What If You Just Keep Digging?

What's really down in the deep Earth?
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Have you ever thought, “what if I just dug a really really deep hole?”

Well, the USSR actually did. The hole they dug is deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. It’s deeper than Mt. Everest is tall! They began digging it in the 1970s as part of a space race, but down. The United States only got to 600 ft before pulling funding. But the USSR kept going for 20 years. They made it about a third of the way through the Earth’s crust and then STOPPED.

But what if… you just… kept... digging?

If you dug a hole to the center of the Earth, what would you find? What would happen to you? And what does our newest tech tell us is REALLY down below your feet?

In this video, we’re going on a journey to the center of the Earth…

Chapters:
0:00 What if you dug a hole to Earth’s core?
1:05 What happens when I start digging?
1:36 What are the deepest made-made things?
2:25 What is the deepest hole humans ever dug?
3:03 What happens in the mantle?
3:45 Why is the Earth hot?
4:38 What did we used to think was inside the Earth?
5:06 How do we know what’s inside the Earth??
5:59 What’s inside the core?
6:26 Um, the magnetic field switches direction??
7:13 Why is the Earth in layers?
8:53 What’s at the center of the Earth?
9:46 Earth’s core spins at its own rate??
10:52 What don’t we know?
11:33 Subscribe to support Huge If True!

Corrections:
1:43 The Mponeng Gold Mine is in South Africa, not China.
We always strive to get every detail right but we do sometimes make mistakes. We care more about getting it right than being right, and we'll always issue corrections. Thank you for your help making Huge If True great!

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Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.

Additional reading and watching:
- What If You Dig A Hole Through The Earth (our previous Short): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1WXL1IfivVo
- What If You Just Keep Digging (our previous Short): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yMNmhpQ7mOs
- How Deep Humans Have Dug, Insider Tech: https://youtu.be/tzhWVzyo4kI?si=KveNdkqDB4H_GvT_
- What Would A Journey To Earth’s Core Be Like? Bright Side: https://youtu.be/3FoSAHk7DMA?si=E0yceK9HFFHbhzEN
- What’s The Deepest Hole We Can Possibly Dig? RealLifeLore: https://youtu.be/E39GIysMevQ?si=Mt8kp_CPbbMXng0f
- Why Did the Russians Seal Up the Deepest Hole in the World? How Stuff Works: https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/kola-superdeep-borehole.htm
- Fantastically Wrong: The Legendary Scientist Who Swore Our Planet Is Hollow, WIRED: https://www.wired.com/2014/07/fantastically-wrong-hollow-earth/
- How Does Earth’s Core Generate a Magnetic Field? USGS: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-does-earths-core-generate-a-magnetic-field
- Reversing the Geomagnetic Field, NASA: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/reversing-the-geomagnetic-field/
- Why Is It Hot Underground? Minute Earth: https://youtu.be/mOSpRzW2i_4?si=05MWOpajl3plH2Re
- Earth’s inner core seems to be slowing its spin, Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/01/23/earth-core-slowing/
- Earth’s Inner Core May Have an Inner

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