All language subtitles for One.Strange.Rock.S01E09.Awakening.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-NTb

WILL SMITH: What do you need
to win a game of chess?

Patience, clever tactics,
loads of imagination.

You look nervous.

(laughs)

What makes us human

is the squishy triple-pounder
inside our heads.

Check.

It lets us checkmate
our friends,

build skyscrapers,

and lift a special few of us
into space.

(roaring)

Eight astronauts with over 1,000
days in space between them

can tell us how being up there

helped them to truly understand
what goes on down here.

JEFF HOFFMAN: From space
you get the big picture.

You really see
human civilization

spread out below you.

NICOLE STOTT: As far as we know,

there's nobody else like us
out there in the universe.

JERRY LINENGER: The only reason
I'm able to comprehend

the incredible complexity
of the Earth

is because I have an incredibly
complex brain inside my head.

LELAND MELVIN: We are the only
species on this planet

that can construct
realities in our mind

and then go actually build it.

SMITH: But for
three billion years,

life didn't even have a brain.

MELVIN: The story of how
our mind evolved

on this one strange rock

is one of chance, coincidence
and impossible odds.

SMITH: I am going to tell you
about the most incredible place.

The weird connections,

the dynamic forces
that created us.

A species with a brain as
complex as yours and mine.

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

The human brain is unique.

Not just because of its size,
but also its ability.

It can meet challenges that
are dangerous, demanding.

(laughs)

SMITH: And wonderfully absurd.

(applause)

(applause)

(applause)

(crowd chanting)

SMITH: In Spain, thousands
come together every year

to build towers out of people.

SMITH: A ten-story human tower
with the youngest kids on top.

Right.

Claudia and Marina,
they're seven.

(crowd gasps)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(crowd gasps)

(applause)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(clapping)

(applause)

(music)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

SMITH: Humans are like no other
creature on Earth.

We do these things that
might seem pointless,

not because we're stupid;
because we're smart.

And we work as one.

It's that ability to link
our minds together

that put those girls
on top of that tower

and also put men and women
up in space.

One of them is Leland Melvin.

Former NFL player, mechanical
engineer, and astronaut.

Strong, smart, brave,

and pretty much unstoppable.

But Leland nearly didn't
make it to space.

An accident in his training
brought his dreams to a halt.

MELVIN: The only way to really
simulate a spacewalk on Earth

is in a pool.

I remember getting in the suit,
putting my gloves on, my boots.

MELVIN: As you're going down
in the spacesuit,

you have to clear your ears.

MELVIN: Ten feet down,

I realized that
the Styrofoam block,

you press your nose against it
to clear your ears,

was missing in my helmet.

I tell the test director, turn
the volume in the headset up.

I was straining to equalize
the pressure.

And then, I immediately hear
nothing but static.

They were pulling me
out of the water.

And now I see the flight surgeon
walking towards me.

He reaches up and
touches my right ear.

He's moving his lips, but I
don't hear anything he's saying.

And then I can feel the blood
starting to trickle down

on the side of my face.

I'm like, 'Wow, something's
really wrong.'

I was completely deaf.

Somehow the connection
between my brain and my ears

had been severed,

along with my chances
of going to space.

The accident gave me
a profound appreciation

in what we take for granted.

The thing that makes us us:
our brain.

The human brain sets us apart

from all other creatures
on this planet.

It might look like
a lump of Jell-O,

but it's the most complex thing
in our universe.

Inside, there's a vast network
with 100 trillion connections.

That's more than the number
of stars in our own Milky Way.

It hosts our memories.

Our sensations.

Our dreams.

And all this depends on tiny
cells firing electrical signals.

There's 86 billion of them.

We call them neurons.

SMITH: 86 billion.

Wow.

I'm just glad someone else
was counting.

But here's the thing:

most of life on Earth does
just fine without a brain.

I'm talking about some
of Earth's oldest inhabitants.

Some brainless creatures
are so successful,

you can even see them
from space.

LINENGER:
On a bright, sunny day,

I'm looking down,
and for 1,000 miles,

I see an organized city
of coral.

PEGGY WHITSON: They just glow.

It's just like the most
beautiful art in the world.

MELVIN: This burst of color.

I'd never seen colors
that vibrant before.

It's kind of amazing that corals
are vast, motionless structures,

that thrive without a brain.

SMITH: In the country
of the brainless,

the tiny-brained is king.

Meet this little guy.

He's got more in common with us
than you might think.

Inside, he's got neurons, too,
just not as many.

About 200.

Kind of a starter kit.

(music)

He's a baby sea squirt
looking for a home.

His neurons do simple stuff,

like detect light
and twitch his tail.

But here's the thing:

once he's found the right rock,
his swimming days are over.

For the rest of his life,
he stays put.

He dumps the tail and consumes
the neurons that made it move.

Then, it grows into
a big, old sea squirt.

Takes 'use it or lose it'
to a whole new level.

MELVIN: It's kind of a freaky
thought that, you know,

when neurons were developed,
they weren't for thinking.

They were for simple motion
or movement.

But one day, neurons like those,
the ones inside our brains,

would help create things

like rocket ships
going to space,

cities and music.

(music)

SMITH: Making a tail twitch
to move a yard or two

requires just a few neurons.

However,
the more advanced stuff,

that needs an awful lot more.

Life needs to sense
its surroundings,

otherwise, it's just flailing
around in the dark.

SMITH: There is nothing more
complex than the human brain.

But the more complicated
something is,

the more ways it can go wrong.

(bird shrieks)

MELVIN:
After my training accident,

the doctors couldn't figure out
what was wrong with me.

Everything looked
physically intact,

but they couldn't fix me.

I was completely deaf.

My goal of getting to space
seemed to be thwarted.

But all I could think about

was whether I'd ever hear
music that I played again.

Music has been such
a big part of my life.

(playing piano)

And so, when the music
was silent...

That's when I just broke down
and started crying.

SMITH: Leland's ears were fine.

That's not where
the problem was.

Because you don't just
hear with your ears,

you also hear with your brain.

It's the same for
all the senses,

they link our brains
to the outside world.

And over hundreds of generations
they evolve to suit that world,

no matter how harsh it is.

SMITH: Hunters have lived here
for thousands of years.

But to survive, they borrow
the senses of a creature

that's been here even longer.

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(horse snorts)

(music)

(music)

(laughs)

(music)

SMITH: The eagle is like
a weaponized telescope.

It can see a fox
up to two miles away.

Out here, that's a crucial tool
in the fight for survival.

(eagle chirps)

(yells)

(yelling)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(chirping)

(yelling)

(music)

(music)

SMITH: But to see like an eagle,

you need more than eagle eyes;

you need an eagle brain.

(squawking)

MELVIN: Eyes deliver masses of
data about the world around us,

and all that lifesaving data

needed something powerful
to make sense of it.

Simply put,
if you're an animal with eyes,

you're gonna need a bigger brain
than a sea squirt.

Eyes were a real game changer.

But it's not just the eyes.

Creatures had to develop
an array of senses

that are each calibrated to deal

with the ever-changing
environment of Planet Earth.

Not just barren desserts,

but these very dense jungles,

teeming ocean reefs,

and even icy Arctic waste.

The planet's varied landscapes
played a significant role

in how animals sense.

SMITH: What goes for them,
goes for us.

The planet shaped
our senses, too.

It's something
you might not notice

unless you leave the planet.

MIKE MASSIMINO:
Our senses have evolved

to operate on Planet Earth.

MAE JEMISON:
When you're up in space,

the inner ear isn't registering
an up and down.

MELVIN: So, your sense
of orientation

only comes from your eyes.

MASSIMINO:
You know that weird feeling

in the pit of your stomach,

when you go over the top
of a rollercoaster?

I was basically in that moment
for an entire day.

STOTT: We're Earthlings.

That's just who we are.

MELVIN: The evolution of the
senses in the primitive brain

have allowed living creatures
to interact with our planet

in a way like never before.

But looking at our planet
from space,

you can see it's not just
varied, it's dynamic.

(thunder)

SMITH: Sometimes,
the environment changes quickly,

and when that happens, you have
to be just as fast to adapt.

Like when the sea level
rises without warning,

and now, you're
an island castaway.

(music)

(music)

Macaques are great
with their hands.

They peel fruit, climb trees,
and do each other's hair.

But on these islands, they do
something no other macaques do.

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

They use rocks as tools
to shuck oysters.

Macaques don't
normally eat them,

but when they were stranded
by the rising sea,

they needed new ways
to get a meal.

They weren't born
with this skill;

a smart monkey
had to work it out.

(music)

(music)

This is something only
complex brains can do--

not just sense and react,

but learn,

adapt and problem solve.

But just because a macaque
can learn to shuck oysters

doesn't mean it's gonna open
a seafood restaurant.

Only a human would make
that mental leap.

So, how come we're so different?

SMITH: Monkeys were the first
primates in space,

but it wasn't exactly
their idea.

In fact, they were
probably against it.

So, how come we're the apes
with the big ideas?

Well, it's a long story.

A story about something
that may not exist

anywhere else
in the solar system,

maybe the universe.

Fire.

(rooster crows)

(music)

(music)

SMITH: The Himba people have
kept this same fire burning

for generations.

SMITH: As far as we know,
this planet is the only one

with the right conditions
for fire to burn.

But there's one thing that fire
gives us above all else.

SMITH: But cooking food
does something

that's way more important
than just making it tasty.

MELVIN: Woo! We got fire,
are we ready for food?

We as humans have these
power-hungry brains.

A big chunk of our body's energy

has to be used
to keep them running.

Turn, baby, turn.

By cooking, we're actually
breaking down

the cell walls of the food

that releases so many more
nutrients and calories,

to help fuel our big brains.

One of the key moments
in the history of our species

was when our ancestors
harnessed fire.

Alright, get your plates.

The theory goes,
cooking let us get more energy

out of every bite of food.

So we spent less time
feeding our brain

and more time using it.

SMITH: Try going a day
that isn't touched by fire.

You couldn't imagine
life without it.

But a brain that
could harness fire

may not have evolved
in the first place

if it wasn't for
a force so powerful,

it made the highest
mountains on Earth.

(monks chanting)

(monks chanting)

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

SMITH: The fossils tell us
that these mountains,

once at the bottom of the sea,
were forced high into the sky.

LINENGER: When you're in orbit,

as you come over
the Himalaya Mountains,

you almost feel like you need to
fire the thrusters a little bit.

You can tell where
that subcontinent

just jammed into
the Asian continent

and thrust those mountains up.

CHRIS HADFIELD: This collision
between the smooth flatness

of India and these rugged,
crumpled mountains,

it's like watching a super
slow-motion train wreck.

MASSIMINO:
The further you get away,

you can kind of see
these overarching themes

to the way our planet is formed.

MELVIN: It was forces like these
that would transform

one particular corner
of our rock

into the cradle of humanity.

The Great Rift Valley
in East Africa

was once a lush green forest,
a paradise for apes.

(music)

(music)

But the Earth's crust shifted,
mountains rose,

and the climate changed, making
it a much tougher place to live.

(music)

It's hard to really know exactly
how our ancestors adapted

over millions of years.

The changes may have pushed apes
to do things

like innovate the tools.

Or walk on two legs.

And even harness fire.

Whatever it was, we came out
the other side as early humans,

with bigger brains.

SMITH: We took off
across the planet,

and there was one uniquely human
skill we brought with us.

Here I am, talking to you,

and some of you
are even listening.

What you're hearing is probably
the most powerful tool

we've ever mastered.

So, how do you get a brain that
can tell a damn good story?

(people speaking
different languages)

SMITH: We speak.

(all talking)

SMITH: We link signs and sounds
to thoughts and things,

in countless ways, creating
almost infinite meanings.

That takes a lot of brain power.

(music)

JULIE MISAKI: Moving to
Hong Kong has been amazing.

I'm originally from Japan,

but I've lived in Hong Kong
for six years now.

But it has its challenges.

Even just buying dinner
can get complicated.

A lot of us foreigners
try to learn Chinese,

but it's not always easy.

One word can actually
have many meanings,

depending on the tone you use.

For example, if I say xiao,
it means burn,

or xiao, it means little,

or xiao, it means laugh.

Use the wrong tone,
you could be in big trouble.

MELVIN: It's only
us human beings

that have developed
complex language.

Unlike many other languages,

Chinese uses the musical areas
of the brain

to extract meaning
from all those tones.

And that takes a lot
of processing power.

But the really big question is

why we have any language at all.

It's partly due to
the size of our big brains.

But there could be
another factor at play.

One theory is that it was
something really tiny.

There's a version of a gene,
called FOXP2,

that only us humans have.

Take it away, and
you'll struggle to talk.

No one knows how we've
got this mutation.

(speaking Japanese)

But we do know...

(speaking Japanese)

...it gave us
more precise control

over our mouth and
our tongue muscles.

And that let us make
more sophisticated sounds,

helping us turn
thoughts into words.

SMITH: Small genetic twists
turned us

from a bunch of folks who grunt

to a species that can tell
xiao from xiao,

from xiao.

Sharing ideas,
communicating them,

lets us do things that alone
would be impossible.

Something pioneers
know full well.

(roaring)

(music)

ROCKY ROBINSON:
Okay, let's do it.

I'm getting all kinds--
I've wiped it off,

but I have all kinds
of salt on me.

My shield got covered in salt.

MAN: Turn the water pump off.

ROBINSON: We're here in Bolivia

trying to break the motorcycle
world land speed record.

We probably don't have
a better opportunity

than we have right now to see
just how fast this bike will go.

(music)

(music)

This is a huge team effort.

We communicate a lot,
the team and I.

Communication is
a huge advantage.

It takes so many people

to come up with a machine
of this caliber.

(engine revving)

You have all these people doing
all this stuff for you,

but once that canopy closes...

MAN: You ready?

ROBINSON: You're all alone.

MAN: 45, hit it, Rocky!

MAN ON RADIO: Full speed, 333.9.

MAN ON RADIO: Roger, six.

ROBINSON: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

There's something wrong
with the motor.

MAN ON RADIO: He's coming
to a...he's slowing down.

Everything okay down there?

MAN ON RADIO: Seems okay.

ROBINSON: It is going
really strong,

and it's, whoa, whoa, whoa.

MAN: Main off?

ROBINSON: Yeah.
MAN: Okay.

ROBINSON: Got up to right around
378 miles an hour,

and then the turbo coupler
came off.

It's frustrating.

It's a huge team effort,

and, you know, we're all
trying to reach our goal.

Probably 95% of the time
there is something going wrong.

That's why records last so long.

Everything about
land speed racing

is learning what's new
and how to improve things.

We learn a lot, and I think
we can put that to good use

in the future.

SMITH: I'm with Rocky on this.

You get knocked down,
you get back up again.

Communicating helps you face
failure without fear.

But our brains adapt.

So if we lose the ability
to communicate,

our brain might find
a work-around.

It's flexible.

Talk to Leland about it.

MELVIN: During the time
of recovery

from my hearing accident,

there was a point when I could
feel my brain rewiring itself

to hear again.

The brain over time
can make adjustments

to compensate for
losses or changes.

And I think that's
what happened to me.

My hearing started coming back

about three weeks
after my accident.

But it took two more years
for me to recover properly.

Then finally, the chief
medical officer for NASA

pulled out a piece of paper

that said, 'You are now cleared
to fly in space.'

That was one of the most
incredible days of my life.

I never took my brain
for granted again.

(crowd cheering)

SMITH: With that flexible brain,

we learn, adapt,
and problem solve.

Our brains give us language,

allowing us to share
those lessons with others.

And writing lets us pass on
that knowledge through time.

LINENGER:
All that human brain power,

all that knowledge
through written textbooks,

through calculations,
through mathematics.

HOFFMAN: That just led
to a huge explosion

in the development
of civilization.

WHITSON:
We can get a lot smarter,

because we can learn a lot more
from the previous generations.

SMITH: Humanity is linked
together by a network of minds

that spans time and space.

And that's helped us create
things of dazzling complexity.

The most complex one we've ever
made is floating above us.

MAN ON RADIO:
Ignition sequence start.

Five, four, three, two, one.

MELVIN: You're lifting off
of the planet.

Feeling 3 Gs on your chest

as you're being propelled
to the cosmos.

It is one heck of a ride.

MELVIN: After losing
the sense of hearing,

it took so many years for me
to get to the launchpad,

but it just took a few minutes
to get to orbit.

MAN ON RADIO:
Good morning, Houston.

MELVIN: We got to space,
I saw the planet.

It just blows your mind.

This burst of color.

I've never seen colors
that vibrant before.

And I almost had to, like, smack
myself to get back to work.

(music)

MAN ON RADIO:
If you could get the other...

the expedition four crew,
that we have them in sight.

MELVIN: And then I saw this
little dot out on the horizon.

And we get closer
and closer and closer.

(music)

The first time I saw the
space station flying overhead,

I never knew how complex
a vehicle it was.

(music)

You know, you could see
the intricate design

in these modules,
all these things

that were envisioned
by the human brain.

(music)

(music)

WHITSON: So, you know,
when you approach it,

it's just so beautiful.

It's an amazing, amazing
engineering marvel.

HOFFMAN: There's no question
that the space station

is the greatest international
scientific project

that's ever been undertaken.

LINENGER: It's like, wow,
this thing is awesome.

And I'm gonna get
to live on that thing

for four or five months.

(music)

MAN ON RADIO: Coming in now
and carrying the camera,

mission specialist
Leland Melvin.

MAN: How you doing?

MAN: Bull in a china shop, man.

(laughs)

MELVIN:
Climbing this hill to space

was one of the hardest things
I've ever done.

I never imagined myself
going deaf,

I never imagined coming back

and getting this opportunity
after that accident.

(music)

And it's really a similar story
for all of humankind.

Everything we've achieved
as a species

is the product of
a lucky chain of accidents.

SMITH: To get here, we needed
a planet to congeal out of dust.

In the right place for life
to form and mold our world,

allowing us to breathe
and grow complex.

We needed to be shielded
from our sun,

gifted with a moon,

and granted seasons.

We needed just enough
bombardments

and near-annihilations

to let life meander

through its twists and turns

and evolve a species

with a brain as complex
as yours and mine.

(baby cries)

(music)

(music)

MELVIN: When I was
on the space station,

looking back at the planet,

it gave me
a profound appreciation

in what we take for granted.

Humans are a wonderful,
extraordinary oddity.

(music)

SMITH: Good job, man,
great game.

With this blob of Jell-O,

these 86 billion neurons,

we've left the planet

and looked far, far out
into the universe,

trying to unravel the mysteries
of the cosmos.

But no matter
how far out we look,

the most far-out thing
we've ever found

is right between our ears.

(music)

(music)

Next time...

What does it feel like when
you finally come back to Earth?

Is there really
no place like home?