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TYSON: We are a long way
from home, and from our time.
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00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,333
This was our Milky Way
when the galaxy was young
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00:00:12,467 --> 00:00:14,934
and more fertile
than it is today.
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00:00:15,066 --> 00:00:18,767
Back then,
she birthed 30 times as many
stars as she does now...
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00:00:19,367 --> 00:00:22,567
a firestorm of star creation.
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00:00:22,934 --> 00:00:26,033
It's a summer night,
11 billion years ago.
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00:00:26,166 --> 00:00:28,367
We're on the
planet of another star,
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00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:31,333
one with an ideal view of
the Milky Way galaxy's
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00:00:31,467 --> 00:00:33,633
chaotic stellar nursery.
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00:00:35,667 --> 00:00:39,133
Our own star was a child
of the galaxy's later years,
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00:00:39,967 --> 00:00:42,700
and that may be one
of the reasons we exist.
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00:00:42,834 --> 00:00:45,567
After the short-lived,
more massive stars died out,
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00:00:46,266 --> 00:00:47,467
there was time...
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00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,867
another five billion years,
for those dead stars to bequeath
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00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,533
their heavier elements to us.
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00:00:54,667 --> 00:00:57,767
These elements enriched
and nurtured the formation
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00:00:57,900 --> 00:00:59,834
of the planets and
moons of our solar system.
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00:01:01,233 --> 00:01:05,867
And we ourselves are
made of that star stuff.
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00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,367
Those blazing pink clouds of
hydrogen gas are the swaddling
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00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:13,400
of countless new-born stars.
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00:01:13,834 --> 00:01:15,900
See those
bright blue splashes?
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00:01:16,033 --> 00:01:19,800
They're clusters of
slightly older sibling stars.
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00:01:21,834 --> 00:01:25,567
Gravity's embrace will
transform this amorphous
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00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:31,033
collection of gas
and dust into the galaxy
we call home today.
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00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,800
(explosion)
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00:01:49,266 --> 00:01:52,100
Our sun is born.
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00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,033
The star endows her
surrounding worlds
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with precious minerals,
diamonds and green olivine...
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00:02:01,133 --> 00:02:03,367
a mineral that will play
a major role in our story.
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00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,400
The stars make planets,
moons and comets.
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00:02:10,900 --> 00:02:15,066
There's Jupiter, the firstborn
world of our solar system.
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00:02:21,567 --> 00:02:24,800
These future planets
and moons are awash
with organic molecules...
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00:02:25,834 --> 00:02:28,800
the chemical
building blocks of life.
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00:02:29,300 --> 00:02:32,934
This is their inheritance
from the deaths of other stars.
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00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,800
Does the cosmos give
rise to life as naturally
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00:02:41,934 --> 00:02:44,900
as it makes
stars and worlds?
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00:02:45,233 --> 00:02:48,767
This is our voyage to
the heart of that mystery.
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00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,800
(theme music plays)
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00:03:18,367 --> 00:03:24,467
♪ ♪
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00:03:45,333 --> 00:03:50,367
♪ ♪
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00:04:08,533 --> 00:04:11,600
TYSON: Long, long ago,
when our world was young,
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00:04:11,734 --> 00:04:15,367
there was a city at
the bottom of the sea
that covered the Earth.
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00:04:27,066 --> 00:04:29,900
It took tens of thousands
of years to build this city,
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00:04:31,633 --> 00:04:34,166
but there was no life
on this world back then.
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00:04:37,567 --> 00:04:40,333
So who built these
submarine skyscrapers?
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00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:43,433
Nature did.
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00:04:43,567 --> 00:04:46,333
She made them with carbon
dioxide and the same minerals
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00:04:46,467 --> 00:04:49,367
she uses to make
seashells and pearls...
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00:04:49,934 --> 00:04:51,834
calcium carbonate.
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00:04:51,967 --> 00:04:55,133
But these soaring towers
were nothing compared to what
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00:04:55,266 --> 00:04:57,433
happened beneath them.
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00:04:57,867 --> 00:05:01,000
We'll need to get
1,000 times smaller to see it.
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00:05:16,967 --> 00:05:19,633
Doesn't look
like much, does it?
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00:05:19,767 --> 00:05:21,900
But just wait.
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00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,367
Our restless
Mother Earth cracked open,
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00:05:24,500 --> 00:05:27,100
and cold sea water poured
down into her hot rocky mantle,
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00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:31,066
getting richer in
organic molecules and minerals,
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00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,333
including a green
jewel called olivine.
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00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:40,400
This mix of water and
minerals got so hot that it
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00:05:40,533 --> 00:05:42,467
shot out of
her with great force.
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00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,834
The mixture became trapped
in the pores of the carbonate
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00:05:46,967 --> 00:05:49,900
rocks that would
later become her towers.
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00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,900
These pores were incubators,
safe places where the organic
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00:05:55,033 --> 00:05:57,667
molecules could
become more concentrated.
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00:05:58,834 --> 00:06:02,834
This is how we think that the
rocks built life's first home.
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00:06:03,367 --> 00:06:05,233
It was the beginning,
at least in our little
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00:06:05,367 --> 00:06:08,433
part of the cosmos,
of an enduring collaboration
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00:06:08,567 --> 00:06:10,467
between the minerals of earth,
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00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,233
the rocks and life.
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00:06:14,734 --> 00:06:17,400
See those snaky cracks?
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00:06:17,767 --> 00:06:19,867
That's how this
process got its name.
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00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,734
Serpentinization.
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00:06:22,133 --> 00:06:24,300
It's the evidence for
the conversion of water and
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00:06:24,433 --> 00:06:27,800
carbon dioxide into
hydrogen and methane...
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00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,867
the organic molecules that
fueled this earthshaking event.
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00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,367
Those scientists who
search for life on other worlds,
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00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:37,300
they used to say,
"follow the water,"
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00:06:38,166 --> 00:06:41,133
because water is the most
basic requirement for life.
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00:06:41,567 --> 00:06:44,467
Now, they also say,
"follow the rocks,"
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00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,567
because serpentinization
is so closely associated with
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00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:50,734
the processes that
make life possible.
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00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,233
To witness the main event,
we have to get even smaller.
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00:07:05,266 --> 00:07:08,467
At this scale,
these caves look vast,
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00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,600
but they're actually
the tiny pores in
the mortar of the towers.
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00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,367
These jewels are the
organic molecules which are,
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00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:20,300
like everything, including
you and me, made of atoms.
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00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,200
In order to turn these
inanimate jewels into jewelry,
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00:07:25,333 --> 00:07:27,934
the stuff of life,
it takes energy.
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00:07:29,633 --> 00:07:33,100
We think it happened in a
treasure cave like this one.
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00:07:33,233 --> 00:07:35,834
The energy came from the
reaction between the alkaline
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00:07:35,967 --> 00:07:37,967
water trapped
within the towers
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00:07:38,467 --> 00:07:40,967
and the acidic
water of the ocean.
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00:07:41,100 --> 00:07:44,033
That ancient treasure
chest filled with rings and
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00:07:44,166 --> 00:07:46,000
bracelets and necklaces,
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00:07:46,133 --> 00:07:47,967
longer and more
complex molecules,
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00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:51,133
until the greatest
treasure of all...
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Life.
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00:07:53,967 --> 00:07:55,934
We think it was that
chemical reaction that provided
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00:07:56,066 --> 00:07:58,900
the energy that
powered the first cell.
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00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,033
That was the spark
that electrified the
building blocks of life
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00:08:03,166 --> 00:08:05,667
into something alive.
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00:08:06,467 --> 00:08:08,767
Over time,
the towers decayed,
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00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,734
making it possible for
the fledgling life within them
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00:08:11,867 --> 00:08:14,467
to escape and evolve.
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00:08:33,333 --> 00:08:39,266
♪ ♪
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00:08:45,700 --> 00:08:48,533
What you've just seen is
the most plausible scientific
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00:08:48,667 --> 00:08:51,367
creation myth we have
today for the origin of life.
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00:08:52,367 --> 00:08:55,300
This hypothesis
required the reunification
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00:08:55,433 --> 00:08:58,400
of four long
separated scientific fields:
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00:08:58,900 --> 00:09:02,800
biology, chemistry,
physics and geology.
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00:09:07,233 --> 00:09:11,000
We think life first
took hold in the rocks.
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00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:13,800
And from day one,
life was an escape artist,
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00:09:13,934 --> 00:09:16,934
always wanting to break free,
to conquer new worlds.
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00:09:17,967 --> 00:09:21,066
Even the great big
ocean couldn't contain it.
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00:09:24,867 --> 00:09:27,967
If that's the true story
of how life got started,
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00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:31,700
it was long ago,
back before the sky was blue,
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00:09:31,834 --> 00:09:34,600
before the moon spun away
from us to where it is today.
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00:09:36,133 --> 00:09:38,600
Back when the planet
was an ocean world,
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00:09:38,734 --> 00:09:41,400
with waters
bloodred with iron.
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00:09:43,433 --> 00:09:46,734
Life would remake the
world, the sea and the sky.
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00:09:47,834 --> 00:09:51,133
But life doesn't always
act in its own best interest.
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00:09:51,266 --> 00:09:53,300
There came a
day of reckoning,
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00:09:53,433 --> 00:09:57,233
when life nearly
destroyed itself.
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00:10:01,834 --> 00:10:04,333
TYSON: The Cosmic Calendar
is a way for us to wrap our
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00:10:04,467 --> 00:10:06,367
heads around the
vastness of time.
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00:10:06,500 --> 00:10:08,367
To grasp the
history of the cosmos,
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00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:11,433
from the birth of our
universe to this very moment,
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00:10:12,166 --> 00:10:14,967
we've compressed all of it
into a single calendar year.
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00:10:15,734 --> 00:10:19,500
On this scale,
every month represents
about a billion years.
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00:10:20,266 --> 00:10:24,100
Every day represents
nearly 40 million years.
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00:10:24,834 --> 00:10:30,233
That first day of the cosmic
year began with the Big Bang,
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00:10:30,934 --> 00:10:34,133
almost 14 billion years ago.
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00:10:38,133 --> 00:10:40,834
Nothing really happened
in our neck of the universe
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00:10:40,967 --> 00:10:44,100
until about three
billion years later...
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00:10:44,233 --> 00:10:47,300
March 15 of the cosmic year,
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00:10:47,633 --> 00:10:51,667
when our Milky Way
galaxy began to form.
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00:10:53,367 --> 00:10:59,667
Six billion years after that,
our star, the Sun, was born.
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00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,233
It was August 31st
on the Cosmic Calendar.
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00:11:07,934 --> 00:11:10,233
Jupiter and the other planets,
including our own,
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00:11:10,367 --> 00:11:12,734
would soon follow.
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00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,667
This was our planet nearly
four billion years ago...
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00:11:23,633 --> 00:11:26,900
September 21st on
the Cosmic Calendar,
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00:11:27,033 --> 00:11:29,266
when we believe life began.
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00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,000
The atmosphere was
a hydrocarbon smog.
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00:11:33,533 --> 00:11:37,033
No oxygen to breathe
and no one to breathe it.
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00:11:40,033 --> 00:11:43,500
We've only recently begun
to appreciate how powerfully
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life has shaped the planet.
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00:11:46,300 --> 00:11:48,734
When we think about the
ways life has changed Earth,
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00:11:48,867 --> 00:11:52,233
the first things that come
to mind are the green expanses
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00:11:52,367 --> 00:11:55,166
of forests, and
the sprawling cities.
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00:11:55,300 --> 00:11:59,266
But life began transforming
the planet long before there
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00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,467
were any such things.
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00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,367
A billion years after
that tiny glimmer at
the bottom of the sea,
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00:12:08,767 --> 00:12:11,767
life had become a
global phenomenon thanks to
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00:12:11,900 --> 00:12:15,433
a champion that to this
day has never been vanquished.
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00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,233
I give you the cyanobacteria.
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00:12:27,967 --> 00:12:31,500
In business for
2.7 billion years,
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00:12:31,633 --> 00:12:35,000
cyanobacteria can
make a living anywhere.
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00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:38,667
Fresh water, salt water,
hot springs, salt mines...
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00:12:39,967 --> 00:12:43,533
makes no difference,
it's all home to them.
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00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,233
Over the next 400 million
years, the cyanobacteria...
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00:12:50,367 --> 00:12:54,066
taking in carbon dioxide
and giving back oxygen,
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00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,600
turned the sky blue.
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00:13:00,367 --> 00:13:04,633
But the cyanobacteria
didn't just change the sky,
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00:13:05,300 --> 00:13:08,000
they reached into
the very rocks themselves
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00:13:08,133 --> 00:13:10,767
and changed them, too.
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00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:13,400
Oxygen rusted the iron,
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00:13:13,533 --> 00:13:16,400
working its magic
on the minerals.
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00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,133
Of the 5,000 kinds
of minerals on Earth,
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00:13:21,266 --> 00:13:26,233
3,500 of them
arose as a result of
the oxygen made by life.
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00:13:28,266 --> 00:13:31,533
But here comes
that day of reckoning.
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Cyanobacteria were
the dominant life-form
on this planet,
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00:13:54,467 --> 00:13:57,000
wreaking havoc
wherever they went,
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00:13:57,133 --> 00:13:59,667
changing the landscape,
the water and the skies.
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00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,433
This was 2.3
billion years ago,
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00:14:04,900 --> 00:14:08,066
or late October on
the Cosmic Calendar.
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00:14:09,433 --> 00:14:13,233
But the cyanobacteria shared
the planet with other beings:
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00:14:13,567 --> 00:14:16,967
The anaerobes, life-forms
that had come of age before
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00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:20,233
cyanobacteria had begun to
pollute the Earth with oxygen.
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00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:24,867
For the anaerobes,
oxygen was poison,
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00:14:25,233 --> 00:14:27,467
but the cyanobacteria
wouldn't stop loading up
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00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,233
the atmosphere
with the stuff.
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00:14:30,567 --> 00:14:32,700
For the anaerobes,
and nearly all of the other
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00:14:32,834 --> 00:14:36,700
life on Earth, it
was an oxygen apocalypse.
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00:14:37,033 --> 00:14:39,600
The lone survivors among
the anaerobes were those
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00:14:39,734 --> 00:14:42,100
who sought refuge
at the bottom of the sea,
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00:14:42,233 --> 00:14:45,166
deep in the sediment
where the oxygen
could not reach them.
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00:14:51,667 --> 00:14:56,800
The cyanobacteria acted
like oxygen-pumping machines.
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00:14:57,033 --> 00:15:00,867
They continued in overdrive,
and 400 million years later,
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00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,700
they brought about
an even more radical
change to the planet.
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00:15:05,166 --> 00:15:08,667
Remember those serpentinized
rocks at the bottom of the sea
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00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,333
that were cranking out
hydrogen and methane?
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00:15:11,967 --> 00:15:14,367
Methane is a
powerful greenhouse gas,
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00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:17,867
and back then it was the main
thing keeping the planet warm.
195
00:15:18,934 --> 00:15:23,066
But once again,
the oxygen produced
by life shook things up.
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00:15:23,433 --> 00:15:26,867
It gobbled up the methane,
producing carbon dioxide,
197
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,300
a much less
potent greenhouse gas...
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00:15:29,433 --> 00:15:31,800
meaning it was not as
efficient at trapping heat
199
00:15:31,934 --> 00:15:34,133
in Earth's atmosphere.
200
00:15:34,266 --> 00:15:37,300
Earth's temperature
began to plunge.
201
00:15:43,633 --> 00:15:48,533
Life, the escape artist,
busted out of the icy death grip
202
00:15:48,667 --> 00:15:50,834
that entombed the planet.
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00:15:50,967 --> 00:15:54,233
The corpses of dead bacteria
left behind a planetwide
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00:15:54,367 --> 00:15:56,834
reservoir of carbon dioxide.
205
00:15:57,700 --> 00:16:01,667
Volcanoes pumped
the carbon dioxide in huge
quantities into the atmosphere,
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00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,934
warming the planet
and melting the ice.
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00:16:06,066 --> 00:16:07,900
Over the next billion years,
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00:16:08,033 --> 00:16:10,867
life and the rocks
continued their elaborate dance,
209
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,166
taking the planet
through freezes and thaws.
210
00:16:14,300 --> 00:16:18,533
Then, 540 million years ago,
something wondrous happened.
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00:16:22,066 --> 00:16:25,934
Life, which had been all
about microbes and simple
212
00:16:26,066 --> 00:16:30,200
multicellular creatures,
suddenly took off in what's
213
00:16:30,333 --> 00:16:32,467
called the Cambrian Explosion.
214
00:16:33,734 --> 00:16:37,133
Life grew legs,
eyes, gills, teeth,
215
00:16:38,633 --> 00:16:42,767
and rapidly began
to evolve the forms of
its stunning diversity.
216
00:16:44,166 --> 00:16:47,500
We don't yet know what it was
that allowed life to diversify
217
00:16:47,633 --> 00:16:50,800
so dramatically, but we
have some plausible theories.
218
00:16:52,133 --> 00:16:54,000
It could have been all
those calcium minerals in
219
00:16:54,133 --> 00:16:56,567
the seawater that
came from the volcanoes.
220
00:16:56,700 --> 00:16:59,333
Life had grown a
backbone and put on a shell.
221
00:17:00,433 --> 00:17:03,100
It had found a way to
collaborate with the rocks
222
00:17:03,233 --> 00:17:05,200
to make its own armor.
223
00:17:05,333 --> 00:17:09,600
Now life could grow
larger and venture forth
into new territories.
224
00:17:12,166 --> 00:17:14,800
Or maybe it was the
protection afforded by the
225
00:17:14,934 --> 00:17:17,834
canopy built by
the cyanobacteria.
226
00:17:18,700 --> 00:17:21,867
The oxygenation
of the atmosphere
created the ozone layer.
227
00:17:23,567 --> 00:17:26,734
This made it possible
for life to break out of the
228
00:17:26,867 --> 00:17:30,500
safety of the oceans
and inhabit the land without
229
00:17:30,633 --> 00:17:34,433
being assaulted by the
sun's deadly ultraviolet rays.
230
00:17:35,767 --> 00:17:40,166
For billions of years,
all life could do was ooze.
231
00:17:41,033 --> 00:17:46,500
Now, life began to
swim, run, jump and fly.
232
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,367
Life, the escape artist,
had gotten so good at wriggling
233
00:17:52,500 --> 00:17:56,800
out of every confine, no
prison on Earth could hold it.
234
00:17:58,467 --> 00:18:00,233
And there will come a day,
235
00:18:00,367 --> 00:18:03,500
when life would
even escape from Earth.
236
00:18:05,166 --> 00:18:08,166
Life will not be contained.
237
00:18:15,166 --> 00:18:20,800
♪ ♪
238
00:18:26,367 --> 00:18:29,066
Retracing life's odyssey
back to the very beginning
239
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,100
required a new
kind of science,
240
00:18:31,834 --> 00:18:34,200
one that
reunited the disciplines.
241
00:18:34,333 --> 00:18:36,867
The man who founded this
new approach also happened
242
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,500
to be an escape
artist himself.
243
00:18:39,633 --> 00:18:42,266
He fled history's
most implacable killers,
244
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,133
right here in this forest,
jesting at his tormentors
245
00:18:46,266 --> 00:18:49,700
every step of the way.
246
00:18:57,266 --> 00:18:58,834
TYSON: Remember this place?
247
00:18:58,967 --> 00:19:01,000
It's London's
Royal Institution,
248
00:19:01,133 --> 00:19:03,500
where Michael Faraday
spent his life.
249
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,100
Back in his time, in the
first half of the 19th century,
250
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,533
the intimate relationship
between life and the rocks
251
00:19:10,667 --> 00:19:13,000
had yet to be discovered.
252
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,133
Before science could
tackle the origin of life,
253
00:19:17,266 --> 00:19:18,734
it had to change.
254
00:19:18,867 --> 00:19:21,333
This development was
foretold by a scientist
255
00:19:21,467 --> 00:19:25,433
whose gifts to the world,
were decidedly mixed.
256
00:19:26,467 --> 00:19:30,233
Christian Friedrich Schönbein
was a German-Swiss chemist who
257
00:19:30,367 --> 00:19:34,133
was conducting an experiment
on using electricity to reduce
258
00:19:34,266 --> 00:19:36,500
water into its two
chemical constituents,
259
00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:40,000
oxygen and hydrogen.
260
00:19:40,333 --> 00:19:42,667
Schönbein thought he
smelled something familiar,
261
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,333
something like the
air after a thunderstorm.
262
00:19:46,166 --> 00:19:48,767
Schönbein had
discovered ozone.
263
00:19:49,333 --> 00:19:51,667
Remember, that's the layer
in the atmosphere that made
264
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,834
it possible for our distant
ancestors to leave the water
265
00:19:54,967 --> 00:19:57,467
for the land, and it
still protects us from
266
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,934
ultraviolet rays to this day.
267
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,133
Schönbein loved to experiment.
268
00:20:04,266 --> 00:20:07,000
So much so that his wife
famously exacted a promise
269
00:20:07,133 --> 00:20:10,567
from him not to use their
kitchen as his laboratory.
270
00:20:29,333 --> 00:20:33,500
♪ ♪
271
00:20:34,333 --> 00:20:35,934
SCHÖNBEIN: Oh.
272
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,000
TYSON: Schönbein had
just invented a new weapon
of mass destruction.
273
00:20:47,867 --> 00:20:50,767
A chemical explosive
more powerful than gunpowder.
274
00:20:52,066 --> 00:20:55,533
Upon further refinement,
gun cotton would industrialize
275
00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:58,600
warfare on a horrendous scale.
276
00:21:00,066 --> 00:21:02,934
But it was also Schönbein
who had a prophetic vision of
277
00:21:03,066 --> 00:21:05,000
a new field of science.
278
00:21:05,133 --> 00:21:07,100
He wrote in 1838:
279
00:21:07,233 --> 00:21:09,667
"Before the mystery of
the genesis of our planets
280
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,033
and their inorganic
matter can be revealed,
281
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,400
a comparative science of
geochemistry must be launched."
282
00:21:18,033 --> 00:21:20,233
50 years later,
the man who would realize
283
00:21:20,367 --> 00:21:22,800
Schönbein's dream was born.
284
00:21:23,734 --> 00:21:26,133
He was another German-Swiss.
285
00:21:26,266 --> 00:21:29,066
Victor Goldschmidt
was so brilliant,
286
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,567
he was offered a position
here at the University of Oslo
287
00:21:32,700 --> 00:21:35,967
without ever taking a
test or earning a degree.
288
00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:39,934
That was in 1909,
when he was only 21.
289
00:21:40,667 --> 00:21:44,633
Three years later,
he was awarded Norway's
greatest scientific prize.
290
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,333
Victor Goldschmidt saw
the Earth as a single system.
291
00:21:52,467 --> 00:21:55,000
He knew that in order
to get the whole picture,
292
00:21:55,133 --> 00:21:58,767
you couldn't
just know physics,
chemistry, or geology...
293
00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:01,433
you had to know them all.
294
00:22:02,266 --> 00:22:05,066
This was in the early days of
the study of the basic elements.
295
00:22:06,333 --> 00:22:09,133
Goldschmidt applied this new
knowledge to create his own
296
00:22:09,266 --> 00:22:11,033
version of the periodic table,
297
00:22:11,734 --> 00:22:14,100
one that is
still in use today.
298
00:22:14,533 --> 00:22:16,967
It illuminated how crystals
and complex minerals could
299
00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:19,600
be formed from
more basic elements.
300
00:22:19,734 --> 00:22:22,100
Goldschmidt was
discovering how matter evolves
301
00:22:22,233 --> 00:22:26,467
into mountains and
cliffs and canyons.
302
00:22:30,834 --> 00:22:34,100
In 1928, he made a
fateful decision to accept
303
00:22:34,233 --> 00:22:36,333
an appointment at
the University of Göttingen,
304
00:22:36,467 --> 00:22:40,133
in Germany,
where an institute had
been built just for him.
305
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:44,533
His colleagues
thought these were
his happiest years, until...
306
00:22:44,667 --> 00:22:47,433
(hammering)
307
00:22:50,333 --> 00:22:53,033
1933,
308
00:22:55,900 --> 00:22:58,433
when Adolf Hitler came to power.
309
00:22:59,033 --> 00:23:01,934
Goldschmidt was Jewish,
but not observant.
310
00:23:02,066 --> 00:23:04,400
Hitler changed
all that for him.
311
00:23:04,533 --> 00:23:07,166
He now began to publicly
identify himself with the
312
00:23:07,300 --> 00:23:09,200
local Jewish community.
313
00:23:09,333 --> 00:23:12,200
Hitler made it compulsory
for everyone to list any
314
00:23:12,333 --> 00:23:15,700
Jewish forbearers going
back several generations.
315
00:23:16,233 --> 00:23:18,900
There were those who tried
to conceal a grandfather who
316
00:23:19,033 --> 00:23:21,400
might land them in
a concentration camp.
317
00:23:21,533 --> 00:23:24,433
But Goldschmidt proudly
declared on his forms that all
318
00:23:24,567 --> 00:23:26,967
of his ancestors were Jewish.
319
00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:30,567
Hitler and Hermann Göring,
founder of the Gestapo,
320
00:23:30,700 --> 00:23:32,500
were not amused.
321
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:37,600
GOLDSCHMIDT: Hmm?
322
00:23:37,734 --> 00:23:39,367
TYSON: They personally sent a
letter to Goldschmidt telling
323
00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:42,367
him he was summarily dismissed
from his university position.
324
00:23:48,266 --> 00:23:51,233
He fled to Norway with
only the clothes on his back.
325
00:23:58,066 --> 00:24:00,767
Goldschmidt concentrated
his research on olivine,
326
00:24:01,233 --> 00:24:03,266
that green jewel
of a mineral left over from
327
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,533
the formation
of the solar system.
328
00:24:06,100 --> 00:24:08,567
He was fascinated by
its power to withstand even
329
00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:11,200
the highest temperatures.
330
00:24:11,734 --> 00:24:14,400
He was the first to speculate
that olivine may have played
331
00:24:14,533 --> 00:24:17,900
a role in setting the
stage for the origin of life.
332
00:24:18,467 --> 00:24:20,800
At the same time, he
wondered about the presence
333
00:24:20,934 --> 00:24:23,300
of olivine
throughout the cosmos.
334
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,633
This was the beginning of
a field called cosmochemistry.
335
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,934
In 1940, when the
Germans invaded Norway,
336
00:24:33,066 --> 00:24:36,734
Goldschmidt took to carrying
a cyanide capsule in his pocket
337
00:24:36,867 --> 00:24:38,900
so that he could kill
himself instantly if the
338
00:24:39,033 --> 00:24:41,400
Gestapo came for him.
339
00:24:41,734 --> 00:24:44,500
When a fellow scientist
asked if he could get one, too,
340
00:24:44,633 --> 00:24:46,533
Goldschmidt answered:
341
00:24:46,667 --> 00:24:50,066
"This poison is for
chemistry professors only.
342
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,900
You, as a physicist,
will have to use a rope."
343
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:01,166
(knock)
344
00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:02,567
NAZI: Herr Goldschmidt.
345
00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:04,100
TYSON: But when
the Germans arrived,
346
00:25:04,233 --> 00:25:06,467
Goldschmidt kept the
cyanide in his pocket.
347
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,033
NAZI: Goldschmidt.
348
00:25:09,166 --> 00:25:11,600
(speaking in German)
349
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:16,633
TYSON: He was sent to the
Berg concentration camp before
350
00:25:16,767 --> 00:25:19,233
they were ready to
deport him to Auschwitz,
351
00:25:19,767 --> 00:25:23,500
a place he told
friends that "had not
been highly recommended."
352
00:25:29,967 --> 00:25:31,834
Goldschmidt was too
important a scientist
353
00:25:31,967 --> 00:25:34,700
for the Nazis to exterminate.
354
00:25:34,834 --> 00:25:37,500
He was given the chance of
survival if he would put
355
00:25:37,633 --> 00:25:39,934
his science in the
service of the Reich.
356
00:25:41,033 --> 00:25:44,433
But Goldschmidt dared
to toy with his captors.
357
00:25:44,834 --> 00:25:48,533
He would lead the Germans on
a scientific wild goose chase.
358
00:25:48,667 --> 00:25:52,133
He sent them searching
for nonexistent minerals
359
00:25:52,266 --> 00:25:54,667
and deceived them into
believing these were resources
360
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,834
that would be
critical to the war effort.
361
00:25:58,567 --> 00:26:01,633
His ruse could have been
discovered at any moment,
362
00:26:01,767 --> 00:26:03,800
and that would have meant
certain death in the most
363
00:26:03,934 --> 00:26:06,467
fiendish way possible.
364
00:26:07,734 --> 00:26:11,200
By the end of 1942,
the Norwegian Resistance knew
365
00:26:11,333 --> 00:26:13,734
that Goldschmidt was
in the gravest danger.
366
00:26:14,567 --> 00:26:17,367
They arranged for
him to escape across
the Swedish frontier.
367
00:26:26,266 --> 00:26:28,967
Goldschmidt spent the
rest of the war in Sweden,
368
00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:33,066
and then England, contributing
his knowledge to the Allies.
369
00:26:33,433 --> 00:26:34,967
Always in frail health,
370
00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:38,233
he never recovered from
the hardships of the war.
371
00:26:38,367 --> 00:26:42,567
Victor Goldschmidt
died a year and
a half after it was over.
372
00:26:43,066 --> 00:26:45,467
But during that period,
he wrote a research paper on
373
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,400
the complex organic
molecules that he thought might
374
00:26:48,533 --> 00:26:51,300
have led to the
origin of life on Earth.
375
00:26:51,433 --> 00:26:54,166
And the ideas in that
paper remain central in our
376
00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:57,300
effort to understand
how life came to be.
377
00:27:02,266 --> 00:27:06,467
Goldschmidt never knew that
the generations of geochemists
378
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,300
who came after him would
consider him their founder.
379
00:27:12,433 --> 00:27:15,800
Among his last
wishes was a simple request.
380
00:27:16,767 --> 00:27:18,834
He wanted to be cremated and
381
00:27:18,967 --> 00:27:22,133
to have his ashes
encased in an urn...
382
00:27:22,667 --> 00:27:26,467
made of the thing he believed
to be the stuff of life,
383
00:27:27,567 --> 00:27:30,600
his beloved olivine.
384
00:27:31,533 --> 00:27:34,433
The universe makes galaxies.
385
00:27:34,567 --> 00:27:37,200
Galaxies make stars.
386
00:27:37,333 --> 00:27:40,467
Stars make worlds.
387
00:27:40,967 --> 00:27:44,767
Are there other
Lost Cities of Life
in the cosmos?
388
00:27:45,467 --> 00:27:54,934
Come with me.
389
00:27:55,066 --> 00:27:58,133
TYSON: There are dues to be
paid for cosmic citizenship.
390
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,166
As a spacefaring species,
you have to worry about
391
00:28:01,300 --> 00:28:04,567
contaminating the worlds you
visit and about bringing
392
00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:08,567
back alien stowaways
that might pose a danger
to your home world.
393
00:28:09,734 --> 00:28:13,333
There are protocols
for planetary protection.
394
00:28:13,767 --> 00:28:17,700
NASA designates
five categories
of worlds in the cosmos.
395
00:28:19,166 --> 00:28:22,400
Earth's moon, for instance,
is a Category-1 world...
396
00:28:23,300 --> 00:28:26,967
a place so lifeless,
we pose no threat to it,
397
00:28:27,100 --> 00:28:30,567
and it poses no threat to us.
398
00:28:31,266 --> 00:28:35,900
The riskiest of all is a
Restricted Category-5 world,
399
00:28:36,033 --> 00:28:38,667
like this one, Mars.
400
00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:41,300
The conditions
for indigenous life...
401
00:28:41,433 --> 00:28:45,133
in the past,
or even now, hidden in
some subsurface recess,
402
00:28:45,900 --> 00:28:48,000
are not beyond possible.
403
00:28:48,133 --> 00:28:50,133
We have to be very careful,
404
00:28:50,266 --> 00:28:54,433
for our own sake and
for the life that could
conceivably be there.
405
00:28:55,667 --> 00:28:58,934
The Restricted Cat-5
designation is a recognition
406
00:28:59,066 --> 00:29:01,200
of life's genius for escape.
407
00:29:01,333 --> 00:29:04,533
It applies to sample return
missions from those worlds
408
00:29:04,667 --> 00:29:07,133
where life may
have gotten started...
409
00:29:07,633 --> 00:29:11,600
those worlds that may have,
or once may have had,
410
00:29:11,734 --> 00:29:15,433
Lost Cities of Life lying
at the bottom of their seas.
411
00:29:16,300 --> 00:29:19,567
But in a sense, our
robot emissaries themselves...
412
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:21,767
our landers,
rovers and orbiters,
413
00:29:21,900 --> 00:29:25,100
are a manifestation of
life's relentless imperative
414
00:29:25,233 --> 00:29:29,100
to seek out and
take new territory, and
this means that some of
415
00:29:29,233 --> 00:29:33,000
our emissaries have
to be destroyed as soon
as their missions are over.
416
00:29:34,700 --> 00:29:37,066
Like, poor Juno.
417
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,867
After a multiyear
reconnaissance of Jupiter,
418
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,700
NASA is sending
her to her death.
419
00:29:43,033 --> 00:29:45,166
Not because they were
worried about Jupiter.
420
00:29:45,300 --> 00:29:47,934
There's hardly any chance
that one of our spacecraft
421
00:29:48,066 --> 00:29:51,633
could compromise future
investigations of
the giant gas planet.
422
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,667
Any rogue microbe would
catch a downdraft and sink where
423
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,633
it would be broiled
by the scathing temperatures.
424
00:29:59,066 --> 00:30:02,233
That's why Jupiter's
only a Category-2 world.
425
00:30:02,367 --> 00:30:05,667
But one of Jupiter's moons
is a Restricted Cat-5,
426
00:30:06,266 --> 00:30:08,900
and NASA can't take
the chance that Juno might
427
00:30:09,033 --> 00:30:11,200
inadvertently crash into it.
428
00:30:12,467 --> 00:30:15,900
Europa is another one of only
three Restricted Cat-5 worlds
429
00:30:16,033 --> 00:30:18,767
in the solar system,
and one of Jupiter's 80
430
00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:21,633
and still counting, moons.
431
00:30:33,567 --> 00:30:36,500
Michael Faraday discovered
Earth's magnetic field,
432
00:30:36,633 --> 00:30:38,767
and there's one
around Jupiter, too.
433
00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:41,166
We can see it if we switch
from looking at Jupiter in
434
00:30:41,300 --> 00:30:44,033
visible light to looking
at it in radio waves.
435
00:30:45,900 --> 00:30:50,633
Jupiter's magnetic
field is much stronger
and 18,000 times bigger.
436
00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:54,834
It's a gigantic trap
for charged particles
that are the solar wind.
437
00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:58,300
That's one of the things
that lights up the aurora,
438
00:30:58,433 --> 00:31:00,900
the northern and southern
Lights on Jupiter,
439
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,166
and it does the
same thing on Earth.
440
00:31:08,900 --> 00:31:11,600
Imagine what it's like for
little Europa and her sister
441
00:31:11,734 --> 00:31:15,100
moons to live so close
to the king of the Planets.
442
00:31:15,867 --> 00:31:18,767
Massive Jupiter holds Europa
to him in a gravitational
443
00:31:18,900 --> 00:31:22,467
embrace so powerful
that in four billion years,
444
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,834
she has never been able to
turn her face away from his.
445
00:31:27,567 --> 00:31:30,533
Jupiter's hold on her
is so fierce that it
tears her skin apart.
446
00:31:32,133 --> 00:31:34,633
See those broad scars?
447
00:31:34,767 --> 00:31:36,433
Watch them closely and listen.
448
00:31:36,700 --> 00:31:39,233
(colliding rocks)
449
00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:44,200
That's the sound of a world
being gravitationally tormented.
450
00:31:44,333 --> 00:31:48,200
It's called tidal flexing,
and it's not just Jupiter,
451
00:31:48,967 --> 00:31:51,767
her sister moons
pull on her, too.
452
00:31:52,367 --> 00:31:55,767
We are half a billion
miles from the sun's warmth,
453
00:31:55,900 --> 00:31:58,667
five times farther
away than Earth is,
454
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,166
but this tidal flexing
keeps Europa toasty inside.
455
00:32:03,700 --> 00:32:06,433
Beneath her chaotic surface,
there's an ocean ten times
456
00:32:06,567 --> 00:32:09,900
deeper than the
deepest seas on Earth.
457
00:32:25,066 --> 00:32:28,233
♪ ♪
458
00:32:28,367 --> 00:32:32,867
We're on our way to
another Restricted Cat-5 world.
459
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,333
No, not Saturn.
460
00:32:34,467 --> 00:32:36,767
Saturn's another Cat-2.
461
00:32:38,033 --> 00:32:41,934
Any life passing
through those cloud belts
wouldn't have a chance.
462
00:32:42,433 --> 00:32:44,734
They're made
mostly of ammonia.
463
00:32:44,867 --> 00:32:47,400
Below them are
bands of water vapor.
464
00:32:47,533 --> 00:32:52,333
In one of our future
voyages, we'll go there
at a terrible cost.
465
00:32:54,266 --> 00:32:55,834
It's not Titan, either.
466
00:32:55,967 --> 00:32:58,467
Titan's another
Category-2 world.
467
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,266
Just as with Saturn, the
possibility of us interfering
468
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,900
with the life that
might be there is too remote.
469
00:33:05,233 --> 00:33:07,266
Of course, there's always
the chance that Titan life
470
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,066
is stranger than
our ability to imagine.
471
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,667
Even if that's the case,
there is little likelihood
472
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,667
that any form of
Earth life could harm it.
473
00:33:19,333 --> 00:33:23,533
There she is, our
Restricted Cat-5 world.
474
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,667
TYSON: There's a
world in our solar system
that may harbor life.
475
00:33:39,567 --> 00:33:42,400
You're looking at two of
the first people ever to see it.
476
00:33:43,433 --> 00:33:46,100
William Herschel saw
farther into the deep waters
477
00:33:46,233 --> 00:33:48,633
of the cosmic ocean
than anyone before him.
478
00:33:49,734 --> 00:33:52,800
His son, John,
would also become
a distinguished astronomer.
479
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,967
But tonight is back
when John was a child
in the summer of 1802.
480
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,367
That's when we first met
them on an earlier voyage.
481
00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:05,633
WILLIAM: John, I want
to show you something.
482
00:34:06,367 --> 00:34:08,467
Come with me.
483
00:34:13,300 --> 00:34:16,100
TYSON: This was then the
largest telescope on Earth
484
00:34:16,233 --> 00:34:18,066
and would be for 50 years.
485
00:34:21,900 --> 00:34:24,834
CAROLINE: Well,
what have we here? Hmm?
486
00:34:24,967 --> 00:34:28,000
Isn't it awfully late
for a little boy to be up?
487
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,633
JOHN: Father has promised
to show me something,
Aunt Caroline.
488
00:34:31,767 --> 00:34:33,834
TYSON: William's sister,
Caroline Herschel,
489
00:34:33,967 --> 00:34:37,266
was a world-renowned
astronomer in her own right.
490
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,800
She was the first woman
anywhere on Earth to be paid
491
00:34:40,934 --> 00:34:43,066
for being a scientist.
492
00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:47,200
She was just four-foot-three.
493
00:34:47,333 --> 00:34:48,934
When Caroline
was ten years old,
494
00:34:49,066 --> 00:34:50,834
she was stricken with typhus.
495
00:34:50,967 --> 00:34:54,533
She lost part of
the vision in her left
eye and stopped growing.
496
00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:59,033
And yet, she
defied the limitations
of her time to a point.
497
00:35:01,567 --> 00:35:03,567
Caroline had just
published her work in the
498
00:35:03,700 --> 00:35:06,667
"Catalogue of Nebulae
and Clusters of Stars,"
499
00:35:07,166 --> 00:35:09,967
but it was under her
brother William's name.
500
00:35:10,700 --> 00:35:13,734
It was 1802, after all.
501
00:35:14,133 --> 00:35:16,700
Her nephew, John, would
grow up to build on her
502
00:35:16,834 --> 00:35:19,834
work and create the
"New General Catalogue."
503
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:26,400
Many astronomical bodies
are still designated
by their NGC number today.
504
00:35:30,767 --> 00:35:35,133
WILLIAM: A few more degrees
east and a degree north.
505
00:35:35,567 --> 00:35:36,934
ASSISTANT: Yes, sir.
506
00:35:42,166 --> 00:35:46,367
WILLIAM: Stop, stop!
There she is.
507
00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:52,467
JOHN: Father! I've
never seen that before.
508
00:35:53,066 --> 00:35:54,767
Is it a new star?
509
00:35:54,900 --> 00:35:58,700
WILLIAM: No, son,
it's a new moon.
510
00:35:58,967 --> 00:36:01,066
I call it Saturn Two.
511
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:05,000
JOHN: Oh, but Father,
we must think of a
better name than that.
512
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,400
WILLIAM: That's
your job, my boy.
513
00:36:08,533 --> 00:36:11,300
TYSON: And John would do
exactly as his father asked.
514
00:36:11,433 --> 00:36:15,033
He named the moon Enceladus,
after the Giant in Greek
515
00:36:15,166 --> 00:36:18,166
mythology who was the son
of the Earth and the Sky.
516
00:36:19,467 --> 00:36:22,600
Enceladus fought the goddess
Athena in an epic struggle
517
00:36:22,734 --> 00:36:24,533
for control of the universe.
518
00:36:34,133 --> 00:36:36,467
You don't have to be an
astrobiologist to know at
519
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,600
first glance that life
is everywhere on Earth.
520
00:36:41,266 --> 00:36:45,233
It's changed virtually
every square inch of the place.
521
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,934
From an alien point of view,
Earth would certainly have a
522
00:36:48,066 --> 00:36:51,100
Restricted Cat-5 status.
523
00:36:52,467 --> 00:36:55,600
But Enceladus keeps its
secrets hidden deep inside.
524
00:37:10,100 --> 00:37:14,767
♪ ♪
525
00:37:21,834 --> 00:37:25,300
Those geysers of ice and
water vapor are shooting out
526
00:37:25,433 --> 00:37:28,567
of Enceladus
at 800 miles per hour.
527
00:37:29,166 --> 00:37:32,667
They're this moon's
contribution to the outermost
so-called "E" ring of Saturn.
528
00:37:34,734 --> 00:37:36,066
But there's a
lot more in them...
529
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,834
nitrogen, ammonia, methane.
530
00:37:40,300 --> 00:37:42,967
And where there's methane,
there may be olivine.
531
00:37:44,100 --> 00:37:47,967
Enceladus has been at this
for at least 100 million years.
532
00:37:48,533 --> 00:37:52,066
It could keep cranking
out water for another
nine billion years.
533
00:37:54,667 --> 00:37:56,667
Where's all that
water coming from?
534
00:38:15,734 --> 00:38:19,467
The blue snowflakes plummet at
more than 1,000 miles per hour.
535
00:38:20,367 --> 00:38:23,934
We've come here to the
southern hemisphere because
536
00:38:24,066 --> 00:38:26,200
that's where the
ice crust is thinnest.
537
00:38:26,533 --> 00:38:29,567
It's only a
couple of miles thick.
538
00:38:31,867 --> 00:38:34,266
That's why it's the best
possible place to gain access
539
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,834
to the underground ocean.
540
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,300
Okay, now's the
time for a warning:
541
00:38:44,433 --> 00:38:47,600
What you see here is
entirely based on evidence.
542
00:38:47,734 --> 00:38:49,934
That global ocean,
the crazy curtain of geysers,
543
00:38:51,333 --> 00:38:52,900
that weird snow
at the surface...
544
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:55,233
it's all real.
545
00:38:55,367 --> 00:38:57,300
We have multiple
observations from the Cassini
546
00:38:57,433 --> 00:39:00,734
mission telling us that this
is what awaits us on Enceladus.
547
00:39:03,367 --> 00:39:06,967
But we're about to enter the
realm of informed speculation.
548
00:39:07,667 --> 00:39:10,934
This is what the leading space
scientists think we might find
549
00:39:11,066 --> 00:39:15,367
when we send a spacecraft
to dive straight into
the heart of Enceladus.
550
00:39:17,133 --> 00:39:19,834
(geyser erupting)
551
00:39:33,166 --> 00:39:35,934
When water up here is
exposed to the vacuum of space,
552
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,934
it turns to snow.
553
00:39:49,367 --> 00:39:52,400
And that scum
is the stuff of life...
554
00:39:52,533 --> 00:39:54,867
organic molecules.
555
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,700
It makes you wonder what could
be waiting for us down below.
556
00:39:59,734 --> 00:40:01,333
And that's a
long way from here,
557
00:40:01,467 --> 00:40:04,266
because we're in an ocean
that's about ten times deeper
558
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,800
than the oceans of Earth.
559
00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:12,266
Very promising.
560
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,100
That's carbon and hydrogen,
and the pH of the water is
561
00:40:16,233 --> 00:40:18,200
just like the
early ocean on Earth.
562
00:40:36,934 --> 00:40:43,266
♪ ♪
563
00:41:01,367 --> 00:41:04,100
♪ ♪
564
00:41:04,233 --> 00:41:07,200
Why would this City of Life
be larger than the one at the
565
00:41:07,333 --> 00:41:09,300
bottom of the ocean on Earth?
566
00:41:13,166 --> 00:41:15,500
Maybe it's because the
gravity on Enceladus is so
567
00:41:15,633 --> 00:41:17,800
much weaker than
it is on Earth.
568
00:41:18,433 --> 00:41:21,867
With less gravity,
the towers are lighter,
569
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,233
and they can grow taller.
570
00:41:27,233 --> 00:41:29,033
The currents are strong,
571
00:41:29,166 --> 00:41:31,433
and they may have
toppled some of the towers.
572
00:41:44,033 --> 00:41:46,700
Victor Goldschmidt's olivine.
573
00:41:47,500 --> 00:41:51,100
The rocks have
made a place for life.
574
00:41:53,133 --> 00:41:56,333
But has life had
enough time to take hold?
575
00:41:57,533 --> 00:42:01,967
All I know is,
never underestimate
the escape artist.
576
00:42:22,367 --> 00:42:25,100
You know, it's a
funny thing about us.
577
00:42:25,233 --> 00:42:27,367
We think we're the story.
578
00:42:27,500 --> 00:42:30,600
We're the end all
and be all of the cosmos.
579
00:42:31,100 --> 00:42:34,700
And yet, for all we know,
we're just the by-product of
580
00:42:34,834 --> 00:42:37,233
geochemical forces...
581
00:42:37,367 --> 00:42:41,233
ones that are unfolding
throughout the universe.
582
00:42:50,533 --> 00:42:54,967
Galaxies make stars,
stars make worlds,
583
00:43:00,333 --> 00:43:04,667
and for all we know,
planets and moons make life.
584
00:43:07,967 --> 00:43:10,967
Does that make
life less wondrous?
585
00:43:11,767 --> 00:43:13,667
Or more?
586
00:43:14,533 --> 00:43:16,133
Captioned by
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