People look like tiny ants, cars resemble
colorful beetles, and skyscrapers don’t seem much taller than trees; and no, you’re
not looking down from the window of a plane! That's the view you can enjoy from the tallest
skyscraper in the world, Burj Khalifa, in the United Arab Emirates. But what if we built one even taller than
that? What if we built... a billion-floor-skyscraper? Well, on one hand, such a structure would
probably solve one of the most acute problems of humanity! And by that, I mean overpopulation. Just within the past two hundred years, the
number of people living on Earth has doubled several times and has almost reached the shocking
figure of 7.7 billion! You may ask, "How can a mere building, even
one so high, solve this issue?" Let's see. There is an estimate that ten people of average
build and height can comfortably stand on a 10-square-ft area. It means that 26 million people, which is
approximately the population of Scandinavia, can fit into 1 square mile. As for the whole Earth's population, it just
needs a square that's about 17 miles on each side, which is an area similar in size to
New York City. But I bet you would be pretty indignant after
being squeezed into such a small space and also having to share it with others. According to UNESCO, each person needs to
have at least 322 square feet of personal space to feel comfortable. Even so, a 1-billion-floor skyscraper would
provide everyone with enough space and more. It would be a world of its own, with cinemas
and restaurants, stadiums and artificial lakes, entertainment parks and busy shopping streets! Just how cool is that? On the other hand, I can't even imagine such
a mind-blowing construction, and I bet it wouldn't be a piece of cake to build a skyscraper
with one billion floors! And you know what? I'm actually right about this. See for yourself! - First of all, such a skyscraper would be
so heavy that its bottom part wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure and would collapse,
bringing the whole construction down. However, if some super strong revolutionary
materials appeared in the next several decades, there would be a chance that the building
could stand straight. But unfortunately, that's only one of a whole
bunch of problems. - The next issue would be winds that reach
very high speeds at a height of 6 miles. In fact, most atmospheric jet streams move
at a constant speed of more than 57 miles per hour. Can you imagine what would happen to a skyscraper
repeatedly hit by such winds? - Another huge problem would be elevators,
because surely you wouldn't want to use stairs to climb to your apartment situated on the
1,235,677th floor? First of all, it would be next to impossible
to build such long distance elevators, considering all the materials needed. Then, even if these elevators were lightning
fast, it would still take ages (and I mean it) to get to the top floors. Besides, if the whole population of our planet
lived in a 1-billion-floor skyscraper, can you imagine how many elevators we would need
to avoid gigantic lines while waiting for our ride to come? There would have to be so many elevators in
the building that there wouldn't be any room left for anything else! - But now, let's check if you do realize how
tall a billion-floor skyscraper would be! A regular modern skyscraper has, let's say,
about 100 floors. Now, we put 100 skyscrapers on top of each
other. Voila, we have a mega-skyscraper with 10,000
floors, and it's already halfway to space! It's way taller than the tallest mountains,
and airplanes fly somewhere near the bottom of the construction. But we can’t stop there! Let's stack 100 mega-skyscrapers on top of
each other! Wow, now we have a 1,000,000-floor construction! Unfortunately, this has brought along additional
problems. First of all, spacecraft have started to crash
into our super-mega-building. Watch out! Phew, the International Space station has
barely avoided the collision. Plus, don't forget about space junk which
has been accumulating since people started to explore space. Broken satellite pieces, damaged spaceships,
and other space trash can seriously damage our skyscraper. And let's not forget that so far, we've constructed
only a 1-million-floor building. As soon as we place one hundred super-mega-skyscrapers
on top of each other, the 100-million-floor construction almost brushes against the Moon. And still, that’s just 100,000,000 floors! To create a 1-billion-floor skyscraper, we
need to put 10 of those on top of each other. Then we get the incredible construction that
would defy numerous physical laws. It ignores the pull of the Earth's gravity,
somehow avoids crashing into the Moon, and even doesn't fall over, smashing the planet
in the process. Well, I guess you get what I mean: the 1-billion-floor
skyscraper is impossible to build. At least, in the Universe where we live. So sad, so sad... But let's talk about two supertall projects
which don't sound like a sci-fi movie: one that already exists and the other that's nearing
completion. As you know, the incredible Burj Khalifa in
Dubai, is the tallest building in the world. Constructed from reinforced concrete, steel,
and aluminum, this skyscraper dwarfs all other constructions in the area. The height of the building is a staggering
2,717 ft, which is two times taller than the Empire State Building, and almost three times
taller than the Eiffel Tower. There are 163 floors inside, including 9 for
maintenance needs. And to get to the top of the skyscraper, you
can use one of its 57 elevators. So now, how about some cool facts about this
giant? - The skyscraper holds quite a number of records:
the tallest free-standing structure in the world; the highest occupied floor in the world,
the world's highest number of floors; the highest outdoor observation deck; and even
the world's longest distance traveled by an elevator! - The weight of the concrete used to build
Burj Khalifa is equal to the weight of 100,000 elephants, and the total weight of the aluminum
needed for the construction - to five A380 airplanes! Isn't it mind-blowing? - Also, the skyscraper has the longest single
running elevator in the world which goes a whopping 140 floors up! Besides, the elevators in the building are
among the fastest in the world: you can reach the 124th floor with the observation deck
within one minute! But don't forget to make your ears pop afterward. Burj Khalifa is a really marvelous and breathtaking
construction. But very soon, this skyscraper will be left
behind in the cutthroat race to construct the world's tallest building. Rising from the desert of Saudi Arabia is
Jeddah Tower. When finished, it will be a magnificent 3,281-feet-tall
construction with an observatory on the 157th floor! I bet you've never climbed that high, right? The original plan was to construct a mile-high
skyscraper but, unfortunately, the area's geology put an end to this ambitious idea. The Tower is supposed to be both a commercial
and residential building. According to the plan, it's going to house
numerous hotels, offices, tourist attractions, and homes for ordinary people. Well, when I say "ordinary," I mean ordinary
people with tons of money. The skyscraper's going to have the world's
highest observation deck with a huge outdoor platform at the height of 2,178 ft. To reach the observation area, you'll have
to use a double-decker elevator that will travel at a speed of about 30 ft per second. In other words, it will take you a bit more
than a minute to get to the 157th floor! Well, hopefully, they will finish the construction
in time! I can't wait to conquer the next highest skyscraper
in the world! What's the tallest building you've ever visited? Share your experience in the comment section
below! Remember to give this video a thumbs up, show
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