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CHARLES: HUMANITY FACED TWO
MONUMENTAL QUESTIONS SINCE WE
FIRST STOOD ON TWO FEET.
WHY ARE WE HERE, AND ARE WE
ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?
WELL WE MAY ACTUALLY BE CLOSER
TO ANSWERING THE LATTER.
A STUDY OUT OF THE UK IS FUELING
THEORIES THAT THERE ARE 36
INTELLIGENT ALIEN RACES JUST IN
OUR GALAXY ALONE.
JOINING US TO BREAK IT ALL DOWN,
THEORETICAL PHYSICIST.
AUTHOR OF, THE FUTURE OF
HUMANITY, MICHIO KAKU.
THANKS FIRST OF ALL FOR JOINING
US.
WHEN I READ ABOUT THIS LATE LAST
WEEK, YOU’RE THE FIRST PERSON I
THOUGHT OF.
MAYBE WE’RE GETTING CLOSER TO
ANSWERING THAT QUESTION, IS
THERE LIFE OUTSIDE OF THIS,
OUTSIDE OF EARTH?
>> WELL, THAT IS THE GREATEST
EXISTENTIAL QUESTION OF ALL
TIME.
ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?
LET’S DO A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT.
GO OUTSIDE TONIGHT, LOOK UP, SEE
THE MILKY WAY GALAXY.
YOU ARE NOW STARING AT
100 BILLION STARS IN OUR
BACKYARD, THE MILKY WAY GALAXY.
MAKE A BALLPARK ESTIMATE.
HOW MANY OF STARS HAVE PLANETS?
HOW MANY OF THOSE PLANETS HAVE
OCEANS?
HOW MANY OF THE OCEANS HAVE FISH
AND AQUATIC LIFE?
HOW MANY OF THEM HAVE
INTELLIGENT LIFE?
THIS IS CALLED DRAKE’S EQUATION.
TRYING TO GET A BALLPARK
ESTIMATE OF HOW MANY
CIVILIZATIONS THERE ARE IN THE
GALAXY.
THAT IS WHERE THEY CAME UP WITH
NUMBER 36.
THEY TOOK A BARE BONES, STRIPPED
DOWN, DRAKE’S EQUATION TO GET
THAT NUMBER.
CHARLES: THAT THAT IS A FASCINAT
NUMBER AND IT IS ENCOURAGING.
I HAVE GUESS THE QUESTION THOUGH
IS, WHEN OR WILL THEY REVEAL
THEMSELVES?
WHY HAVEN’T THEY REVEALED
THEMSELVES?
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?
ARE THEY GOING TO BE MORE
INTELLIGENT THAN WE ARE?
>> WELL THAT IS CALLED THE
THERMAL PARADOX, WHERE ARE THEY?
TURNS OUT IF YOU HAVE A MILKY
WAY GALAXY WITH 36 DOTS ON IT,
EACH DOT IS SEPARATED BY 17,000
LIGHT YEARS.
IN OTHER WORDS EVEN IF WE’RE
POPULATED WITH 36
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE FORMS THE
DISTANCE IS SO GREAT WE’LL NOT
BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM
WITH RADIO OR TELEVISION T WOULD
TAKE 17,000 YEARS FOR A TV
SIGNAL TO GO FROM ONE PLANET TO
THE NEXT PLANET.
IT WILL NOT HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON.
SORRY ABOUT THAT.
CHARLES: OKAY.
BUT THERE IS NO SENSE THEY COULD
HAVE BEEN SO EOFFED, LONG BEFORE
US COULD BE HERE -- EVOLVED?
MAYBE WE’RE STILL A FEW THOUSAND
YEARS BEHIND AND MAYBE WE’LL GET
A WELCOME, HEY, WE HAVE ADVANCED
SOMEWHAT AS A CIVILIZATION?
BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO DASH OUR
HOPES THAT WE MIGHT ONE DAY COME
IN CONTACT WITH WITH E "E.T."?
>> I THINK THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY
LAND ON THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN AND
ANNOUNCE THEIR EXISTENCE,
HOWEVER AS STEPHEN HAWKING
CAUTIONED US, WE HAVE TO BE
CAREFUL.
REMEMBER WHEN CORTEZ MET
MONTEZUMA IN MEXICO.
CORTEZ HAD STEEL, THE GUNPOWDER,
AND THE HORSE AND WRITTEN
LANGUAGE AND AZTECS HAD NONE OF
THOSE.
WITHIN A MATTER OF FEW MONTHS
THE ADS TECH CIVILIZATION
COLLAPSED.
LET’S HOPE THEY ARE PEACEFUL.
I THINK THEY ARE.
LET’S HOPE THEY ARE PEACEFUL
WHEN THEY LAND ON THE
WHITE HOUSE LAWN.
CHARLES: MICHIO, OUTSIDE OF THE
POTENTIAL HOSTILE ALIENS THE
FUTURE OF HUMANITY, WHAT DOES IT
LOOK LIKE NOW?
>> WELL YOU KNOW IN 2024 WE’RE
GOING BACK TO THE MOON.
THAT’S RIGHT, THE FIRST MEN AND
WOMEN WILL GO BACK TO THE MOON
IN 2024.
IT IS ON TO MARS, SOMEWHERE
AROUND 2030.
AND WHO KNOWS, MAYBE MINING THE
ASTEROID BELT TO HELP PAY FOR
ALL OF THIS BECAUSE WE COULD
HAVE A NEW GOLD RUSH, A NEW GOLD
RUSH IN OUTER SPACE BY
HARVESTING THE PLATINUM-BASED
RARE EARTH MINERALS INSIDE OF
THE ASTEROID BELT.
THAT COULD HELP TO PAY FOR THE
ENTIRE SPACE PROGRAM.
SO WE’RE SEEING A NEW FRONTIER.
CHARLES: WOW.
>> COSTS ARE DROPPING.
BOOSTER ROCKETS ARE REUSABLE.
THERE IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN
PUBLIC ENTERPRISE AND PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE.
SO I THINK WE’RE WITNESSING THE
DAWN OF A NEW ERA IN SPACE
EXPLORATION.
CHARLES: WONDERFUL TO BE ALIVE
AT THIS TIME TO SEE ALL OF THAT.
IT IS GREAT TO HAVE YOU GUIDE US
