1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:02,834 Supported by 2 00:00:02,834 --> 00:00:04,350 Supported by Protocol Labs 3 00:00:04,350 --> 00:00:05,419 Supported by Protocol Labs Follow your curiosity. 4 00:00:05,419 --> 00:00:09,187 Supported By Protocol Labs Follow your curiosity. Lead humanity forward. 5 00:00:09,187 --> 00:00:09,437 Protocol Labs Follow your curiosity. Lead humanity forward. 6 00:00:09,437 --> 00:00:09,687 Follow your curiosity. Lead humanity forward. 7 00:00:16,820 --> 00:00:19,129 "In all the universe, 8 00:00:19,129 --> 00:00:24,540 "In all the universe, there stands only one known tree of life." 9 00:00:31,421 --> 00:00:34,443 "Does it stand alone? 10 00:00:34,443 --> 00:00:40,311 "Does it stand alone? Or is it part of a vast cosmic wilderness?" 11 00:00:46,038 --> 00:00:52,537 "Imagine a museum containing every type of life in the universe." 12 00:00:58,362 --> 00:01:00,757 "What strange things would such a museum hold?" 13 00:01:16,257 --> 00:01:18,667 "What is possible under the laws of nature?" 14 00:01:39,767 --> 00:01:40,906 LIFE 15 00:01:40,906 --> 00:01:45,610 LIFE BEYOND 16 00:01:49,016 --> 00:01:49,885 CHAPTER II 17 00:01:49,885 --> 00:01:55,406 CHAPTER II The Museum Of Alien Life 18 00:02:02,805 --> 00:02:03,657 To have any hope- 19 00:02:03,657 --> 00:02:05,506 of finding alien life, 20 00:02:05,537 --> 00:02:07,408 we have to know what to look for. 21 00:02:12,060 --> 00:02:13,945 But where do we begin? 22 00:02:15,303 --> 00:02:16,446 How do we narrow down... 23 00:02:16,568 --> 00:02:18,068 a seemingly infinite set- 24 00:02:18,068 --> 00:02:20,175 of possibilities... 25 00:02:27,310 --> 00:02:29,968 There's one thing we know for sure... 26 00:02:30,683 --> 00:02:32,045 nature will have to play- 27 00:02:32,075 --> 00:02:33,375 by her own rules. 28 00:02:36,791 --> 00:02:38,166 No matter how strange 29 00:02:38,196 --> 00:02:39,806 alien life might be, 30 00:02:40,386 --> 00:02:41,180 is going to be limited- 31 00:02:41,220 --> 00:02:42,596 by the same physical... 32 00:02:42,606 --> 00:02:44,756 and chemical laws that we are.... 33 00:02:46,952 --> 00:02:47,014 6 34 00:02:47,014 --> 00:02:47,077 6 C 35 00:02:47,077 --> 00:02:47,139 6 CO 36 00:02:47,139 --> 00:02:47,202 6 CO² 37 00:02:47,202 --> 00:02:47,264 6 CO² + 38 00:02:47,264 --> 00:02:47,327 6 CO² + 6 39 00:02:47,327 --> 00:02:47,389 6 CO² + 6 H 40 00:02:47,389 --> 00:02:47,452 6 CO² + 6 H² 41 00:02:47,452 --> 00:02:47,514 6 CO² + 6 H²O 42 00:02:47,514 --> 00:02:47,577 6 CO² + 6 H²O + 43 00:02:47,577 --> 00:02:47,639 6 CO² + 6 H²O + L 44 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:47,702 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Li 45 00:02:47,702 --> 00:02:47,764 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Lig 46 00:02:47,764 --> 00:02:47,827 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Ligh 47 00:02:47,827 --> 00:02:47,889 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light 48 00:02:47,889 --> 00:02:47,952 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → 49 00:02:47,952 --> 00:02:48,014 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C 50 00:02:48,014 --> 00:02:48,077 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶ 51 00:02:48,077 --> 00:02:48,139 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H 52 00:02:48,139 --> 00:02:48,202 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹ 53 00:02:48,202 --> 00:02:48,264 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹² 54 00:02:48,264 --> 00:02:48,326 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O 55 00:02:48,326 --> 00:02:48,389 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ 56 00:02:48,389 --> 00:02:48,451 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 57 00:02:48,451 --> 00:02:48,514 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 58 00:02:48,514 --> 00:02:48,576 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O 59 00:02:48,576 --> 00:02:51,613 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O² 60 00:02:51,613 --> 00:02:52,312 On top of this, 6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O² 61 00:02:52,312 --> 00:02:52,733 On top of this, 62 00:02:53,244 --> 00:02:53,694 each alien environment will further limit- 63 00:02:53,694 --> 00:02:55,239 each alien environment will further limit- -Hydrogen- 64 00:02:55,239 --> 00:02:55,672 each alien environment will further limit- -Oxygen- 65 00:02:55,672 --> 00:02:57,374 what kinds of life forms can evolve there. -Oxygen- 66 00:02:57,374 --> 00:02:59,376 what kinds of life forms can evolve there. -Nitrogen- 67 00:03:06,992 --> 00:03:09,189 Despite these natural boundaries, 68 00:03:09,243 --> 00:03:12,206 the possibilities are staggering to imagine. 69 00:03:14,235 --> 00:03:15,640 Trillions of planets, 70 00:03:15,778 --> 00:03:17,878 each a unique cauldron of chemicals, 71 00:03:17,924 --> 00:03:23,076 undergoing their own complex evolution. 72 00:03:28,300 --> 00:03:33,548 To guide our thinking, this museum of alien life will be divided into two exhibits: 73 00:03:35,768 --> 00:03:40,185 Life as we know it: home to beings with bio-chemistries like ours. 74 00:03:41,964 --> 00:03:47,921 And life as we don't know it: home to beings that challenge our concept of life itself. 75 00:03:54,132 --> 00:03:56,629 Before we venture too far into the unknown, 76 00:03:57,103 --> 00:03:58,587 we have to ask ourselves: 77 00:04:00,136 --> 00:04:03,005 what if alien life is more like ours than we think? 78 00:04:10,820 --> 00:04:12,729 EXHIBIT I 79 00:04:12,729 --> 00:04:15,017 EXHIBIT I LIFE AS WE KNOW IT 80 00:04:15,017 --> 00:04:15,435 EXHIBIT I LIFE AS WE KNOW IT CARBON & WATER BASED 81 00:04:15,435 --> 00:04:20,798 If there's one feature that unites us with these other specimes in this museum, it's carbon. 82 00:04:25,007 --> 00:04:29,380 Carbon is ubiquitous, it's one of the most common elements in the universe, 83 00:04:29,745 --> 00:04:32,751 and is very good at forming large stable molecules. 84 00:04:37,293 --> 00:04:41,502 Carbon has the rare ability to form four way bounds with other elements 85 00:04:41,807 --> 00:04:44,708 and to bind to itself in long, stable chains; 86 00:04:46,424 --> 00:04:49,624 enabling the formation of huge complex molecules. 87 00:04:56,197 --> 00:04:59,093 This versatility makes carbon the center piece 88 00:04:59,093 --> 00:05:01,130 in the moleculary machinery of life. 89 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,742 And the same carbon compounds that we use have been found far from Earth, 90 00:05:08,736 --> 00:05:10,087 clinging to meteorites 91 00:05:12,359 --> 00:05:15,623 and floating in far off clouds of cosmic dust. 92 00:05:18,670 --> 00:05:23,518 The building blocks of life drifting like snow through the universe. 93 00:05:30,162 --> 00:05:34,920 And if alien life has selected other carbon compounds for the biochemistry, 94 00:05:35,783 --> 00:05:37,413 they will have plenty to choose from. 95 00:05:42,088 --> 00:05:47,570 Scientists recently identified over a million possible alternatives to DNA: 96 00:05:48,588 --> 00:05:49,862 all carbon based. 97 00:05:57,948 --> 00:06:00,795 If we ever discover other carbon based life forms, 98 00:06:01,650 --> 00:06:03,973 we will be fundamentally related. 99 00:06:07,928 --> 00:06:09,840 They will be our cosmic brother. 100 00:06:13,296 --> 00:06:15,137 But would they look anything like us? 101 00:06:19,975 --> 00:06:21,742 If they hail from Earth like planets, 102 00:06:22,857 --> 00:06:24,471 we could share even more in common, 103 00:06:25,065 --> 00:06:26,417 than just our biochemistry. 104 00:06:29,826 --> 00:06:33,104 What would life be like in another planets, if its evolved? 105 00:06:33,566 --> 00:06:36,246 Would it be like, the world today here on Earth? 106 00:06:37,477 --> 00:06:38,736 Or would be completely different? 107 00:06:40,504 --> 00:06:42,121 There are those, who argue that 108 00:06:42,456 --> 00:06:44,470 from the argument of convergent evolution, 109 00:06:44,803 --> 00:06:50,206 if conditions on other planets are similar to here, then we will see very similar life forms; 110 00:06:54,726 --> 00:06:58,236 animal and plant-like organisms, that look very familiar. 111 00:07:12,238 --> 00:07:16,618 On Earth, certain features like eyesight, echo-location and flight 112 00:07:16,628 --> 00:07:20,812 have evolved multiple times, independently, in different species. 113 00:07:23,648 --> 00:07:28,978 This process of convergent evolution could extend to alien planets like Earth, 114 00:07:29,222 --> 00:07:32,242 where creatures share similar environmental pressures. 115 00:07:35,632 --> 00:07:40,372 It's no guarantee, but there could be certain universalities of life; 116 00:07:44,337 --> 00:07:48,337 the greatest hits of evolution on repeat across the Universe. 117 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,040 Each feature would be a tune to its local environment. 118 00:08:02,798 --> 00:08:06,798 Dimly lit planets would produce huge eyes to suck in extra light, like nocturnal mammals.