Is the Universe Full of Life? (313)

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16 жыл бұрын

In this University of Southern California program, Robert Kuhn hosts a group of distinguished panelists in a discussion of what may lie beyond our world. Humans have long wondered whether life exists beyond our home planet. In recent years, a host of new technologies are turning speculation into science. We now have the ability to discern the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet so distant we can't even see it, to detect the presence of dozens of new planets circling stars similar to our own sun. To top things off, recent discoveries of life in environments on Earth so extreme leads to the belief that it's not unreasonable to imagine that microbes -- or more -- may flourish elsewhere in the Universe. Panelists include: Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, Bruce Murray, professor of planetary science and geology at the California Institute of Technology and Shri Kulkarni, planetary astronomer at CalTech.

Пікірлер: 507

@twstf8905 5 жыл бұрын

20:00 When asked how long they figured until we got a better understanding of the extrasolar planet sample size, Shri Kulkanni said he feels the main mission to, "fill the gap between the radial velocity technique and the occultation," would be in around 2015. But, BOY was HE wrong lol it turned out to be Kepler, not the space-based interferometry method that populated our knowledge of extrasolar planets. He's talking about, "bias," while at the same time biasing his answer towards the mission for which he's been most involved. As usual, it's Neil deGrasse Tyson who makes the more accurate prediction about what we can look forward to. And, although it was undoubtedly difficult to predict the potential success or failure of an upcoming mission, it just so happens that we owe our current knowledge of planetary systems outside our Solar System primarily to the Kepler Space Telescope mission.

@M4ttRK91 10 жыл бұрын

Man i love shit like this.

@corkkyle 11 жыл бұрын

What an education I get every time I watch a discourse between reasonable and thoughtful people.

@scottballard5575 11 жыл бұрын

Ah Neil...I love how you make everyone else frightened...

@dareolushina4391 7 жыл бұрын

This talk is so matured im watching it for the sixth time, there is so much information coded in this short video, so much so there is some salient points that im sure are very easy to miss, lol

@metalmilitia1977 13 жыл бұрын

To all of those who like listening to Tyson, I highly recommend reading his books. He's just as entertaining and you'll get a lot of science out of it. He's a fantastic writer and he teaches the universe in a way that is easily absorbed by the reader. Mixed with his humor, it's really hard to put the book down.

@Ecite 12 жыл бұрын

Watching educational discourses like this gets me so excited and motivated. Thanks for uploading.

@LexoG33 11 жыл бұрын

I love discussions like these. They are extremely stimulating.

@thetruthalwaysscary 9 жыл бұрын

18:10 Excellent point!

@deeliciousplum 11 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing this discourse.

@Duncan_Idaho_Potato 11 жыл бұрын

You don't often see an interview involving Neil deGrasse Tyson where someone directly challenges his assertions. It's good to see that he's not only a damn good speaker about science, but also a damn good arguer about science. That's not to say that Professor Murray did not make some valid points, just that Neil made just as many equally valid counterpoints in their exchanges.

@MichaelSHartman 9 жыл бұрын

Thank you for a most interesting and intelligent program.

@HypnoticHollywood 13 жыл бұрын

at this point, I favorite Neil's material before even hearing it !

@g0tcadaver 13 жыл бұрын

This was in 2006. They hadn't yet found 100 planets. It is now 2011 and we are looking at 10,000+ more within the next few releases on Kepler data. That is on top of the 1,000+ they have already found with the amazing device. Truly thrilling.

@Matzes 12 жыл бұрын

its pretty late right now,I actually just came here to save this link to my bookmarks so that I can watch it tomorrow...but somehow I got hooked after a few seconds and couldn t stop :D

@SireStefan 15 жыл бұрын

I hope I'm alive when the first extra-terrestrial life is found, I'd be so excited, I don't care how primitive it is.

@senjiukanuba5569 10 жыл бұрын

I love shows like that.. especially now, seeing as back then there were only 70 exoplanets or so known and today it's more than ten times that many.. just 6 years later.

@equateproductions5684 11 жыл бұрын

This man makes me want to have a purpose in life. I may be a lazy pothead but I love space and what better way to make a difference than being an astrophysiscist

@ahulin49 6 жыл бұрын

Now that was a debate!!!!!even challenged Neal...wow...where are these guys now????

@LifeMattersChannel 12 жыл бұрын

Where is the rest of this debate? its so goood!

@BaldingEagle51 12 жыл бұрын

Excellent introductory talk for students of science! Murray is good for the discussion, tempering speculation and asking the right questions. Tyson's strength is in compelling parables. Certainly we can't wait for the compelling to becoming convincing before endeavoring, and I'm glad to hear we're not. While the state of Astrobiology is the same as in Sagan's 1970s, the technology is here and if by 2038 we have 2 specimens of alien life, I couldn't be more life-contented. Why? I don't know.

@tpstrat14 13 жыл бұрын

It blows my mind to think that there are intelligent beings in our very own GALAXY (let alone universe), that are asking these same exact questions, but our universe is so huge that we will probably never meet them. I hope we do though. And I hope we like each other haha.

@bonanzaguy04 13 жыл бұрын

One of the best spent half-hours of my life.

@Optimistprime. 10 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't be surprised if the universe is teeming with none sentient life, but I find it difficult to believe that we are the only intelligent life in this universe.

@tompalmer5986 9 жыл бұрын

A good question for the scientists is if life originated from a single point on earth and migrated over the rest of the planet, or if it originated at many different places on earth.

@MrStuff414 10 жыл бұрын

i'm digging the funky tunes at the beginning

@rayzorium 12 жыл бұрын

There's a difference between saying "there might be life out there" and that the "universe is more likely than not to be swimming in it." We don't know how likely abiogenesis is - only that it happened once.

@maximuscomfort 9 жыл бұрын

Interesting facts the chemistry of life, trilobites and that six mile rock that hit Yucatan. The humans abundant in the universe theory would be two miracles.

@ICEGTN 11 жыл бұрын

No, although a small life form could survive in a radioactive environment due to it's simplicity, it wouldn't solve the problem of radiation to more complex life forms, like human cells.

@gigantic-hyphen1118 11 жыл бұрын

Came to see neil...stayed for SCIENCE!!!

@dareolushina4391 7 жыл бұрын

lol, astrobiology is an awewome new field with no data, i love the way niel s mind works

@sentesays 13 жыл бұрын

awesome video

@corkkyle 11 жыл бұрын

Only one thing is required for life to evolve: a universe that exhibits exactly the same physical laws as our universe.

@stephenhayesuk 14 жыл бұрын

@stephenhayesuk PLEASE NOTE to avoid confusion, crazymanstephen and stephenhayesuk are the same person, forgot to log out and log back in again. I don't have time to continue to respond to every response, besides I know that people who have strongly made up minds rarely change them, but if anyone wants to ask themselves whether biochemical processes are irreducibly comploex, try Googling on Krebs cycle, photosynthesis, toll like receptors, melanin synthesis etc etc and judge for yourself.

@torontoBluejays87 12 жыл бұрын

Great stuff, I am so excited to get old now lol.

@stormevans3077 9 жыл бұрын

So... What's the dnb tune that plays in the beginning?

@Singerjoy 11 жыл бұрын

I believe the universe is full of life. The building blocks is everywhere in space. Ancient stars created all that's needed. If life was accident triggered on earth, then the probability if the same happening elsewhere is good because there's so much stars out there.

@Hopefulfilment 12 жыл бұрын

Consider that you propose that it get hot in day time and cold at night. If you only measure temperatures once during 24 hrs you cannot prove that hypothesis. In science a hypothesis is sort of a "proposed possible connection" like "I think this is how this work". When you gather enough evidence for it it can be considered a theory. Like the theory of gravity. A theory has to explain and predict something in a very good way and not be opposed by any known strong evidence.

@aryah47 14 жыл бұрын

@MrFreewill2012 agreed, and I think he's right on another point - it will probably be easier to get well strong indications of life on exoplanets by spectroscopic analysis of their atmospheres, than digging even around our solar system. Of course, any planet ever to be found unless perhaps if we get lucky w A.Centaury, which is plausable, will be prohibitively remote, so we only have this one planet for practical purposes.

@nightscape94 11 жыл бұрын

Love that intro music. Sounds like I'm watching a Rocky montage.

@atomicfrogproductionsllc6375 5 жыл бұрын

what makes electricity in Life forms might be added to a equation...is the life form mostly some or rarely using cognitive functions for movement is instinct a possible digit in this same Pie? what would cause this creature multiply and how does it defend it's self from threat?

@joshuaoha 12 жыл бұрын

Exoplanet encyclopedia says over 762 planets have been found so far! That is crazy. I remember when I was a kid and they first discovered 51 Pegasi. Amazing! Why did they say only 58 planets on this show?

@ashleylovesdaddy 14 жыл бұрын

@K3V1N9993 I know what you mean. But I feel like I know as much as I can know as an amateur. I feel like it's time to really start learning more than just general Universe trivia. But I thumbsupped this vid.

@metalmilitia1977 13 жыл бұрын

The only thing that bothers me about this video is that it is edited. I think viewers would get more out of it if the full version was shown.

@lewisrain 13 жыл бұрын

that music at the end is absolutely awesome! the credits I mean, not the stupid pompous fanfare at the end! Brilliant talk as well. That's the kind of dinner parties I want to have when I grow up! (ahem: I'm 31)

@roronoazorohun 15 жыл бұрын

Yes, that was me. You replyed to my comment. :-)

@prsplayer210 11 жыл бұрын

goddamn seeing the opening intro to this video brought me back to the eighty great midi synth sounds intros

@AzizRaeesi 14 жыл бұрын

welcome to the Phd club with these fine gentlemen !

@ergius1988 12 жыл бұрын

My most favorite hobby is watching astrophysics and quantum physics videos. I guess this makes me a weirdo.

@userwl2850 14 жыл бұрын

superb. neil is a legend.

@DweeD1516 11 жыл бұрын

Came for Neil Degrasse Tyson and stayed for the science.

@Mauromoustakos 12 жыл бұрын

I think it means this: Untill now we only know of just one case of life in the universe, namely our own. We know the major components of life in this one case, and we (almost!) know how the raw materials that were present in this planet came together and formed life forms. But this is only one case. So, we can't know if, say, the presence of water was something special in our case, or whether it is something always necessary in all cases where life formed somewhere in other planets. -.

@thettguy 11 жыл бұрын

Well I was going to say inheritance and variation were the two things required. And I am sticking to our universe. And we assume that its physical laws are the same throughout - right?

@jqs1943 13 жыл бұрын

A gravitational force field is made of two components. One is what i've named the X-gravity field factor which is an excursive component of the force, and the incursive component which coalesces and unifyes matter compressing it towards a mutual point of concentricity. The X-gravity factor repels other planets and forces them into individual orbital corridors impeding them from colliding with one another. This field repels the moon with an approximate force of 587,999,940 pounds per sq. in.

@GloomyHouse 12 жыл бұрын

10:26 double star system for the win

@AlanJits 12 жыл бұрын

At least the visionaries who dreamt of flight could look to the birds for inspiration. It's been almost 50 years since we landed on the moon and we're no closer to mastering space travel today. We've spent far more money on satellites and space expeditions than we have on researching quantum physics. In the future we will point our billion dollar telescopes in the sky and come to know distant planets by the effects on their sun, the same way we do now. Cuts will be made, AA's are the future.

@DFLaval 10 жыл бұрын

certainly the statistical probability is high. I guess an even bigger question might be that will we ever see any other intelligent life.

@KevinMartinez-it1if 11 жыл бұрын

The handsomeness of this man is out-shined by he intellect.

@MrRALPH13899 11 жыл бұрын

If life in some form is found somewhere in outer space, perhaps we will find the answer as to where life came from on earth and if we are really lucky and find that the life we find is intelligent as humans or even more advanced than us, perhaps we can answer the question why life is here to begin with?

@L00NGB00W 12 жыл бұрын

Hi. I think abiogenesis is pretty likely.Considering the known elements needed, and their abundance in the cosmos. If it could happen here, it could most certainly happen on a similar planet. Then there's the whole concept of Panspermia. Where life didn't form on Earth at all, but somewhere else, and was seeded by an asteroid or comet... In which case, life would be even more likely. Maybe the right chemical reactions only had to occur once in the cosmos, to get the ball rolling. =)

@jay733 12 жыл бұрын

what the name of song at the beginning?

@ICEGTN 11 жыл бұрын

Seems to me like an impossible thing to accomplish because the surface of mars is radioactive.

@jpbida 13 жыл бұрын

I like how at 17:00 he assumes life originated on Earth when coming to the conclusion that it only took 200 million years to evolve. It could have taken life 1 trillion years to evolve and then crash into the right environment. I am sure there are bacteria tucked away in the battery compartment of Voyager awaiting a host planet.

@Realityprogramming 12 жыл бұрын

@WaitFor2012 True but its not infinite, it has boundaries so therefore life elsewhere is not a certainty. It is however very likely based on what we know about biology/chemistry/physics from our own planet.

@1800ghostdance 14 жыл бұрын

The pensioner totally mentioned photosynthesis, Neil!

@metalmilitia1977 13 жыл бұрын

@jpbida Very true statement. However, if life can evolve somewhere else and seed Earth, it's very possible that life on Earth, at least some of it, may have originated here too. I'm not saying this out of a "Earth-centered view", but because the Earth became very conducive to life after it cooled. But yes, I agree that everything we send out into space on a one-way trip, may be contaminating the universe, or at least it may in the long-term future.

@moboden9764 10 жыл бұрын

Ain't it awesome? I am gonna die happy KNOWING that I am probably a part (ok, a REALLY small) of a star; I've always liked the idea of having a molecule of something cosmic... Go universe! Love ya NdGT.

@dendraver 14 жыл бұрын

@2CSST2 my point is that life could spread throughout a solar system with 1 originating source.. in that case, you could still argue that life could be exceedingly rare through the universe.. however if life developed seperately on 2 planets in 1 solar system, then you would argue life is plentiful throughout the universe.

@supahsekzy 14 жыл бұрын

@ABitOfTheUniverse I think pessimism is okay so long as its rooted in some kind of observable thing. Which is what I think he was saying - if we find life on Mars or Europa, then it would be much bigger of a chance of finding life outside of our solar system. But if not, then that would drastically reduce (in his eyes) the chance of expecting to find life elsewhere.

@FirstFretCapo 12 жыл бұрын

I love DGT...love love love him.

@dreadedhalo 13 жыл бұрын

"Ideals separate us, dreams and anguish bring us together." -Eugene Ionesco

@Elvarks 13 жыл бұрын

Have the extremofiles evolved in extreme environments or did they gradually adapt to extreme environments? Some did, other didn't?

@buddydworth 12 жыл бұрын

I feel your pain. I wonder that frequently.

@Aboona13 14 жыл бұрын

number by 1,000 light years (Which is the average destructive range of a Super Nova) = 45 billion light years. Finally divide that by 100,000 light years (Our galaxy, from end to end) = 450,000. They are saying that JUST IN THE TIME EARTH HAS BEEN AROUND there have been enough Super Nova to cross our galaxy 450,000 times. I'm sorry, I mean, the galaxy is huge, no doubt about it. But in my opinion, I find it difficult to believe that we could have avoided 45,000,000 Super Nova.

@aryah47 14 жыл бұрын

@MrFreewill2012 the only point where he definitely is overly pessimistic is when he is considering the possibility that hot jupiters are the norm. It is an obvious observer selection effect, and while I'm not sure what the state of the game was in 08', now its a statistical fact that most jovians out there are not in fact close in. As far as how difficult it may be to dig Mars, Europa (which is all he said, not how difficult it is there is or was life there) , he probably is right.

@metalmilitia1977 13 жыл бұрын

@jqs1943 The spin of a galaxy will not redshift the light of the entire galaxy. What you are speaking of, I think, is radial velocity, which is a technique used to measure the blue/red shift to detect planets. The spin of a galaxy, no matter which direction it's spinning, will always have a side that is blue-shifted and spinning towards us. The atmosphere is not a factor with space telescopes. The universe is not static. A static universe would be in violation of general relativity.

@libville 12 жыл бұрын

I'd like to find out if they think life in inhospitable places evolved in those environments or evolved from some other organism that itself evolved in a more benign environment.

@ScottyTheBullet 12 жыл бұрын

That was too short. Should've been at least an hour and half :D

@thettguy 11 жыл бұрын

Bruce Murray worries that our type of planet is rare. But it would have to be very very very rare indeed for it to mean that we are the only life in the universe. Shri Kulkarni tells us that when you form a star you must form planets too. And kepler mission says planets are everywhere. Google tells me there are between 10^22 and 10^24 stars in the universe. So earth like planets can be very farking rare and we have zillions of them in the universe

@grouimpf 11 жыл бұрын

26:53 Director of photography Jean-Luc Picard. How badass is that?

@maddcatone 15 жыл бұрын

are you really afraid of dying whilst viewing something no one/ thing gets a chance to see. Would you rather wither and die slowly, or be witness to one of the most beautifully awesome events in the solar system? All things die, why does it have to be the same way every time?

@abosteeef 15 жыл бұрын

the best thing for me is listening to smart sentient or reading a good book .

@atomicfrogproductionsllc6375 5 жыл бұрын

if we are at the table we are worthy if we want to know Gods We Must resemble them...Evolution is a must or we Die!

@Hottides 14 жыл бұрын

Biology's theoretical basis is grounded in Chemistry, and consists of the confluence of molecular genetics and Darwinian evolution. As Dawkins expounds in The Selfish Gene, biology is the study of competition replicators prone to mutation. Such mutations produce beneficial or detrimental variation, thus establishing selection processes that promote the multiplication of better adapted species, and the elimination of maladapted forms. The panelists should read Dawkins, Hamilton and Trivers.

@lazygamerz 11 жыл бұрын

Actually, didn't you see that research about intelligence decreasing? I wish I had the link (I googled a bit, but could not find it, don't remember what the headline was). Can anyone reading this remember what the research paper / news article(s) was called?

@JMichael2x2 11 жыл бұрын

And I thought science was about evidence and reason. I did not realise it was really about no reason for evidence!

@rkpetry 11 жыл бұрын

Abundant--sure--footprints and all--but the specifics are more historic than probabilistic.

@beeDUB75 14 жыл бұрын

I think to a degree life does need to be rather Earth like or we would have discovered it easily on the other planets in our solar system. That said, I would put money on there being microbial life on Mars at least in the past. There is also a very stong case for Europa and Enceladus. If any prove to be so, you can bet the universe is absolutely crawling with life. We live in fascinating times.

@electrostaticdisclifters6146 9 жыл бұрын

ABSOLUTELY

@Schizopantheist 12 жыл бұрын

@joshuaoha Because it was made a few years ago (notice they mentioned a satellite due to go up in 2009). Things have moved fast in the field of exo-planets.

@shongrocks1622 11 жыл бұрын

this tells me, i should have more astrophysicist friends..:D

@emgee65 13 жыл бұрын

@Zurround100 I agree with your comment 100%.....Also my favourites , in that order. Cheers!

@ICEGTN 11 жыл бұрын

But what if we don't? And even if we did find some kind of life, what if it's useless?

@lukebradford01 11 жыл бұрын

4:03 and 7:17, I thought I was losing my mind

@themikep82 11 жыл бұрын

That's DJ Shadow man! It's not MIDI, haha :)

@jpbida 13 жыл бұрын

@metalmilitia - I have no doubt the life we see today "evolved on earth". Evolving is the easy part, making the system that can evolve is the challenge. There are theories that combinatorial chemistry occurring between sheets of mica could have produced the first forms of replicating systems. This uses mechanical work from gravitational fluctuations to make and break bonds. I think the assumption that it takes 200 million years to create the life we see today is very "Earth Centric".

@PhilLaird 10 жыл бұрын

I wish the camera would stop slowly zooming in or panning around.

@ssk3tch1one 10 жыл бұрын

I didn't even notice that. But its actually annoying now that I do.

@PhilLaird 10 жыл бұрын

It's something I noticed years ago that some were using to help make the viewer feel like they were in the room with the actors, part of the focus etc. Blair Witch was another camera trick to help make something feel more 'real or true' or whatever I'm trying to say, and then you could see this camera trick used in other media presentations as well in the years that followed. Some were good, some were downright overdone and awful. If you look at top budget movies like the Marvel Comic movies of superheros that have a lot going on in the scene all the time, they do this also, BUT, it is so incredibly subtle that it's extremely hard to notice even when you try to look for it. The reason being, is because the movie action is so incredibly GREAT that moving the camera around, zooming in and out all the time is not necessary, and doing so would take away from the quality of the movie itself. I say that, to say this. What I have come to realize with this pan and zoom trick, is that the more you see it, the lower quality the movie is and they do it to try to add something to the movie, because the movie is a low budget low quality (or low quality art director/camera man skill set).

@2283iamme 9 жыл бұрын

Theory or pattern of life = the flower of life, fibonnaci

@metalmilitia1977 13 жыл бұрын

@jpbida Well, it's 200 million years to get it going on Earth. There's no way to tell any earlier than that. But no one's saying that it didn't form on other worlds long before the Earth even formed. Maybe it was made there and came here, maybe "our life" assembled here. Maybe a combination of both. In either case, it's an interesting thought. That's the joy of science, we keep studying, exploring, experimenting, & discovering. It doesn't end. One answer will lead to a greater question.