Why Digging To The Earth’s Mantle Is Almost Impossible | The Limit

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The deepest hole humans have ever drilled into the Earth is just 12.3 kilometers, about 0.2% of the distance to the planet’s core. That effort, the Soviet-era Kola Superdeep Borehole, took more than 20 years to complete. And despite decades of technological progress since, we haven't gone any deeper. So what’s stopping us? Business Insider visited drilling sites and spoke with engineers and industry experts to understand what it would take to go deeper than ever before, and whether reaching the Earth’s mantle is even possible. 00:00 - Intro 01:09 - The deepest hole 03:22 - Heat 05:55 - Millimeter wave 11:44 - Pressure 14:54 - Real-world testing 16:55 - What's down there? 18:34 - Earthquakes 20:36 - Economics 27:30 - The maximum depth 31:02 - Credits ------------------------------------------------------ #digging #boreholedrilling #drillinggeology #thelimit MORE EPISODES FROM THE LIMIT: Why Fully Self-Driving Cars Are Almost Impossible https://youtu.be/Kcq0tjmvGOs Why A Mile-High Skyscraper Is Almost Impossible https://youtu.be/9DaEmvKWsEA Why Humans Living In Space Is Almost Impossible https://youtu.be/tFgC7TwuAHU Business Insider is a global newsroom covering business, technology, innovation, and the economy. Visit our homepage for the top stories of the day: https://www.businessinsider.com/?utm_source=youtube Sign up for our newsletters: https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter?utm_source=youtube Find Business Insider on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessinsider ... on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessinsider ... on X: https://x.com/BusinessInsider ... on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessinsider Why Digging 12 Miles Deep Is Almost Impossible | The Limit | Business Insider