WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.230 --> 00:00:01.620 Hi, I'm Jill Tarter, 2 00:00:01.620 --> 00:00:04.840 and today we're gonna do some ET support. 3 00:00:04.840 --> 00:00:06.909 We'll talk about life beyond earth. 4 00:00:06.909 --> 00:00:10.240 line:15% [upbeat music] 5 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.053 First question comes from @JohnMaksuta. 6 00:00:13.917 --> 00:00:16.207 "If you found intelligent life on another planet, 7 00:00:16.207 --> 00:00:18.700 "would you tell the public the truth or keep it a secret?" 8 00:00:18.700 --> 00:00:23.390 Absolutely no way we would keep this a secret, John. 9 00:00:23.390 --> 00:00:25.630 We are going to tell the world. 10 00:00:25.630 --> 00:00:28.740 It's just not possible to keep this kind of thing a secret 11 00:00:28.740 --> 00:00:30.568 and we don't intend to. 12 00:00:30.568 --> 00:00:33.357 @CoraxSays, "Extraterrestrial etiquette, 13 00:00:33.357 --> 00:00:37.540 "how should humanity interact with alien intelligence?" 14 00:00:37.540 --> 00:00:40.680 I have to say that although we're really proud 15 00:00:40.680 --> 00:00:44.190 of ourselves and we think that we are the pinnacle 16 00:00:44.190 --> 00:00:47.230 of evolution, the top dog on this planet, 17 00:00:47.230 --> 00:00:52.230 if someone else can get from their star to our planet, 18 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:57.100 they are in fact a lot more technologically advanced. 19 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.530 I would say the etiquette is we're gonna play 20 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:00.877 by their rules. 21 00:01:00.877 --> 00:01:02.597 @AntonioParis says, 22 00:01:02.597 --> 00:01:05.077 "Why do we assume ET uses radio to communicate? 23 00:01:05.077 --> 00:01:07.947 "Is SETI a waste of time and millions of dollars? 24 00:01:07.947 --> 00:01:08.780 "What do you think?" 25 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:11.350 Well, me, I think, obviously not. 26 00:01:11.350 --> 00:01:13.010 That's what I've spent my career doing, 27 00:01:13.010 --> 00:01:16.320 trying to answer this really, really old human question 28 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:17.950 of are we alone in the cosmos? 29 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:19.100 Why do we use radio? 30 00:01:19.100 --> 00:01:22.100 Well, we use radio and optical wavelengths. 31 00:01:22.100 --> 00:01:26.830 Particularly, radio travels across the very vast distances 32 00:01:26.830 --> 00:01:31.090 between the stars and our galaxy without being scattered 33 00:01:31.090 --> 00:01:33.090 or absorbed by the dust. 34 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:35.327 So @lisepease, "The Fermi paradox, 35 00:01:35.327 --> 00:01:37.457 "mathematically the universe should be teeming 36 00:01:37.457 --> 00:01:38.557 "with intelligent life. 37 00:01:38.557 --> 00:01:41.367 "So why don't we see extraterrestrial versions 38 00:01:41.367 --> 00:01:42.860 "in all directions?" 39 00:01:42.860 --> 00:01:44.500 Really interesting question, 40 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:47.690 the answer is we've hardly begun to look. 41 00:01:47.690 --> 00:01:49.680 Let me give you an example. 42 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.390 If that volume of space we need to explore is equal 43 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:58.390 to the volume of all the world's oceans, in 50 plus years, 44 00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:04.160 we've observed only about one hot tub's worth of the ocean. 45 00:02:05.820 --> 00:02:08.370 Maybe it's not so surprising 46 00:02:08.370 --> 00:02:10.450 that we haven't detected anything yet. 47 00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:13.410 We need to think in terms of cosmic times 48 00:02:13.410 --> 00:02:16.940 and not human lifetimes before we decide we're alone 49 00:02:16.940 --> 00:02:18.117 because we haven't found anything. 50 00:02:18.117 --> 00:02:20.757 @EllieMaloneyFic wants to know, 51 00:02:20.757 --> 00:02:23.017 "Should NATO and the U.S. military develop 52 00:02:23.017 --> 00:02:25.247 "planetary defense systems in case 53 00:02:25.247 --> 00:02:26.950 "of an extraterrestrial threat?" 54 00:02:26.950 --> 00:02:28.180 Oh, come on, get real. 55 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.570 I think what we should develop a defense system 56 00:02:30.570 --> 00:02:33.450 against asteroids, near-earth objects, 57 00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:35.560 rocks that have our name on it. 58 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.250 And that in fact could be big enough 59 00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:41.360 that a collision with earth could be civilization ending. 60 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.260 Think about the dinosaurs, they didn't have a space program. 61 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:48.387 If they had, maybe they wouldn't be extinct. 62 00:02:48.387 --> 00:02:51.957 @jodyscottinfo, "Is math a universal language 63 00:02:51.957 --> 00:02:53.997 "to make contact with another intelligence, 64 00:02:53.997 --> 00:02:56.390 "or this is just anthropocentrism?" 65 00:02:56.390 --> 00:02:59.780 Probably, if you're going to be building 66 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:03.370 any kind of transmitter, or receiver, you need math. 67 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:05.280 So in that sense, it's universal. 68 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.280 But now we're thinking the way that we express math 69 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:13.330 may be shaped by the very configuration 70 00:03:13.330 --> 00:03:14.740 of our own human brains. 71 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:18.310 Math may be universal, the function may be universal, 72 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:22.540 but it may be that we will have a difficult time 73 00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:26.520 understanding someone else's expression of that math. 74 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:28.807 Don't know, would love to have that problem. 75 00:03:28.807 --> 00:03:31.843 @Rachel84799974, "At what year do you think 76 00:03:34.927 --> 00:03:37.750 "we will discover aliens, if ever?" 77 00:03:37.750 --> 00:03:40.060 Rachel, I can't answer that question. 78 00:03:40.060 --> 00:03:44.460 All I can say is that if we don't search, we won't succeed. 79 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:47.410 It's an open question and one that I think 80 00:03:47.410 --> 00:03:50.887 perhaps the 21st century will give an answer to. 81 00:03:50.887 --> 00:03:54.227 @VinylOnTour, "Aliens will land on earth, 82 00:03:54.227 --> 00:03:56.327 "you have only five songs to explain 83 00:03:56.327 --> 00:04:00.350 "what music means to mankind, what songs would you choose?" 84 00:04:00.350 --> 00:04:01.240 Oh, wow. 85 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.230 I think the songs of my youth 86 00:04:03.230 --> 00:04:06.280 are probably totally alien to you. 87 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.300 Rather than songs, I might go with Bach 88 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:12.290 because I think that is just the most beautiful music 89 00:04:12.290 --> 00:04:13.937 we've ever created. 90 00:04:13.937 --> 00:04:14.910 "Johnny B Goode", 91 00:04:14.910 --> 00:04:18.710 that was on the Voyager Golden Record as well as Bach. 92 00:04:18.710 --> 00:04:21.220 Music is a personal taste. 93 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:23.549 I'd send Bach and I'd brag. 94 00:04:23.549 --> 00:04:27.527 @acarboni, "We assume aliens look different than us. 95 00:04:27.527 --> 00:04:30.627 "What if their intelligence is unrecognizable? 96 00:04:30.627 --> 00:04:32.710 "How do you give them an IQ test?" 97 00:04:32.710 --> 00:04:35.310 Think about how are we gonna interact with them. 98 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:38.490 Are we detecting deliberate messages 99 00:04:38.490 --> 00:04:41.920 in optical or radio wavelengths that they've sent us? 100 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.950 Are they here looking us in the face? 101 00:04:44.950 --> 00:04:48.830 That's going to determine how we interact with them. 102 00:04:48.830 --> 00:04:51.780 If they can get here, they're a lot smarter than we are. 103 00:04:51.780 --> 00:04:54.387 You can forget the test, we'll just follow their rules. 104 00:04:54.387 --> 00:04:59.387 @SkipsAbs, "Even if their is other intelligent life 105 00:04:59.627 --> 00:05:00.847 "in the universe, 106 00:05:00.847 --> 00:05:04.330 "is our civilization even worth contacting?" 107 00:05:04.330 --> 00:05:06.810 Yeah, I suspect we are. 108 00:05:06.810 --> 00:05:10.820 We're doing a lot of things are maybe not the wisest, 109 00:05:10.820 --> 00:05:13.090 but we are us. 110 00:05:13.090 --> 00:05:16.300 We are different than they are. 111 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:20.730 I think the most interesting thing in the universe 112 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:25.230 might be how diverse the laws 113 00:05:25.230 --> 00:05:29.390 of physics and chemistry can make life. 114 00:05:29.390 --> 00:05:34.390 How many different ways can evolution end up producing 115 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:38.330 creatures that are intelligent, technological, 116 00:05:38.330 --> 00:05:39.810 even microbial? 117 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:42.040 How many different ways can you make life? 118 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.530 That might be the biggest question of the cosmos 119 00:05:45.530 --> 00:05:48.169 and one that they'd be interested in finding out 120 00:05:48.169 --> 00:05:50.320 what happened here. 121 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:52.677 @bobbybeaulieu wants to know, 122 00:05:52.677 --> 00:05:55.970 "Did U.S. fighter pilots see a UFO?" 123 00:05:55.970 --> 00:05:58.810 I don't know, I've seen those videos too. 124 00:05:58.810 --> 00:06:00.520 I don't know what they are. 125 00:06:00.520 --> 00:06:04.380 I don't know whether the equipment, 126 00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:06.993 which was in fact quite new, 127 00:06:08.130 --> 00:06:09.570 was behaving properly. 128 00:06:09.570 --> 00:06:13.270 All I can is that there's no evidence 129 00:06:13.270 --> 00:06:16.270 that indicates that that's a spacecraft 130 00:06:16.270 --> 00:06:18.450 from another intelligent species. 131 00:06:18.450 --> 00:06:20.050 More than likely, 132 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:23.240 we have some problems with our own equipment. 133 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:24.860 It's going to take more than that 134 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:27.717 to prove that aliens are here. 135 00:06:27.717 --> 00:06:32.717 @willmckim, "How much do we think all this recent UFO news 136 00:06:33.987 --> 00:06:38.300 "is prepping the public for a discussion of actual content?" 137 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:41.300 I think that, like many things, 138 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:44.770 our interest in this question is cyclical. 139 00:06:44.770 --> 00:06:47.050 We get really hyped up about it, 140 00:06:47.050 --> 00:06:50.230 somebody makes a claim, people discuss it, 141 00:06:50.230 --> 00:06:53.180 and then after a while the Kardashians do something else 142 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:54.427 and we lose interest. 143 00:06:54.427 --> 00:06:57.067 "What if we are the aliens that we seek 144 00:06:57.067 --> 00:06:59.087 "and earth was once populated 145 00:06:59.087 --> 00:07:01.747 "by a much more intelligent life force 146 00:07:01.747 --> 00:07:03.660 "until we destroyed it?" 147 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:04.990 Well, think about that. 148 00:07:04.990 --> 00:07:08.570 The planet is really quite active. 149 00:07:08.570 --> 00:07:12.090 About the oldest rocks we can find 150 00:07:12.090 --> 00:07:17.000 are a little bit more than four billion years old 151 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:18.630 and the planet we think formed 152 00:07:18.630 --> 00:07:21.970 about four and a half billion years ago. 153 00:07:21.970 --> 00:07:25.920 Now, these rocks produce stones called zircons 154 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.260 and the zircons sometimes have inclusions 155 00:07:28.260 --> 00:07:32.570 that have biological ratios of light carbon to heavy carbon. 156 00:07:32.570 --> 00:07:35.670 So we're thinking, maybe life went back that far. 157 00:07:35.670 --> 00:07:40.600 But we don't find any huge trash heaps, 158 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.100 we don't find any evidence of foundries, 159 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:48.170 or large structures, or roads. 160 00:07:48.170 --> 00:07:50.877 Let's just say we don't see any evidence for that. 161 00:07:50.877 --> 00:07:53.877 "Intelligence is proportional to the number of thoughts 162 00:07:53.877 --> 00:07:57.687 "we can simultaneously recall and hold in our minds 163 00:07:57.687 --> 00:07:59.437 "as we explore new ideas. 164 00:07:59.437 --> 00:08:03.677 "So what would we look like to an alien species 165 00:08:03.677 --> 00:08:07.293 "who could juggle 10 or 20 times as many thoughts 166 00:08:07.293 --> 00:08:09.190 "as our smartest human?" 167 00:08:09.190 --> 00:08:11.840 We wouldn't look very intelligent, would we? 168 00:08:11.840 --> 00:08:15.550 We have to ask questions, not in our language, 169 00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:16.860 but in their language. 170 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:20.470 We have to try and interact with nonhuman intelligence 171 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:23.000 in ways that they perceive. 172 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:25.760 And we're beginning to do a little bit of that 173 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:27.610 with whales, and with dolphins, 174 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:29.810 and with a number of other species. 175 00:08:29.810 --> 00:08:32.910 We can actually understand 176 00:08:32.910 --> 00:08:36.490 that prairie dogs standing up in the field 177 00:08:36.490 --> 00:08:37.877 are saying to one another, 178 00:08:37.877 --> 00:08:39.717 "Hey, there's a big guy over there 179 00:08:39.717 --> 00:08:41.410 "in the yellow sweater, he's back." 180 00:08:41.410 --> 00:08:44.550 Other intelligence is going to have to speak to us 181 00:08:44.550 --> 00:08:48.200 in our language if we're going to have any ability 182 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:49.378 to communicate. 183 00:08:49.378 --> 00:08:51.927 @gdbassett, "Thought experiment, 184 00:08:51.927 --> 00:08:56.317 "if our AI could lead to an existential threat 185 00:08:56.317 --> 00:09:00.167 "and there may be other intelligent life in the universe, 186 00:09:00.167 --> 00:09:02.200 "what about their AI?" 187 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:04.120 Yeah, good question. 188 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.010 I think it's quite likely that what we will encounter 189 00:09:08.010 --> 00:09:10.180 is their artificial intelligence. 190 00:09:10.180 --> 00:09:14.601 It can be propagated in so many different ways 191 00:09:14.601 --> 00:09:16.050 between the stars. 192 00:09:16.050 --> 00:09:18.760 As we build artificial intelligence 193 00:09:18.760 --> 00:09:23.010 and hopefully, as they built their artificial intelligence, 194 00:09:23.010 --> 00:09:25.500 there are going to be constraints 195 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:28.550 that build into the structure. 196 00:09:28.550 --> 00:09:31.560 Goals that remain consistent 197 00:09:31.560 --> 00:09:34.260 with goals that we have for ourselves. 198 00:09:34.260 --> 00:09:38.097 If it's rogue, game over. 199 00:09:38.097 --> 00:09:42.240 "What is the organizing principal behind intelligent life?" 200 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:43.960 Whoa, what a question. 201 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:45.710 We can't define intelligence. 202 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:48.691 What we have done to make progress in this field 203 00:09:48.691 --> 00:09:53.691 is to use technology as our proxy for intelligence. 204 00:09:54.920 --> 00:09:57.880 So if we detect evidence of someone else's 205 00:09:57.880 --> 00:09:59.190 technology out there, 206 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:02.930 we will assume that at some time 207 00:10:02.930 --> 00:10:07.450 there was an intelligent entity that created the technology. 208 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:08.283 Best we can do. 209 00:10:08.283 --> 00:10:12.314 @zee_shah, "If there's a new planet, 210 00:10:12.314 --> 00:10:14.457 "who will own the real estate? 211 00:10:14.457 --> 00:10:17.680 "Will NASA get into the property development business?" 212 00:10:17.680 --> 00:10:19.000 Great question. 213 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:23.240 We have confirmed over 4,000 other planets 214 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:25.210 around other stars. 215 00:10:25.210 --> 00:10:27.570 The question of who owns them, 216 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:31.940 who can mine them, is a work in progress. 217 00:10:31.940 --> 00:10:34.510 The U.N. treaty of outer space says 218 00:10:34.510 --> 00:10:37.830 that it is possible to benefit 219 00:10:37.830 --> 00:10:42.830 from an extraterrestrial body without owning it. 220 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:44.970 That no one owns it. 221 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:49.970 Basing this meta-law, if you wish, on the law of the seas. 222 00:10:50.010 --> 00:10:52.020 No one owns the ocean, 223 00:10:52.020 --> 00:10:55.420 but people can in fact salvage and fish, 224 00:10:55.420 --> 00:10:57.950 and benefit from the oceans. 225 00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:01.510 That's kind of the playing field that we're dealing now 226 00:11:01.510 --> 00:11:03.160 with extrasolar bodies. 227 00:11:03.160 --> 00:11:06.060 It's a work in progress. 228 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:08.077 We'll see how it plays out. 229 00:11:08.077 --> 00:11:10.937 @CodeIsBroken, oh yeah, my code usually is. 230 00:11:10.937 --> 00:11:15.697 "If aliens exist who could be far, far older than humanity 231 00:11:15.697 --> 00:11:18.787 "and have used similar comms tech to us, 232 00:11:18.787 --> 00:11:21.020 "how come we've not heard a thing?" 233 00:11:21.020 --> 00:11:24.020 Because the cosmos is pretty damn big. 234 00:11:24.020 --> 00:11:27.450 We're talking about signals here for communication. 235 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:30.250 Maybe we need to look for something else, 236 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:34.050 maybe we're doing an absolutely exquisite job 237 00:11:34.050 --> 00:11:35.680 at looking for just the wrong thing. 238 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:37.610 Maybe we haven't figured out 239 00:11:37.610 --> 00:11:39.830 that the thing that intelligent, 240 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:44.273 advanced societies use to communicate is Zeta rays. 241 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:47.857 And we haven't discovered them yet. 242 00:11:47.857 --> 00:11:51.997 @K8smommyLisa, "What if they are trying to communicate 243 00:11:51.997 --> 00:11:54.010 "but we just don't realize it yet?" 244 00:11:54.010 --> 00:11:55.990 Yes, absolutely. 245 00:11:55.990 --> 00:11:59.580 What if they're using some technology, some physics, 246 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:01.940 that we haven't yet invented? 247 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:04.080 We could be missing a signal. 248 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:09.080 The only strategy is to stay around long enough 249 00:12:09.270 --> 00:12:11.140 so that we can get smart enough 250 00:12:11.140 --> 00:12:12.880 that we invent the technology 251 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:15.507 and then we can find the signal. 252 00:12:15.507 --> 00:12:19.750 @CaptainFishMugs, "Do aliens have belly buttons?" 253 00:12:19.750 --> 00:12:21.620 Yes, well, that's a good question. 254 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:23.490 I'd love to know the answer to that. 255 00:12:23.490 --> 00:12:27.620 We look at various form of life on this planet, 256 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:30.440 not all of them have belly buttons, 257 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:33.657 so it's possible that aliens don't either. 258 00:12:33.657 --> 00:12:36.617 @ET_Exists, oh, I like that. 259 00:12:36.617 --> 00:12:38.420 "When will we hear from ET?" 260 00:12:38.420 --> 00:12:40.160 And there are lots of hashtags here. 261 00:12:40.160 --> 00:12:41.590 I don't know the answer to that question. 262 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:43.940 I don't know if ET is out there. 263 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:45.640 I think it's likely. 264 00:12:45.640 --> 00:12:49.450 The universe appears to be relatively bio-friendly. 265 00:12:49.450 --> 00:12:53.130 We know about lots of planets around other stars. 266 00:12:53.130 --> 00:12:56.720 We now know about lots of lifeforms on this planet 267 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.840 that exist in extreme, extreme for us, environments. 268 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:01.903 There's a chance. 269 00:13:02.780 --> 00:13:05.580 The only way that we'll know is to look. 270 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:07.140 And when? 271 00:13:07.140 --> 00:13:08.610 Can't answer that question. 272 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:10.170 Talk to my great-granddaughter, 273 00:13:10.170 --> 00:13:11.660 she may have an answer for you. 274 00:13:11.660 --> 00:13:13.550 That was ET support. 275 00:13:13.550 --> 00:13:17.180 That's what I know, and mostly what I don't know. 276 00:13:17.180 --> 00:13:20.693 But I'm looking forward to learning more with all of you.