WEBVTT
00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.834
Supported by
00:00:02.834 --> 00:00:04.350
Supported by
Protocol Labs
00:00:04.350 --> 00:00:05.419
Supported by
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:09.187
Supported By
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
00:00:09.187 --> 00:00:09.437
Protocol Labs
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
00:00:09.437 --> 00:00:09.687
Follow your curiosity.
Lead humanity forward.
00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:19.129
"In all the universe,
00:00:19.129 --> 00:00:24.540
"In all the universe,
there stands only one known tree of life."
00:00:31.421 --> 00:00:34.443
"Does it stand alone?
00:00:34.443 --> 00:00:40.311
"Does it stand alone?
Or is it part of a vast cosmic wilderness?"
00:00:46.038 --> 00:00:52.537
"Imagine a museum
containing every type of life in the universe."
00:00:58.362 --> 00:01:00.757
"What strange things would such a museum hold?"
00:01:16.257 --> 00:01:18.667
"What is possible under the laws of nature?"
00:01:39.767 --> 00:01:40.906
LIFE
00:01:40.906 --> 00:01:45.610
LIFE BEYOND
00:01:49.016 --> 00:01:49.885
CHAPTER II
00:01:49.885 --> 00:01:55.406
CHAPTER II
The Museum Of Alien Life
00:02:02.805 --> 00:02:03.657
To have any hope-
00:02:03.657 --> 00:02:05.506
of finding alien life,
00:02:05.537 --> 00:02:07.408
we have to know what to look for.
00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:13.945
But where do we begin?
00:02:15.303 --> 00:02:16.446
How do we narrow down...
00:02:16.568 --> 00:02:18.068
a seemingly infinite set-
00:02:18.068 --> 00:02:20.175
of possibilities...
00:02:27.310 --> 00:02:29.968
There's one thing we know for sure...
00:02:30.683 --> 00:02:32.045
nature will have to play-
00:02:32.075 --> 00:02:33.375
by her own rules.
00:02:36.791 --> 00:02:38.166
No matter how strange
00:02:38.196 --> 00:02:39.806
alien life might be,
00:02:40.386 --> 00:02:41.180
is going to be limited-
00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:42.596
by the same physical...
00:02:42.606 --> 00:02:44.756
and chemical laws that we are....
00:02:46.952 --> 00:02:47.014
6
00:02:47.014 --> 00:02:47.077
6 C
00:02:47.077 --> 00:02:47.139
6 CO
00:02:47.139 --> 00:02:47.202
6 CO²
00:02:47.202 --> 00:02:47.264
6 CO² +
00:02:47.264 --> 00:02:47.327
6 CO² + 6
00:02:47.327 --> 00:02:47.389
6 CO² + 6 H
00:02:47.389 --> 00:02:47.452
6 CO² + 6 H²
00:02:47.452 --> 00:02:47.514
6 CO² + 6 H²O
00:02:47.514 --> 00:02:47.577
6 CO² + 6 H²O +
00:02:47.577 --> 00:02:47.639
6 CO² + 6 H²O + L
00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:47.702
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Li
00:02:47.702 --> 00:02:47.764
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Lig
00:02:47.764 --> 00:02:47.827
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Ligh
00:02:47.827 --> 00:02:47.889
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light
00:02:47.889 --> 00:02:47.952
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light →
00:02:47.952 --> 00:02:48.014
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C
00:02:48.014 --> 00:02:48.077
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶
00:02:48.077 --> 00:02:48.139
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H
00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:48.202
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹
00:02:48.202 --> 00:02:48.264
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²
00:02:48.264 --> 00:02:48.326
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O
00:02:48.326 --> 00:02:48.389
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶
00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:48.451
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ +
00:02:48.451 --> 00:02:48.514
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6
00:02:48.514 --> 00:02:48.576
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O
00:02:48.576 --> 00:02:51.613
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O²
00:02:51.613 --> 00:02:52.312
On top of this,
6 CO² + 6 H²O + Light → C⁶H¹²O⁶ + 6 O²
00:02:52.312 --> 00:02:52.733
On top of this,
00:02:53.244 --> 00:02:53.694
each alien environment will further limit-
00:02:53.694 --> 00:02:55.239
each alien environment will further limit-
-Hydrogen-
00:02:55.239 --> 00:02:55.672
each alien environment will further limit-
-Oxygen-
00:02:55.672 --> 00:02:57.374
what kinds of life forms can evolve there.
-Oxygen-
00:02:57.374 --> 00:02:59.376
what kinds of life forms can evolve there.
-Nitrogen-
00:03:06.992 --> 00:03:09.189
Despite these natural boundaries,
00:03:09.243 --> 00:03:12.206
the possibilities are staggering to imagine.
00:03:14.235 --> 00:03:15.640
Trillions of planets,
00:03:15.778 --> 00:03:17.878
each a unique cauldron of chemicals,
00:03:17.924 --> 00:03:23.076
undergoing their own complex evolution.
00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:33.548
To guide our thinking, this museum of alien life
will be divided into two exhibits:
00:03:35.768 --> 00:03:40.185
Life as we know it: home to beings
with bio-chemistries like ours.
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.
00:03:54.132 --> 00:03:56.629
Before we venture too far
into the unknown,
00:03:57.103 --> 00:03:58.587
we have to ask ourselves:
00:04:00.136 --> 00:04:03.005
what if alien life is more
like ours than we think?
00:04:10.820 --> 00:04:12.729
EXHIBIT I
00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:15.017
EXHIBIT I
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
00:04:15.017 --> 00:04:15.435
EXHIBIT I
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
CARBON & WATER BASED
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.
00:04:25.007 --> 00:04:29.380
Carbon is ubiquitous, it's one of the
most common elements in the universe,
00:04:29.745 --> 00:04:32.751
and is very good at forming
large stable molecules.
00:04:37.293 --> 00:04:41.502
Carbon has the rare ability to form four way
bounds with other elements
00:04:41.807 --> 00:04:44.708
and to bind to itself in
long, stable chains;
00:04:46.424 --> 00:04:49.624
enabling the formation of
huge complex molecules.
00:04:56.197 --> 00:04:59.093
This versatility makes carbon the center piece
00:04:59.093 --> 00:05:01.130
in the moleculary machinery of life.
00:05:03.520 --> 00:05:07.742
And the same carbon compounds that we use
have been found far from Earth,
00:05:08.736 --> 00:05:10.087
clinging to meteorites
00:05:12.359 --> 00:05:15.623
and floating in far off
clouds of cosmic dust.
00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:23.518
The building blocks of life drifting
like snow through the universe.
00:05:30.162 --> 00:05:34.920
And if alien life has selected other carbon
compounds for the biochemistry,
00:05:35.783 --> 00:05:37.413
they will have plenty to choose from.
00:05:42.088 --> 00:05:47.570
Scientists recently identified over a
million possible alternatives to DNA:
00:05:48.588 --> 00:05:49.862
all carbon based.
00:05:57.948 --> 00:06:00.795
If we ever discover other
carbon based life forms,
00:06:01.650 --> 00:06:03.973
we will be fundamentally related.
00:06:07.928 --> 00:06:09.840
They will be our cosmic brother.
00:06:13.296 --> 00:06:15.137
But would they look anything like us?
00:06:19.975 --> 00:06:21.742
If they hail from Earth like planets,
00:06:22.857 --> 00:06:24.471
we could share even more in common,
00:06:25.065 --> 00:06:26.417
than just our biochemistry.
00:06:29.826 --> 00:06:33.104
What would life be like in another
planets, if its evolved?
00:06:33.566 --> 00:06:36.246
Would it be like, the world
today here on Earth?
00:06:37.477 --> 00:06:38.736
Or would be completely different?
00:06:40.504 --> 00:06:42.121
There are those, who argue that
00:06:42.456 --> 00:06:44.470
from the argument of convergent evolution,
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;
00:06:54.726 --> 00:06:58.236
animal and plant-like organisms, that look very familiar.
00:07:12.238 --> 00:07:16.618
On Earth, certain features like eyesight, echo-location and flight
00:07:16.628 --> 00:07:20.812
have evolved multiple times, independently, in different species.
00:07:23.648 --> 00:07:28.978
This process of convergent evolution could extend to alien planets like Earth,
00:07:29.222 --> 00:07:32.242
where creatures share similar environmental pressures.
00:07:35.632 --> 00:07:40.372
It's no guarantee, but there could be certain universalities of life;
00:07:44.337 --> 00:07:48.337
the greatest hits of evolution on repeat across the Universe.
00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.040
Each feature would be a tune to its local environment.
00:08:02.798 --> 00:08:06.798
Dimly lit planets would produce huge eyes to suck in extra light, like nocturnal mammals.