WEBVTT 00:02:02.805 --> 00:02:05.537 (Narrator) To have any hope 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 --> 00:02:19.380 How do we narrow down a seemingly infinite set of possibilities? 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:29.178 There's one thing we know for sure: 00:02:30.683 --> 00:02:33.357 nature will have to play by her own rules. 00:02:36.791 --> 00:02:39.807 No matter how strange alien life might be, 00:02:40.386 --> 00:02:43.826 it's going to be limited by the same physical and chemical laws 00:02:43.826 --> 00:02:44.747 that we are. 00:02:51.613 --> 00:02:52.753 line:1 On top of this, 00:02:53.233 --> 00:02:55.684 line:1 each alien environment will further limit 00:02:55.684 --> 00:02:58.026 line:1 what kinds of lifeforms can evolve there. 00:03:06.802 --> 00:03:10.125 Despite these natural boundaries, the possibilities 00:03:10.125 --> 00:03:12.196 are staggering to imagine. 00:03:14.235 --> 00:03:15.764 Trillions of planets, 00:03:15.764 --> 00:03:17.924 each a unique cauldron of chemicals 00:03:17.924 --> 00:03:20.640 undergoing their own complex evolution. 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:29.704 To guide our thinking, 00:03:29.704 --> 00:03:33.565 this museum of alien life will be divided into two exhibits: 00:03:35.668 --> 00:03:37.285 line:1 life as we know it, NOTE Paragraph 00:03:37.285 --> 00:03:40.990 line:1 home to beings with biochemistries like ours; 00:03:41.694 --> 00:03:44.068 line:1 and life as we don't know it, 00:03:44.068 --> 00:03:46.538 line:1 home to beings that challenge our concept 00:03:46.538 --> 00:03:47.858 line:1 of life itself. 00:03:54.022 --> 00:03:57.103 Before we venture too far into the unknown, 00:03:57.103 --> 00:03:58.727 we have to ask ourselves: 00:03:59.956 --> 00:04:01.128 what if alien life 00:04:01.128 --> 00:04:03.108 is more like us than we think? 00:04:15.224 --> 00:04:17.297 line:1 If there's one feature that unites us 00:04:17.297 --> 00:04:19.922 line:1 with the other specimens in this museum, 00:04:19.922 --> 00:04:21.245 line:1 it's carbon. 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:26.638 line:1 (Nick Lane) Carbon is ubiquitous, 00:04:26.638 --> 00:04:29.515 line:1 it's one of the most common elements in the universe, 00:04:29.515 --> 00:04:32.822 line:1 and it's very good at forming large, stable molecules. 00:04:37.179 --> 00:04:39.357 line:1 (Narrator) Carbon has the rare ability to form 00:04:39.357 --> 00:04:41.643 line:1 four-way bonds with other elements, 00:04:41.643 --> 00:04:42.863 line:1 and to bind to itself 00:04:42.863 --> 00:04:44.613 line:1 in long, stable chains, 00:04:46.261 --> 00:04:49.627 enabling the formation of huge complex molecules. 00:04:56.157 --> 00:04:59.123 This versatility makes carbon the centerpiece 00:04:59.123 --> 00:05:01.130 in the molecular machinery of life. 00:05:03.260 --> 00:05:06.110 And the same carbon compounds that we use 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:07.876 have been found far from Earth, 00:05:08.546 --> 00:05:10.028 clinging to meteorites, 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.404 line:1 and floating in far-off clouds 00:05:14.404 --> 00:05:15.712 line:1 of cosmic dust. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:19.964 line:1 The building blocks of life, 00:05:21.167 --> 00:05:23.628 drifting like snow through the universe. 00:05:29.992 --> 00:05:32.052 And if alien life has selected 00:05:32.052 --> 00:05:34.950 other carbon compounds for their biochemistry, 00:05:35.573 --> 00:05:37.337 they will have plenty to choose from. 00:05:41.958 --> 00:05:43.820 Scientists recently identified 00:05:43.820 --> 00:05:47.585 over a million possible alternatives to DNA— 00:05:48.448 --> 00:05:49.859 all carbon-based. 00:05:57.678 --> 00:05:58.950 If we ever discover 00:05:58.950 --> 00:06:01.492 other carbon-based lifeforms, 00:06:01.492 --> 00:06:03.811 we would be fundamentally related. 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:09.889 They would be our cosmic brethren. 00:06:13.196 --> 00:06:15.193 But would they look anything like us? 00:06:19.685 --> 00:06:22.087 If they hail from Earth-like planets, 00:06:22.607 --> 00:06:24.915 we could share even more in common 00:06:24.915 --> 00:06:26.602 than just our biochemistry. 00:06:29.686 --> 00:06:32.188 (Jonathan Losos) What would life be like on other planets, 00:06:32.188 --> 00:06:33.466 if it is evolved? 00:06:33.466 --> 00:06:34.706 Would it be like 00:06:34.706 --> 00:06:36.252 the world today here on Earth, 00:06:37.362 --> 00:06:39.102 or would it be completely different? 00:06:40.409 --> 00:06:42.206 There are those who argue that, 00:06:42.206 --> 00:06:44.713 from the argument of convergent evolution, 00:06:44.713 --> 00:06:47.534 if conditions on other planets are similar to here, 00:06:47.534 --> 00:06:50.169 then we would see very similar life forms— 00:06:54.576 --> 00:06:58.169 animal- and plant-like organisms that look very familiar. 00:07:12.048 --> 00:07:14.206 (Narrator) On Earth, certain features like 00:07:14.206 --> 00:07:16.768 eyesight, echolocation, and flight 00:07:16.768 --> 00:07:19.492 have evolved multiple times independently 00:07:19.492 --> 00:07:20.797 in different species. 00:07:23.648 --> 00:07:26.385 This process of convergent evolution 00:07:26.385 --> 00:07:29.120 could extend to alien planets like Earth, 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:32.114 where creatures face similar environmental pressures. 00:07:35.412 --> 00:07:37.170 It's no guarantee, 00:07:37.170 --> 00:07:38.229 but there could be 00:07:38.229 --> 00:07:40.544 certain universalities of life. 00:07:44.177 --> 00:07:48.542 The greatest hits of evolution on repeat across the universe. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:01.130 Each feature would be attuned to its local environment. 00:08:02.808 --> 00:08:04.185 Dimly lit planets 00:08:04.185 --> 00:08:07.985 would produce huge eyes to suck in extra light, 00:08:07.985 --> 00:08:09.585 like nocturnal mammals. 00:08:14.090 --> 00:08:16.589 (Jonathan Losos) Some people have gone so far as to say 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:18.526 that human-type organisms, 00:08:18.526 --> 00:08:19.261 humanoids, 00:08:19.261 --> 00:08:20.912 will occur on other planets. 00:08:25.886 --> 00:08:27.146 The existence of other 00:08:27.146 --> 00:08:30.025 humanlike organisms seems unlikely, 00:08:30.025 --> 00:08:32.604 given the long, convoluted chain of events 00:08:32.604 --> 00:08:33.624 that produced us. 00:08:35.016 --> 00:08:36.398 But we can't rule it out. 00:08:40.610 --> 00:08:44.368 If just one in every hundred trillion Earth-like planets 00:08:44.368 --> 00:08:46.324 produced a humanlike form, 00:08:46.324 --> 00:08:47.284 there could still be 00:08:47.284 --> 00:08:49.586 thousands of creatures like us out there. 00:09:10.051 --> 00:09:11.378 Convergent evolution 00:09:11.378 --> 00:09:13.877 is also rampant in plant life, 00:09:13.877 --> 00:09:17.540 and C₄ photosynthesis has arisen independently 00:09:17.540 --> 00:09:19.424 over 40 times. 00:09:21.619 --> 00:09:23.607 Would alien plants look like ours 00:09:23.607 --> 00:09:25.460 or something else entirely? 00:09:36.696 --> 00:09:38.862 On Earth, plants appear green 00:09:38.862 --> 00:09:40.867 because they absorb the other wavelengths 00:09:40.867 --> 00:09:42.667 in the Sun's light spectrum. 00:09:45.432 --> 00:09:47.961 But stars come in many colors, 00:09:52.249 --> 00:09:54.752 and alien plants would evolve different pigments 00:09:54.752 --> 00:09:57.003 to adapt to their sun's unique spectrum. 00:10:04.321 --> 00:10:06.427 Plants feeding off hotter stars 00:10:06.427 --> 00:10:07.670 could appear redder, 00:10:08.184 --> 00:10:10.126 by absorbing their energy-rich 00:10:10.126 --> 00:10:11.126 bluer light. 00:10:19.561 --> 00:10:22.110 Around dim red dwarf stars, 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:24.300 vegetation could appear black, 00:10:24.962 --> 00:10:26.211 adapted to absorb 00:10:26.211 --> 00:10:28.378 all visible wavelengths of light. 00:10:44.948 --> 00:10:45.990 Earth itself 00:10:45.990 --> 00:10:47.853 may have once appeared purple, 00:10:47.853 --> 00:10:49.795 line:1 due a pigment called retinal 00:10:49.795 --> 00:10:52.126 line:1 that was an early precursor to chlorophyll. 00:10:54.869 --> 00:10:58.049 Some think that retinal's molecular simplicity 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:00.682 could make it a more universal pigment. 00:11:03.680 --> 00:11:04.986 If so, 00:11:04.986 --> 00:11:06.629 we may find that purple 00:11:07.603 --> 00:11:09.507 is life's favorite color. 00:11:19.717 --> 00:11:21.770 But the color of alien vegetation 00:11:21.770 --> 00:11:23.783 is more than just a curiosity— 00:11:25.526 --> 00:11:27.025 it's chemical information 00:11:27.025 --> 00:11:29.347 that can be seen from lightyears away. 00:11:34.388 --> 00:11:36.512 Earth plants leave a signature "bump" 00:11:36.512 --> 00:11:38.602 in the light reflected off our planet. 00:11:40.076 --> 00:11:42.529 Finding a similar signal from another world 00:11:42.529 --> 00:11:44.917 could point the way to alien vegetation. 00:11:50.256 --> 00:11:51.631 Perhaps this will be 00:11:51.631 --> 00:11:54.390 our first glimpse at alien life: 00:11:54.865 --> 00:11:58.462 a vibrant hue cast by a distant world. 00:12:20.525 --> 00:12:22.096 (Caleb Scharf) What happens when you change 00:12:22.096 --> 00:12:23.295 the day length of a planet? 00:12:23.295 --> 00:12:24.368 What happens when you change 00:12:24.368 --> 00:12:25.545 the tilt of a planet? 00:12:25.545 --> 00:12:26.537 What happens when you change 00:12:26.537 --> 00:12:27.835 the shape of the orbit? 00:12:27.835 --> 00:12:29.126 What happens when you change 00:12:29.126 --> 00:12:30.521 the gravity of a planet? 00:12:34.488 --> 00:12:37.148 (Narrator) Planets with long, elliptical orbits 00:12:37.148 --> 00:12:39.860 would see drastic seasons. 00:12:41.298 --> 00:12:42.300 There could be worlds 00:12:42.300 --> 00:12:45.458 that appear dead for thousands of years, 00:12:45.458 --> 00:12:47.581 then suddenly spring to life. 00:13:02.473 --> 00:13:05.058 Most of the rocky planets discovered so far 00:13:05.058 --> 00:13:07.078 have been massive "super-Earths". 00:13:12.557 --> 00:13:15.960 line:1 How would life evolve on these worlds? NOTE Paragraph 00:13:18.540 --> 00:13:19.566 In the seas, 00:13:19.566 --> 00:13:21.752 gravity may not matter much at all. 00:13:29.470 --> 00:13:30.670 (Unnamed) A high-gravity planet 00:13:30.670 --> 00:13:32.192 isn't high-gravity all over. 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:36.257 If you're in the sea and that's where all life starts, 00:13:36.257 --> 00:13:37.690 there's very nearly no gravity 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.505 'cause you're much the same density as the stuff around you. 00:13:43.310 --> 00:13:45.637 It's when the animals come out on land, 00:13:45.637 --> 00:13:47.169 that they feel the gravity. 00:13:51.518 --> 00:13:53.570 (Narrator) High g-forces would necessitate 00:13:53.570 --> 00:13:55.633 large bones and muscle mass 00:13:55.633 --> 00:13:57.546 in complex life on land. 00:13:59.748 --> 00:14:00.836 They would also demand 00:14:00.836 --> 00:14:03.209 a more robust circulatory system. 00:14:04.773 --> 00:14:06.520 And plant life could be stunted 00:14:06.520 --> 00:14:09.019 by the energy cost of carrying nutrients 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:10.584 under stronger gravity. 00:14:17.168 --> 00:14:18.547 Low-gravity planets 00:14:18.547 --> 00:14:21.798 would more easily lose their atmospheres to space, 00:14:21.798 --> 00:14:23.337 and lack a magnetic field 00:14:23.337 --> 00:14:25.443 to protect from cosmic rays. 00:14:35.751 --> 00:14:37.605 But smaller worlds could be home 00:14:37.605 --> 00:14:39.404 to secret oases: 00:14:46.161 --> 00:14:47.503 huge cave systems 00:14:47.503 --> 00:14:49.544 that provide hideouts for life. 00:15:26.691 --> 00:15:29.353 The smallest possible habitable planets 00:15:29.353 --> 00:15:31.897 are estimated at 2.5% 00:15:31.897 --> 00:15:33.312 Earth's mass. 00:15:35.002 --> 00:15:37.793 If surface life does evolve on these worlds, 00:15:38.742 --> 00:15:40.627 it could be a sight to behold. 00:15:44.584 --> 00:15:47.394 Plant life could grow to towering heights, 00:15:47.394 --> 00:15:50.460 able to carry nutrients higher in lesser gravity. 00:15:59.044 --> 00:16:00.160 And without the need 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:02.754 for bulky skeletons and muscle mass, 00:16:02.754 --> 00:16:04.511 animals could have body types 00:16:04.511 --> 00:16:06.170 that boggle the mind. 00:16:31.391 --> 00:16:32.310 Here on Earth, 00:16:32.310 --> 00:16:34.835 it took three billion years for evolution 00:16:34.835 --> 00:16:37.404 to produce complex plant and animal life. 00:16:39.663 --> 00:16:41.654 Simpler organisms are hardier, 00:16:41.654 --> 00:16:42.716 more adaptable, 00:16:42.716 --> 00:16:44.213 and more widespread. 00:16:48.283 --> 00:16:49.705 The largest collection 00:16:49.705 --> 00:16:51.440 in the museum of alien life 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.419 would likely be the "Hall of Microbes". 00:17:10.116 --> 00:17:12.960 Yet finding even the tiniest alien microbe 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.200 would be a profound discovery. 00:17:30.455 --> 00:17:31.849 And bite-sized life 00:17:31.849 --> 00:17:33.616 could leave a big footprint. 00:17:35.762 --> 00:17:37.327 Like stromatolites on Earth, 00:17:37.327 --> 00:17:39.281 layers of microbes could build up 00:17:39.281 --> 00:17:41.542 into huge rock mounds over time, 00:17:41.542 --> 00:17:44.112 leaving behind eerie structures. 00:17:48.620 --> 00:17:50.412 And in big enough numbers, 00:17:50.412 --> 00:17:52.248 some alien bacteria could leave 00:17:52.248 --> 00:17:54.134 a distinct biosignature 00:17:55.874 --> 00:17:59.293 by exhaling gases that wouldn't coexist naturally, 00:17:59.293 --> 00:18:01.380 like oxygen and methane. 00:18:07.146 --> 00:18:07.919 line:1 (Shawn Domagal-Goldman) There's ways to make 00:18:07.919 --> 00:18:09.619 line:1 oxygen without life, there's ways to make 00:18:09.619 --> 00:18:10.937 line:1 methane without life, 00:18:10.937 --> 00:18:12.939 line:1 but to have them in the atmosphere together 00:18:12.939 --> 00:18:14.558 line:1 is almost impossible unless you've got 00:18:14.558 --> 00:18:16.581 line:1 biology making those gases at the surface. 00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:19.107 line:1 And it would have an imprint 00:18:19.107 --> 00:18:20.877 line:1 on the planet's spectrum of colors. 00:18:22.695 --> 00:18:24.694 (Narrator) Next-generation space telescopes 00:18:24.694 --> 00:18:26.502 could find a signal like this, 00:18:28.384 --> 00:18:30.751 on a world not far from home. 00:18:32.044 --> 00:18:33.941 (Chris Crowe) The closest Sun-like star 00:18:33.941 --> 00:18:37.757 line:1 with an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone 00:18:37.757 --> 00:18:40.419 line:1 is probably only 20 light years away, 00:18:40.419 --> 00:18:42.499 line:1 and can be seen with the naked eye. 00:19:06.209 --> 00:19:08.209 Most brown dwarfs are too hot 00:19:08.209 --> 00:19:10.086 to support life as we know it. 00:19:10.986 --> 00:19:12.671 But some are just cold enough. 00:19:24.419 --> 00:19:26.235 All the prime elements for life 00:19:26.235 --> 00:19:28.754 have been detected inside their atmospheres. 00:19:31.458 --> 00:19:33.016 And within these clouds, 00:19:33.016 --> 00:19:34.498 some layers would provide 00:19:34.498 --> 00:19:36.340 ideal temperatures and pressures 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:37.504 for habitability. 00:19:46.073 --> 00:19:48.905 There could be photosynthetic plankton in these skies, 00:19:49.992 --> 00:19:52.585 kept aloft by churning upwinds. 00:19:57.463 --> 00:19:58.780 And with enough force, 00:19:58.780 --> 00:20:00.578 these upwinds could even support 00:20:00.578 --> 00:20:02.916 larger, more complex life. 00:20:06.011 --> 00:20:06.796 Predators. 00:20:44.072 --> 00:20:46.163 This raises a crucial question: 00:20:47.635 --> 00:20:50.439 what if we've been looking in all the wrong places? 00:20:52.523 --> 00:20:55.125 What if nature has other ideas? 00:21:20.931 --> 00:21:24.295 Most of the universe is too cold or too hot 00:21:24.295 --> 00:21:26.420 for liquid water and the biochemistry 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:28.295 that supports life as we know it. 00:21:31.304 --> 00:21:33.724 But in case our biases are misleading, 00:21:34.520 --> 00:21:36.453 we have to cast a wide net— 00:21:38.748 --> 00:21:42.051 to search for life outside the habitable zone, 00:21:42.051 --> 00:21:45.003 in places that seem wildly hostile to us. 00:21:49.416 --> 00:21:51.348 Exotic environments will demand 00:21:51.348 --> 00:21:53.406 exotic biochemistries, 00:21:53.406 --> 00:21:56.895 and while no element can match carbon's versatility, 00:21:56.895 --> 00:21:58.738 one contender is a frontrunner. 00:22:07.508 --> 00:22:08.624 line:1 At first glance, 00:22:08.624 --> 00:22:10.752 line:1 silicon seems similar to carbon. 00:22:12.746 --> 00:22:14.933 line:1 It forms the same four-way bonds 00:22:14.933 --> 00:22:16.934 line:1 and is also abundant in the universe. 00:22:19.216 --> 00:22:21.000 line:1 But a closer look reveals that 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.263 line:1 these two elements are false twins. 00:22:27.148 --> 00:22:29.138 Silicon bonds are weaker, 00:22:29.138 --> 00:22:32.503 and less prone to forming large, complex molecules. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.515 Despite this, 00:22:37.515 --> 00:22:40.820 they can withstand a wider range of temperatures, 00:22:40.820 --> 00:22:43.795 opening up intriguing possibilities. 00:22:47.191 --> 00:22:49.238 (Carl Sagan) Life based on the silicon atom, 00:22:49.238 --> 00:22:50.588 instead of carbon, 00:22:50.588 --> 00:22:53.290 would be more resistant to the extreme cold, 00:22:54.568 --> 00:22:56.723 providing a whole new range 00:22:56.723 --> 00:22:58.057 of weird forms. 00:23:01.101 --> 00:23:02.901 (Narrator) But silicon has a problem: 00:23:04.416 --> 00:23:06.215 in the presence of oxygen, 00:23:06.215 --> 00:23:07.936 it binds into solid rock. 00:23:10.127 --> 00:23:12.104 To avoid turning to stone, 00:23:12.104 --> 00:23:14.142 line:1 silicon beings might be confined 00:23:14.142 --> 00:23:16.318 line:1 to oxygen-free environments, 00:23:16.318 --> 00:23:18.098 line:1 like Saturn's frigid moon, 00:23:18.098 --> 00:23:18.811 line:1 Titan. 00:23:22.907 --> 00:23:25.674 line:1 Its vast lakes of liquid methane and ethane 00:23:25.674 --> 00:23:27.131 could be an ideal medium 00:23:27.131 --> 00:23:29.027 for silicon-based life, 00:23:29.027 --> 00:23:31.646 or other radical biochemistries. 00:23:37.105 --> 00:23:38.743 Without ample sunlight, 00:23:38.743 --> 00:23:41.023 beings on worlds like Titan 00:23:41.023 --> 00:23:43.117 would likely be chemosynthetic, 00:23:43.117 --> 00:23:46.171 deriving their energy by breaking down rocks. 00:24:01.426 --> 00:24:02.883 Such life forms could have 00:24:02.883 --> 00:24:04.720 ultra slow metabolisms, 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:05.807 and life cycles 00:24:05.807 --> 00:24:07.936 measured in millions of years. 00:24:25.821 --> 00:24:27.114 line:1 In high temperatures, 00:24:27.114 --> 00:24:29.631 line:1 typically rigid silicon-oxygen bonds 00:24:29.631 --> 00:24:31.903 line:1 become more flexible and reactive, 00:24:32.674 --> 00:24:34.918 triggering more dynamic chemistry. 00:24:39.930 --> 00:24:43.456 This has led to a truly bizarre proposal: 00:24:43.456 --> 00:24:45.307 silicon-based lifeforms 00:24:45.307 --> 00:24:48.482 that live inside molten silicate rock. 00:25:00.753 --> 00:25:03.315 In theory, these forms could even exist 00:25:03.315 --> 00:25:06.094 deep beneath the Earth inside magma chambers 00:25:06.094 --> 00:25:08.458 as part of a shadow biosphere. 00:25:12.142 --> 00:25:13.487 If so, 00:25:13.487 --> 00:25:16.669 then the aliens are right under our noses. 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.460 Other shadow biospheres have been proposed— 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:25.462 forms of life living alongside us 00:25:25.462 --> 00:25:27.338 that we don't even know are here— 00:25:27.338 --> 00:25:31.131 including tiny RNA-based life small enough to go 00:25:31.131 --> 00:25:33.577 undetected by existing instruments. 00:25:46.741 --> 00:25:48.772 Clouds of dust and empty space 00:25:48.772 --> 00:25:50.775 might seem like the last place you'd expect 00:25:50.775 --> 00:25:52.126 to find anything living. 00:25:54.197 --> 00:25:55.585 line:1 But when cosmic dust 00:25:55.585 --> 00:25:59.148 line:1 makes contact with plasma, a type of ionized gas, 00:25:59.148 --> 00:26:00.911 line:1 something strange happens. 00:26:05.550 --> 00:26:07.235 In simulated conditions, 00:26:07.235 --> 00:26:08.943 dust particles have been seen 00:26:08.943 --> 00:26:11.123 spontaneously self-organizing into 00:26:11.123 --> 00:26:13.762 helical structures that resemble DNA. 00:26:18.588 --> 00:26:19.992 These plasma crystals 00:26:19.992 --> 00:26:22.379 even begin to exhibit lifelike behavior: 00:26:23.578 --> 00:26:24.559 replicating, 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.833 evolving into more stable forms, 00:26:26.833 --> 00:26:28.668 and passing on information. 00:27:12.110 --> 00:27:14.796 line:1 Plasma is the most common state of matter 00:27:14.796 --> 00:27:15.945 line:1 in the universe. 00:27:17.386 --> 00:27:19.856 line:1 If complex, evolving plasma crystals 00:27:19.856 --> 00:27:20.966 line:1 really exist, 00:27:20.966 --> 00:27:23.122 line:1 and if they can be considered life, 00:27:23.122 --> 00:27:25.419 line:1 they could be its most common form. 00:27:51.260 --> 00:27:52.919 When massive suns explode, 00:27:52.919 --> 00:27:55.523 some collapse into ultra dense cores 00:27:55.523 --> 00:27:57.041 called neutron stars. 00:27:57.826 --> 00:28:00.158 Hulking masses of atomic nuclei, 00:28:00.158 --> 00:28:02.071 crammed together like sardines. 00:28:05.306 --> 00:28:07.965 Conditions on the surface are mind-boggling— 00:28:08.712 --> 00:28:11.147 gravity is a hundred billion times 00:28:11.147 --> 00:28:12.206 stronger than Earth's. 00:28:15.464 --> 00:28:17.711 But beneath their iron nuclei crust 00:28:17.711 --> 00:28:19.563 lies something strange: 00:28:21.334 --> 00:28:22.796 a hot dense sea 00:28:22.796 --> 00:28:25.504 of neutrons and subatomic particles. 00:28:34.310 --> 00:28:36.396 Stripped of their electron shells, 00:28:36.396 --> 00:28:37.771 these nuclei would obey 00:28:37.771 --> 00:28:40.380 entirely different laws of chemistry, 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:42.914 based not on the electromagnetic force, 00:28:42.914 --> 00:28:45.047 but the strong nuclear force 00:28:45.047 --> 00:28:46.838 which binds nuclei together. 00:28:49.595 --> 00:28:50.614 In theory, 00:28:50.614 --> 00:28:54.646 these particles could link up to form larger macronuclei, 00:28:54.646 --> 00:28:57.143 which could then combine into even bigger 00:28:57.143 --> 00:28:58.223 "super nuclei". 00:29:06.596 --> 00:29:07.785 If so, 00:29:07.785 --> 00:29:09.535 then this bewildering environment 00:29:09.535 --> 00:29:12.404 would mimic the basic conditions for life— 00:29:12.404 --> 00:29:14.084 heavy nucleon molecules, 00:29:14.084 --> 00:29:16.827 floating in a complex particle ocean. 00:29:22.509 --> 00:29:25.338 Some scientists have proposed the unimaginable: 00:29:26.349 --> 00:29:27.783 exotic life forms 00:29:27.783 --> 00:29:30.953 drifting through the strange particle sea, 00:29:30.953 --> 00:29:33.019 living, evolving, and dying 00:29:33.019 --> 00:29:35.979 on incomprehensibly fast time scales. 00:30:19.336 --> 00:30:20.581 Life is not something 00:30:20.581 --> 00:30:22.628 that has to evolve naturally. 00:30:26.186 --> 00:30:27.454 It can be designed. 00:30:41.406 --> 00:30:43.438 And once intelligence is introduced 00:30:43.438 --> 00:30:46.086 into the evolutionary process, 00:30:46.086 --> 00:30:48.262 a Pandora's box is opened. 00:31:05.977 --> 00:31:08.973 Free from typical biological limitations, 00:31:08.973 --> 00:31:11.003 synthetic and machine-based life 00:31:11.003 --> 00:31:13.086 could be the most successful of all. 00:31:16.507 --> 00:31:18.575 It could thrive almost anywhere, 00:31:18.575 --> 00:31:20.685 including the vacuum of space, 00:31:20.685 --> 00:31:22.543 opening up vast frontiers 00:31:22.543 --> 00:31:25.221 unavailable to biological organisms. 00:31:31.737 --> 00:31:34.941 And compared to the glacial pace of natural selection, 00:31:34.941 --> 00:31:36.834 technological evolution 00:31:36.834 --> 00:31:39.475 allows exponentially faster growth, 00:31:39.475 --> 00:31:41.919 adaptability, and resilience. 00:31:56.067 --> 00:31:59.477 By some estimates, autonomous self-replicating machines 00:31:59.477 --> 00:32:01.770 could colonize an entire galaxy 00:32:01.770 --> 00:32:03.896 in as little as a million years. 00:32:18.687 --> 00:32:21.484 We can't predict how hyperintelligent life 00:32:21.484 --> 00:32:22.978 would organize itself, 00:32:26.367 --> 00:32:27.407 but in theory, 00:32:27.407 --> 00:32:30.013 there could be convergent evolution at play. 00:32:32.177 --> 00:32:34.433 The electrical properties of silicon 00:32:34.433 --> 00:32:36.326 might make it a universal basis 00:32:36.326 --> 00:32:38.002 for machine intelligence, 00:32:38.567 --> 00:32:41.704 a redemption for its biological shortcomings. 00:33:53.263 --> 00:33:55.065 As the universe ages, 00:33:55.065 --> 00:33:57.960 perhaps machine intelligence will come to dominate, 00:33:58.633 --> 00:34:01.040 and naturally occurring biological life 00:34:01.040 --> 00:34:03.748 will be viewed as a quaint starting point. 00:34:09.453 --> 00:34:10.702 Perhaps we ourselves 00:34:10.702 --> 00:34:12.251 will lead this transition, 00:34:12.973 --> 00:34:14.533 and the great human experiment 00:34:14.533 --> 00:34:16.401 would be merely a first link 00:34:16.401 --> 00:34:19.962 in a sprawling intergalactic chain of life. 00:35:27.449 --> 00:35:29.749 Loren Eiseley has said 00:35:29.749 --> 00:35:31.669 that one does not meet oneself 00:35:31.669 --> 00:35:34.347 until one catches the reflection 00:35:34.347 --> 00:35:36.261 from an eye other than human. 00:35:38.665 --> 00:35:40.918 One day that eye may be 00:35:40.918 --> 00:35:42.877 that of an intelligent alien. 00:35:45.662 --> 00:35:47.775 And the sooner we eschew 00:35:47.775 --> 00:35:50.685 our narrow view of evolution, 00:35:52.024 --> 00:35:55.828 the sooner we can truly explore 00:35:55.828 --> 00:35:59.310 our ultimate origins and destinations. 00:36:35.094 --> 00:36:40.089 English captions by vrgtics, ericksoares3, and KillerGhoul