-
Sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ
-
Sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ
Protocol Labs
-
Sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
-
Sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
-
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
-
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
-
"In all the universe,
-
"In all the universe,
there stands only one known tree of life."
-
"Does it stand alone?
-
"Does it stand alone?
Or is it part of a vast cosmic wilderness?"
-
"Imagine a museum
containing every type of life in the universe."
-
"What strange things would such a museum hold?"
-
"What is possible under the laws of nature?"
-
LIFE
-
LIFE BEYOND
-
CHAPTER II
-
CHAPTER II
The Museum Of Alien Life
-
To have any hope-
-
of finding alien life,
-
we have to know what to look for.
-
But where do we begin?
-
How do we narrow down...
-
a seemingly infinite set-
-
of possibilities...
-
There's one thing we know for sure...
-
nature will have to play-
-
by her own rules.
-
No matter how strange-
-
alien life might be,
-
is going to be limited-
-
by the same physical...
-
and chemical laws that we are....
-
6
-
6 C
-
6 CO
-
6 CO₂
-
6 CO₂ +
-
6 CO₂ + 6
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O +
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + L
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Li
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Lig
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Ligh
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light →
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆ +
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 O
-
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 O₂
-
On top of this,
6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 O₂
-
On top of this,
-
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ →
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅O
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2C
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ +
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + E
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + En
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ʜʏᴅʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Ene
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Ener
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energ
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energy
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energy
each alien environment will further limit-
-
⁴⁵⁸ ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energy
what kinds of life forms can evolve there.
-
⁴⁵⁸ ɴɪʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energy
what kinds of life forms can evolve there.
-
⁴⁰⁵⁰ ɴɪʀᴏɢᴇɴ | C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH +2CO₂ + Energy
what kinds of life forms can evolve there.
-
Despite these natural boundaries,
-
the possibilities are staggering to imagine.
-
Trillions of planets,
-
each a unique cauldron of chemicals,
-
undergoing their own complex evolution.
-
To guide our thinking,
-
this museum of alien life-
-
will be divided into two exhibits...
-
Life as we know it,
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
Life as we know it,
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
home to beings-
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
with bio-chemistries like ours.
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
ᴱˣᵒᵗᶦᶜ ᴮᶦᵒᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗʳᶦᵉˢ
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
ᴱˣᵒᵗᶦᶜ ᴮᶦᵒᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗʳᶦᵉˢ
And life as we don't know it,
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
ᴱˣᵒᵗᶦᶜ ᴮᶦᵒᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗʳᶦᵉˢ
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
ᴱˣᵒᵗᶦᶜ ᴮᶦᵒᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗʳᶦᵉˢ
home to beings-
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
ᴱˣᵒᵗᶦᶜ ᴮᶦᵒᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗʳᶦᵉˢ
that challenge our concept of life itself.
-
Before we venture-
-
too far into the unknown,
-
we have to ask ourselves...
-
what if alien life-
-
is more like us...
-
than we think?
-
EXHIBIT I
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
If there's one feature-
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
that unites us...
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
with these other specimes in this museum,
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
-
EXHIBIT I
Life As We Know It
ᶜᵃʳᵇᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ
it's carbon...
-
Carbon
-
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
C 006
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | C 006
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Period 2
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Period 2
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
Carbon is ubiquitous,
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Period 2
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Period 2
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
it's one o' tho most-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | P-block
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
it's one o' tho most-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | P-block
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
common elements in the universe,
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Group 14
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
common elements in the universe,
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Group 14
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Group 14
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
and is very good at forming-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | [He] 2s² 2p²
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
and is very good at forming-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | [He] 2s² 2p²
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
large stable molecules.
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
large stable molecules.
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | C 006
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
large stable molecules.
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | C 006
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Period 2
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | P-block
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | P-block
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
Carbon has the rare ability-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | P-block
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
to form four way bounds-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Group 14
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
to form four way bounds-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | Group 14
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
with other elements...
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | [HE] 2s² 2p²
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
with other elements...
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | [HE] 2s² 2p²
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | [HE] 2s² 2p²
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
and to bind to itself-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
and to bind to itself-
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
in long stable chains;
-
R + 7: 9: 56:25 | C 006
ᴀᴛᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ₁₂.₀₁₁ Sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ: ³⁹¹⁵ ᴷ
Carbon ⁴ᵗʰ ᵐᵒˢᵗ ᵃᵇᵘⁿᵈᵃⁿᵗ ᵉˡᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ
in long stable chains...
-
enabling the formation...
-
of huge complex molecules.
-
This versatility makes carbon the center piece
-
in the moleculary machinery of life.
-
And the same carbon compounds that we use
have been found far from Earth,
-
clinging to meteorites
-
and floating in far off
clouds of cosmic dust.
-
The building blocks of life drifting
like snow through the universe.
-
And if alien life has selected other carbon
compounds for the biochemistry,
-
they will have plenty to choose from.
-
Scientists recently identified over a
million possible alternatives to DNA:
-
all carbon based.
-
If we ever discover other
carbon based life forms,
-
we will be fundamentally related.
-
They will be our cosmic brother.
-
But would they look anything like us?
-
If they hail from Earth like planets,
-
we could share even more in common,
-
than just our biochemistry.
-
What would life be like in another
planets, if its evolved?
-
Would it be like, the world
today here on Earth?
-
Or would be completely different?
-
There are those, who argue that
-
from the argument of convergent evolution,
-
if conditions on other planets are similar to here, then we will see very similar life forms;
-
animal and plant-like organisms, that look very familiar.
-
On Earth, certain features like eyesight, echo-location and flight
-
have evolved multiple times, independently, in different species.
-
This process of convergent evolution could extend to alien planets like Earth,
-
where creatures share similar environmental pressures.
-
It's no guarantee, but there could be certain universalities of life;
-
the greatest hits of evolution on repeat across the Universe.
-
Each feature would be a tune to its local environment.
-
Dimly lit planets would produce huge eyes to suck in extra light, like nocturnal mammals.
-
Some people have gone so far as to say
that human type organism, humanoids,
-
will occur on other planets.
-
The existence of other human-like
organisms seems unlikely,
-
given the long convoluted chain
of events that produced us.
-
But we can't rule it out.
-
If just one in every 100 trillion
Earth-like planets produced
-
a human-like form, the could still be
thousands of creatures like us out there.
-
But in reality, we are more likely to find
something lower on the food chain.
-
Convergent evolution is also
rampant in plant life
-
and C4 photosynthesis has arisen
independently over 40 times.
-
Would alien plants look like ours or
something else entirely?
-
On Earth, plants appear green because
they absorb the other wavelenghts
-
in the Sun's light spectrum.
-
But stars come in many colors
-
and alien plants would evolve different pigments
to adapt to their sun's unique spectrum.
-
Plants feeding off hotter stars
could appear redder,
-
by absorbing their energy rich bluer light.
-
Around dim Red Dwarfs stars,
vegetation could appear black,
-
adapted to absorb all visible
wavelengths of light.
-
Earth itself may have once
appeared purple,
-
due a pigment called retinal, that was
an early precursor to chlorophyll.
-
Some think that retinal's molecular simplicity
-
could make it a more universal pigment.
-
If so, we may find that purple,
is life's favorite color.
-
But the color of alien vegetation
is more than just a curiosity,
-
it's chemical information that could
be seen from light years away.
-
Earth plants leave a signature bump
in the light reflected off our planet.
-
Finding a similar signal from another
world could point the way
-
to alien vegetation.
-
Perhaps this will be our first glimpse at alien life;
-
a vibrant hue, cast by a distinct world.
-
But the biggest influence on life won't be it's host star; it will be it's home planet.
-
What happens, when you change the day - length of a planet?
-
What happens when you change the tilt of a planet?
-
What happens when you change the shape of the orbit?
-
What happens when you change the gravity of a planet?
-
Planets with long, elliptical orbits would see drastic seasons.
-
There could be worlds that appear dead for thousands of years,
-
then suddenly spring to life.
-
Most of the rocky planets discovered so far have been massive "Super Earths".
-
GJ 357 DSuper Earth Distance : ~ 31 Light Years Mass : ~ 7× Earth Temperature : ~ -53°C
-
How would life evolve on these worlds?
-
In the seas, gravity may not matter much at all.
-
A high - gravity planet isn't high - gravity all over.
-
If you're in the sea, that's where all life starts, there's very nearly no gravity,
-
cause you're much the density as the stuff around you.
-
It's when the animals come out on land, that they feel the gravity.
-
High G - forces [vaguely, gravitational forces] would necessitate
-
large bones and muscle mass in complex life on land.
-
They would also demand a more robust circulatory system.
-
And plant life could be stunted by the energy cost of carrying nutrients under stronger gravity.
-
Low - gravity planets would more easily lose their atmospheres to space;
-
and lack a magnetic field to protect from cosmic rays.
-
But smaller worlds could be home to secret oases;
-
huge cave systems that provide hide-outs for life.
-
With steadier temperatures and protection from cosmic rays, life could thrive underground on planets with deadly surfaces.
-
The smallest possible habitable planets are estimated at 2.5% Earth's mass.
-
If surface life does evolve on these worlds,
-
it could be a sight to behold.
-
Plant life could grow to towering heights,
-
able to carry nutrients higher, at lesser gravity.
-
And without the need for bulky skeletons and muscle mass,
-
animals could have body types, that boggle the mind.
-
Despite our eager imagination, large complex lifeforms are probably a cosmic rarity.
-
Here on Earth, it took three
billion years for evolution
-
to produce complex plant and animal life.
-
Simple organisms are hardier,
more adaptable
-
and more widespread.
-
The largest collection in the
museum of alien life
-
would likely be the Hall of Microbes.
-
Yet finding even the tiniest alien microbe
would be a profound discovery.
-
And bite-sized life could leave
a big footprint.
-
Like stromatolites on Earth, layers of
microbes could build up into huge
-
rock mounds over time.
-
Leaving behind eery structures.
-
And in big enough numbers
some alien
-
bacteria could leave a
distinct biosignature,
-
by exhaling gases that wouldn't
coexist naturally:
-
like oxygen and methane.
-
There's ways to make oxygen without life.
-
There's ways to make methane without life.
-
But to have them in the atmosphere together?
-
Is almost impossible unless you've got
biology making those gases at the surface.
-
And it would have a imprint on
the planet's spectrum of colors.
-
Next generation space telescopes
could find a signal like this,
-
on a world not far from home.
-
The closest Sun-like star with an
Earth-like exoplanet in the
-
habitable zone is probably only
20 light years away
-
and can be seen with a naked eye.
-
But there may be an even easier target to aim for than tiny Earth-like planets.
-
The Brown Dwarfs: too small to
be stars, to big to be planets.
-
Most Brown Dwarfs are too hot
to support life as we know it.
-
But some are just cold enough.
-
WISE 0855-0714
-
WISE 0855-0714
Sub-Brown Dwarf
-
WISE 0855-0714
Sub-Brown Dwarf
Distance: 7 Light Years
-
WISE 0855-0714
Sub-Brown Dwarf
Distance: 7 Light Years
Mass: 3.10x Jupiter
-
WISE 0855-0714
Sub-Brown Dwarf
Distance: 7 Light Years
Mass: 3.10x Jupiter
Temperature: -50 - -13ºC
-
All the prime elements for life have
been detected inside their atmospheres.
-
And within these clouds, some layers
would provide ideal temperatures
-
and pressures for habitability.
-
There could be photosynthetic
plankton in these skies,
-
kept aloft by churning upwinds.
-
And with enough force, these upwinds
could even support larger,
-
more complex life.
-
Predadors.
-
There are over 25 billion Brown
Dwarfs in our galaxy alone,
-
and their sizes will make them
easier targets for study.
-
The first specimen we discover from the museum of life may not be from a planet at all.
-
This raises a crucial question:
-
what if we've been looking in
all the wrong places?
-
What if nature has other ideas?
-
EXHIBIT II
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
-
EXHIBIT II
LIFE AS WE DON'T KNOW IT
EXOTIC BIOCHEMISTRIES
-
Most of the Universe is too cold or too
hot for liquid water and the
-
biochemistry that supports
life as we know it.
-
But in case our biases are misleading,
-
we have to cast a wide net.
-
To search for life outside
the habitable zone,
-
in places that seem wildly hostile to us.
-
Exotic environments will demand
exotic biochemistries.
-
And while no element can match
carbon's versatility,
-
one contender is a front runner.
-
At first glance, silicon seem
similar to carbon.
-
It forms the same four-way bonds and is
also abundant in the Universe.
-
But a closer look reveals that these
two elements are false twins.
-
Silicon bonds are weaker and less prone
to forming large complex molecules.
-
Despite this, they can withstand
a wider range of temperatures,
-
opening up intriguing possibilities.
-
Life based on the silicon atom
instead of carbon,
-
would be more resistant to
the extreme cold.
-
Providing a whole new range of weird forms.
-
But silicon has a problem:
-
in the presence of oxygen,
it binds into solid rock.
-
To avoid turning to stone, silicon beings
-
might be confined to oxygen free environments.
-
Like Saturn's frigid moon, Titan.
-
TITAN
Saturnian Moon
Distance: 1,2 Million KM
Mass: .023X Earth
Temperature: -129ºC
-
Its vast lakes of liquid methane and
ethane could be an ideal medium
-
for silicon-based life,
-
or other radical biochemistries.
-
Without ample sunlight, beings on worlds
-
like Titan, would likely be chemosynthetic.
-
Deriving their energy by
breaking down rocks.
-
Such life forms could have ultra slow
-
metabolisms and life cycles
measured in millions of years.
-
And frozen worlds aren't the only possible
harbor for exotic life.
-
CoRoT-7B
-
CoRoT-7B
Super Earth
-
CoRoT-7B
Super Earth
Distance: ~520 Light Years
-
CoRoT-7B
Super Earth
Distance: ~520 Light Years
Mass: -8x Earth
-
CoRoT-7B
Super Earth
Distance: ~520 Light Years
Mass: -8x Earth
Temperature: 1026-1526ºC
-
In high temperatures, typically rigid
silicon oxygen bonds become more
-
flexible and reactive.
-
Triggering more dynamic chemistry.
-
This has led to a truly bizarre proposal:
-
silicon-based life forms that live
inside molten silicate rock.
-
In theory, these forms could even exist
-
deep beneath the Earth inside
magma chambers
-
as part of a shadow biosphere.
-
If so, then the aliens are right
under our noses.
-
Other shadow biospheres have
been proposed:
-
forms of life living alongside us
that we don't even know are here.
-
Including tiny RNA-based life, small
-
enough to go undetected by
existing instruments.
-
Clouds of dust and empty space might
seem like the last place you'd expect
-
to find anything living.
-
But when cosmic dust makes
contact with plasma,
-
a type of ionized gas,
-
something strange happens.
-
In simulated conditions, dust particles,
-
have been seen spontaneously
self-organizing
-
into helical structures that resemble DNA.
-
These plasma crystals even begin
to exhibit life-like behavior:
-
replicating, evolving into more stable
forms and passing on information.
-
Could these crystals be considered alive?
-
To some researchers, they meet all the criteria
to qualify as inorganic life forms.
-
So far, we have only ever seen them in computer simulations.
-
But some speculate we could find them
among the ice particles in the rings of Uranus.
-
Plasma is the most common state
of matter in the Universe.
-
If complex evolving plasma
crystals really exist
-
and if they can be considered life,
-
they could be its most common form.
-
Or perhaps life is lurking in the
polar opposite environment:
-
inside the hearts of dead stars.
-
When massive suns explode, some collapase into
-
ultra dense cores called neutron stars.
-
PSR B1509-58
Neutron Star
Distante: 17,000 Light Years
Spin Rate: ~7/second
-
Hulking masses of atomic nuclei
crammed together like sardines.
-
Conditions on the surface are mind-boggling:
-
gravity is a hundred billion times
stronger than Earth's.
-
But beneath their iron nuclei
crust lies something strange:
-
a hot dense sea of neutrons
and subatomic particles.
-
Stripped of their electron shells, these
-
nuclei would obey entirely
different laws of chemistry,
-
based not on the electromagnetic force,
-
but the strong nuclear force,
-
which binds nuclei together.
-
In theory, these particles could link-up
-
to form larger macronuclei,
which could then
-
combine into even bigger super nuclei.
-
If so, then this bewildering environment
-
would mimic the basic conditions for life.
-
Heavy nucleon molecules floating
in a complex particle ocean.
-
Some scientists have proposed
the unimaginable:
-
exotic life forms drifting through
the strange particle sea,
-
living, evolving and dying on
incomprehensibly fast time scales.
-
There's probably no chance of ever detecting
such a strange breed of life.
-
But there may be hope for finding
an even more exotic form.
-
Life is not something that has to evolve naturally.
-
It can be designed.
-
And once intelligence is introduced into the evolutionary process,
-
a Pandora's Box is opened.
-
Free from typical biological limitations, synthetic and machine - based life could be the most successful of all.
-
It could thrive almost anywhere, including the vaccum of space,
-
opening up vast frontiers unavailable to biological organisms.
-
And compared to the glacial pace of natural selection, technical evolution
-
allows exponentially faster growth, adaptability and resilience.
-
By some estimates, autonomous, self - replicating machines could colonize
-
an entire galaxy in as little as a million years.
-
We can't predict how hyper - intelligent life would organise itself,
-
but in theory, there could be convergent evolution at play.
-
The electrical properties of Silicon might make it a universal basis for machine intelligence,
-
a redemption for its biological shortcomings.
-
With all its potential advantages,
-
With all its potential advantages, machine life may even be a universal endpoint :
-
With all its potential advantages, machine life may even be a universal endpoint : the apex of evolutionary process.
-
As the universe ages, perhaps machine intelligence would come to dominate,
-
and naturally occurring biological life will be viewed as a quaint starting point.
-
Perhaps, we ourselves will lead this transition,
-
and the great human experiment would be merely a first link in a sprawling intergalactic chain of life.
-
In the end, we are still the only beings we know of in the museum of alien life.
-
To truly know ourselves, we will have to know :
-
To truly know ourselves, we will have to know : are we the only ones?
-
Loren Eisley has said, that one does not meet oneself until
-
one catches the reflection from an eye other than human.