All language subtitles for NASAs.Unexplained.Files.S06E08.Did.Aliens.Nuke.Mars.720p.WEB.x264-CAFFEiNE

Narrator: World war mars,

the global conflict
300 million years ago

that may have destroyed life
on the red planet...

The weapons not only wiped out
the civilization

but basically destroyed
the biosphere on mars

so it could never recover.

Narrator: ...L. Ron hubbard
ran off with my girlfriend,

the exploding occult magician
behind nasa's rocket program...

Zimmerman: He was a genius.

The things he invented started
america off on the space race.

Narrator:
...A signal from space

some scientists think
is from a giant spaceship...

[ electricity crackling ]

man: These radio bursts

could be a sign
of alien propulsion systems.

♪

narrator: These are
"nasa's unexplained files."

-- captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

August 2012,

nasa's curiosity rover
arrives on mars.

Just beneath the surface,
nasa scientists are expecting

to find red, oxidized iron dust
and plenty of it.

What they're not expecting
to find

is evidence of a nuclear war,

a devastating conflict
that seems to have taken place

on mars 300 million years ago.

Curiosity rover
has been sent to mars

to analyze the chemical
composition of the red planet.

What it finds, to the surprise
of planetary scientists,

are significant amounts
of xenon-129.

The mars curiosity rover found
that the abundance of xenon-129

is much higher
than what we see here on earth.

What process is creating this
enhanced abundance of xenon?

Narrator: Scientists around
the world struggled to explain

the presence
of this radioactive isotope.

Among those analyzing the data
is dr. John brandenburg,

a former nasa physicist
and deputy manager

on the clementine
moon mission.

Brandenburg is amazed
for one simple reason.

Xenon-129 is the by-product
of nuclear weapon explosions.

Dr. Brandenburg:
I have shown this

to several
nuclear weapons experts,

and they have affirmed that this
is nuclear weapon signature.

There is no other process

that can create
such a xenon spectrum.

Narrator:
Earth has experienced

over 70 years
of atomic bomb testing,

each time leaving
traces of xenon-129,

but the xenon-129
reading on mars

is still two and a half times
higher than that found on earth.

Gottlieb: The presence
of certain elements on mars

indicate that there was
a nuclear explosion

or explosions
on the surface of mars

at some point
in the planet's history.

Narrator: Brandenburg
observes two nuclear hot spots

in the northern hemisphere
of mars

where radiation levels
are higher

than anywhere else
on the planet.

What's more, it appears
the nuclear blasts

were occurring in midair,
above the surface.

What's also interesting
is what is not found.

There is no crater
at either site

indicating that these explosions
were air bursts.

Narrator: The size
of the radioactive hot spots

leads brandenburg
to a devastating conclusion.

We're talking a nuclear weapon

the size
of the empire state building

dropped from space

and detonating kilometers
above the surface.

Gottlieb: Historically,
if you look at pictures

and listen to firsthand accounts
of the explosion of the bombs

at nagasaki and hiroshima,

it's the same sort of thing,
no crater but massive explosion,

massive expansive energy,
total destruction

of everything
in that energy's path.

Narrator:
Brandenburg has analyzed

the mars rover data
to establish

when this nuclear
holocaust occurred.

Best estimates for timescale
based on isotopic evidence

is that this happened
300 million years ago.

This could turn our concept
of mars completely on its head.

Narrator:
Many scientists believe

that millions of years ago,

mars had an atmosphere
and liquid water,

conditions where life
could thrive.

Mars might even have had
oceans and lakes.

Narrator: Humans have looked
for signs of life on mars

since telescopes
could first scan its surface.

In 1877, giovanni schiaparelli
mistakenly thinks

he sees irrigation
or transport canals

crisscrossing
the martian landscape.

In 1976, the viking probe
sends back low-resolution photos

wrongly identifying pyramids
and a giant sphynx-like face,

but in 2016,
mars reconnaissance orbiter

beams back higher-quality images
of what some have interpreted

as the ruins of
bronze age-style walled cities.

Major: Obviously, a civilization
in that state

wouldn't have had the capability

to blow themselves up
with nuclear weapons,

which means that somehow
some other predatory alien race

must have intervened.

Imagine the inhabitants
of this martian civilization.

All of a sudden, there's huge
flashes of light and heat.

Destruction rains everywhere,

and everything you've ever known
is destroyed in an instant.

It literally would have
been hell on mars.

Dr. Brandenburg: The weapons not
only wiped out the civilization

but basically destroyed
the biosphere of mars

so it could never recover.

Narrator: The idea
of a martian civilization

destroyed in this way
seems incredible,

and scientists have looked
for other explanations

for the presence
of xenon-129 on mars.

After all, it is possible
for nuclear activity of sorts

to take place in nature.

On the continent of africa,
in the country of gabon,

there's a uranium deposit
that's been discovered,

and it shows clear evidence
of a sustained nuclear reaction

similar to what occurs
in our fission reactors.

Narrator:
Under very unique conditions,

water flowing
through the uranium deposit

can cause fission,

the same process used
inside an atom bomb.

But this thing did what it did
1.7 billion years ago.

Not only were there
no humans around then,

there wasn't even
multicellular life on earth.

Nature has illustrated
that it can create

its own nuclear reactors.

The question is,
could this same event

have occurred naturally on mars?

Narrator: But former nasa
physicist dr. John brandenburg

says the material found on mars

cannot have been produced
by any natural nuclear process.

A natural nuclear reactor,
if it had gone unstable on mars,

not only would produce
the wrong xenon spectrum,

but it would have created
two massive craters,

and there was no craters.

The ground is absolutely smooth.

Narrator: Brandenburg
believes the evidence points

in one direction.

300 million years ago,
intelligent life on mars

was destroyed in
a nuclear war of the worlds.

Dr. Brandenburg: We have now
discovered that humanity

is not the most
evil species in the cosmos.

We are not an aberration
on nature.

We're a part of the fabric
of the universe,

and not everything
in the universe is friendly.

Gottlieb: If this happened and
mars was attacked by aliens,

it happened when there was

virtually no intelligent life
on earth,

so they wouldn't have noticed
us, but the question remains.

Now that we're here,
are they coming back?

♪

narrator: June 17, 1952,

millionaires' row,
pasadena, california.

The well-heeled neighborhood is
rocked by an enormous explosion.

The emergency crews
rushed to the scene,

and they find
this absolute devastation.

There's blood everywhere.

There's the shattered body
of a man on the floor.

He's got a limb severed.

He's just...
Incredible injuries.

Narrator:
The fatally wounded man

is no ordinary
pasadena resident.

This is nasa rocket pioneer
jack parsons.

Jack parsons is the cofounder
of nasa's jet propulsion labs.

He was a genius.

The things he invented started
america off on the space race.

Narrator: But there's more
to jack parsons

than rocket science.

After he's taken to hospital,
they look around,

and they find this weird stuff.

There are papers scattered
all around,

strange symbols, pentagrams.

Something strange was going on.

Narrator: Jack parsons didn't
just believe in science.

He believed in black magic.

So you've got this guy who,
in his day job,

he's doing amazing,
brilliant rocket-science work.

By night, he practiced
weird occult magic.

So you have to ask yourself,

was it an accident,

was it a suicide,

or did the occult
rituals work?

Some believe they did.

♪

narrator: Coming up,

the genius behind
nasa's rocket technology

believes there is secret science
hidden in black magic.

You have to ask,
did jack parsons discover

a real link between
quantum theory and magic?

Narrator: Jack parsons,

the rocket genius
who got nasa into space,

is killed in what some suspect
is a black-magic ritual

gone horribly wrong.

Investigators find parsons
always flirted with danger,

even at the start of his career
as a student at caltech in 1935.

His group was known
as the suicide squad.

Orwoll:
They were kind of banished

to the outskirts of the campus

because what they were doing
was so dangerous.

They'd go out in aurora canyon,

lay down behind little hills
and sandbags.

They're firing rocket motors
10, 20 feet away,

these liquid rocket motors
and solid rocket motors,

and everybody was always
putting themselves at risk.

Narrator: In time,
parsons' solid-fuel rockets

will become the basis
for the minuteman missile,

the titan rocket

and eventually
the space shuttle boosters.

His success leads
to the foundation

of nasa's legendary
jet propulsion laboratory

and makes parsons
a rich man,

but building rockets
to reach space

is not the limit
of parsons' ambition.

He's fascinated
by the mysterious

new science
of quantum mechanics

and connects it with the world
of the so-called paranormal.

Quantum theory promises to upend
traditional newtonian theories,

and parsons loves it.

Narrator: Quantum theory
is rock-solid science,

but for some, it also appears
to have magical properties.

A particle doesn't have
to be here or there.

It can be here and there
at the same time.

Particles can be in multiple
states at the same time.

Quantum theory states that
there are other dimensions,

and quantum theory
also states

that particles can influence
each other over great distances.

It's not hard to see how people
encountering quantum physics

for the first time
could think that it's magic.

Narrator: In 1941, parsons joins
a secret society

known as ordo templi orientis,

practitioners of the occult.

Parsons is not
a casual observer.

He goes deep into the occult.

Szulgit:
With his occult magic,

he was specifically interested
in ritual summoning.

He wanted to bring entities
from other realms

that he thought existed
in the quantum space.

[ men chanting ]

narrator: Parsons' occult
obsessions take a demonic turn

as he studies under legendary
satanist aleister crowley.

The charismatic
devil worshipper's teaching

soon seeps into parsons' work
on spaceflight.

Not only does parsons
get to know crowley,

but he performs his ritual
before rocket tests.

Narrator: Crowley claimed his
rituals put him in contact

with a being called lam,
who his followers connect

with space-traveling
alien life-forms.

For parsons, the idea
of rocketry and the occult

were not separable.

They were actually
complementary to each other.

He saw them both as helping us
to push our minds

toward the understanding

of the fundamental processes
of the universe.

Narrator:
In 1945, science-fiction writer

and scientology founder
l. Ron hubbard

moves into the rocket
scientist's pasadena mansion.

Parsons' determination to prove
a link between science and magic

is taken to a whole new level.

Gottlieb:
Parsons and hubbard go deep.

They start to do all sorts
of ritualistic occult practices,

conjurings, the summoning
of demons, of goddesses.

Narrator: Some observers report
the duo's quantum-magic rituals

are working in bizarre
and disturbing ways.

One time, the guests claimed
he summoned a banshee...

[ growls ]

...That rattled the windows,

which left them disturbed
for the rest of their lives.

Narrator: Hubbard's
energizing presence

gives parsons the chance

to perform the biggest
experiment in quantum magic

he has ever attempted.

The relationship between parsons
and l. Ron hubbard

is about to explode
in a spectacular way.

[ electricity crackling ]

as their relationship develops,

hubbard convinces parsons
to give him $20,000.

That's a lot of money.

Narrator: Hubbard literally
sails off in his yacht

with parsons' girlfriend
and his money.

In a fit of vengeful madness,

parsons decides to test out
his weird cocktail

of black magic
and quantum physics.

Gottlieb:
What's parsons' solution?

Well, he's going to force
the yacht back to shore.

Narrator:
He attempts to summon a storm.

Whether parsons discovers
a real link

between quantum theory
and magic or not,

the weather begins to change.

There is, in fact, a storm,

and the yacht does have
to return to harbor.

Narrator: But these deeply
unsettling experiments

do not endear parsons
to the u.S. Government.

This is not good for his career
as a rocket scientist.

He falls out of favor with
the military industrial complex.

He loses his job,

and what does he do?

He decides to make pyrotechnics
for the motion-picture industry.

Narrator:
And this turn of events

will eventually seal his fate

in a spectacular fashion.

Zimmerman:
So he's gone from a rocket hero

to creating pyrotechnics
for hollywood,

and that's when
the explosion occurs.

♪

narrator:
Coming up, modern-day scientists

confirm there may be
some truth in parsons'

seemingly crazy ideas.

Is it possible that parsons
was using quantum theory

to make occult magic
in pasadena?

Narrator: And massive energy
bursts in space

leave astronomers
scrambling for answers.

These are some of
the most powerful

objects in the universe,

and we have no idea
what's going on.

Narrator: Rocket genius
jack parsons

is killed in an explosion
at his pasadena home.

His body is surrounded
by the bizarre paraphernalia

of black magic.

The police finding an explosion
having occurred,

the body being mangled,

the strange occult
papers around it,

starts up all the questions
that you'd expect.

Well, what really happened here?

Narrator:
The police investigation

concludes that parsons' death
was due to an accident,

probably from sloppy handling of
chemicals for his pyrotechnics,

but an independent investigator
found that the explosion

unexpectedly originated
from under the floorboards

rather than in the laboratory
that parsons was working in,

furthering suspicion as to what
disturbing activities

parsons was involved in
when he died.

Is it possible that parsons
was using quantum theory

to make occult magic
in pasadena?

Narrator: Parsons' quantum
theories were widely rejected,

and nasa viewed him
as an embarrassment.

Some people thought he was
downright nuts, literally.

Not screws loose, screws
missing, all sorts of crazy.

Narrator: But today,
some modern scientists

like theoretical physicist
dr. Fred alan wolf

have concluded that something
like a spirit world

is encoded
in a quantum state,

a parallel dimension
that intersects with our own.

Did jack parsons discover
something

that we don't know about

and maybe he took to his grave
when he blew up in pasadena?

We'll never know.

♪

narrator: Across the world,
radio telescopes face skywards

to unravel the mysteries
of the universe

and to spot threats
to our planet.

In September 2007, scientists
detect something massive

that seems to be the work
of an alien intelligence.

For 5 milliseconds, this
telescope picked up a signal

that was 500 million times
more powerful than the sun.

So what we see are these
enormously powerful outpourings

of energy
in the form of radio waves

that don't fit the profile

of any of the processes
that we know.

Billings: First thought is,
"well, that's freaky."

was it interference?

Was it maybe someone microwaving
their lunch at lunchtime?

But these things kept happening,
again and again and again.

Eventually, it was proved
that they're coming from

deep, deep space.

Narrator: Scientists record
over 60 of the baffling

tremendously powerful
bursts of energy

coming from unknown locations,

spread right across
the universe.

They become known as fast
radio bursts or frbs,

and some are even seen to repeat
in a seemingly unnatural rhythm.

These mysterious ferocious,
yet fleetingly brief,

bursts leave scientists

scrambling to explain
their origin.

These are some of
the most powerful

objects in the universe,

and we have no idea
what's going on.

The question is, is this
some natural process

that we haven't
previously encountered,

or is it something
being done deliberately

by a civilization
much more advanced than our own?

Narrator:
Coming up, scientists consider

that the massive energy burst

could be signs of
a super advanced technology.

These radio bursts
could be a sign

of alien propulsion systems.

♪

narrator: Immensely powerful
bursts of energy

500 million times
more powerful than the sun

are recorded across deep space.

The question is, could this be
something that is artificial?

Narrator:
Some astrophysicists believe

that the frbs
could be evidence

of aliens launching
massive star sail spacecraft.

One idea put forward by
avi loeb of harvard university

and some of his associates
is that perhaps

this is some wildly powerful,

wildly advanced
alien civilization

using immensely potent
radio waves

to send spacecraft
all throughout the universe.

Narrator: The radio waves hit
the star sails

and accelerate the craft

just as the wind propels
a sailboat at sea.

You can conceivably accelerate
a fairly large,

fairly light ship up to a large
fraction of the speed of light

just by pushing on it
with a sufficiently intense beam

generated on the ground at home,

where you have plenty of fuel
to burn.

So you're talking about
building a transmitter

the size of a planet,

powered by a power source
the size of an entire star.

You could imagine there might be
alien civilizations

that could harness
these degrees of power

and have this degree
of engineering

to pull off
this sort of crazy feat.

Narrator: On earth,
nasa has already attempted

to build their own space sails,

testing their deployment
in orbit around our planet,

but a discovery made by nasa
during their tests

leads scientists to question
whether alien star sailors

really would propel their ships
using fast radio bursts.

Radio wouldn't necessarily be
your first choice of methods

to propel this.

You get a much greater punch
out of shooting

a beam of visible light,

which is why the proposals
to do this from earth

mostly involve large arrays
of visible lasers.

Advanced civilizations probably
leapt beyond a sail ship.

They are more than likely
using something that's more akin

to being able to bend
or warp time and space

in order to get
from one place to another.

Narrator: For now, the true
nature of the fast radio bursts

lies tantalizingly out of reach.

One day, an alien sail ship
might come into view.

Until then, scientists must keep
scanning the skies for clues.

Alexander: We have a handful
of compelling theories,

but you know what?
We actually don't know.

We have
no conclusive explanation

as to what's causing
these fast radio bursts.

They're a complete mystery.

♪

narrator: To the human eye,

the earth is solid,
stable and calm,

but this is an illusion.

Proctor: The earth is
like a spinning top in space.

We are moving at 67,000 miles
per hour around the sun,

but we're also spinning at 1,000
miles per hour on our axis.

Narrator: As the earth careens
through space,

our spinning-top planet
rotates on an axis

running through the north
and south poles,

but in the year 2000,

nasa scientists spot
something deeply troubling.

Our planet's rotational axis
is changing.

The rotational axis of the earth
generally moves further westward

every single year,
but suddenly, in year 2000,

scientists measured
that the north pole started

shifting more towards
the east out of nowhere.

Narrator: Scientists knew the
pole was moving westward

and predicted
it would continue to do so.

Now it's switched direction.

This is a groundbreaking
discovery.

Narrator: Worst still,

the pole is moving
twice as fast as it was before,

and it seems to be accelerating.

This change is surprising,
both in the rate

that it's happening
and how strong it is.

If this migration of the
north pole continues to go east,

the equator will then come up
to reach chicago,

and now you have chicago
at the equator,

and things get really bizarre.

Narrator: The wandering position
of the earth's spin axis

could dramatically shift
the world's climate,

changing the united states
into a vast, baked desert.

Rising temperatures would cause
the mighty mississippi

to evaporate
to a feeble trickle.

Agonizing droughts cause
the lush farmlands of virginia

to turn to cracked,
barren wilderness,

while the forests of this
once green nation burn to ash.

Radebaugh: Let's say you're
living in las angeles.

Everything just keeps heating
up, heating up and heating up.

There's no way to avoid
all the water

just being evaporated away.

It'd be a dry, barren,
very hot wasteland.

Tomlinson: Anything that
couldn't adapt would die.

It would be impossible
to sustain agriculture.

There would be famine.

We would have a migration crisis

like none the world
has ever seen.

[ people screaming ]

narrator: The rest of the earth
as we know it

would be turned on its head.

The south pacific would be
locked in sheet ice.

The arctic would melt.

Europe would become home
to the new north pole,

5,000 years of civilization
reduced to a frigid wasteland.

Proctor:
We absolutely couldn't survive.

I mean, it's a bizarro world

that it's almost hard
to imagine.

The question is,
why is this happening?

Is there something that's just
throwing the earth off-kilter?

Narrator: Scientists must
discover what's causing this

potentially catastrophic shift.

They use the twin satellites
of nasa's grace mission.

Orbiting 300 miles
above the earth's poles,

the two identical spacecraft
are mapping subtle changes

in the planet's mass.

They find something is pushing
the earth out of balance.

The mass distribution on the
earth has changed a little bit,

and that affects how
the earth spins and wobbles.

Imagine
you're spinning a soccer ball,

and you put a piece of gum
on one side of the ball.

That's going to change the way
the ball ends up spinning.

Proctor: If you change the
weight of the earth on one side,

you can cause it to,
well, rotate over.

Narrator: Grace scours the globe
to pinpoint the location

of the change
in the mass of the earth.

Finally, scientists uncover
the horrifying truth.

Coming up, experts race to find
a way to wrestle the earth

back to its rightful position.

Will we cross a tipping point
where there's no return?

Narrator:
And a brave new world

creates mankind's
deadliest rival.

The people who arrive
on proxima centauri b

might become the first
new species of humanoids.

Narrator:
Since the year 2000,

scientists
have been investigating

why our planet's
rotational axis is changing.

With a potential to wreak havoc
with the world's weather,

scientists have been monitoring
the shift

with the use of satellites
from nasa's grace mission.

Grace is identifying
this change in mass over india.

Brensberger:
Scientists discovered

that it's due
to pumping groundwater

that's causing this change
in weight distribution

on our planet.

Tomlinson: Humans have pulled so
much water out of the aquifers

for agricultural purposes

that it's actually changing the
balance of mass on the planet.

Sori: This is really remarkable
that human activity represents

enough of a change in the
mass distribution of the planet

that it can actually
have effects on earth's spin

and polar wander of the earth.

Narrator: India, home to nearly
1.4 billion people,

is soon to become the most
heavily populated country

on earth.

India's demand for water
is so intense,

its 12 million water pumps
remove water

equivalent to the volume
of lake erie every two years,

water nature cannot
replace quickly enough.

Proctor:
It's actually mind-boggling

that we are moving enough water

that it actually
affects the earth,

the planet we live on.

That's...Well, it's huge.

Narrator: Further analysis shows
india isn't the only place

where the earth's mass is
being changed by human activity.

Take china as an example.

They have poured more concrete
in three years

than all of the united states
in the 20th century.

That's a mind-boggling
amount of concrete.

We're talking about tiny changes

compared to the overall
weight of the earth,

but tiny changes
can have enormous impacts.

Narrator: Across china,
the totalitarian state

embarks
on construction projects,

the likes of which the world has
never seen at breakneck speed.

Chinese families and their homes
are bulldozed

to make way
for these megastructures,

but everyone on the planet
is set to suffer

as the weight of concrete

redistributes the mass
of the earth.

Schultz: We think we're just
simply ants on a ball,

just little things that can't
affect anything, yet we do.

It's our action
that affects the earth.

Narrator: And when scientists
analyze the changes further,

they realize the mass anomalies

caused by concrete
and water use in asia

are located in the worst
possible places on the globe.

Brensberger: Now, the changes
happening are pretty tiny

compared to the mass
of our planet,

but because of where
they're happening

is what can cause major effects
to our planet overall.

Schultz: The most sensitive part
on the earth

to change the spin axis
is at around 45 degrees.

That's the sweet spot.

Radebaugh: This is really
a problem because most of us

live in those locations.

There aren't many people
that live near the poles.

We're going to continue to lose
mass in terms of groundwater

in the populated areas,

that 45 degrees
all the way down to the equator.

Narrator:
The changing mass of the earth

is likely to accelerate

and with it,
the way the planet rotates.

America's future as a desolate
equatorial wasteland

could arrive
sooner than we thought.

It's a terrifying possibility.

Nothing would ever be
the same again.

Narrator: Scientists are running
out of time to find a way

to get the planet's
rotational axis back on track.

If we're going to fix it, we're
going to have to get radical.

Either we deconstruct the cities
and refill the aquifers

that we've depleted,
or we get extreme.

We build counterbalance cities,

maybe somewhere
in south america.

Maybe in the next 30 years,
we need 20 million people

to move to chile.

Narrator: Alongside
new south american cities,

mankind will literally
have to move mountains

to redistribute
the mass of the earth.

Preventing the extinction
of america

will require the greatest
international cooperation

the world has ever seen,

but many scientists believe
it is possible.

I do believe that humans
would find a way

to geoengineer their way
out of this situation,

to get the earth back
to how it used to be.

If we can't stop it, our world
will become a wasteland.

Billings: There's one troubling
thing about tipping points.

If you tip too far over,

you're going to topple
into a nightmare.

[ people screaming ]

narrator: August 2016,
astronomers discover something

that could change
the future of humanity.

Studying proxima centauri,
the closest star to our sun,

they detect a planet
orbiting around it.

What's more, the planet
seems earthlike.

They name it proxima centauri b.

Proxima centauri b
is about the mass of earth.

It looks like it's in
the habitable zone of its star.

I mean, how amazing is that?

Narrator: It's called proxima
because it's so close,

so close that nasa may already
be capable of getting us there.

Tomlinson:
Hard as it may be to believe,

technology for reaching
proxima centauri b

has actually existed
since the 1950s.

It's called the project
orion spaceship.

Basically, it's a large pogo
stick that moves through space

by exploding nuclear bombs
behind it.

The dream of exploration
is burning within us,

so there are people
who will find a way

to get to proxima centauri b.

Narrator:
Project orion could deliver

thousands of intrepid
human pioneers

to the brave new world
of proxima b

by the end of the century,
but a 2017 nasa report reveals

that when the colonists reach
the surface of their new home,

it will be the greatest
survival challenge

mankind has ever faced.

The nasa study looks at
how earthlike and habitable

proxima b might be,
and it's not good news.

So proxima centauri b may be
a habitable planet,

but it's also probably
a dangerous place

to live, at least for us.

Narrator: The greatest risk
to the colonists

come from their new sun.

Proxima centauri is a red dwarf,
and that makes it dangerous.

Because proxima centauri is
much smaller and much cooler

than the sun,
the planet around it

actually needs to be
a lot closer to the star

in order to be
in the habitable zone.

It's about 20 times closer
to its host star

than earth is to the sun.

Russ: But it also means

that planet
gets lashed by up to 2,000 times

more solar winds and cosmic rays
and ultraviolet rays

than our own sun does for earth.

Narrator: When the colonists
stride out onto the surface

of their new home planet,

the sun in the sky
appears large, dark and red,

a glorious sight,

but it means the planet is under
threat from giant solar flares.

From this scorching sun,

humans would have
to find shelter.

Once the colonists
get to proxima b,

they need to get out
of the way of that radiation,

and the best place to avoid
that is underground.

Perhaps we'll be able to
establish cities

that are beneath the surface.

Narrator: The colonists must
build a new kind

of largely
subterranean civilization.

On earth, our brains and our
bodies have been shaped

by the environment
we contend with,

the landforms, the oceans,

the chemical makeup
of the atmosphere.

Scientists believe an alien
environment like proxima b

could change humans
into something very different.

It's hard to imagine
what it would be like to live

in one of these
underground colonies.

What would that do to a person
in their lifetime?

What would that do to humans
over evolutionary time?

Could a colony
on proxima centauri b

eventually produce
a new species, nova sapiens?

♪

narrator: Human colonists
could reach proxima b

by the end of the century.

To survive the intense radiation
on the surface,

they would have
to settle underground.

Under those harsh conditions,
scientists believe the colonists

might not stay human for long.

So one of the things that darwin
assumed was true about evolution

is that it has to happen slowly,

and now we know
that that's not true.

If you had a separate colonist
group that travels away

and leaves humanity,
the rest of humanity, behind,

they would certainly begin
to evolve differently

from those
who were left on planet earth.

Here on earth, we know that
populations can evolve

even in just a matter
of a few generations.

Any changes that happen,
for example from mutations

caused by all of
the radiation exposure,

will make them different
in a much faster rate

than what we'd
have here on earth.

Narrator:
The planet's higher mass,

1.3 times that of the earth,

would have the most
immediate effect.

What we might see is that people
become adapted

to a higher gravity environment,

for example by having stronger
bones and stronger muscles.

Narrator: The colonists'
subterranean existence

may have an even more dramatic
effect on their evolution.

Away from the light,

most likely they're going to be
very pale in complexion.

Goodbye, vacation tan

because you're not affected
by the rays of the sun anymore.

Solomon: On earth,

organisms that live
in low-light conditions,

like those that are nocturnal,
often have very large eyes,

so would humans evolve to have
larger eyes if we're living

in relatively low-light
conditions underground?

Hovland: These mole people,
if you will,

would be pale and huge eyes.

Maybe even their other senses

would adapt
to this dark environment.

It could also really harden
the colonists

and create an environment

were you must literally
struggle to survive,

a very competitive environment.

Narrator:
This competitive environment

would push natural selection
into overdrive.

The human colonists of proxima b

could soon evolve
into a new species,

the mole-like nova sapiens,

but meanwhile on earth,
the humans who stayed behind

would be going through
an evolution of their own.

Studies have already shown
that we're seeing changes

in our jaw structure,
for example.

They're getting smaller.

We're eating more
processed food.

We're not crunching down
on grains

or breaking open bones
and eating marrow.

We're eating snickers bars.

Another change we're seeing
in our own human physiology

is our heads
are getting smaller.

Buy a hat lately?

You might not need
an xl anymore.

It's because our brains
are becoming more efficient.

Narrator:
The earthlings of the future

will use their highly efficient
brains

to interact with evermore
sophisticated technologies.

As we move forward and we become

a more technologically
advanced society,

the traits that allow us to
interface with that technology

will be the ones
that are highly prized,

whereas traits that allow us to,

say, be really good
at lifting rocks

or hunting
for things will diminish.

Narrator: On proxima b,
the nova sapiens are hardened

by the extreme challenges
of their planet.

Pictures of earth
beamed through space

give them a tantalizing glimpse

of what their ancestors
left behind.

There would definitely be
proxima b colonists

who would see the grass
as greener on earth,

partly because
they would not have grass,

but also because
of the freedom of resources,

just the wealth of our planet.

How could you not be jealous
of that?

Certainly, they'd have to
look upon earthlings

as lazy ne'er-do-wells
with technology

doing everything for them,

while they have to eke out
a very existence every day

in that harsh climate.

Tomlinson: What if some day

the proxima centauri b
nova sapiens

decided they didn't want
to live there anymore,

and they started
immigrating back to earth?

Let's say we've got the scenario
where proxima b comes back,

and they're an invasion force.

Hovland: Given all the changes
in these new colonists,

I don't think I'd want to go
toe-to-toe with any of them.