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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:03,469 --> 00:00:04,759 Saturn. 2 00:00:05,719 --> 00:00:08,105 The rings are made of ice particles. 3 00:00:15,753 --> 00:00:18,003 We also now know that Saturn is orbited 4 00:00:18,004 --> 00:00:20,828 by over 60 natural satellites. 5 00:00:25,203 --> 00:00:29,391 The largest of Saturn's satellites is a moon called Titan. 6 00:00:33,448 --> 00:00:36,210 It is enveloped in a thick atmosphere, 7 00:00:36,211 --> 00:00:38,967 one filled with orange haze. 8 00:00:46,368 --> 00:00:47,969 In 2005, 9 00:00:47,970 --> 00:00:51,029 a NASA probe penetrated the veil of mystery, 10 00:00:51,030 --> 00:00:54,834 and sent back the first images of the surface. 11 00:00:56,750 --> 00:01:00,105 The terrain looked amazingly familiar. 12 00:01:03,395 --> 00:01:06,797 Black lines branched out over the surface. 13 00:01:08,876 --> 00:01:11,527 They looked just like rivers. 14 00:01:13,558 --> 00:01:16,396 And numerous lakes were discovered. 15 00:01:16,397 --> 00:01:20,279 This was the first time any celestial object had been found 16 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,709 with liquid on its surface. 17 00:01:28,386 --> 00:01:30,433 The more the probe investigated, 18 00:01:30,434 --> 00:01:33,195 the more Earth-like Titan seemd to be. 19 00:01:33,196 --> 00:01:36,331 It was at this point that scientists began to suspect 20 00:01:36,332 --> 00:01:38,950 that life might be present. 21 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,442 Maybe in the seas, more interesting things happen. 22 00:01:43,443 --> 00:01:46,657 Maybe you get self-replicating chemical systems 23 00:01:46,658 --> 00:01:49,036 much like those that are the first steps 24 00:01:49,037 --> 00:01:53,602 towards living systems that are deep in our own history. 25 00:01:53,603 --> 00:01:56,826 So Titan gives us a whole new set of possibilities. 26 00:01:56,827 --> 00:02:00,453 There's the possibility that maybe there is life on Titan 27 00:02:00,454 --> 00:02:02,564 that has somehow found a way to make use 28 00:02:02,565 --> 00:02:04,335 of all of these building blocks 29 00:02:04,336 --> 00:02:06,562 that the atmosphere is making for it. 30 00:02:07,834 --> 00:02:10,020 However, the temperature on Titan 31 00:02:10,021 --> 00:02:13,669 is -180 degrees Celsius. 32 00:02:13,670 --> 00:02:16,251 Could life really exist there? 33 00:02:19,963 --> 00:02:21,679 How do we know it's too cold? 34 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:23,535 Imagine you're living on Titan 35 00:02:23,536 --> 00:02:25,093 and you're looking at the Earth. 36 00:02:25,094 --> 00:02:27,439 You'd say, "Oh, there's a liquid, there's organics", 37 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,548 "there's energy, but it's too hot." 38 00:02:30,501 --> 00:02:34,660 Titan has both an atmosphere and liquids. 39 00:02:34,661 --> 00:02:36,552 Could life exist there? 40 00:02:38,192 --> 00:02:42,180 This planetary body, very similar to Earth. 41 00:02:42,181 --> 00:02:44,747 Saturn's moon, Titan. 42 00:03:50,716 --> 00:03:54,411 Imagine the journey from Earth to Titan. 43 00:03:57,794 --> 00:04:00,651 If you could travel at the speed of light, 44 00:04:00,652 --> 00:04:04,475 you'd pass Mars about four minutes into the voyage. 45 00:04:07,063 --> 00:04:09,216 At the 30-minute mark or so, 46 00:04:09,217 --> 00:04:13,072 you would pass the giant ball of gases known as Jupiter. 47 00:04:16,673 --> 00:04:19,808 Then, some 70 minutes after departure, 48 00:04:19,809 --> 00:04:21,898 you would finally arrive at Saturn 49 00:04:21,899 --> 00:04:24,918 surrounded by those beautiful rings. 50 00:04:24,919 --> 00:04:28,998 Like Jupiter, Saturn is a large gaseous planet. 51 00:04:32,695 --> 00:04:35,040 Finally, you'd reach Titan. 52 00:04:35,041 --> 00:04:37,757 With a diameter of 5,000 kilometers, 53 00:04:37,758 --> 00:04:41,418 Titan is about three-fourths the size of Mars. 54 00:04:41,419 --> 00:04:44,430 It's a moon the size of a planet. 55 00:04:47,670 --> 00:04:50,175 Fully cloaked in that orange haze, 56 00:04:50,176 --> 00:04:52,288 Titan's true appearance was not known 57 00:04:52,289 --> 00:04:54,491 until the 21st century. 58 00:05:10,230 --> 00:05:14,544 1997 saw the launch of the Cassini-Huygens mission. 59 00:05:19,650 --> 00:05:22,017 The Cassini orbiter equipped with cameras 60 00:05:22,018 --> 00:05:25,377 and other instruments, and carrying the Huygens probe 61 00:05:25,378 --> 00:05:28,573 was sent to investigate Saturn and its moons, 62 00:05:28,574 --> 00:05:30,233 especially Titan. 63 00:05:31,417 --> 00:05:34,669 In 2004, seven years after liftoff, 64 00:05:34,670 --> 00:05:37,442 Cassini-Huygens reached the vicinity of Saturn, 65 00:05:37,443 --> 00:05:40,520 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun. 66 00:05:45,617 --> 00:05:48,827 Cassini then proceeded to enter into orbit around the planet 67 00:05:48,828 --> 00:05:53,280 and its satellites, and to commence scientific observations. 68 00:05:56,443 --> 00:05:58,490 It took this image of Titan. 69 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:00,901 For the first time, 70 00:06:00,902 --> 00:06:03,685 Titan's true features began to show 71 00:06:03,686 --> 00:06:06,143 from under that thick haze. 72 00:06:09,168 --> 00:06:11,748 The day was approaching when we would finally be able 73 00:06:11,749 --> 00:06:15,018 to see the surface of Saturn's giant moon. 74 00:06:18,399 --> 00:06:20,424 In December 2004, 75 00:06:20,425 --> 00:06:23,255 the Huygens probe separated from Cassini, 76 00:06:23,256 --> 00:06:25,139 and coasted to Titan. 77 00:06:30,937 --> 00:06:34,409 The target landing site was near Titan's equator. 78 00:06:34,410 --> 00:06:37,595 What that site would be like, no one knew. 79 00:06:40,384 --> 00:06:44,025 Titan's atmosphere is 1,000 kilometers thick. 80 00:06:44,026 --> 00:06:45,738 The probe entered it. 81 00:06:55,989 --> 00:06:59,732 Huygens deployed a parachute and drifted down, 82 00:06:59,733 --> 00:07:02,254 jettisoning its heat shield. 83 00:07:06,143 --> 00:07:10,088 This image, taken from a height of 152 kilometers, 84 00:07:10,089 --> 00:07:12,478 was Huygens' fist view of Titan, 85 00:07:12,479 --> 00:07:15,075 which was still obstructed by haze. 86 00:07:16,958 --> 00:07:19,955 Huygens was shooting still images as it descended. 87 00:07:19,956 --> 00:07:22,109 Its microphone also captured the sound 88 00:07:22,110 --> 00:07:24,352 of the wind rushing by. 89 00:07:28,990 --> 00:07:32,007 This was the first sound recording ever 90 00:07:32,008 --> 00:07:33,825 made of an alien environment. 91 00:07:50,234 --> 00:07:52,579 These images of Titan's surface 92 00:07:52,580 --> 00:07:55,813 were taken by Huygens from 16,000 kilometers up. 93 00:07:56,783 --> 00:08:00,745 Black veins like the branchings of a river are visible. 94 00:08:04,778 --> 00:08:06,873 It does look as though they're flowing 95 00:08:06,874 --> 00:08:08,778 to the mouth of a river. 96 00:08:13,914 --> 00:08:16,977 Now, from 8,000 meters above Titan. 97 00:08:16,978 --> 00:08:18,961 It looks just like the sort of coastline 98 00:08:18,962 --> 00:08:21,367 we're used to seeing on Earth. 99 00:08:27,825 --> 00:08:29,771 Finally, the landing. 100 00:08:33,759 --> 00:08:37,780 This is an image taken by Huygens just after landing. 101 00:08:37,781 --> 00:08:39,614 What look like rocks and pebbles 102 00:08:39,615 --> 00:08:41,822 strewn about over a flat plain, 103 00:08:41,823 --> 00:08:44,228 are actually chunks of ice. 104 00:08:49,268 --> 00:08:53,352 The surface temperature is -180 degrees Celsius. 105 00:08:53,353 --> 00:08:56,538 Atmospheric pressure is a little higher than Earth's, 106 00:08:56,539 --> 00:08:58,600 1.5 bars. 107 00:08:58,601 --> 00:09:01,458 The horizon seems blurred by mist. 108 00:09:01,459 --> 00:09:05,816 This is exactly like some rocky desert landscape on Earth. 109 00:09:08,307 --> 00:09:12,567 High above, the Cassini orbiter continued its observations. 110 00:09:16,808 --> 00:09:19,825 In the equatorial region where the Huygens probe landed, 111 00:09:19,826 --> 00:09:22,599 Cassini discovered a strange pattern. 112 00:09:26,999 --> 00:09:29,606 Some sort of regular striping. 113 00:09:33,112 --> 00:09:35,952 Further observations found similar striations 114 00:09:35,953 --> 00:09:39,450 covering some 20% of Titan's surface. 115 00:09:45,787 --> 00:09:47,929 Ralph Lorenz has dedicated himself 116 00:09:47,930 --> 00:09:51,132 to investing the strange striped pattern. 117 00:09:57,542 --> 00:10:00,357 He is trying to solve the mystery of Titan's stripes 118 00:10:00,358 --> 00:10:03,668 by comparing them to patterns he finds on Earth. 119 00:10:09,654 --> 00:10:11,722 This is the Mojave Desert 120 00:10:11,723 --> 00:10:14,034 in the western United States. 121 00:10:26,378 --> 00:10:28,779 Lorenz believes Titan's stripes 122 00:10:28,780 --> 00:10:32,622 are like the peaks and troughs of desert sand dunes. 123 00:10:35,162 --> 00:10:38,560 There are, indeed, real similarities. 124 00:10:39,514 --> 00:10:41,596 It's remarkable somehow that despite 125 00:10:41,597 --> 00:10:45,233 the different gravity, the thicker atmosphere, 126 00:10:45,234 --> 00:10:48,849 and the different material that the sand is made of, 127 00:10:48,850 --> 00:10:52,124 somehow the landscape ends up looking 128 00:10:52,125 --> 00:10:54,961 almost exactly the same as many places on Earth. 129 00:10:54,962 --> 00:10:58,022 By comparing the shape of the dune 130 00:10:58,023 --> 00:11:02,107 and the interaction with the rest of the environment, 131 00:11:02,108 --> 00:11:04,432 we can get an understanding 132 00:11:04,433 --> 00:11:07,547 of how these structures formed. 133 00:11:07,548 --> 00:11:11,280 For example, different shapes of dunes 134 00:11:11,281 --> 00:11:14,145 form in different wind patterns. 135 00:11:15,739 --> 00:11:17,884 So the goal is to solve the mystery 136 00:11:17,885 --> 00:11:20,286 of Titan's stripes by investigating 137 00:11:20,287 --> 00:11:22,813 terrestrial desert dunes. 138 00:11:22,814 --> 00:11:26,611 Lorenz's first step is to send up a kite with a camera 139 00:11:26,612 --> 00:11:28,763 for an aerial overview. 140 00:11:33,632 --> 00:11:35,028 He is looking for a place 141 00:11:35,029 --> 00:11:38,027 that has a striped pattern like Titan's. 142 00:11:40,853 --> 00:11:44,791 Next, he mounts a dune buggy equipped with GPS. 143 00:11:44,792 --> 00:11:47,081 He wants to measure the heights of dunes 144 00:11:47,082 --> 00:11:49,451 and the angles of their slopes. 145 00:11:57,644 --> 00:12:01,213 The shapes of sand dunes change by the minute. 146 00:12:08,425 --> 00:12:11,669 Lorenz plants a stake with a streamer attached. 147 00:12:11,670 --> 00:12:15,961 In fact, he plants a whole line of them along this slope. 148 00:12:18,709 --> 00:12:23,023 This will show what sort of wind creates this type of dune. 149 00:12:26,710 --> 00:12:31,240 The wind is blowing from screen left across a gentle slope. 150 00:12:36,909 --> 00:12:38,668 Then it swirls around 151 00:12:38,669 --> 00:12:42,012 as if to carve out that slope to the right. 152 00:12:48,396 --> 00:12:50,166 So it's become clear that here, 153 00:12:50,167 --> 00:12:52,491 the wind flows from the milder slope 154 00:12:52,492 --> 00:12:55,351 over and down the sharper slope. 155 00:12:56,950 --> 00:12:59,381 Lorenz believes that the stripes on Titan 156 00:12:59,382 --> 00:13:02,595 are also wind-sculpted sand dunes. 157 00:13:08,676 --> 00:13:11,807 A closer look at that image of Titan's stripes 158 00:13:11,808 --> 00:13:15,242 shows ridges with milder and sharper slopes, 159 00:13:15,243 --> 00:13:18,239 similar to those in the Mojave Desert. 160 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,980 So Lorenz conjectures that the wind on Titan 161 00:13:20,981 --> 00:13:24,009 must've been blowing from left to right. 162 00:13:28,849 --> 00:13:31,721 The winds blowing on Titan's dunes, however, 163 00:13:31,722 --> 00:13:34,419 are thought to be weaker than the winds on Earth. 164 00:13:34,420 --> 00:13:37,555 The reason for that is that Titan's gravitational force 165 00:13:37,556 --> 00:13:39,898 is only one-seventh of Earth's. 166 00:13:39,899 --> 00:13:43,637 A relatively small lashing can produce a big result. 167 00:13:43,638 --> 00:13:47,096 So on Titan, effects similar to those seen on Earth 168 00:13:47,097 --> 00:13:50,107 are being produced by mild winds. 169 00:13:53,273 --> 00:13:55,288 Titan is still an active world 170 00:13:55,289 --> 00:13:57,656 where, geologically speaking, 171 00:13:57,657 --> 00:13:59,562 processes are still happening. 172 00:13:59,563 --> 00:14:02,596 And the fact that we can see sand dunes for example, 173 00:14:02,597 --> 00:14:05,934 suggest that the winds that move the sand around 174 00:14:05,935 --> 00:14:09,678 are still active, that we're seeing a dynamic planet 175 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:11,522 much like the Earth. 176 00:14:13,563 --> 00:14:16,111 There was another unexpected aspect 177 00:14:16,112 --> 00:14:18,944 to those images taken by Huygens. 178 00:14:23,030 --> 00:14:26,468 Look closely at those chunks of ice on the ground. 179 00:14:26,469 --> 00:14:29,721 They are reminiscent of stones turned over and over 180 00:14:29,722 --> 00:14:31,950 by rivers on Earth. 181 00:14:31,951 --> 00:14:34,382 Sharp edges are worn down. 182 00:14:34,383 --> 00:14:37,080 They're rounded like pebbles. 183 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,031 So there may well be liquid on Titan. 184 00:14:42,032 --> 00:14:46,042 This discovery attracted attention and astonishment. 185 00:14:50,618 --> 00:14:52,633 Meanwhile, the Cassini orbiter 186 00:14:52,634 --> 00:14:55,737 made a surprising discovery of its own. 187 00:14:55,738 --> 00:14:58,032 Black spots and blotches were visible 188 00:14:58,033 --> 00:15:00,249 near Titan's north pole. 189 00:15:03,931 --> 00:15:07,226 Radar observations showed them to be lakes 190 00:15:07,227 --> 00:15:09,381 filled with some liquid. 191 00:15:12,549 --> 00:15:14,618 They number in the hundreds, 192 00:15:14,619 --> 00:15:16,875 and some of them are huge. 193 00:15:18,288 --> 00:15:21,209 This is the first time liquid has been found on the surface 194 00:15:21,210 --> 00:15:24,613 of any celestial body other than Earth. 195 00:15:28,460 --> 00:15:32,655 The lakes are dotted with islands and fed by rivers. 196 00:15:32,656 --> 00:15:36,538 But with a surface temperature of -180 degrees, 197 00:15:36,539 --> 00:15:39,716 any water on Titan would've frozen. 198 00:15:39,717 --> 00:15:43,775 What liquid could it be in these lakes and rivers? 199 00:15:48,849 --> 00:15:50,220 This is it. 200 00:15:51,411 --> 00:15:53,285 Liquid methane. 201 00:15:53,286 --> 00:15:55,452 On Earth, it's normally a vapor, 202 00:15:55,453 --> 00:15:57,489 but at extremely low temperatures, 203 00:15:57,490 --> 00:16:00,019 it condenses into a liquid. 204 00:16:03,549 --> 00:16:07,761 Methane melts at -182 degrees Celsius. 205 00:16:07,762 --> 00:16:10,609 It boils at -161 degrees. 206 00:16:11,569 --> 00:16:15,312 In the 20 degree range between those two extremes, 207 00:16:15,313 --> 00:16:18,096 it exists in a liquid state. 208 00:16:18,097 --> 00:16:20,112 The temperatures on Titan's surface 209 00:16:20,113 --> 00:16:22,977 are just right for liquid methane. 210 00:16:24,337 --> 00:16:26,932 Methane is composed of one carbon atom 211 00:16:26,933 --> 00:16:29,021 and four hydrogen atoms. 212 00:16:29,022 --> 00:16:31,411 It's the simplest hydrocarbon, 213 00:16:31,412 --> 00:16:35,594 and it constitutes the bulk of the liquid in Titan's lakes. 214 00:16:35,595 --> 00:16:38,111 A portion of the liquid is ethane, 215 00:16:38,112 --> 00:16:41,748 another hydrocarbon with similar characteristics. 216 00:16:43,679 --> 00:16:46,793 Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are trying 217 00:16:46,794 --> 00:16:49,897 to determine how Titan's methane lakes were created 218 00:16:49,898 --> 00:16:52,894 by conducting experiments here on Earth. 219 00:16:56,617 --> 00:16:59,731 Christophe Sotin is an expert on bodies of ice 220 00:16:59,732 --> 00:17:01,720 found in the solar system. 221 00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:11,666 This device is called the Titan Chamber. 222 00:17:11,667 --> 00:17:14,642 With internal air pressure at 1.5 bars 223 00:17:14,643 --> 00:17:17,933 and a temperature of -180 degrees Celsius, 224 00:17:17,934 --> 00:17:21,440 it reproduces Titan's environmental conditions. 225 00:17:21,441 --> 00:17:23,911 Inside is placed a disc of ice 226 00:17:23,912 --> 00:17:26,754 standing in for the terrain on Titan. 227 00:17:31,127 --> 00:17:33,894 They then release droplets of liquid methane 228 00:17:33,895 --> 00:17:36,166 onto the surface of the ice. 229 00:17:41,603 --> 00:17:44,225 The methane disappears immediately, 230 00:17:44,226 --> 00:17:46,417 absorbed by the ice, 231 00:17:46,418 --> 00:17:50,283 like water being swallowed up by a thirsty earth. 232 00:17:53,731 --> 00:17:57,527 So it was a big surprise, something we did not expect, 233 00:17:57,528 --> 00:18:02,242 is that when the methane falls on the ice, 234 00:18:02,243 --> 00:18:06,265 actually the methane got sucked into the ice. 235 00:18:06,266 --> 00:18:07,886 It gets absorbed. 236 00:18:07,887 --> 00:18:10,484 It doesn't run on the ice. 237 00:18:16,427 --> 00:18:19,085 However, if methane continues to drip 238 00:18:19,086 --> 00:18:21,379 onto the ice, eventually, 239 00:18:21,380 --> 00:18:24,177 it begins to pool on the surface. 240 00:18:28,769 --> 00:18:32,226 This suggests that wherever there are lakes on Titan, 241 00:18:32,227 --> 00:18:36,122 the surrounding ice must be saturated with methane. 242 00:18:39,497 --> 00:18:41,324 During its landing on Titan, 243 00:18:41,325 --> 00:18:44,301 Huygens measured the concentration of methane. 244 00:18:44,302 --> 00:18:46,712 That concentration gradually rose 245 00:18:46,713 --> 00:18:49,665 the closer the probe got to the surface. 246 00:18:51,779 --> 00:18:56,055 Then, the moment it landed, there was a sharp increase. 247 00:18:58,514 --> 00:19:01,421 It is thought that this was due to the heat from Huygens 248 00:19:01,422 --> 00:19:04,955 vaporizing the methane that permeates the ice. 249 00:19:11,808 --> 00:19:14,753 On Titan, liquid methane acts in ways 250 00:19:14,754 --> 00:19:17,020 similar to water on Earth. 251 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,939 In June 2012, for example, 252 00:19:26,940 --> 00:19:29,334 Cassini observed a strange phenomenon 253 00:19:29,335 --> 00:19:31,558 near Titan's south pole. 254 00:19:36,599 --> 00:19:39,472 An oddly-shaped mass seemed to be squirming about 255 00:19:39,473 --> 00:19:41,031 in the atmosphere. 256 00:19:41,032 --> 00:19:43,260 It was a cloud swirling. 257 00:19:48,626 --> 00:19:51,127 A cloud made up of methane. 258 00:19:56,936 --> 00:20:01,194 On Earth, water is recycled as water vapor and rain. 259 00:20:01,195 --> 00:20:04,628 One of the factors prompting this is seasonal change. 260 00:20:04,629 --> 00:20:08,866 On Titan, the same sort of mechanism seems to be at work. 261 00:20:13,215 --> 00:20:15,188 Titan is tilted on its axis, 262 00:20:15,189 --> 00:20:17,790 some 26 degrees off vertical. 263 00:20:17,791 --> 00:20:20,745 The Earth has a 23.4 degree tilt. 264 00:20:20,746 --> 00:20:23,102 It's another point of similarity. 265 00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:27,966 Along with its parent planet, Saturn, not shown here, 266 00:20:27,967 --> 00:20:31,933 Titan takes 30 Earth years to orbit the Sun. 267 00:20:31,934 --> 00:20:35,588 The tilt of its axis gives birth to different seasons. 268 00:20:36,558 --> 00:20:39,177 At this location, Titan's northern hemisphere 269 00:20:39,178 --> 00:20:41,846 experiences the long days of summer. 270 00:20:46,847 --> 00:20:49,161 The northern hemisphere is warm, 271 00:20:49,162 --> 00:20:51,880 producing rising atmosphere currents. 272 00:20:51,881 --> 00:20:54,899 Liquid methane on Titan's surface evaporates 273 00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:56,842 and is carried southward. 274 00:21:00,812 --> 00:21:03,368 Near the south pole, it is winter. 275 00:21:03,369 --> 00:21:05,473 The methane gases cool 276 00:21:05,474 --> 00:21:08,882 condensing into a liquid or even solid state. 277 00:21:08,883 --> 00:21:10,455 It can form clouds 278 00:21:14,185 --> 00:21:17,772 like that huge swirling cloud Cassini spotted. 279 00:21:23,819 --> 00:21:26,337 When it's winter in the northern hemisphere, 280 00:21:26,338 --> 00:21:28,268 the cycle reverses. 281 00:21:28,269 --> 00:21:31,605 Now, the methane cloud forms near the north pole. 282 00:21:36,785 --> 00:21:40,602 Underneath that cloud, methane rain begins to fall. 283 00:21:41,562 --> 00:21:44,131 Since methane is more viscous than water, 284 00:21:44,132 --> 00:21:46,222 its raindrops are larger, 285 00:21:46,223 --> 00:21:49,135 with diameters of about a centimeter. 286 00:21:50,852 --> 00:21:53,912 But as Titan's gravity is weaker than Earth's, 287 00:21:53,913 --> 00:21:56,122 the droplets fall more slowly, 288 00:21:56,123 --> 00:21:58,288 about one meter per second, 289 00:21:58,289 --> 00:22:00,839 like a soft snow on Earth. 290 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,923 They soak the icy ground on Titan and form lakes. 291 00:22:10,204 --> 00:22:11,718 Wind blows. 292 00:22:11,719 --> 00:22:13,691 Rain falls. 293 00:22:13,692 --> 00:22:16,731 When people could finally see Titan close-up, 294 00:22:16,732 --> 00:22:20,552 they were astonished at how much it resembles Earth. 295 00:22:34,510 --> 00:22:36,088 In 2007, 296 00:22:36,089 --> 00:22:39,500 the Cassini orbiters spotted something truly peculiar 297 00:22:39,501 --> 00:22:41,284 on Titan's surface. 298 00:22:44,696 --> 00:22:48,254 A land formation, some 70 kilometers across 299 00:22:48,255 --> 00:22:50,316 in the shape of a flower. 300 00:22:50,317 --> 00:22:52,281 What could it be? 301 00:22:52,282 --> 00:22:54,883 Perspective can be gained by combining images 302 00:22:54,884 --> 00:22:57,748 taken from two different points of view. 303 00:23:02,713 --> 00:23:06,789 A three-dimensional image of the topography emerges. 304 00:23:09,934 --> 00:23:13,698 That strange formation turns out to be a rugged mountain, 305 00:23:13,699 --> 00:23:16,807 featuring a 1,500-meter high peak. 306 00:23:22,210 --> 00:23:24,078 There is also a chasm that looks 307 00:23:24,079 --> 00:23:26,536 like it might be a volcanic crater. 308 00:23:28,356 --> 00:23:32,581 From that, one can infer a formally-active volcano. 309 00:23:40,377 --> 00:23:43,885 That volcano has been an object of particular interest 310 00:23:43,886 --> 00:23:45,655 to Jonathan Lunine, 311 00:23:45,656 --> 00:23:48,862 an expert on Titan's internal structure. 312 00:23:48,863 --> 00:23:52,033 He says that the volcano did not spew lava. 313 00:23:52,034 --> 00:23:55,893 Rather, it pumped up a mixture of ammonia and water. 314 00:23:57,570 --> 00:23:59,937 One thing to remember is that when water 315 00:23:59,938 --> 00:24:02,518 is mixed with ammonia, it can stay liquid 316 00:24:02,519 --> 00:24:04,770 down to very low temperatures. 317 00:24:04,771 --> 00:24:07,469 Down, in fact, to -100 Celsius. 318 00:24:07,470 --> 00:24:10,253 But at that point, within a few degrees of that point, 319 00:24:10,254 --> 00:24:12,674 the liquid is actually very viscous. 320 00:24:12,675 --> 00:24:14,647 It's almost like basalt. 321 00:24:14,648 --> 00:24:17,036 So if that is what is flowing out on the surface, 322 00:24:17,037 --> 00:24:19,158 we would see very thick flows. 323 00:24:20,689 --> 00:24:22,625 Lunine believes that under the ice 324 00:24:22,626 --> 00:24:25,498 beneath the volcano, there's an ocean. 325 00:24:25,499 --> 00:24:29,666 He came to this conclusion due to changes in Titan's shape. 326 00:24:34,849 --> 00:24:37,834 Titan completes its elliptical orbit around Saturn 327 00:24:37,835 --> 00:24:40,192 once every 16 days. 328 00:24:40,193 --> 00:24:43,744 During that time, it regularly feels the changing effect 329 00:24:43,745 --> 00:24:45,504 of Saturn's gravity. 330 00:24:45,505 --> 00:24:48,898 In short, it experiences tidal forces. 331 00:24:50,630 --> 00:24:52,746 At its farthest point from Saturn, 332 00:24:52,747 --> 00:24:55,325 Titan is almost perfectly spherical. 333 00:24:57,854 --> 00:24:59,508 But at its closest point 334 00:24:59,509 --> 00:25:02,783 where Saturn's gravitational pull is the strongest, 335 00:25:02,784 --> 00:25:04,509 Titan grows fatter. 336 00:25:09,164 --> 00:25:12,874 Its diameter alters by as much as 10 meters. 337 00:25:12,875 --> 00:25:16,383 Lunine says that Titan can transform so dramatically 338 00:25:16,384 --> 00:25:20,901 because internally, it is not made entirely of solid rock. 339 00:25:22,379 --> 00:25:25,759 Lunine's observations suggest the following picture 340 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,438 of Titan's structure. 341 00:25:30,389 --> 00:25:34,718 The outer crust of ice is some 50 to 100 kilometers thick. 342 00:25:34,719 --> 00:25:38,283 The center is comprised of two types of bedrock. 343 00:25:40,031 --> 00:25:42,547 In between the ice and the rock, however, 344 00:25:42,548 --> 00:25:44,835 is a layer of liquid water. 345 00:25:44,836 --> 00:25:47,411 The bedrock generates heat, says Lunine, 346 00:25:47,412 --> 00:25:50,888 permitting the water to remain in a liquid state. 347 00:25:50,889 --> 00:25:54,493 This ocean layer is some 300 kilometers deep. 348 00:25:54,494 --> 00:25:57,256 Ammonia, present in Titan since its origin, 349 00:25:57,257 --> 00:25:59,762 has also dissolved into the water. 350 00:25:59,763 --> 00:26:01,778 It is thanks to this ocean layer 351 00:26:01,779 --> 00:26:04,752 that Titan can change shape so flexibly. 352 00:26:07,006 --> 00:26:10,514 The interior's warm enough that really only liquid water 353 00:26:10,515 --> 00:26:13,479 is a suitable, stable material in that region, 354 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,156 so we're pretty sure from the gravity experiment 355 00:26:16,157 --> 00:26:19,532 that Titan has a liquid water layer under its surface. 356 00:26:22,610 --> 00:26:24,028 According to Lunine, 357 00:26:24,029 --> 00:26:26,737 the tidal forces caused by Saturn, in turn, 358 00:26:26,738 --> 00:26:29,066 stimulate volcanic activity. 359 00:26:32,594 --> 00:26:35,078 Tidal forces cause friction along the boundary 360 00:26:35,079 --> 00:26:37,958 between ice and the subsurface ocean. 361 00:26:37,959 --> 00:26:41,989 The water heated in this way melts some of the icy crust. 362 00:26:44,049 --> 00:26:46,853 It builds up by terretrial magma, 363 00:26:46,854 --> 00:26:50,685 and eventually forces its way up above the surface. 364 00:26:55,608 --> 00:26:57,925 This ammonia-laden water flows out 365 00:26:57,926 --> 00:27:00,815 from Titan's volcanoes like lava. 366 00:27:00,816 --> 00:27:03,503 Lunine believes such volcanoes are proof 367 00:27:03,504 --> 00:27:05,586 of an underground ocean. 368 00:27:08,058 --> 00:27:10,425 Beneath Titan's icy shell, 369 00:27:10,426 --> 00:27:13,149 a whole new world lies hidden. 370 00:27:29,041 --> 00:27:31,792 Saturn has over 60 moons. 371 00:27:36,401 --> 00:27:40,828 Among them are Enceladus, ice-covered like Titan. 372 00:27:42,662 --> 00:27:46,068 And Hyperion, pockmarked with craters. 373 00:27:47,653 --> 00:27:50,358 Mimas has this huge crater. 374 00:27:51,952 --> 00:27:54,969 Those are just a few of Saturn's moons, 375 00:27:54,970 --> 00:27:58,194 but they all have practically no atmosphere. 376 00:27:59,869 --> 00:28:02,454 Only Titan boasts an atmosphere that extends 377 00:28:02,455 --> 00:28:05,357 as far as 1,000 kilometers into space. 378 00:28:06,347 --> 00:28:08,757 Actual measurements reveal that this atmosphere 379 00:28:08,758 --> 00:28:11,349 is 98% nitrogen. 380 00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:13,852 The rest is largely methane. 381 00:28:17,662 --> 00:28:20,352 Why is Titan the only one of Saturn's moons 382 00:28:20,353 --> 00:28:22,378 with a thick atmosphere? 383 00:28:22,379 --> 00:28:24,943 Solving that mystery through experimentation on Earth 384 00:28:24,944 --> 00:28:28,725 has been a preoccupation of Yasuhito Sekine. 385 00:28:30,189 --> 00:28:33,163 Sekine believes that Titan's atmosphere was generated 386 00:28:33,164 --> 00:28:35,552 by an extraordinary mechanism. 387 00:28:39,756 --> 00:28:41,238 The mechanism? 388 00:28:41,239 --> 00:28:44,470 Collisions with small celestial objects. 389 00:28:44,471 --> 00:28:48,523 Sekine is trying to reproduce that effect using a laser. 390 00:28:51,638 --> 00:28:53,525 When Titan was first formed, 391 00:28:53,526 --> 00:28:57,497 its icy land mass contained about 1% ammonia. 392 00:28:59,862 --> 00:29:01,834 So inside a vacuum chamber, 393 00:29:01,835 --> 00:29:06,073 a disc of ammonia-water ice stands in for the young Titan. 394 00:29:07,243 --> 00:29:10,114 The laser beam enters from the left of your screen. 395 00:29:13,603 --> 00:29:15,351 It strikes a projectile, 396 00:29:15,352 --> 00:29:18,152 which then impacts the ammonia disc. 397 00:29:31,023 --> 00:29:32,948 That was the laser shot. 398 00:29:35,535 --> 00:29:38,681 Gases released by the impact are measured. 399 00:29:43,268 --> 00:29:44,931 One is nitrogen 400 00:29:44,932 --> 00:29:48,202 released by the disintegration of the ammonia. 401 00:29:53,219 --> 00:29:57,466 Titan's thick atmosphere contains large amounts of nitrogen. 402 00:30:01,604 --> 00:30:03,741 According to Sekine's calculations, 403 00:30:03,742 --> 00:30:05,577 based on his experiments, 404 00:30:05,578 --> 00:30:08,612 repeated impacts by small celestial objects 405 00:30:08,613 --> 00:30:11,911 could have produced just such an atmosphere. 406 00:30:37,832 --> 00:30:39,725 For example, Enceladus, 407 00:30:39,726 --> 00:30:41,640 one of Saturn's other moons, 408 00:30:41,641 --> 00:30:44,498 is merely 500 kilometers across. 409 00:30:44,499 --> 00:30:47,655 That is one-tenth of Titan's diameter. 410 00:30:47,656 --> 00:30:50,429 Saturn's other satellites are also small, 411 00:30:50,430 --> 00:30:52,903 with weak gravitational fields. 412 00:30:52,904 --> 00:30:55,644 So even if they've been similarly impacted, 413 00:30:55,645 --> 00:30:59,060 they haven't been able to hold on to any atmosphere. 414 00:31:01,544 --> 00:31:05,404 But did Titan, in fact, experience repeated bombardment 415 00:31:05,405 --> 00:31:07,610 by small celestial objects? 416 00:31:12,463 --> 00:31:15,032 Hal Levison uses computers to calculate 417 00:31:15,033 --> 00:31:17,219 the history of the solar system. 418 00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:19,491 He has advancd the revolutionary theory 419 00:31:19,492 --> 00:31:21,603 that some four billion years ago, 420 00:31:21,604 --> 00:31:25,614 the entire solar system was shaken by a massive event. 421 00:31:30,870 --> 00:31:33,954 Levison argues that when the solar system was forming 422 00:31:33,955 --> 00:31:36,183 4.6 billion years ago, 423 00:31:36,184 --> 00:31:38,786 Uranus and Neptune were closer to the Sun 424 00:31:38,787 --> 00:31:40,381 than they are now. 425 00:31:45,708 --> 00:31:49,100 He inputs the location and size of the planets 426 00:31:49,101 --> 00:31:51,416 and also of the small celestial objects 427 00:31:51,417 --> 00:31:53,079 that lie further out. 428 00:31:55,481 --> 00:31:57,947 Then the simulation begins. 429 00:31:57,948 --> 00:32:01,541 At first, the basic situation did not change much. 430 00:32:02,461 --> 00:32:04,879 But some 600 million years later, 431 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,524 Uranus and Neptune were suddenly flown 432 00:32:07,525 --> 00:32:10,393 to the outer realms of the solar system. 433 00:32:12,848 --> 00:32:15,193 Du, du, du, du, then out. 434 00:32:15,194 --> 00:32:19,107 And that caused the giant planets to slowly spread. 435 00:32:19,108 --> 00:32:21,881 It was infinitesimal, you wouldn't have noticed it 436 00:32:21,882 --> 00:32:24,014 but the orbits were slowly changing. 437 00:32:24,015 --> 00:32:27,626 And that continued until Jupiter and Saturn 438 00:32:27,627 --> 00:32:30,766 got to the point where Jupiter was going around the Sun 439 00:32:30,767 --> 00:32:35,675 exactly twice every time Saturn went around once, 440 00:32:35,676 --> 00:32:37,970 and that configuration 441 00:32:37,971 --> 00:32:40,989 is what set the whole instability off. 442 00:32:40,990 --> 00:32:43,079 So you went, almost overnight, 443 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,631 from a time when there was a little bit going on 444 00:32:46,632 --> 00:32:49,703 but not much, to this very violent period 445 00:32:49,704 --> 00:32:52,017 where all hell breaks loose. 446 00:32:53,437 --> 00:32:56,990 The smaller celestial objects shown here in green, 447 00:32:56,991 --> 00:33:00,563 had formed a ring at the outer edge of the solar system. 448 00:33:00,564 --> 00:33:04,029 But then the gravitational force of Uranus and Neptune 449 00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:06,637 violently scattered these objects. 450 00:33:11,750 --> 00:33:14,503 The result was that in the period from four billion 451 00:33:14,504 --> 00:33:17,084 to 3.9 billion years ago, 452 00:33:17,085 --> 00:33:19,378 the planets of the solar system encountered 453 00:33:19,379 --> 00:33:22,481 a barrage of small celestial objects. 454 00:33:25,533 --> 00:33:29,254 During this period, Titan also was hit repeatedly, 455 00:33:29,255 --> 00:33:32,092 developing a nitrogen-rich atmosphere. 456 00:33:32,093 --> 00:33:35,014 That made it a very special moon. 457 00:34:22,641 --> 00:34:26,453 1977 saw the lauch of Voyager one. 458 00:34:26,454 --> 00:34:27,673 Its mission. 459 00:34:27,674 --> 00:34:30,650 To explore and observe the outer planets 460 00:34:30,651 --> 00:34:32,651 from Jupiter to Neptune. 461 00:34:39,367 --> 00:34:41,709 This was its view of Titan. 462 00:34:44,353 --> 00:34:46,176 It was a close look, 463 00:34:46,177 --> 00:34:50,837 but still, the moon was shrouded in a thick orange haze. 464 00:34:50,838 --> 00:34:52,587 However, even then, 465 00:34:52,588 --> 00:34:54,976 one scientist maintained that the haze 466 00:34:54,977 --> 00:34:58,557 held the secret to sparking life below. 467 00:35:05,524 --> 00:35:07,916 Bishun Khare has been trying to penetrate 468 00:35:07,917 --> 00:35:12,028 the mystery of Titan's haze since the early 1970s. 469 00:35:12,029 --> 00:35:14,785 He participated in the Voyager mission. 470 00:35:14,786 --> 00:35:17,547 He is focused on the haze as being itself, 471 00:35:17,548 --> 00:35:19,195 a source of life. 472 00:35:20,268 --> 00:35:24,704 Khare introduces a nitrogen-methane mix into a sealed flask 473 00:35:24,705 --> 00:35:27,345 to simulate Titan's atmosphere. 474 00:35:29,419 --> 00:35:31,808 The flask is fitted with electrodes. 475 00:35:31,809 --> 00:35:34,281 Now Khare discharges them. 476 00:35:35,616 --> 00:35:38,282 This is meant to reproduce the effect of lightning 477 00:35:38,283 --> 00:35:42,067 or other energy surges on Titan's atmosphere. 478 00:35:44,235 --> 00:35:47,903 It's about 10 hours since the start of the experiment. 479 00:35:47,904 --> 00:35:50,473 A reddish-brown substance has become visible 480 00:35:50,474 --> 00:35:52,179 inside the flask. 481 00:35:54,421 --> 00:35:57,733 Khare claims that this is the very same substance 482 00:35:57,734 --> 00:36:00,440 as the haze enveloping Titan. 483 00:36:04,298 --> 00:36:07,728 So what happened inside that glass vessel? 484 00:36:11,457 --> 00:36:14,232 First off, the electrical surges split apart 485 00:36:14,233 --> 00:36:17,745 the molecules of nitrogen and the methane. 486 00:36:17,746 --> 00:36:19,969 Their atoms recombine with carbon 487 00:36:19,970 --> 00:36:22,754 and other atoms in all sorts of ways 488 00:36:22,755 --> 00:36:26,053 forming a variety of new organic compounds. 489 00:36:28,977 --> 00:36:32,944 Analysis showed that some 200 types of organic compounds 490 00:36:32,945 --> 00:36:35,825 had been created in this experiment. 491 00:36:38,097 --> 00:36:39,930 Organic compounds are the materials 492 00:36:39,931 --> 00:36:42,554 out of which our own bodies are made. 493 00:36:42,555 --> 00:36:45,353 They are the building blocks of life. 494 00:36:47,692 --> 00:36:50,432 It was thanks to Khare's work that Titan came 495 00:36:50,433 --> 00:36:52,800 to be considered one of the celestial objects 496 00:36:52,801 --> 00:36:55,287 on which life might exist. 497 00:37:04,443 --> 00:37:07,615 The Cassini orbiter's close-up observations of Titan 498 00:37:07,616 --> 00:37:11,395 have come some 30 years after Khare's experiments. 499 00:37:11,396 --> 00:37:14,281 Will they confirm that Titan's hazy atmosphere 500 00:37:14,282 --> 00:37:17,195 has in fact given rise to organics? 501 00:37:19,786 --> 00:37:24,323 The INMS is a device that measures molecular mass. 502 00:37:24,324 --> 00:37:27,049 Cassini has used it to determine the composition 503 00:37:27,050 --> 00:37:28,927 of Titan's atmosphere. 504 00:37:36,876 --> 00:37:39,592 Cassini's data were streamed back to Earth, 505 00:37:39,593 --> 00:37:43,565 where they were analyzed by Hunter Waite and his colleagues. 506 00:37:46,598 --> 00:37:50,203 Waite led the team that designed the INMS instrument package 507 00:37:50,204 --> 00:37:52,258 carried aboard Cassini. 508 00:37:55,496 --> 00:37:59,707 Waite's lab was able to reproduce and confirm Cassini's data 509 00:37:59,708 --> 00:38:03,282 by utilizing the same INMS system. 510 00:38:03,283 --> 00:38:05,901 They could then analyze accurately whatever molecules 511 00:38:05,902 --> 00:38:09,437 or compounds the instrument had detected. 512 00:38:13,918 --> 00:38:16,482 The results were astonishing. 513 00:38:18,012 --> 00:38:20,075 Rendered in the form of a chart, 514 00:38:20,076 --> 00:38:23,190 each of the different molecules identified by Cassini 515 00:38:23,191 --> 00:38:26,184 is represented by its own colored area. 516 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,667 Various organic substances were created 517 00:38:30,668 --> 00:38:32,480 in Titans' atmostphere, 518 00:38:32,481 --> 00:38:35,146 ranging from ones with a single carbon atom 519 00:38:35,147 --> 00:38:39,530 to more complex ones with six or seven carbon atoms. 520 00:38:40,726 --> 00:38:42,511 When Cassini sent back data, 521 00:38:42,512 --> 00:38:44,462 we found out that the upper atmosphere 522 00:38:44,463 --> 00:38:46,762 was much more relevant than we ever thought, 523 00:38:46,763 --> 00:38:50,314 that most of the chemistry seemed to be going on 524 00:38:50,315 --> 00:38:51,926 in the upper atmosphere, 525 00:38:51,927 --> 00:38:55,617 that very large molecules were being created 526 00:38:55,618 --> 00:38:58,849 in the upper atmosphere way beyond our expectations. 527 00:38:58,850 --> 00:39:02,423 Titan is one of the best 528 00:39:02,424 --> 00:39:04,974 organic factories in the solar system. 529 00:39:06,808 --> 00:39:10,038 Bathed in ultraviolet and cosmic rays, 530 00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:13,409 Titan's upper atmosphere is continually engaged 531 00:39:13,410 --> 00:39:15,820 in converting nitrogen and methane 532 00:39:15,821 --> 00:39:19,480 into a rich array of organic compounds. 533 00:39:24,971 --> 00:39:28,288 As these compounds collect in the lower atmosphere, 534 00:39:28,289 --> 00:39:31,660 they produce Titan's famous orange haze. 535 00:39:34,913 --> 00:39:38,805 Finally, they are precipitated with methane rain 536 00:39:38,806 --> 00:39:41,080 onto the surface as well. 537 00:39:45,813 --> 00:39:47,808 It's been four billion years 538 00:39:47,809 --> 00:39:50,784 since Titan's atmosphere was formed. 539 00:39:50,785 --> 00:39:52,736 During that time, it is estimated 540 00:39:52,737 --> 00:39:55,061 the organic settling onto the surface 541 00:39:55,062 --> 00:39:58,565 have created a layer dozens of meters thick. 542 00:40:02,334 --> 00:40:05,183 The dunes discovered near Titan's equator 543 00:40:05,184 --> 00:40:09,116 are thought to be a large deposit of these organics. 544 00:40:11,271 --> 00:40:14,150 Now on Titan, the sand is made, 545 00:40:14,151 --> 00:40:16,667 we think, from organic material. 546 00:40:16,668 --> 00:40:18,917 And we think that material comes down 547 00:40:18,918 --> 00:40:22,949 and gets built up into sand-size particles 548 00:40:22,950 --> 00:40:25,434 that are then accumulated by the wind 549 00:40:25,435 --> 00:40:27,545 to form dunes much like these. 550 00:40:31,682 --> 00:40:33,797 Amidst this accumulation of organics 551 00:40:33,798 --> 00:40:35,473 on Titan's surface, 552 00:40:35,474 --> 00:40:39,987 are substances of vital importance to the emergence of life. 553 00:40:44,292 --> 00:40:46,894 That finding was made by a young researcher 554 00:40:46,895 --> 00:40:51,205 with a specialty in organic chemistry, Sarah Hörst. 555 00:40:54,510 --> 00:40:57,016 Hörst has undertaken a minute examination 556 00:40:57,017 --> 00:41:00,907 of the organic compounds discovered in Titan's atmosphere. 557 00:41:04,293 --> 00:41:07,785 She's written her own computer program to do that. 558 00:41:13,670 --> 00:41:16,175 Based on Cassini's observational data, 559 00:41:16,176 --> 00:41:18,184 she faithfully simulates the composition 560 00:41:18,185 --> 00:41:22,541 of Titan's atmosphere and produces the same organics. 561 00:41:28,462 --> 00:41:30,834 Next, she uses her computer program 562 00:41:30,835 --> 00:41:34,897 to determine the molecular structure of every compound. 563 00:41:38,476 --> 00:41:41,211 These peaks right here are the masses of the ions 564 00:41:41,212 --> 00:41:43,814 in the mass spectrum data, 565 00:41:43,815 --> 00:41:46,577 and then it's the number of carbon, nitrogen, 566 00:41:46,578 --> 00:41:49,276 oxygen, and hydrogen in each of those peaks. 567 00:41:49,277 --> 00:41:51,547 So then what the code does is it goes through 568 00:41:51,548 --> 00:41:54,470 and compares this information to a list that I've given it 569 00:41:54,471 --> 00:41:57,168 of all of the amino acids and nucleobases 570 00:41:57,169 --> 00:41:58,726 that we're looking at. 571 00:41:58,727 --> 00:42:03,111 Here, we have 136, we have the molecular formula of adenine 572 00:42:03,112 --> 00:42:05,223 which is five carbons that matches, 573 00:42:05,224 --> 00:42:07,500 it has five nitrogens that matches, 574 00:42:07,501 --> 00:42:10,221 no oxygen, and then five hydrogens. 575 00:42:10,222 --> 00:42:12,589 So we know from this that we have the molecular formula 576 00:42:12,590 --> 00:42:14,520 of adenine in this sample. 577 00:42:17,261 --> 00:42:19,937 Genetic information for all life on Earth 578 00:42:19,938 --> 00:42:22,305 is encoded in DNA. 579 00:42:22,306 --> 00:42:25,131 Adenine is one of its four major components 580 00:42:25,132 --> 00:42:27,104 or nucleobases. 581 00:42:27,105 --> 00:42:31,215 And all four had been produced in Hörst's experiments. 582 00:42:32,214 --> 00:42:34,426 If these nucleobases combine 583 00:42:34,427 --> 00:42:37,043 in such a way that they create DNA, 584 00:42:37,044 --> 00:42:39,646 then a huge step forward will have been taken 585 00:42:39,647 --> 00:42:41,703 towards life itself. 586 00:42:42,861 --> 00:42:45,855 With this discovery, speculation mounted that Titan 587 00:42:45,856 --> 00:42:49,403 might actually be capable of harboring life. 588 00:42:52,245 --> 00:42:54,079 Life on Titan? 589 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,980 It may, in fact, already exist. 590 00:42:56,981 --> 00:43:00,116 If it does, what would it look like? 591 00:43:00,117 --> 00:43:02,723 The search is on for the answer. 592 00:43:12,161 --> 00:43:15,210 Trinidad and Tobago form an island country 593 00:43:15,211 --> 00:43:17,010 in the Southern Caribbean. 594 00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:21,470 They have a population of about 1.3 million. 595 00:43:31,281 --> 00:43:35,112 They also have one of the most unusual lakes in the world. 596 00:43:35,113 --> 00:43:37,233 It's called Pitch Lake. 597 00:43:39,261 --> 00:43:41,124 It contains not water, 598 00:43:41,125 --> 00:43:43,648 but naturally-occurring asphalt. 599 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,273 It bubbles up from an oil field that lies underneath, 600 00:43:53,274 --> 00:43:57,315 creating a lake of asphalt that's 40 hectares in area 601 00:43:57,316 --> 00:43:59,365 and 80 meters deep. 602 00:44:05,252 --> 00:44:06,808 Strangely enough, 603 00:44:06,809 --> 00:44:09,336 Pitch Lake is the side of fieldwork being done 604 00:44:09,337 --> 00:44:12,895 by astrobiologist, Dirk Schulze-Makuch. 605 00:44:12,896 --> 00:44:15,191 He thinks that Titan is the best candidate 606 00:44:15,192 --> 00:44:18,330 for the location of extraterrestrial life. 607 00:44:19,651 --> 00:44:21,644 He's come here to try to envision 608 00:44:21,645 --> 00:44:24,729 what lifeforms on Titan might be like. 609 00:44:30,096 --> 00:44:31,788 Asphalt, like methane, 610 00:44:31,789 --> 00:44:36,323 is a hydrocarbon comprised entirely of carbon and hydrogen. 611 00:44:38,498 --> 00:44:42,027 You wouldn't think this was a substance that harbors life. 612 00:44:42,028 --> 00:44:44,491 But Schulze-Makuch says it actually does 613 00:44:44,492 --> 00:44:46,816 contain microorganisms. 614 00:44:52,605 --> 00:44:55,601 This is one of the few environments 615 00:44:55,602 --> 00:44:59,430 where it's similar to Saturn's moon, Titan, 616 00:44:59,431 --> 00:45:02,881 where we know that we have hydrocarbon lakes on the surface. 617 00:45:02,882 --> 00:45:05,195 Obviously, Titan is very cold, 618 00:45:05,196 --> 00:45:08,108 so it's still different from over here. 619 00:45:08,109 --> 00:45:11,041 But we do have the liquid methane and ethane 620 00:45:11,042 --> 00:45:13,270 which are also hydrocarbons. 621 00:45:13,271 --> 00:45:17,163 And if we can find out what kind of organisms 622 00:45:17,164 --> 00:45:18,955 are living here in the asphalt lake 623 00:45:18,956 --> 00:45:21,814 and how they adapt to living in the hydrocarbons, 624 00:45:21,815 --> 00:45:24,779 we think we can get some ideas to how life 625 00:45:24,780 --> 00:45:27,766 could operate on a moon like Titan. 626 00:45:29,633 --> 00:45:32,945 Asphalt contains almost no water. 627 00:45:34,629 --> 00:45:37,461 Did you say that there's microbes in there? 628 00:45:37,462 --> 00:45:40,603 Yes, there's microbial organisms in the liquid asphalt. 629 00:45:40,604 --> 00:45:41,589 In this thing? 630 00:45:41,590 --> 00:45:43,063 In this thing, yeah. 631 00:45:43,064 --> 00:45:45,036 Like maybe one, two? 632 00:45:45,037 --> 00:45:46,433 Millions. 633 00:45:46,434 --> 00:45:47,710 Millions? Yeah. 634 00:45:50,755 --> 00:45:54,466 Genetic analysis identified some 600 new types 635 00:45:54,467 --> 00:45:58,050 of microorganisms living in the asphalt. 636 00:45:58,051 --> 00:46:00,162 Most are archaebacteria 637 00:46:00,163 --> 00:46:02,690 related to the primordial microorganisms 638 00:46:02,691 --> 00:46:05,553 that live in extreme environments. 639 00:46:07,565 --> 00:46:10,284 So for them, actually, it's a great environment, 640 00:46:10,285 --> 00:46:12,236 it's a great food source, 641 00:46:12,237 --> 00:46:14,838 and basically, a never-running-out food source 642 00:46:14,839 --> 00:46:18,198 because it's getting supply from deep down there. 643 00:46:19,895 --> 00:46:22,219 On Earth, there are microorganisms 644 00:46:22,220 --> 00:46:26,301 that can use asphalt for sustenance instead of water. 645 00:46:28,097 --> 00:46:31,158 Schulze-Makuch is convinced that in Titan's lakes, 646 00:46:31,159 --> 00:46:33,920 there must be lifeforms that exploit methane 647 00:46:33,921 --> 00:46:35,634 in a similar way. 648 00:46:43,631 --> 00:46:46,094 Another scientist, Chris McKay, 649 00:46:46,095 --> 00:46:48,323 holds that the methane lakes on Titan 650 00:46:48,324 --> 00:46:51,326 contain creatures so unlike Earth creatures 651 00:46:51,327 --> 00:46:54,811 that they exceed our wildest imaginations. 652 00:46:57,505 --> 00:47:00,074 Think of fish living in water 653 00:47:00,075 --> 00:47:04,080 and ask them to imagine a bird which lives in air. 654 00:47:04,081 --> 00:47:06,268 They probably can't conceive of an organism 655 00:47:06,269 --> 00:47:10,826 that is so much denser than the medium in which it lives. 656 00:47:10,827 --> 00:47:13,311 Fish move through water by floating, 657 00:47:13,312 --> 00:47:16,660 so they would imagine a bird must float in the air. 658 00:47:19,999 --> 00:47:23,486 We humans live in an environment called Earth. 659 00:47:23,487 --> 00:47:25,971 We produce energy by causing oxygen 660 00:47:25,972 --> 00:47:28,937 and organic matter to interact. 661 00:47:28,938 --> 00:47:31,098 That is our lifestyle. 662 00:47:33,791 --> 00:47:36,744 But McKay is arguing that on Titan, 663 00:47:36,745 --> 00:47:40,339 lifeforms would be based on a Titan lifestyle 664 00:47:40,340 --> 00:47:43,595 that makes use of what's available on Titan. 665 00:47:47,070 --> 00:47:49,671 Titan's atmosphere contains minuscule amounts 666 00:47:49,672 --> 00:47:52,178 of hydrogen and acetylene. 667 00:47:52,179 --> 00:47:55,015 McKay thinks that there may be lifeforms on Titan 668 00:47:55,016 --> 00:47:58,268 that exist by deriving energy from the interaction 669 00:47:58,269 --> 00:48:02,231 of those two substances in a methane environment. 670 00:48:03,784 --> 00:48:08,439 McKay says that life could very well already exist on Titan. 671 00:48:14,641 --> 00:48:17,338 So instead of being small and round, 672 00:48:17,339 --> 00:48:20,389 I would guess that a single-celled organism on Titan 673 00:48:20,390 --> 00:48:23,887 might be big and flat like a sheet of paper 674 00:48:23,888 --> 00:48:27,163 to maximize its contact with the nutrients 675 00:48:27,164 --> 00:48:28,879 in this thin soup. 676 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,461 It's living in an environment where there's not a lot 677 00:48:31,462 --> 00:48:35,861 of food, so it's gotta access the food with big area 678 00:48:35,862 --> 00:48:39,494 and maybe on this area, it has active molecules. 679 00:48:39,495 --> 00:48:41,628 So it's like a big flat sheet of paper 680 00:48:41,629 --> 00:48:45,158 with little traps on it to collect food. 681 00:48:45,159 --> 00:48:47,089 To that lifeform, 682 00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:49,488 that will be the normal environment. 683 00:48:51,180 --> 00:48:53,686 It was not until the 21st century 684 00:48:53,687 --> 00:48:56,824 that Titan's thick veil was lifted. 685 00:48:56,825 --> 00:48:59,048 Now that we're getting a closer look, 686 00:48:59,049 --> 00:49:01,439 what new discoveries await? 687 00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:04,671 So Titan gives us a whole new set of possibilities 688 00:49:04,672 --> 00:49:07,178 and there are, for sure, perhaps hundreds, 689 00:49:07,179 --> 00:49:12,023 maybe millions of worlds like Titan around other stars. 690 00:49:12,024 --> 00:49:13,300 Do those have life? 691 00:49:13,301 --> 00:49:15,607 Titan maybe can give us some clues. 692 00:49:17,194 --> 00:49:19,230 If life is found on Titan, 693 00:49:19,231 --> 00:49:23,078 humanity's view of the universe will surely change. 694 00:49:24,340 --> 00:49:26,566 The best place for me, in terms of finding 695 00:49:26,567 --> 00:49:28,558 another type of life, would be Titan. 696 00:49:28,559 --> 00:49:30,291 Because if we find it on Titan, 697 00:49:30,292 --> 00:49:32,446 then we know that it really is two. 698 00:49:32,447 --> 00:49:34,184 It's not the same as us. 699 00:49:34,185 --> 00:49:37,544 When we go to Mars, we may find life on Mars 700 00:49:37,545 --> 00:49:41,138 but we won't be sure that it's not the same life as Earth. 701 00:49:41,139 --> 00:49:45,106 So my best hope would be we find life on Titan 702 00:49:45,107 --> 00:49:47,088 'cause then I know that we found 703 00:49:47,089 --> 00:49:49,639 two completely different types of life. 704 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:51,896 Then I can go on to some other science problem. 705 00:49:54,989 --> 00:49:57,078 There is only one body in space 706 00:49:57,079 --> 00:49:59,542 that we know of other than Earth, 707 00:49:59,543 --> 00:50:03,075 that has a thick atmosphere and lakes. 708 00:50:03,076 --> 00:50:04,148 Titan. 709 00:50:05,123 --> 00:50:07,202 If life is found on Titan, 710 00:50:07,203 --> 00:50:09,965 it will instantly increase the possibility 711 00:50:09,966 --> 00:50:12,845 that life exists in many other places 712 00:50:12,846 --> 00:50:15,163 in the universe as well. 713 00:50:22,654 --> 00:50:25,918 We may not be alone in the universe. 714 00:50:26,968 --> 00:50:29,553 We may have many comrades. 715 00:50:32,119 --> 00:50:35,350 The quest to find out for sure continues. 716 00:50:35,351 --> 00:50:37,921 Clues to solving that great mystery 717 00:50:37,922 --> 00:50:40,716 lie hidden on Titan. 56251

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