very much. I certainly watched all these 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.560 shows and I wanted to have the figures. I wanted 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.880 to have these action figures, especially Shredder and Crying. But 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.720 there was this kind of feeling at that point that 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.200 you weren't supposed to have toys anymore, like you weren't 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.080 supposed to enjoy this stuff, which is total b s. 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.160 And I'm thankfully snapped out of that and have spent 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.520 the rest of my adult life, you know, realizing that 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.400 action figures are awesome and and I should buy them 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.040 for myself or my child. It's it's that horrible middle period. 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:57.880 I mean, it's just like with movies too, It's like 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.840 how Roger Ebert talks about how you know, when you 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:02.400 were little kid, Gammera is great because it's a rocket 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.239 powered turtle. And then you get older and more mature, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.200 and you think this is stupid because it's not realistic. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.320 And then you get even more mature than that, and 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.640 then you realize Gammera is great again. Yes, and Gamera 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.320 is great. Um and and and I and I will 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.240 say that you look back at Teenage Ninja Turtles that 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.560 had so many crazy, just gonzo elements in it. Uh, 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.360 it was fabulous. I mean you had this armored Ninja 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.320 and he's with there with an alien brain that's in 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.760 this giant android body, and they're sending Ninja's up to 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:37.480 the surface in these crazy drill submarines to fight. Uh. 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.280 You know obviously teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, which is in 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.760 itself such a strange concept. So that was one subterarine 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.439 that I think a lot of people probably remember. Older 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.080 viewers or certainly viewers who caught this show like on 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.880 Sci Fi Channel in reruns, might remember the Thunderbirds, you know, 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.280 like Thunderbirds or go, Well, this was the nineteen sixties 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.800 puppet show with these very signature looking characters. Um that 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.760 I understand. I was reading that they were partially inspiration 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.440 for the animation style on the long running Star Wars 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.720 clone Word War series that I'm watching now with my 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:15.160 son Um. But in this ES show, the characters had 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.199 these crazy vehicles and one of them was the Thunderbird too, 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.280 and it featured all these different pods and one of 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.600 them was called the Mole, and it was a drill 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:27.280 headed vehicle then enabled the team to venture into the Earth. Now, 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.640 this establishes a theme that's going to continue throughout the episode, 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.560 which is that there is a lack of imagination among 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:38.040 the people who create under underground drilling machines for science 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:42.280 fiction because it's always a mole. It's always a darn mole. Like, 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.280 why can't you think of some kind of other burrowing creature. 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.640 Why isn't it a sicilian or or something like that, 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.080 you know, I mean, come on, how many moles can 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.880 there be? Or even the naked mole rat that's close enough. Yeah, 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:57.160 there's there's so many other ways to go, but everyone 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.640 comes back to the mole. And and that also includes 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.320 picks are because I know a number of certainly, if 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.840 you're if you're too young to remember a teenage Mt Ninja, 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:08.000 Turtles or certainly Thunderbirds, then perhaps you remember The Incredibles. 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.120 At the very end of this film, we're introduced to 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.719 a new supervillain called the under Miner, who arrives in 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:19.080 an epic u uh, an epic subterine with a drill 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.600 this time on either end. Uh. It's a fun scene, 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.080 just kind of like a way to close out the film. Well, 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.360 he's a bigger character in the sequel. Have seen I 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.959 have seen the sequel. Uh. Yeah, he plays a larger 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.640 role in that. But he's also mole themed. Clearly, Yes, yes, 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.440 clearly mole themed. Um, let's see. Oh and and this 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.600 is so weird. We were we kind of decided to 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.360 do this episode and I had it in my mind, 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.400 and then I happened to check out, Uh, this new 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.240 series on Hulu titled Solar Opposites. It's a it's a 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.760 new show from Rick and Morty co creator Justin Royland 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.800 along with Mike McMahon, who also worked on that show. Uh. 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:58.920 They dropped the entire first season on Hulu, and it's 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.320 it's it's a lot of fun. It's it's definitely for 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.760 grown ups. But it's the know, a similar vibe to 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.320 Rick and Morty, but perhaps a little less meta and um, 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.560 with characters that are a little more likable. Um. But 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.480 I've started watching it in BAM. Right there in the 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:18.400 opening of the first episode, there's this vehicle called the 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.840 Earth Drill that's used by the character Corvo to obtain 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.480 nickel alloy from the Earth's core in order to try 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.000 and fix his spaceship. And there's this great sequence where 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.520 a Corvo fires it up and starts drilling into the 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.000 Earth to go get the nickel, and it started immediately 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.920 causes earthquakes in like China and London, and there's a 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.800 big tidal wave somewhere else in the world due to 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.560 the seismic disruption of the thing. I like that the 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.679 design is a little bit trown shaped, is a little 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.720 bit light cycle kind of in profile at least. Yeah, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.120 it's a really cool design, Like they didn't just you know, 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.640 slap together something that looked like the like the transport 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.000 module all over again. It has has some really cool wheels. 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.160 But anyway, these are just a few examples. You'll find 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:03.640 submarines all over the place in science fiction. If you 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.280 really start looking for them like it'll just turn up eventually, 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.959 I think in any kind of science fiction scenario. For instance, 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.120 there's one in Fallout seventy six, the current Fallout game. 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:16.280 I looked around. I was like, there's gotta be one 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.720 in Star Wars somewhere, and it looks like there is 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.840 a combat drill in the Darth Vader comic books, like 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.320 Darth Vader rides one into battle at some point, like 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.199 a T drill. Ty Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would be 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.000 at drill T. I like that, um yeah, yeah, because 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.840 I figured Star Wars University's room for there's certainly room 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.760 for a subdarine. There's some rocky planet somewhere where there's 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.960 a battle between uh you know, the the Empire and uh, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:45.000 you know, some hapless species of subterranean creature. But I 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:46.400 feel like we got to bring it back to the 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.280 Edgar Ice Burrows because I will admit so I have 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.760 never read this book. At Earth's Core his novel about 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.040 the drill that goes down, and uh, I don't know, actually, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.200 I guess timing wise, this would be coming after Jules 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.040 Verne's journey at the Center of the Earth, So I 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.160 don't know how derivative of it it is. Um, but 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.760 I did manage to watch about the first twenty minutes 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.040 of the nineteen seventy six film adaptation of this book 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.760 Last Night, starring our old friend Doug McClure. You know 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.120 the man. Hi, I'm Doug McClure. You might remember me 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.880 from such films as that one with the Fish People. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.520 And then it also had Peter Cushing in probably definitely 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:28.920 not even no doubt at all, the gooberyest role I've 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.760 ever seen Peter Cushing in, where he is just like 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.319 a bumbling du fust with a high pitched, uh cartoon 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:39.760 professor voice. Yeah, this was This was the nineteen seventy 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:44.440 six adaptation, directed by Kevin Conner, And um yeah, you 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.440 might expect, like Doug, with Doug McClure and Peter Cushing, 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.320 you might think, Okay, Doug's gonna play kind of the 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:53.080 meaty du fist, which he did so well. Doug McClure 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:54.920 is awesome, He's a he's a treat. When you see 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:56.960 his names pop up in one of these older films, 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.280 you know you're you've got a nice film my head 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.320 if you but Peter Cushing, you think especially all right, 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.679 we think in seventy six. We're thinking Star Wars is 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.520 just after this practically, and you know, you think the 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.760 dignified Stuart Peter Cushing, he's gonna play this dignified scientist 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.520 who invince this thing, but no, he plays this goofy 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.440 Dufais character as well. Uh. And it's great. I mean 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.120 Cushing is is wonderful. He has he has ranged, so 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:22.840 I guess in a way, it's it's nice to see 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.160 him flex his his acting muscles in another direction. I mean, 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.080 it's an unfamiliar setup. Normally, I think you'd have more like, 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:31.240 you know, the dufas in The straight Man, but it's 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:35.200 like a dual dufus lead. Yeah. Yeah. And then you 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:39.000 have Carolyn Monroe in there as well, a screen legend 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.280 in her own right. Yeah. She played still a star 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.240 in Star Crash. Yeah, she was in I think she 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.040 was in a James Bond film, yeah yeah, yeah, and 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.440 in numerous so she was very very much an icon 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.840 of of the day. Hi, I'm Doug McClure and I 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.480 didn't get a haircut before filming this. Oh yeah, he's 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.960 pretty shaggy in this. Yeah, it looks and it doesn't 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:00.800 even look like it's inten should all. It looks like 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:02.680 he just, you know, it was meaning to get it 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:06.440 trimmed and he didn't. Yeah. Uh, now a lot of 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.960 people where I think we're reintroduced to the summer, introduced 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.520 to it to the for the first time the most 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.760 recent season of Mystery Science Theater three thousand that aired 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.760 on Netflix, because this is one of the films that 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.760 they riff and it's I remembered as being one of 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.040 the best episodes of the the MST three K revival. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:26.320 But the film in and of itself, it's just is 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:30.240 tons of fun. It's colorful, It's it's weird and wacky, 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.480 you know, it's it's I feel like, even though I 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.200 haven't read this particularly Edgar Rice Burrows novel, it does 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:39.000 feel true to the spirit of them because they're they're 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:40.640 there are a number of cool things going on in 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.000 here in this First of all, we do have the 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.680 Iron Mole. We have a drill headed subterine vehicle that 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.200 takes our characters deep into the earth and it takes 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:52.480 us to this hollow earth realm called Pellucidar and uh 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.360 and here we have a number of crazy elements taking 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.920 place as well, because we have a species of telepathic 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:03.200 terra Saar is called the Mahars that rule over stone 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.080 age humans that are also there. There's also like a 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:10.560 giant bipedal bird Trannosaurus rex thing. It's kind of like 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.680 Sam the Eagle and it runs around chasing Doug and 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.800 Peter Cushing in this giant underground corn field. I don't 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.640 know if that's in the book. Yeah, I don't know. 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.880 I'd like to hear from someone who who's who's read 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.600 this one, because I've read a couple of Burrows books 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.200 um back in the day, and I remember them as 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.120 being pretty fun. You know. He gets into a little 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:33.200 bit of scientific speculation while also getting into lots of 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.680 you know, swashbuckling style action, but then occasionally like some 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.640 really atmospheric you know, almost kind of like pulp horror 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.000 moments as well. Uh So, Yeah, and of course he 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.080 wrote a ton of books. This was this one just 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.680 kicked off a mini series that he did dealing with 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.920 this inner world he created. Uh and he was he 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.320 was a highly influential fiction writer at the time. So 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.280 it seems to me it's possible that he might be 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:02.800 the origin genator of our popular culture, and to a 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:07.679 certain extent, scientific obsession with subterines in especially in the 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.439 twentieth century. So I was looking around to see if 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.760 there were any hard bio biographical details on where Burrows 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:17.440 got the idea for the iron mole um, because it 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.360 seems like he might have been the first. I don't 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.600 know for sure. It's you know, it's very possible that 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.639 there are some other short stories from the time period, 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.520 or some book I'm missing in which a character introduces 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.360 the idea of a of the subterine. But I wasn't 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:32.880 able to come across it myself. Let me know if 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.480 you if you have an answer to that now. Certainly, 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.960 Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth came 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.680 out earlier in eighteen sixty four. But this book does 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:45.480 not feature a fantastic drilling vehicle. No, they just they 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.280 just find a hole in the earth and just kind 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.320 of walk all the way down. It's more of a 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.440 spelunking adventure. They traveled down via lava tubes, I think. 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.080 So I ended up consulting I think three different Burrows 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.200 biographies in search of any answers on you know, where 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.360 he got his ideas, Just a little nugget of like, hey, 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.119 he was reading in Popular Mechanics or something, you know, 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.919 but nothing turned up. So it seems entirely possible that 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.239 Burrows might have invented the sci Fi subterine as we 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.480 know it, and in doing so, as is often the 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:18.480 nature with sci Fi, influenced scientific minds all of that 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:24.879 century to investigate the idea further. Um. However, even if 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.840 he invented the sci Fi subterine in his own right, 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:32.800 he was definitely inspired by technological achievements in tunneling and 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:35.440 burrowing that had taken they were taking place at the time, 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.840 and had taken place towards the end of the previous century. Well, 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:40.560 maybe we should take a quick break and then when 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.479 we come back we can talk about some of the 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:51.400 real science and technology of burrowing vehicles. Alright, we're back. So, 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.320 like I was I was saying here earlier, Burrows I 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.120 think would have definitely been inspired by the real life 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:02.720 advances and tunnel boring machine during the nineteenth century. UH 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.680 tunneling shield technology came first successfully used for the first 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.920 time to excavate UH the Thim's tunnel, beginning in eighteen five. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.440 But this is just as the name implies a protective 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.479 structure that allows human excavators to work underground. It's not 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.879 even a machine, right, So describe briefly the tunneling shield. 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.040 This is basically kind of like a movable roof shield 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.760 that you can take with you as you continually remove 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.800 new material from as the tunnel is made. Yeah. I 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.760 would say combine that with the concept of say a 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:37.240 drilling template, and that's pretty much what you have. But 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.919 then this leads into some of the first tunnel boring 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.720 machines UH. And what is often brought up as the 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:45.960 first tunnel boring machine, though it's a real stretch to 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:48.880 call it a vehicle, came in eighteen forty five with 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.200 the Mountain Slicer. Is that really what it was called. Yeah, 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:54.880 it was called the Mountain Slicer. It was not named 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:56.960 It wasn't called a mole at all. Again, again, it 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.560 wasn't a vehicle really, but it was commissioned by the 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:04.040 King of Ardenia in to dig the French rail tunnel 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.639 between France and Italy through the Alps. And it was 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:12.440 the work of Belgian engineer Henry Joseph Mouse and this 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.240 was the first UH. This is often considered the first 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.080 tunnel boring machine or TBM. It consisted of more than 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.040 one percussion drills mounted at the front of a locomotive 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.600 sized machine which was mechanically power driven at the entrance 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.480 to the tunnel. So think about what kind of of 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.280 an engineering project it is to do something like this, 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.399 especially to have a single machine, because tunneling is you know, 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.040 it's not just like moving through water, which kind of 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:43.240 like is is easily displaced around you as you dive 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:46.120 through it. Of course, when you're tunneling through hard material, 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.160 one of the big problems you're gonna have is continually 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.880 removing everything that you're drilling out of place in front 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:55.720 of you as you go. Right. And then if we're 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.080 thinking of saying we keep talking about the mole as 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:02.040 the bio biological analog for all of this, Well, when 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:04.520 you're talking about the ocean, right, you're talking about the 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.480 ships and submarines basically doing the things that other organisms, 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:11.880 even large organisms, are capable of doing. But when you're 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.840 talking about you know, you're not just talking about burrowing 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:19.240 through loose soil. Here, we're talking about burrowing through solid rock, 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.760 which is not something that is generally considered within the 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:27.040 realm of certainly you know, a vertebrates capabilities, or or 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.400 any kind of you know, or organisms capabilities. This is 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.320 this is something new well certainly not at any speed 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.000 that would be useful from like a civil engineering point 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:40.320 of view, right, Um, So, UH, I want to talk 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.000 just a little bit more about the idea of the 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:45.280 tunnel boring machine or t b M. There there's tons 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:48.040 of information out there written about t p m s 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.320