Geopolitical Competition in Outer-Space!!!!

All right, all right. Hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. So good to be with you here. Very excited to have a, a great conversation and of course answer some of your questions. So let's start with addressing first what we're going to be talking about today. Okay, so we're gonna be talking about space. Now you will think, why on earth is Mr. O's gonna be talking about space? Well, there's a lot of aspects to it. So, and the reason why, first of all, I wanted to, uh, just give you a heads up, uh, astrophysics or astronomy in general, one of my hobbies. You know, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a physicist, but I've read enough about space and, and universe and so forth. Why? Because I'm curious. Curiosity is very, very important. So, so, so the way we're gonna do this, guys, just, uh, to have some sort of a structure. So we'll talk that— we'll talk about the universe, you know, in general term. This is nothing, uh, physics and all that, just in general term. And the question that— because I'm sure you're asking the question yourself What are you doing here? How did you come to be? Where did you come from? And so forth. So those are basic questions that we need to think about. You think outside the box, as we said. So I'll address some of, of that in general terms again. Then we're gonna turn into the second part of, of, uh, of this discussion. We'll turn into how space is turning, or already has been turning, into a geopolitical competing ground, and what does it mean moving forward. So, so this is basically what we're going to be, uh, uh, uh, addressing today. We'll share some, uh, comments with you. Let me first, uh, ask one question here, please. Let me know— not a question, but let me know where you are joining me from. What part of the world you are joining, joining me from. So I always like to know part of the countries you are from. So, and I'm gonna read some of you, uh, okay, uh, Afi, uh, Mahmood, good to have you from the UK. It's here. So, uh, who's William N? Couldn't join us today, so I hope to see you next time. Uh, Oh, Elizabeth is here also. You all know who Elizabeth is, right? Thank you for being here, Elizabeth. Uh, who is, uh, Mengma from Memphis, Tennessee? Good to have you. Alba from Canada, good to have you here as well. So, uh, uh, Tong Twa, I hope I pronounced it correctly, from Australia, good to have you here. So And, uh, and I'm going to be taking a look again as, as we move forward. So, well, before I launch into all this, uh, I want to say thank you to, uh, the members, uh, the supporters for the channel. Truly appreciate your support because without you there will be no channel. Let's face it, is the truth, is the reality. Uh, uh, but also I am sure you come to understand that the content I provide for you guys is for the sake of not only understanding, okay? This is not about just, uh, sounding intelligent. What I care less for that, I care less for titles. And I am sure you guys figured that out by now, how for me, how I operate and so forth. So, so I read a lot of stuff, you know, that's just part of what I do. That's part of when you become in academia and so forth, you have to learn. But the question is not about I want to sound intelligent, whatever. Or you're going to be saying, well, because, you know, uh, uh, uh, Mr. Oualaalou said so. Uh-uh. It's not about that. I care less about all that stuff. What I care about, what I care the most about, is that once you watch one of my videos, once you listen to a conversation that we have, you are left with more questions that you came in with. Another word, I am not here to impress you. I am here to press upon you to think in terms outside the box. That is the role of what an educator is, you know. And I'm not bragging here, I am a, I am a winning educator, so I kind of understand that it is a duty, it is a responsibility, you know. Yes, you have this knowledge, but if you have the knowledge and you just sit on it, what's the point? You almost become like useless for humanity. That's, that's how I look at it. So, so in this context, uh, you know, it becomes the question of, well, how far we're gonna have to sort of— how far do I have to go? You know, because to me, that's what an educator is all about. You know, because I want to answer your curiosity. I want to provide you insights because it's always nice to have a different perspective. So because you are a curious person, this is one of those topics that today we're going to be talking about. Probably you never asked that question, but today, once we're done with this conversation, you'll probably be looking at the sky up and say to yourself, oh, where did I come from?? Because it's a legitimate question to ask. And this is one of the challenges we have in our American system, that education has become transactional. So, you know, and always remember, remember what Horace Grant once said, Horace Mann rather, once said, you know, be ashamed to die until you have scored or you have won some victory for humanity. That is how important that is. So that led me now to ask the question, what am I doing here? Because that's what it is. What are we doing here? Let me see who— if someone else here from some other parts of the world. Uh, Australia. Who's from Okay, Canada, Albert. Okay, so let's move on with our conversation here. So let's begin. And if we are to talk about the universe, how did it start? And by the way, just to show you, because I want to share something with you here, I'm going to move out of the chair. See what's behind me there? That's a telescope I just got for my birthday. Yeah, so with this, I'm going to be looking at two things. One once I set it up, of course. I'm gonna be looking at N72 and N48. Those are stars that I'm gonna be— because again, why is the curiosity aspects of it? That is the reason. So, so, and that will lead me to sort of start this conversation with a quote by Lewis Bogan. Lewis Bogan once said, I quote here, the initial mystery that attends any journey is how did the traveler reach his starting point in the first place? End of quote. So, and it makes more sense because like I said, you're gonna have to ask yourself, how did we get here? Okay, when you look at the idea of looking, for example, at a deep space, you know, like, like the picture you are looking at, the Hubble Space Telescope picture that took, what's called the Hubble Deep Field. So what you're looking at, you're looking at probably billions of galaxies. You know, not just few, billions. Okay. And this, by the way, it's just in the, what do we call it, in the observable, observable universe. There is some stuff out there beyond our capability of understanding, because, uh, our mental capabilities is very limited. No matter how smart you are— Einstein was slightly different than you and I, it's the truth, because he was thinking outside the box, you know. His level of intelligence, IQ, whatever you want to call it, was slightly higher. Yeah, well, the telescope shows that the 400 billion galaxies in the observable universe. And, and when you look at a picture like this, you know, because I'm sure— I hope it does to you because it does it to me, you know, it's kind of— will inspire your imagination, will trigger your curiosity to understand your role in this universe. What are you doing here? You know, is it, is it, is it about just making money, having bank accounts, driving fancy car and this and that. What is it truly understanding? What are you here for? What are you doing here? What is your objective? What is your mission? Yeah, those are simple questions when you think about the— when you look at it in the big scope, you know, of the universe. 400 billion galaxies in the observable, uh, universe, you know. And even with this picture Every dark ones, there are maybe another which are about 10 billion light years away. Yeah, in the simple terms, for those who study physics and understand, it's basically took about 10 billion years for that light to get over here. So, so once again, this might sound philosophical, whatever, but again, I wanted to just address something slightly different. Yes, we're gonna talk about geopolitics because that's what I talk about, but also you have to understand other dimensions within a bigger picture. And one of them is this: understanding how is all of a sudden space becoming a geopolitical terrain or, or ring for a competition. But we have to understand the background of it. So, so when you think about how fast we are moving Okay, in the universe, once again, the big picture. So we are moving around the Sun at about 30 kilometers a second. The Sun is moving around the galaxy at about 200 kilometers per second. Okay, and those are important to understand because the big question that comes up is, okay, well, how this all started. Yeah, and it might be nothing there. It might be started from nothing. So there's a great book out there by Professor Lawrence Krauss. You know, he talks about this because Lawrence Krauss is a particle physicist, you know, very knowledgeable. I have great respect for the guy. I listened to him once a while, read his articles and so forth, and challenged the notion of that Some of us, you know, thinking in terms of, well, how it all started. Well, his argument based on science that it must start from nothing. Why is nothing? Because even in an empty space, you know, when you see just void, there is energy involved. And again, I am not a, I'm not a particle physicist here, but at least based on what I researched and read, I understood the dynamics. So could it be the whole universe beginning start from that concept? Possibly, possibly not. Because when you think about the, the, the, uh, the, uh, the iron, the neutron, the, the, the photon, you, all the other elements that are, by the way, inside you, you become ask the question, am I part of that star up there that exploded you billion years ago. And again, we just, we just wanted to, you know, because sometimes how you challenge the, the, the, the intellectual ability of one is, is to go outside the box. Because anything that is uncomfortable for us, we tend not to dig into it because it's different. It's scary, it's challenging. And one of them is your existence. You know, you go to bed, you wake up in the morning, and you ask yourself, okay, why, why, what have I done yesterday? What have I accomplished yesterday? Then all of a sudden you find out that, oh, am I doing the same thing that I did yesterday? So was I truly asleep or was I just whatever? So once again, this is just some questions that some might not feel comfortable with. But again, just to understand how this works. And that leads me to talk about the idea of if we are to think like based on the, in the, on the image you are looking at, the deep field with all the space stuff here, you start to ask the question about are there other civilizations out there? Are there other, should we use the term worldly being out there? Are we just alone by ourselves? Are we the only smart intelligence? Because if we are thinking that we are the smartest, that will be very hubris of us. That's a sort of an arrogance of us. We are so arrogant to think that we are the only smart creatures. Yeah, because you'll think about it again outside the box. If another entity, whatever that entity is, were able to visit here, then that suggests they are a little bit far advanced than us, you know. So that becomes a question of what type of civilizations are out there. Could be others besides just us on Earth. Could it be— could we be unique in the universe, at least that we are in? Like the physicist Brian Austin Brian Greene, I'm sorry, Brian Greene talks about that you have to think of the universe as a whole like, like a loaf of bread, and each slice is a universe by itself. So it begs the question, you know, are we the only one here? You know, and if we think that, are we that smart? Because this is one reality that that we need to accept is that we are, uh, very minor, very useless in the universe. Universe doesn't care whether it makes sense to you or not, because universe moves on, you know. Because there are two things that matter, is that we are nothing in the universe, like whatever, we are sort of useless. And second is how the universe moving down the road by about, let's say, 2 billion years from now, how it's going to end. Maybe because that's normal, how the stars, the birth, the life, and the death of star goes through a process like you and I. You are born, you grow up, you get old, you check out. Even though we call it death, even though some, those who argue that we just cross into a different dimension. That's possibly one. It might be. So, so you talk about the type of civilizations, you know, and this based on, uh, on study was conducted by a Russian physicist. His name is Kardashev, and he's the one who came up with the scale of, of, uh, it's called the Kardashev scale. For those who might be interested in learning a little bit more about, just Google it and check it out and read up some on his aspects. So, so what basically there are 3 types. Those 3 types that we could at least understand. So there's Type 0, uh, uh, uh, civilization. You know, this basically, this civilization, uh, it's like what happened for us here on Earth. If you think about us for the last 100 years, how we moved from horse and buggies to, uh, cars to now, uh, planes, space, you know. And all this was based on what? On energy. Okay, so Energy is at the heart of it. So, so, and basically in this Type 0 civilization is that this civilization will extract energy and raw material from sort of crude organic-based sources within Earth, like, you know, coal, like oil, and so forth. So those are just the basic. And by the way, when the calculation was made as far as which civilization we fall under, We are not even a Type 1 civilization. Based on the calculations, we are— we scored about 0.72. Doesn't even make us Type 1 yet. So if we are to think we might become a Type 1 civilization, you'll be looking at about 120, 150 years from now. So that's, that's a Type 0 civilization. Then you move into Type 1, because Type 0 deals with the Earth where we are. Type 1 civilization will be dealing with planetary culture. So now you're dealing on the planetary level. This, uh, civilization will slightly be a little bit more advanced than how it is on Earth. For example, this kind of civilizations will be capable of, uh, let's say, using available resources on planet Earth, but skillfully, in one way that can, they can improve on how to harness energy output of an entire world. Basically, when you think in a simple terminology here, you look, you think about electricity and, and you think about watts, and the higher the watts the stronger the energy is. In this Type 1, you can think about 10 to the 15th power watts. That's basically how, uh, how this civilization is, which, as I said earlier, if we are to move from Type 0 to Type 1, it will take us a good 150 years. So maybe your great— your, your grand or great-great grandchildren might be in it, or your just grandchildren might be able to see some of them. Okay, Type 2 civilization. Now you move from the planet into the stellar level. And what do I mean by this? You think about an event that took place in 2016— I don't know if you were aware of it or not— when an interstellar object entered our solar system. It's Oumuamua. It was that cigar-shaped asteroid. You know, there are those— it was a physicist from Harvard University at the time said that this is not an asteroid, this is some sort of starship of sort, because crossing through an interstellar, it requires some different type of energy., things far advanced than we can even imagine. So, so in Type 2, this kind of civilization will be very, very far advanced than what we can even imagine by about, uh, you— I feel comfortable saying by about 1,000 years or so, based on what I read. And the inner— the thing about this, in this type of civilization, they will be able to harness energy Like, for example, as we said in Type 1, 10 to the 15th power. This one will be 10 to the 26th power. You all know that number is too big. That's too big. Basically, what you're looking at, uh, if we are to look at this, uh, type of numbers, our brain cannot comprehend that. And this, basically, for those who watch Star Trek, that will be something like that. And when you think about how long to travel within space, you know, when you consider that 1 light year, 1, 1 light year is about 6 trillion miles or 9 trillion kilometers. Once again, just to tie it back to us, our existence in this universe, we are insignificant when you look at the big picture. And that's my point of why I wanted to talk to you guys today about— that's why I was very excited and curious and, and couldn't wait for today to be here so we can talk about, because those are questions that we need to ask. When you wake up in the morning and you start your day, maybe you look up and you say to yourself, why am I, am I alone here, or is there something else out there? Type 3 civilization. And this will move now from planetary, or, or, or, uh, uh, yeah, it move from stellar into galactic. So when you deal with galaxies, you're dealing with a, a completely, completely different form of energy, different form of some technological advances, and, and the ability— because you are looking at about harnessing energy at about 10 billion times the energy output of Type 2. Again, our brain cannot comprehend those numbers. But again, I just want to put this out there for you to start to think, because that's how we learn. And sadly, again, and as an educator, it saddens me to see how our American system of education is become again transactional. Students don't— and I teach, I'm a faculty, I teach, and I do challenge my students because I want to make sure they get something out of their time with me in a classroom that helps them for the future. It's not about regurgitating the information and pass the test and you get a grade B and A and that's it. I care less for that. As a matter of fact, if it were up to me, it would be no test. What a test for? It's because we are sort of— what's the word I'm looking for? We are training students to only focus on grades. So the expansion of the mind is very, very controlled, very, very limited. They can't think outside the box. And that's again what prompts me to tackle something like this one. So this kind of, uh, uh, galaxies, or, or civilization rather, you know, because they can extract energy from about hundreds of billions of stars, because you remember each galaxy will have about 100 billion stars in it. So that's, that just gives you the how vast the universe is. We can't comprehend that. And that's why I said earlier at the beginning, the universe does not have to make sense to you. It doesn't care. Because how long do we live? 100 years max, if you take good care of your health, if you watch what you are consuming, you know, and we just pass on. So when you think about the whole existence of the universe for about 13.8 billion years, You know, our time on Earth here, it's like not even a blink of an eye. It's nothing. So this Type 3, it's when, when the travel across interstellar space is feasible. And feasible how? Through the machines? No. Sometimes this is where the wormhole comes in— black holes, that is. This is where certain very far advanced capabilities that we can't even comprehend That is one. So now there are those who say there are other types, two more. Type 4, which is a universal, you know, I, I, all I read basically based on the research that I did based on the three type of civilizations, but I looked into the Type 4 and Type 5. Believe it or not, there's Type 5. Those are just beyond what we can comprehend. So I figured I better at least increase my knowledge in these 3 civilizations to have at least an understanding. So Type 4, yeah, this one will be intergalactic culture, which means spanning the breadth and the width of the universe. Remember, as I said, the example that Brian Greene gave as to a universe like a bread a loaf of bread and each slice is a universe, you know, begs the question: if it is, there's the universe as a whole, are we the only one in it? How arrogant of us to be even thinking that. So, so basically, in this civilization, Civilization 4, the ability there is to be able to cross through the cosmos, far beyond. So, but to do this, you will require a lot of energy, which basically it would be the power of a billion trillion suns to consider. Because when you think about the temperature of the sun, you know, the temperature of the sun based on the calculations is about 10,000 degrees Kelvin. No, or, or actually 10 million degrees Kelvin. And each degree Kelvin is about 1 million degrees in our temperature, or 10,000— I'm sorry, 10,000, 10,000 degrees our temperature. So you do the math and you say so. So basically, in this kind of civilization, you— what will you expect? You will expect some their capability to have some superhuman proportions, abilities, uh, strength, uh, mental, in their own way. Because there is one thing that they can control there is the space-time. They can maneuver time and space because time and space is not linear, it's not straight line, it's curvable. Then there is Type 5, and Type 5 will be multiverse culture. And that's what makes it very, very interesting. This one here, it transcended the, the universe of origin. Basically, it will be capable— this kind of civilization will be capable of manipulating between multiverses. It goes from one to the next. That's usually how, how this will work. All right, let me get to my other notes here, and I'm going to check, of course, to see, uh, where am I? Yeah, let me see again, uh, for those who joining us from some other parts of the world, I'd always like to read what part of, uh, you know— Momo from Gambia, good to have you. Uh, actually, I will be releasing a video soon about Africa. Something that has to do with the, with the Treasury Secretary in Africa. Why is doing, uh, who else? Let me see here. Okay, the question. All right, let's move on with this one. Actually, I need to Yeah, so, uh, at the screen there. So let's, let's move to talk about— I do know some of you last time put, put a question, excuse me, regarding the, uh why helium is, is important. Helium-3. So, well, helium-3 is very, very important. This is why, and I'm gonna move away now from talking about universe into geopolitics in space. It's very, very important. The reason, I'm sure if you are an American viewer, I'm assuming you are aware of what we call Space Force, which falls under the Air Force. Space Force concept is not new. Yes, the former President, uh, uh, Trump signed off on it, but it's not new. It existed from way back, even during the Reagan administration time, and that's how it all started. But so, and this is why you're seeing now different approach to space, and I will address this one as we move forward. So, so here's the thing about helium-3. Helium-3 is, is abundant in the moon because back in the '80s, as I said, that was during the time when Reagan launched the Star, uh, Star War project. So back in the '80s, uh, the scientists have estimated that, uh, there are about 1 million tons of helium-3 on the lunar soil. Could this explain why China went ahead for one forward with establishing its own space station? Could this explain why a few years ago, uh, the US Congress passed a bill or a law prohibiting China from entering into the ISS, the International Space Station, which pushed China into creating its own? Could this has to do with helium-3? And the third other point to this is Could this explain why China went to the other side, the dark side of the moon? Which, by the way, we didn't go back since Apollo 17 or 18, believe it or not. You know, all the Apollo missions, there was one or two, either 17 or 18, that went to the far side of the moon and they never come back. So could this explain why China is moving into this. And, and again, I will address all this. So this is where the importance of helium-3. And helium-3 is because, uh, uh, is leading now to this arms race, or, or space race, if you will, you know. And again, because the availability, the large quantity of helium-3 in, in, in space, or in the surface of the Moon. Because helium-3 in space is significant, because you can try to develop nuclear fusion with it, or reactors, that is. And also helium-3 does not create, uh, hazardous nuclear waste. That's one of the things. So out of space basically holds virtually limitless amount of energy. And basically, whoever tap into helium-3— because just to give you an idea, the scale of this— you will be able to provide energy for the whole Earth, for the whole planet. That's how much, uh, uh, uh, important helium-3. And could this explain now why there is this race, space race, that is, that could turn a little bit ugly, if I may use the term, and I will tell you why as I move forward. So the one thing about the helium-3, uh, the, uh, the material coming out of it, you know, because it comes, as I said, it can be used rather for clean energy or clean reactors. That is, you can use it on heavy metals, and also it is very, very volatile. Because you can extract gases from it that it can become through asteroids, which can have— be harvested for use on Earth and in space. That is the important aspects of it. So the historical— the geopolitical competition is in space, how it's all started. What, of course, it started between the United States and the Soviet Union. You— and the thing is, one thing we do have here in America that, uh, and I'll say it straightforward because I don't sugarcoat things, because that's what you would expect from me, we tend to react to event. We are not proactive. We never sort of take the initiative. We always react. And this— why am I saying this? Because that's what triggers the geopolitical, uh, competition in space. Between the United States and Soviet Union. The USSR back then successfully launched its first satellite, Sputnik, which was 1957, sent its first human, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit in 1961. Okay, so when this happened, the United States back then felt humiliated That's what prompted at the time, back then, President Eisenhower, who created NASA, by the way. Why was NASA created? It was a reaction to the Soviet so-called threat from space. Uh, President Eisenhower passed on the torch to President JFK down the road. And, uh, if you all remember the famous quote, uh, quote rather, for JFK when he said, and I quote, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space," end of quote. And this is where the United States launched into the so-called the Apollo missions in May 1961 with the initial budget at that time of $531 million between 1960 and 1963. It was very interesting, as I said again, because we tend to react, you know, and we all remember what happened when the first Apollo mission— well, remember in the sense that some of us weren't even born. When I say remember, historically speaking, that, uh, when Apollo 1 was launched in 1973 All 3 astronauts were killed. They were aboard. And, and, and the history moved forward into this. My point is, my point is we are reacting to space competition by seeing what other countries are doing. Your example is China. So why did China move forward into this? Well, there are two reasons China moved forward with its space program. It's because it wants, first of all, to establish a presence there, okay? And second one, to ensure that it has the capabilities to defend its strategic interest, because that's exactly what happened between the United States and Soviet Union, because that competition between the two superpowers was the political justification. They both sought to propel the respective agendas when it comes down to space. Contemporary geopolitics— today's geopolitics competition in space is no different, except the players are different. Now you have China and the US. Well, China and Russia, by the way, they are joining forces in establishing some research facility in space because Russia has a major experience when it comes down to space. So it would be fair to say that the space, uh, uh, race is approached from a security angle with one objective and one only. The dominance, because the three countries— Russia, China, and the US— you know, they are all delivering space assets. So to sort of part of the military structure in space. So because the large competition— and I want you to get this, guys, because you're not going to hear it elsewhere The competition in space is largely being focused on counter-space capabilities. For example, depriving others— meaning other countries— of the benefit of superior space capabilities, that has become priority. A few years ago, I recall when China tested a laser beam that shut down one of its satellites. You know, the Pentagon went crazy about that because what does it mean? Basically, in a simple term, what it means that now China has developed strength or capability that can just target US satellites in space. If you target US satellites in space, the US will become blind because those guided missiles won't be able to fly. Anything that navigation systems won't be able to work., and you will be able to control the battlefield in that case. That's what's leading to the space now competition, a fierce one behind the scenes, and both countries, China and the US in this case, are putting serious money behind the scenes. You look at it just from the aspects of the, what you call, GPS, system. Well, there are four types of global systems. For example, the US GPS, the European Galileo, the Russian Galileos, and the Chinese BeiDou. You know, those are sort of parallel systems that illustrate what— the state of the competition that exists in space. And even with that, it is not enough. Yeah, this is why countries are moving into the direction of establishing their own capabilities, because they want to sort of, uh, uh, let me move this screen out here. There we go. This is why you get the countries moving into that direction of ensuring their space capabilities, because space will be the ne— It is not— it will be— it is also the dimension by which the next future wars will be fought. This is where information comes in, technology comes in. So the next war moving forward, it will be technologically based more than you can even imagine. And one advantage you, you will have, a country that is, if you have your capabilities in space, because if you do then you will be able to control the battle on the ground. As I said, if you blind the satellites, nothing else on the ground will work. That's just how this works, the system. That's why space is very, very, very important to understand its dimensions. Most countries— when I say most countries, the one with the capabilities— well, there are only 3 that matter: US, Russia, and China. Uh, you think about Japan can send the satellites. Yes, but this will have to go either with the European Space Agency or the US. India can send its own satellite, but those are on a limited small scale. Iran, even Iran can send the, uh, space satellites, but those are on small scale. We're talking about strategic, uh, uh, location of assets in space. What China is doing, what the US is doing, what Russia is doing. That is where the next frontier is going to be. So it will be very, very interesting to see, uh, the dimension of this. So let me see first of all if, uh, there are, uh, if there are any questions here from you guys. Please, if you put your question, just put a question so I know it's question, not statements. And I will be happy to answer a few, few questions for you here. So, all right, let me go back to the top here and start from— roll down. Okay. Oh, Casio, uh, Ciso from South Africa, good to have you here. We appreciate you being here. So, um, uh, California, Jesus Aguilar, good to have you here. Uh, okay, how does— no, I can't answer that one. Uh, how does a cappuccino rate on a Kardashev scale? You know, I know you're joking. Well, that's fine, you know, I just— I, I don't know as the answer for that. So, all right, let's see here. Uh, NASA studio to make Star Wars movies. I'm sure, I'm sure they will do something. Sunday B 1121, good, good, good to have you join me here. So it's always nice to be with you guys. Uh, question from, uh, Frisbee, you know, greetings. Let me, let me show the question here. Greetings, Professor David. What are your views on the global conspiracy to reduce the population of Earth? We know AI will render a lot of us, uh, redundant. Uh, yes, there is something going on. I don't know if you got a chance to see the last video released about the World Economic Forum, so you can take a look at that. But yes, there is an aspect going on with that. I do recall back then when the Foundation, Gates Foundation, was working in Africa and in India. You know, it wasn't about providing healthcare, it was about ensuring that the young generations will not make it. That, that's Bill Gates thinking. So I don't know why will somebody will be thinking in these terms. So the depopulation, yes, it is, it is, uh, in, in the works. So they're moving forward that way. So, uh, next question, let me see something here. Uh, DS, let me show your question here. DS, good to have you here. Uh, Dr. David, just call me David. I, I don't like titles. Uh, I believe that inside this galaxy there are billions of Earth-like planets, like, just like ours. Maybe this is the mystery of death, life everlasting in a multi-dimensional. That is very good one, and indeed, because The best example I can provide you is, I don't know if any of you have saw the movie Avatar? No. Well, that one is Alpha Centauri system. Alpha Centauri system, there's Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. The Avatar was in Alpha Centauri B. So yes, there are other Earth-like, you know, within the our system that exist, you know. The question is, for us to reach some— in the case of Alpha Centauri, for us to reach it, it will take us about 75,000 years, which means you have to ensure that the journey from here to there in 75,000 years will have to have all the necessary need for— because you have to sort of be able to have people, be able to produce humans in space also. While you're traveling. And the challenge into all that is what kind of energy you're going to need. And nuclear fusion will be one aspect to do it, but we are not capable of doing that, the proportion. This is why you are seeing, for example, uh, the certain aspects of— you can use the term of, uh, uh, spacecraft, okay? The, uh, They have the anti-gravity, they have the capabilities of traversing far distances. We are not in a position to do that as of yet. So, but you're absolutely correct, there are some out there. Uh, let me see the next question. All right, let me see here. Uh, question, question, question. Uh, uh, okay, let me show this one here. Tato Verde, good to have you here. You know, do you think that cooperation for conquest of space will yield much more than competition? I do see that, but I do see also how this will change the, the, uh, believe it or not, geopolitics on Earth. It would impact it. And the way I see it is if you have, uh, if you have, for example, uh, if you have, uh, China and Russia joining efforts, the US, you know, the US, the US might not be able to compete with both because two fronts, it's too much. You know, and if they do, if China and Russia, they can become sort of a little bit dominant. I do believe for us in the United States, we do have the resources. And this is one thing I said earlier about us reacting. The moment that happens, when China and Russia really force some strength in space, you're gonna see so much money thrown in into the programs for space here in the US. Let alone that most Americans do not know that we spent about $20 trillion so far on space, you know. And there are certain things that of course the government will not be able to disclose. That comes the idea of Area 51, and there is a lot of, a lot of conversation going into this. Uh, Dan Fuerte, energy is fundamental to industrial civilization. You're absolutely correct. You're absolutely correct. So, uh, in the Arctic, uh, let's see another question here from Alba Beck. Uh, why did, uh, why did the US establish a Space Force base, uh, in the Arctic? Why did the US did not space establish a base? Well, it's, it's first of all, Russians are already in the Arctic. There is a base there called Glover. Uh, I wish I could pull up the picture of it. I had a chance to see it, not physically, but so the images of it. From a different source. Uh, it's very highly advanced, technically advanced, and is surrounded with— surrounded by some special type of missiles that Russia placed over there to protect the Arctic. The reason why Arctic is very crucial— Arctic holds about $35 trillion worth of untapped resources under the ice. There is a lot in the Arctic. And as a matter of fact, that is the reason why Russia went ahead and planted a titanium flag on the ocean floor in the Pacific. Uh, this is why China invested a lot of money in the Arctic. They are building, as a matter of fact, pipelines that's going to bring the energy, gas and oil and natural gas, from the Arctic into China. So, so, excuse me, there's a lot going on in the Arctic. Uh, okay, let me see the next one. Uh, imperative cooperation with, uh, uh, David Oualaalou. Space will be important from military perspective. It is, it is, Athene. I, I As a former military myself, as one who works in Washington, DC, so I had a chance to be aware of certain aspects. Of course, I can't talk about certain things. I'm still bound by the law, as, as you all understand how it is, and it's my responsibility also. Excuse me. Yeah, the idea of the competition, uh, it's gonna become very, very fear, especially because space has a military dimension to it. And take my word for this, whoever controls the space assets from a military perspective controls the battle on the ground. That's why I am convinced future wars moving forward is going to be based on that technological aspect. And one of the key to that is the control of the satellites from outer space. This is why the Pentagon went frantic when China tested the laser that shut down the missile— shut down, I'm sorry, the satellite. And China said that it was an old satellite and they wanted to destroy it. Now, whether is that true or not, I can ascertain that, but my thinking is it wasn't true. It was a test that China wants to see its capability And they succeeded. So this is why you don't hear much about it. That's why the US didn't say anything about that, because now they know— they, United States, understand that if they push too much, China could react that way if provoked. You know, China is not gonna just launch that one and go for it. Uh, let's see, who is this one here? Let me see next question here. Okay, uh, so S, uh, where are you from? Come in. Where are you joining me from, S? Okay, question: what role will the Europeans take, uh, in the space race? Will they be able to keep up with other bigger powers? Uh, that's a good question. That is a good question. Yes, they will, because the European Space Agency work in collaboration with NASA. So of course NASA will always take the lead, uh, but space agencies, uh, will not compete by themselves. That's why they are always joined, where, uh, uh, like for example when they had the, uh, Hadron in Switzerland, the collider for the neutrons, just to see what will come out of it. A lot of scientists, particle physicists from Europe were, as a matter of fact, scientists from around the world took part. To me, the Hydrogen Collider was a great example of international cooperation. I wish most countries will just cooperate. It's one Earth we all share, and it will be peaceful existence for all of us You know, just passing through here. You know, we, we, like I said earlier, when you think about your role in the universe, you know, how long do you live here? 100 years? What is that in the time of the universe? Nothing. So it would be nice if they can cooperate, but the short answer is, uh, no, they can't stand by themselves because they won't be able, uh, uh, to do that. All right, next question is, uh, uh, okay, I guess I don't have any more questions here. All right, well, if I don't have any, I am going to sign off here. So before I leave, guys, I want to let you know I'm going to be doing few changes to this channel here, Geopolitical Trends, uh, and I will be, uh, probably when I do a video, whatever, I'm gonna, uh, ask you to put your questions in the comment section, and we will take it into a live stream, uh, or, or I can do a video just to answer your questions. So I'll, I'll explain this as we move forward. I am also going to be doing the webinar. I'm getting closer to that. There's a lot of moving parts. Also, I'm in the process of writing my book about China, so you can only imagine. It just— there's only 24 hours in a day, and I usually don't like to mess around with my sleep time. You know, I don't, I don't stay up late. I'm in bed by 2100 hours. No, I don't stay up late. So anyway, I appreciate you being here, guys. It really means a lot to me, and I look forward to seeing you next time. And as always, your support means a lot to me, and thank you all.