Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

WATCH: Video Shows How Deep Humans Have Dug Underground

WATCH: Video Shows How Deep Humans Have Dug Underground
Make us preferred on Google


Business Insider shared an animated video showing how far humans have dug underground through using many examples to provide perspective, and it is fascinating to the core.

A journey to the center of the earth would take a lot longer than you'd expect, so you might want to shelve any ambitions your parents instilled in you of digging a hole all the way to China.

What humans are capable of so far is already mighty impressive.

The video illustrates human excavating accomplishments beginning with a scratch on the earth's surface to where we ultimately wind up. Six feet under.

The typical grave is 6 feet down. Most Olympic swimming pools are 10 feet deep. Nile crocodiles dig burrows as deep as 39 feet deep. The Paris Catacombs are 65 feet underground.

Fascinating facts highlight our journey as we continue our descent to the lower depths.

The ancient city of Derinkuyu lies 279 feet below Turkey. The Greenbrier Bunker in W. Virginia is 720 feet underground. It was built to keep Congress safe in an emergency.

Need some perspective as to the scale of how far we've come? In the first example, the video uses a Parisian landmark for reference.

If the Eiffel Tower were buried up to the tip the base would reach down to here. The Woodingdean Well is 1,285 feet deep. It's the deepest hole that humans have dug by hand.

33 Chilean miners were trapped in a mine for about 2 months in 2010. The Burj Khalifa would go 2,722 feet below the surface. The deepest known point in a cave is in Krubera Cave in Georgia. Switzerland's Gotthard Base Tunnel is the deepest railway tunnel. Mponeng in South Africa is the world's deepest gold mine.

Humans have now exceeded the depths below the ocean floor, and that drilling project spans over four decades. How's that pressure in your ears?

The Kola Superdeep Borehole is only 9 inches wide. Russian scientists have been drilling it since 1970. It's now deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. The bottom is 356˚F, which is too hot for drills to go any further.

We have reached the farthest we could go. So far.

In 2012, Exxon completed the Z-44 Chayvo Well. This oil well is the deepest humans have dug.

Regarding reaching the center of the earth, we've barely pierced the earth's crust. It would take another 6o,000 feet to accomplish that. It's still a long journey with 21 million feet to go before reaching the center.

So how big are you feeling now?

Twitter can't even process the statistics of our digging accomplishments.

Flat-earthers out there had a question.

Do talk of crusts and cores make you hungry?

Maybe there's safety in not knowing.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

H/T - Twitter, BusinessInsider, YouTube

More from News/science

Montana Jordan and Emily Osment
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

'Young Sheldon' Star Explains Why She Asked For An Intimacy Coordinator On The Show—And It Makes Sense

Entertainment journalist and Glamour magazine Senior West Coast Editor Jessica Radloff's new book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, shared a story about actor Emily Osment joining the show in its fifth season that's drawing praise for her consideration for her fellow child star, Montana Jordan.

Osment, who began acting at age five, is one of a rare breed in Hollywood—a child star turned successful adult actor. It's a journey many kids have infamously stumbled on, but that Jordan has also successfully navigated perhaps in part thanks to Osment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Participants at the meeting of the furry scene Eurofurence in the Hotel Estrel in Berlin, Germany
Jens Kalaene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Texas GOP's Bizarre Text Warning Voters About 'Weirdo Furry Socialists' Sparks Mockery

A Texas political action committee sparked online mockery after multiple people independently told the San Antonio Current they received a text message urging Texans to vote Republican to keep so-called "furry Socialists" from choosing their leaders.

The message was sent Saturday alongside a photo purportedly showing a man wearing a fox-tail accessory as he left a polling location in Collin County. The message identified its sender as Texans for Common Sense, a political action committee funded entirely by Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a far-right organization backed by West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nicki Minaj
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj Is Now Being Floated As A Possible White House Press Secretary—And It's Beyond Parody

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had critics rolling their eyes after he shared a video of himself with rapper Nicki Minaj and floated her as the next press secretary.

Cheung's post comes as the White House continues to hunt for a replacement for Katie Zacharia, who was fired after just five days on the job.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexander Skarsgård attends the Los Angeles premiere of Black Bear's "Wicker" at Directors Guild Of America.
Maya Dehlin/WireImage

Alexander Skarsgård's Unexpected Confession About Finding The Grinch Hot Sparks Hilarious Reactions

Some people want a man who's tall, dark, and handsome. Alexander Skarsgård prefers green, hairy, and someone who hates Christmas with a passion.

It all went down during a Bustle interview promoting Wicker, when Skarsgård and co-star Olivia Colman got into a “hear me out” discussion that took an unexpectedly naughty turn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump in the Oval Office surrounded by Catholic Bishops and Archbishops
@MargoMartin47/X

Catholic Leaders Slam Trump White House For Turning Private Prayer Into Political Photo Op

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 22, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Special Assistant to the President and Communications Advisor Margo Martin posted a video of Catholic leaders praying with the POTUS in the Oval Office.

Martin, who has been with Trump since his first term, captioned the video:

Keep ReadingShow less