Fewer than 600 of the nearly 108 billion people who’ve existed on this planet have seen it from orbit. That rare experience, along with their advanced science degrees, makes astronauts seem uniquely qualified to answer the question: Are we alone in the universe?
Several of them sat at a small conference table in Los Angeles, along with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, at an event for the series One Strange Rock, which debuts Monday on National Geographic.The film is no David Attenborough stroll through nature. Instead, Aronofsky (of Mother! and Black Swan fame) mainlines wonder, juxtaposing intimate images from Earth with sweeping shots from the International Space Station.
The theme is clear: Life on Earth is miraculous. Out of a nearly infinite combination of possibilities, the conditions were right for single-celled organisms to rise from inorganic material, which evolved sheltered by Earth's magnetic field and ozone, with a bounty of oxygen and water to support them.
"You look at all these systems … and it’s amazing all the things that have to come together to make this grand reality happen," Aronofsky said. It's complicated.
The reason alien life seems likely is the same reason it's so hard to find. The universe is big. So freaking big.
"We've basically proven that every star has planets," said Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has spent 4,000 hours in space. "Then you start doing the math." Within the constraints of the observable universe, there could be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (or septillion) stars, according to astronomer David Kornreich. (He conceded to Space.com that the number could be a gross underestimate.)
If every one of those stars has at least one planet, then, well, it seems inconceivable that life wouldn't exist elsewhere.
(from Mashable)
Several of them sat at a small conference table in Los Angeles, along with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, at an event for the series One Strange Rock, which debuts Monday on National Geographic.The film is no David Attenborough stroll through nature. Instead, Aronofsky (of Mother! and Black Swan fame) mainlines wonder, juxtaposing intimate images from Earth with sweeping shots from the International Space Station.
The theme is clear: Life on Earth is miraculous. Out of a nearly infinite combination of possibilities, the conditions were right for single-celled organisms to rise from inorganic material, which evolved sheltered by Earth's magnetic field and ozone, with a bounty of oxygen and water to support them.
"You look at all these systems … and it’s amazing all the things that have to come together to make this grand reality happen," Aronofsky said. It's complicated.
The reason alien life seems likely is the same reason it's so hard to find. The universe is big. So freaking big.
"We've basically proven that every star has planets," said Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has spent 4,000 hours in space. "Then you start doing the math." Within the constraints of the observable universe, there could be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (or septillion) stars, according to astronomer David Kornreich. (He conceded to Space.com that the number could be a gross underestimate.)
If every one of those stars has at least one planet, then, well, it seems inconceivable that life wouldn't exist elsewhere.
(from Mashable)
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