What If We Harnessed Zero-Point Energy?

imagine if we could collect energy out of thin air and I mean it quite literally you know how you were taught that a vacuum is nothing but empty space well that isn't exactly true at least in the world of quantum mechanics if you dive deeper below the level of molecules atoms electrons and protons and into the world of the tiniest subatomic particles like quarks you'll see that even the vacuum of space can never be truly empty it's filled with particles that randomly pop in and out of existence but the exciting thing about these fluctuating particles is that they generate energy that we could hypothetically put to good use how could we harness this vacuum energy how would teeny a source of unlimited power change us and why could this be dangerous for the planet this is what if and here's what would happen if we harnessed zero-point energy don't be spooked by its complex name zero-point energy is simply the vacuum energy we just talked about and according to calculations in quantum field theory the vacuum of space holds an infinite amount of it if we can find a way to use it just a cup full of this energy might hold enough power to boil all the Earth's oceans so where would we start in quantum mechanics things behave differently from how they would in classical physics for example you can't know where a particle is until you observe it what's more the more accurately you determine the position of the particle the less accurately you can determine its momentum it's called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and it applies to particle duration and energy as well a still with me good because we're just getting to the cool part what this uncertainty principle tells us is that zero-point energy exists we just need to find a way to collect it how would we do that the vacuum of space is really cold right but it's not the absolute zero kind of cold more like 2.7 Kelvin to transfer zero-point energy you'd simply need a colder source to receive that energy the problem is it's not possible as far as our technology goes we can't pull the energy out of nowhere unless we could reduce the vacuum energy in a region of space first according to the second law of thermodynamics the vacuum would try to fill in the gap and that's where we could interfere and ko the zero-point energy but this method wouldn't be that effective because we'd spend more energy trying to extract the zero-point energy I know it seems like a dead end but let's do what we usually do in the case when the existing technology hasn't caught up yet let's fast forward into the future where all the extraction issues are resolved and where everything is powered by zero-point energy now what unlimited energy would mean free or almost free energy we'd have free public transportation and we will all Drive electric cars everyone including developing countries would have access to cutting-edge technology and to the internet non renewable energy sources would be a thing of the past even the renewable sources we use today would be obsolete why would we need solar energy Barmes if we could automate the extraction of unlimited zero-point energy and never need to worry about power again but as with all things we have in excess we could start over using the energy to the planet might be free of emissions from fossil fuels but it doesn't mean that there would be no new threats from energy consumption we'd need our governments to regulate how we use all that energy maybe it would be a good idea to focus on exploring space powered by the infinite amounts of zero-point energy we'd be able to go across the solar system in a matter of hours we could start mining asteroids and terraforming other planets and maybe one day we decide to relocate humanity altogether but that's a story for another what if

Channel: What If

Views: 616,434

Keywords: what if, what happens if, scifi, science documentary, what if scenario, mysteries, what if technology, what if we harnessed zero-point energy, harnessing zero-point energy, zero-point energy, vacuum energy, quantum mechanics, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, Unlimited energy, future scenario, possible scenario, technology documentary, thermodynamics, quantum physics, documentaries, free energy, unlimited source, possible worlds, biggest questions in science, solar system

Id: xCxTSpI1K34

Length: 5min 6sec (306 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 13 2020