Are aliens like us? | 42 - The answer to almost everything | ARTE
If we discover aliens one day, who will they resemble? Mom or Dad? Us humans, the so-called complex organisms, or bacteria, the so-called simple organisms? Is our planet, then, ultimately an exception, and our evolution a unique accident? Or will life, once it has arisen and has enough time, inevitably become complex...?
More than 300 million planets in the galaxies we know could be habitable. Some of them aren't even that far away—only 20 to 30 light-years. So it's only a matter of time before we find traces of extraterrestrial life. But what will the aliens look like? More like bacteria or more like us? Or, to put it another way: How complex will they be? The planet K2-18b is somewhat farther away, but the James Webb Space Telescope may have found traces of DMS there, a sulfur-containing organic compound that on Earth is produced only by life—primarily phytoplankton. Do complex organisms evolve there?
On Earth, complex cells, so-called eukaryotic cells, arose from a symbiosis of bacteria and archaea. Symbiotic relationships are not uncommon in nature; for example, aphids and ants live in symbiosis. However, such symbiosis does not usually result in a new organism. The eukaryotic cell only evolved once, even though bacteria and archaea have lived together for billions of years. What led to the development of complex organisms from this unique symbiosis on Earth? And could this happen again on another planet?
;) Sources and further links:
More information about the protagonists:
Arik Kershenbaum: https://arikkershenbaum.wixsite.com/a...
Purificacion Lopez Garcia: https://www.cnrs.fr/fr/personne/purif...
How many habitable planets are there?
…Based on data from the Kepler space telescope, researchers estimate that 300 million planets in our universe could potentially be habitable: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...
What is needed for life to arise?
…water and carbon, but also energy
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
…and that's why certain planets or moons are possibilities…
https://europa.nasa.gov/why-europa/in...
How likely is it that complex life will arise in the universe?
…Statisticians have examined this question and consider the chances for complex life to be rather slim…
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
…especially because it took so long for intelligent life to emerge on Earth:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33216...
4. How did life on Earth become complex?
…a symbiosis of archaea and bacteria laid the foundation…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33216...
…Lynn Margulis discovered that symbioses play a very important role in evolution…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Ma...
5. How did the nucleus get into the cell?
…exactly how the eukaryotic cell, that is, the cell with a nucleus, originated remains controversial. Some researchers speculate that viruses may have played a role…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
…most researchers, however, believe that “we” evolved from an archaeon and a bacterium…
https://www.spektrum.de/magazin/der-s...
Music in this episode
Benjamin Clementine: Delighted
TC: 00:00:00:00
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Original Soundtrack): James Newton Howard: Newt Says Goodbye to Tina
TC: 00:02:26:11, 01:21:19:11
Asteroid City (Original Soundtrack): Alexandre Desplat: WXYZ-TV Channel 8
TC: 01:01:28:00
The Village Stompers: A Taste of Honey
TC: 01:09:36:06
Alex Baranowski: Bara Birth, Ulysses
TC: 01:10:27:16, 01:26:23:13
Alexandre Desplat: Mr. Moustafa (Grand Budapest Hotel Original Soundtrack)
TC: 01:09:25:18
The Andrews Sisters: Bei mir bist du schön
TC: 01:15:21:04
Justin Biber and Benni Blanco: Lonely
TC: 00:18:48:00
Trini Lopez: If I Had a Hammer
TC: 01:19:30:16
#aliens #extraterrestrials #42
Video available until 2027-07-28
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