what is our place in the universe there are two impressive possibilities either we are alone in the universe or we are not as the great Arthur C Clark said both situations are equally frightening now imagine that for a moment throughout all of time and space on countless planets and countless galaxies how many civilizations have Arisen looked up at the night sky and asked the same questions we are asking are we really alone but for the first time in history the truth is almost within our Reach This Quest is not only about discovering new forms of life but also about understanding who we are and who we can become so what are the ideal conditions for chemistry and life first of all you need energy imagine sunlight shining down or geothermal heat emerging from the depths of a planet but you need the right amount not too to much not too little as well as energy you need a variety of heavy elements such as oxygen carbon and sulfur and you also need a liquid like water why water because in gases the atoms are too free to connect while in solids they are trapped and cannot move but in liquids atoms can cross hug and join together to form molecules liquid water is incredible for starting Evolution mole ules can dissolve in water and form complex chains where do you find these perfect conditions on planets like Earth billions of years ago the earth was just the right distance from its star to have vast oceans of liquid water in the depths of the oceans in the cracks of the Earth's crust an astonishing chemistry took place atoms combined in all kinds of exotic connections the exact recipe for life is still a mystery but it involves energy organic molecules fuels and liquid water somewhere in the Seas of the early Earth basic chemistry turned into biology perhaps more than once the first cells probably arose in hot volcanic Waters in conditions previously considered impossible for life and the more we study life the more extreme places we find it such as Aid deserts Frozen mountains and deep ocean trenches on Earth microbes have adapted to survive the most hostile conditions even thriving without oxygen in space vacuum simulators new research suggests that life arose more than 4 billion years ago when the Earth was a deadly Place devastated by volcanism and asteroids however life quickly established itself since life began so quickly on Earth many scientists believe that it can also happen quickly on other planets Earth's history gives hope that life could be common in the universe as it is fast tenacious and composed of basic ingredients after 4 billion years of isolation we started looking for our Cosmic Brothers where there's water there's life so Oceanic worlds like Earth are prime targets and our search for earthlike planets is just beginning with tantalizing discoveries such as Kepler 62f trapist 1D among others Kepler 62f and trapist 1D are planets located outside our solar system known as exoplanets Kepler 62f was discovered by the Kepler space telescope and is about 1 to2 200 light years away from Earth it is considered a potentially habitable planet because it is slightly larger than Earth and is in a Zone called the habitable zone where conditions may allow for the existence of liquid water which is essential for Life as We Know It trapist 1D is part of a planetary system that has seven planets all orbiting a star called trapist one this system is about 40 light years away from Earth trapist 1D is one of the planets in the habitable zone around its star and is about the size of Earth the Galaxy is full of water organic molecules and complex chemistry everything needed for Life Could something similar to what happened on earth have occurred on other planets given the impressive numbers alien life seems almost inevitable with around 50 billion earthlike worlds in the Milky Way alone the universe is brimming with potential have you ever wondered what lurks beneath the icy surface of Enceladus one of Saturn's moons where a huge ocean teams with hydrothermal vents that could Harbor the chemistry of life hydrothermal vents are openings in the ocean floor that emit hot water enriched with minerals these vents are places of interest for astrobiology because they provide energy and nutrients that can support life even in extreme environments and what about Titan a moon larger than Mercury dotted with lakes of methane and organic compounds it's exciting to think that our galaxy alone could contain 100 trillion exoplanets which are moons that orbit exoplanets which are planets outside our solar system these moons can vary in size and some may even have conditions suitable for life such as atmospheres and water on their surfaces many of them are possibly the size of Earth with atmospheres and water on their surfaces with so many places to find life isn't it only a matter of time before we make a discovery some believe that we were once close on June 30th 1976 the Viking Lander on Mars detected something peculiar after injecting nutrients into samples of Martian soil the samples emitted radioactive gas just like the soil on Earth was this a natural phenomenon or our first encounter with alien biology the discovery of just one bacterium on mars or any other body in the solar system would suggest that life is a universal phenomenon if this is true then life could be more the rule than the exception NASA scientists believe that in the next 20 years we could find planets around other stars that show signs of habitability the universe is almost 14 billion years old and our galaxy is around 12 billion years old could it be that there isn't life out there much more advanced than ours for the first million years the cosmos was too hot for Life as we know it when it finally cooled down there were no stars or planets just huge clouds of hydrogen gravity eventually spun these clouds into the first star these massive Bright Stars had no life to watch them rise the first Stars weren't even capable of creating the heavy elements vital for life these elements such as carbon and oxygen were forged in the cores of medium-sized stars that exploded later seeding the cosmos with the ingredients for life this set the scene for a second generation of suns surrounded by rocky planets imagine that moment 13.7 billion years ago when the raw ingredients for Life came together for the first time some believe that the conditions for Life existed even earlier in the lingering warmth of creation to give an example think of baking cookies the first stars were like the first batch of cookies after they baked and crumbled they left ingredients Behind These ingredients then helped to bake a second batch new stars and planets despite Decades of searching we have found no concrete evidence of alien life perhaps primitive life is common but intelligence is extremely rare or perhaps space is simply too vast for viable communication red dwarf stars can live for a long long time like up to 10 trillion years during that time they Shine On any planets orbiting around them this makes it possible for life to develop on these planets as the conditions remain stable for so long however if there is something alive on a planet near a red dwarf it could face two major challenges firstly these Stars can have powerful solar flares that can harm any nearby life secondly the planet could be tidy locked which means that one side always faces the star and remains super hot while the other side is always in darkness and extremely cold think of it as a small bonfire the red dwarf star that burns for a long time you could camp around this fire and enjoy its warmth but sometimes it can ignite and throw off Sparks the solar flares which can be dangerous also imagine that if you sit on one side of the fire you'll always be warm but if you move to the other side you'll always be cold despite these challenges hearty creatures such as Moss or small animals could still find ways to live around this fire just as life on Earth can adapt to hostile environments what kinds of life forms could exist when the universe is trillions of years old one day life will eventually come to an end if we are the beginning of History we have the opportunity to sustain life for a long time into the future and if life continues then we are living in a special moment it's like starting to read a book you're in the first chapter you have the chance to write a very long and exciting story that continues for a long time the universe is like that book now we're only at the beginning for example think about how life on Earth has changed over millions of years dinosaurs used to roam the Earth but now it's our turn similarly if life continues for trillions of years it could look very different we could have intelligent beings that look Nothing Like Us or even life forms made of materials we can't imagine right now but for life to go this far it has to start somewhere and we are at that beginning so in a way we are special because we are at the beginning of a potentially Incredible Journey thank you for joining me on this Cosmic Journey as we reflect on our place in the universe it becomes clear that the search for life beyond Earth is much more than just science it's about discovering who we are and what we can become if you enjoyed exploring these Mysteries with me don't forget to subscribe for more amazing discoveries and join the conversation in the comments below let's keep looking up and stay curious