1 00:00:27,060 --> 00:00:28,060 In all of time 2 00:00:32,020 --> 00:00:33,060 on all the planets of 3 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:34,880 all the galaxies in space 4 00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:41,660 what civilizations have risen, 5 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:45,920 looked into the night 6 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:51,980 seen what we see 7 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,040 asked the questions that we ask? 8 00:02:24,740 --> 00:02:26,080 What we see around us 9 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:27,720 is staggering complexity 10 00:02:34,340 --> 00:02:36,280 How is it possible? 11 00:02:41,540 --> 00:02:43,740 Living organisms are created by chemistry 12 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:47,600 We are huge packages of chemicals 13 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:52,940 And what are the ideal conditions for chemistry? 14 00:02:54,300 --> 00:02:56,740 Well, first, you need energy. 15 00:03:01,580 --> 00:03:03,000 But not too much. 16 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,540 What you want is just the right amount 17 00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:08,120 and planets it turns out are just right 18 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,360 because they are close to stars, but not too close 19 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,760 You also need a great diversity of chemical elements. 20 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,960 And you need liquid, such as water. 21 00:03:28,380 --> 00:03:29,160 Why? 22 00:03:29,540 --> 00:03:33,320 Well, is gases, atoms move past each other so fast 23 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,940 that they can't hitch up. 24 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,780 In solids, atoms are stuck together 25 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:41,500 they can’t move. 26 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:42,560 In liquids, 27 00:03:44,300 --> 00:03:47,280 they can cruise and cuddle 28 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,980 and link up to form molecules. 29 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,240 liquid water is just so good 30 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:00,780 for getting evolution going 31 00:04:00,780 --> 00:04:02,640 molecules can dissolve in the water, 32 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,500 form more complex chains 33 00:04:06,220 --> 00:04:08,940 Now, where do you find such Goldilocks conditions? 34 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,880 Well, planets are great 35 00:04:12,140 --> 00:04:14,920 and our early Earth was almost perfect 36 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,380 It was just the right distance from its star 37 00:04:27,380 --> 00:04:30,340 to contain huge oceans of liquid water. 38 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,520 And deep beneath those oceans, 39 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,620 at cracks in the Earth's crust, 40 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:40,720 fantastic chemistry began to happen 41 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,860 and atoms combined in all sorts of exotic combinations. 42 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:00,520 here, on our planet, 43 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:02,860 microbes have adapted 44 00:06:02,860 --> 00:06:06,080 to survive the most hostile conditions. 45 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:09,600 Arid deserts, 46 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,160 the frozen Himalayas 47 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,480 in trenches under thousands of tons of pressure 48 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,420 in the ocean deeps. 49 00:06:21,500 --> 00:06:24,580 In the vacuum of a space simulator 50 00:06:24,580 --> 00:06:27,820 life forms have been flourishing for years 51 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,380 without oxygen. 52 00:07:10,020 --> 00:07:11,740 Very very quickly, 53 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,540 as soon as the Earth cooled off, 54 00:07:14,540 --> 00:07:17,980 after its formation, we know that life began here. 55 00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:25,440 Because it happened quickly here on Earth 56 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,060 we think it's going to happen quickly 57 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:28,920 on other planets as well. 58 00:09:17,940 --> 00:09:21,980 We know that the galaxy is awash in water, 59 00:09:26,540 --> 00:09:29,240 it’s awash in organic molecules, 60 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,180 and complex chemistry. 61 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:35,420 All of the things that we know 62 00:09:35,420 --> 00:09:38,140 were necessary for life to begin on this planet 63 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,900 exist in abundance throughout the galaxy. 64 00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:50,560 Did something similar to what happened on our own planet 65 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:53,620 happen on those other planets? 66 00:12:05,420 --> 00:12:09,320 There are more habitable Earth-mass planets 67 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,660 in the observable volume of the universe 68 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,140 than there are grains of sand 69 00:12:14,140 --> 00:12:16,480 on all the beaches on Earth. 70 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,300 The discovery of just one bacteria on Mars, 71 00:15:54,660 --> 00:15:57,220 or any other body of the solar system, 72 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,480 would indicate that the whole chain of evolutions 73 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,640 cosmic, chemical, and biological 74 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,740 is at work everywhere. 75 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:09,760 In that case, 76 00:16:10,140 --> 00:16:13,260 the creation of life anywhere in the universe 77 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,300 would be more the rule than the exception. 78 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,400 Within all of our lifetimes we're going to understand 79 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,000 that there is life on other bodies in the solar system. 80 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:51,900 We're going to understand the implications of that 81 00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:53,520 for evolution of life here on Earth. 82 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,880 We're going to find planets around other stars 83 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,020 that we can say we see potential signs of habitability 84 00:17:02,020 --> 00:17:04,680 in their atmospheres. 85 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,940 That's all going to happen in the next 10 to 20 years 86 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,680 How exciting is that? 87 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:15,400 We're on the verge of things 88 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,540 that people have wondered about for millennia: 89 00:17:17,540 --> 00:17:19,100 "Are we alone?" 90 00:17:21,420 --> 00:17:24,760 And here we are on the verge of finding that out. 91 00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:51,220 The Universe is nearly 14 billion years old, 92 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,520 and our Galaxy is something like 12 billion years old. 93 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,900 So there could be life out there 94 00:17:58,900 --> 00:18:01,100 that could be dramatically more advanced 95 00:18:01,100 --> 00:18:04,500 than the life that we have here on this planet. 96 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:02,160 The only elements that were created in the Big Bang 97 00:20:02,460 --> 00:20:05,620 where hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium. 98 00:20:07,780 --> 00:20:10,140 All the stuff that makes your life livable - 99 00:20:10,220 --> 00:20:13,160 those elements weren't created in the Big Bang. 100 00:20:15,540 --> 00:20:17,100 The only place they're created 101 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,080 is in the fiery core of a star 102 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,460 and the only way for them to get into your body 103 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:24,680 is if those stars were kind enough to explode.