[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.00,0:00:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somewhere out there in that vast universe
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.00,0:00:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there must surely be countless other planets teeming with life,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.00,0:00:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but why don't we see any evidence of it?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.00,0:00:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, this is the famous question asked by Enrico Fermi in 1950:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.00,0:00:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Where is everybody?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.00,0:00:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Conspiracy theorists claim that UFOs are visiting all the time
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.00,0:00:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the reports are just being covered up,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.00,0:00:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but honestly, they aren't very convincing.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.00,0:00:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that leaves a real riddle.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.00,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the past year, the Kepler space observatory has found
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.00,0:00:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hundreds of planets just around nearby stars,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.00,0:00:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you extrapolate that data,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it looks like there could be half a trillions planets
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.00,0:00:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just in our own galaxy.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.00,0:00:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If any one in 10,000 has conditions
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.00,0:01:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that might support a form of life, that's still
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.00,0:01:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,50 million possible life-harboring planets
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.00,0:01:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right here in the Milky Way.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.00,0:01:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So here's the riddle.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.00,0:01:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our Earth didn't form until about 9 billion years after the Big Bang.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.00,0:01:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Countless other planets in our galaxy
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.00,0:01:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,should have formed earlier and given life a chance to get underway
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.00,0:01:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,billions, or certainly many millions, of years
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.00,0:01:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,earlier than happened on Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.00,0:01:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If just a few of them had spawned intelligent life
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.00,0:01:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and started creating technologies,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.00,0:01:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those technologies would have had millions of years
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.00,0:01:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to grow in complexity and power.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.00,0:01:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On Earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.00,0:01:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've seen how dramatically
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.00,0:01:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,technology can accelerate in just 100 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.00,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In millions of years, an intelligent alien civilization
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could easily have spread out across the galaxy,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.00,0:01:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps creating giant energy-harvesting artifacts
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.00,0:01:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or fleets of colonizing spaceships
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.00,0:02:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or glorious works of art that fill the night sky.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.00,0:02:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the very least, you'd think they'd be revealing their presence,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.00,0:02:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deliberately or otherwise,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.00,0:02:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through electromagnetic signals
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.00,0:02:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of one kind or another. And yet we see no convincing evidence of any of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.00,0:02:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.00,0:02:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, there are numerous possible answers,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.00,0:02:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of them quite dark.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.00,0:02:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe a single, super-intelligent civilization
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.00,0:02:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has indeed taken over the galaxy,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.00,0:02:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and has imposed strict radio silence
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.00,0:02:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's paranoid of any potential competitors.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.00,0:02:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's just sitting there ready to obliterate
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.00,0:02:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,anything that becomes a threat.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.00,0:02:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or maybe they're not that intelligent,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.00,0:02:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or perhaps the evolution of an intelligence
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.00,0:02:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,capable of creating sophisticated technology
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.00,0:02:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is far rarer than we've assumed.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.00,0:02:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all, it's only happened once on Earth in 4 billion years.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.00,0:02:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe even that was incredibly lucky.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.00,0:02:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe we are the first such civilization in our galaxy.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.00,0:03:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or perhaps civilization carries with it
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.00,0:03:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the seeds of its own destruction
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.00,0:03:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the inability to control the technologies it creates.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.00,0:03:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there are numerous more hopeful answers.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.00,0:03:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, for a start, we're not looking that hard. And we're spending a pitiful amount of money on it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.00,0:03:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Only a tiny fraction of the stars in our galaxy
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.00,0:03:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have really been looked at closely for signs of interesting signals.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.00,0:03:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And perhaps we're not looking the right way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.00,0:03:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe as civilizations develop,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.00,0:03:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they quickly discover communication technologies
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.00,0:03:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,far more sophisticated and useful than electromagnetic waves.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.00,0:03:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe all the action takes place
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.00,0:03:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inside the mysterious recently discovered dark matter,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.00,0:03:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or dark energy, that appear to account for most of the universe's mass.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.00,0:03:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or maybe we're looking at the wrong scale.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.00,0:03:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps intelligent civilizations come to realize
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.00,0:03:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that life is ultimately just complex patterns of information
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.00,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interacting with each other in a beautiful way,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.00,0:04:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that that can happen more efficiently at a small scale.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.00,0:04:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, just as on Earth clunky stereo systems
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.00,0:04:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have shrunk to beautiful, tiny iPods, maybe intelligent life itself,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.00,0:04:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to reduce its footprint on the environment,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.00,0:04:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has turned itself microscopic,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.00,0:04:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the Solar System might be teeming with aliens, and we're just not noticing them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.00,0:04:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe the very ideas in our heads are a form of alien life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.00,0:04:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, okay, that's a crazy thought.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.00,0:04:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The aliens made me say it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.00,0:04:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it is cool that ideas do seem to have a life all of their own
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.00,0:04:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that they outlive their creators.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.00,0:04:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe biological life is just a passing phase.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.00,0:04:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, within the next 15 years,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.00,0:04:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we could start seeing real spectroscopic information
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.00,0:04:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from promising nearby planets that will reveal just how life-ready they might be.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.00,0:04:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And meanwhile SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.00,0:04:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is now releasing its data to the public
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.00,0:04:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that millions of citizen scientists, maybe including you,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.00,0:04:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can bring the power of the crowd to join the search.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.00,0:05:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And here on Earth, amazing experiments are being done
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.00,0:05:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to try to create life from scratch,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.00,0:05:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,life that might be very different from the DNA forms we know.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.00,0:05:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of this will help us understand
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.00,0:05:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether the universe is teeming with life
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.00,0:05:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or whether, indeed, it's just us.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.00,0:05:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Either answer, in its own way,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.00,0:05:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is awe-inspiring,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.00,0:05:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because even if we are alone,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.00,0:05:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the fact that we think and dream and ask these questions
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.00,0:05:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might yet turn out to be one of the most important facts about the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.00,0:05:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I have one more piece of good news for you.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.00,0:05:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The quest for knowledge and understanding never gets dull.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.00,0:05:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It doesn't. It's actually the opposite. The more you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.00,0:05:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the more amazing the world seems.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.00,0:05:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's the crazy possibilities, the unanswered questions,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.00,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that pull us forward. So stay curious.