What if humans lived underground

We humans have evolved to live on the surface. We need a solid surface for our feet, and air to push our bodies through. So if we want to live underground, the first thing we have to do is bring the air and the solid surface with us.

But breathing and moving around is just what we need to exist underground. To live , most research says we need a little bit more. An increasing amount of research suggests that we need them. A lack of natural light is linked to the aptly named Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, while access to green, open spaces do wonders for our mental and physical health.

So if we want a happy and healthy life underground, we would need to bring these things with us too. And in a lot of cases, this is an excellent choice, because it means we have more of that precious above-ground space for humans. All that dirt, for example, is great at stopping radiation. The more stuff you have between you and the radiation, the the more likely it is to hit that stuff before it hits you. Being surrounded by all that mass is good for other things as well. Your above ground house has to contend with a little wind every now and then, but most of the time it just has to support its own weight.

Move underground, and all that changes. So as well as supporting its own weight, your whole building has to act like a giant retaining wall , pushing back the dirt all around it.

And after all that, you still need somewhere to take all of that heavy dirt, so you can start building in your hole. It all comes down to maths — quite often, the maths of economics. Sometimes, it is. So building underground keeps things nice and cool. In fact, many of their underground buildings started off as opal mines, so the hard engineering was already done.

In a city as big as Beijing , the empty space above ground is pretty much full. And because location is just that important, over a million people are estimated to be living in bunkers and basements. Underground homes also drastically reduce the number of natural resources that go into the homes we build. The house is usually built at ground level, and the earth is built-up or bermed around and on top of it. This design allows cross-ventilation and access to natural light from more than one side of the house.

A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs or other attacks. Bunkers are mostly underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground.

Trench bunkers are small concrete structures, partly dug into the ground. One of over , bunkers built in Albania during the rule of Enver Hoxha. Concrete military bunkers are a ubiquitous sight in Albania, with an average of 5. A bunker is a depression near the green or fairway that is usually filled with sand.

It is difficult to hit the ball out of the bunker and to enter it is therefore considered punitive to a golfer who misses the target with the previous shot. Though some SADs sufferers may need antidepressants, therapy, or other forms of support, carefully-planned light therapy can reduce many of the most severe symptoms. But things are liable to get a lot worse sub-surface. When isolated in caves without light, humans have been documented to sleep for as much as 48 hours at a stretch.

Using artificial lights to regulate Circadian rhythms will be another essential component of any subsurface world. Lawrence Palinkas is a professor at the University of Southern California and an expert in extreme environments. Typically, he says, people are screened for traits that would allow them to thrive in a stint aboard the International Space Station, or a sabbatical at a remote research outpost in the Antarctic.

Characteristics like openness to new experiences, for example, are often deemed essential. But a motley crew could do alright, too, if they work together. Educators could disseminate the information and tools people need to thrive underground. Design could play a role in our adaptation, too.

Researchers in Antarctica, where greenery is sparse, quickly recognized the mood-boosting benefits provided by laboratory greenhouses.

Similar spaces could pay dividends in our crusty new home. Other positive sights, sounds, and smells could migrate with us—and not just in digitized Super Mario form. A plan for an underground city in Singapore has expansive shafts pulling daylight down into the layered depths.

Ultimately if technology and culture can support us in space, they can probably support us inside our own planet, too.