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It's been 200,000 years
since humans first emerged
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in the Rift Valley of East Africa.
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Since then, we've learnt to think,
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to dream, to work together.
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And today our human civilisation
spans the globe...
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and beyond.
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But our planet is a tiny fragile
speck of life in a vast,
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uncaring universe.
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So what next for the apes
who went to space?
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This cave mouth in northern Spain
has been inhabited
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for 150,000 years.
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There's basic shelter here and safety.
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But from time to time,
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they left the light behind
and headed into the dark.
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In these caves you see
the transition from just surviving
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to living, to observing the world,
to enjoying it.
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There were gatherings here,
people coming together to make art
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and not just any old art,
but specific representations
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of particular animals
and particular symbols.
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So in these caves we see
the beginnings of superstition,
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the beginnings of an appreciation
that there's not just a present
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but there's a past and there's a future.
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These early artists were leaving
messages to future generations.
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And the one that speaks loudest
lies far deeper into the darkness.
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This handprint was made by a child
at least 35,000 years ago
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and it's thought it was made
by a little girl.
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She'd have done the painting by
taking paint and blowing it through
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her hand
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onto the wall of the cave.
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Now, she would have had a basic
understanding of her future,
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she'd have known that the seasons pass
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and maybe she even looked forward
to coming back to this cave one day.
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Leaving her mark upon the wall
suggests she had started down
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the road of understanding time
and how it stretched out
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into the future.
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In 40,000 years, we've learned
to see further ahead than
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she could possibly have imagined.
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We've walked out into a wider world
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and made it our own.
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And right now we are at a crossroads.
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Our civilisation holds the power
to shape the future
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of the whole planet.
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I think we pay far too little
attention to the future
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and the ability to illuminate it,
to predict it is unique to us
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and our prosperity, and our very survival
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depend very much on what
we glimpse out there in the dark.
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Science and reason are the flames
and in this film I want to convince
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you that we must use them
to make the darkness visible.
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In late June, Earth's most northerly
community are preparing
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to celebrate an important turning
point of their year.
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It's midsummer in the Arctic,
and the people of Svalbard
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are approaching the moment when
the sun rides highest in the sky,
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the summer solstice.
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If I were in Manchester I'd say this
was the longest day,
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but that kind of language doesn't
make sense here, 78 degrees north
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and midway between northern Norway
and the Arctic Circle
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cos this day, summer's day,
began on April the 20th
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and it will end on August the 23rd.
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We can predict exactly the moment
that the solstice arrives.
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So as strange as this long day
feels, there is no mystery
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as to why it takes place.
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The reason for that long polar night
and the months of midnight sun
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is the geometry of the solar system.
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Svalbard is quite literally
on top of the world and you feel it
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when you're here, it's obvious.
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The sun doesn't set, it's somewhere
over there at the moment
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and throughout the course of the day
it just moves along the horizon
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right round, 360 degrees as the
Earth rotates with the North Pole
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pointing directly towards the sun.
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And when this place was discovered
back in the 1590s,
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people didn't know that,
or at least it wasn't agreed upon,
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it was still possible and indeed
argued, back down there towards
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the equator in Italy, that the Earth
was at the centre of the universe.
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It's obvious that it isn't
when you come up here.
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I wonder what would have happened
if Galileo and Copernicus and Bruno
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and others had visited Svalbard.
I think that everything would have
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got worked out much earlier.
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After thousands of years of observation,
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our inquisitive minds began
to develop models of the universe.
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The full explanation for the
clockwork of the solar system
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came in the 1680s, with Isaac Newton
and his universal law
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of gravitation, which is the first
modern law of nature.
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What Newton's laws allow you to do
is to predict the future
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given a knowledge of the present.
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Newton's laws describe
a clockwork universe.
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Planets orbiting stars,
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stars orbiting galaxies.
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And galaxies falling through
a possibly infinite space.
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One day, in our own sky,
we'll see the galaxy Andromeda
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heading our way.
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In four billion years' time, it will
collide with The Milky Way.
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For a billion years, our sky will be
filled with cosmic choreography.
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And we know that because
we can predict the future.
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So the laws of physics, in that
sense, are little time machines.
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They allow you to predict
with precision what will happen
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in the distant future
given a knowledge of the present.
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We even see the sun ends its days
as it swells into a red giant,
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some five billion years from now.
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So we can be sure that we, along
with all other life on Earth,
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will not survive into the far future.
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Extinction is a necessary part
of the evolution of life on Earth.
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99.9% of species that have ever
existed have become extinct
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and that's a good thing,
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because when a species goes, there's
a niche available in the ecosystem
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for other species to colonise -
that's how evolution works.
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You know, if the dinosaurs
hadn't become extinct,
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it's very likely that we wouldn't exist.
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So when considering the ultimate
destiny of our species
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the answer seems obvious - extinction.
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But I'd argue this doesn't have
to be the case.
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We are different to the other
species on this planet because we're
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intelligent. Intelligence matters
and it's extremely rare, in fact
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you can argue that intelligence may
be extremely rare in the universe.
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It is possible that we're the only
intelligent species in the Milky Way
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galaxy amongst 400 billion suns
and countless billions of worlds.
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And that makes us extremely valuable
and worth protecting.
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I think the way to keep this light
alive is for humans to continue
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to venture out.
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And explore.
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To this end, we've built a ship
large enough for six astronauts
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to train in.
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This is Aquarius,
which is used by NASA as Nemo,
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the Nemo missions. And the reason
this place is extreme,
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if you look here...
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is because...
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we're below the ocean.
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The pressure in here is two
and half to three times
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atmospheric pressure, which is why
I sound like a Munchkin.
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50 metres below the surface,
Aquarius offers a unique
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training facility for deep space
exploration.
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This is, er, this is brilliant cos
you can play at being an astronaut,
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I mean, you'd have six astronauts
in here. The reason that
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they use this as a mission simulator
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is because the environment
is as close as you can get
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to space on Earth, you have
to live here for weeks.
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And if you stay here for more
than one hour -
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so we've got one hour - you have to
stay here for a further 17 hours
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to decompress, so you can't just run away
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if you, you know, psychologically
feel a bit claustrophobic
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and you think "I don't like it,"
you can't just leave,
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it's one of the few places on Earth
where that would be the case.
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In recent months, Nemo has been
tasked with a very specific type
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of deep space exploration.
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They're developing methods
to space walk onto asteroids,
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where gravity will be a fraction
of that experienced on the moon.
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Whilst at times dreaming
of an asteroid encounter is
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a lot of fun, the motive behind
the mission is deadly serious.
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In 2013, on a wintry morning in Russia,
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a massive fireball cut the sky.
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Seconds later, it exploded,
with 20 to 30 times
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more energy than the atomic bomb
detonated at Hiroshima.
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Earth had been hit by the largest
asteroid in more than a century.
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And no-one had seen it coming.
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It seems our powers of prediction
failed us
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and that's because, in reality,
nature can be chaotic.
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I can demonstrate that with
a simple experiment.
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These are magnets, so let's say that
this is an asteroid, then watch
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what happens when I set the pendulum
off, let's say from this point here.
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So I'm going to release it,
I've got a laser there.
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From exactly that point,
I'm just going to let it go.
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We see the laser tracing out
the path on this photo paper,
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this is asteroid orbiting the solar
system, gravitationally interacting
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with the Earth, the sun of course,
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let's say a massive planet like Jupiter.
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There you go, it's collided with
the yellow one, the sun.
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I can do it again
and what I'm going to try
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and do is line it up in exactly
the same way and let it go.
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In this case it's radically
different, that's because
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this is what is known as a chaotic
system, there you go,
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and it's hit the Earth, so that
will be the end of civilisation
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as we know it.
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The point is that the orbit is
critically dependent on what
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we call, what physicists call,
the initial conditions.
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That's how precisely did I line this
up, how precisely did I release it,
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what precisely happens as it sets
off on its path
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through the solar system?
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In here are the little air
currents that deflect it
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a little bit, all those
infinitesimally small changes
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can be amplified in a complicated
system such as this.
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And that's why it's not good enough
to just discover the asteroids
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that come near to the Earth,
it's not good enough
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because one of those tiny nudges
could take something that you
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might think was safe, just using
Newton's laws very naively,
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and in fact nudging it onto
a collision course with the Earth.
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This fundamental feature of nature
means that we may get little
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warning when the next one comes our way.
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So we must continue to track
threatening asteroids
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and develop technologies that will
get us out to them at short notice.
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In January 2014, the European Space
Agency's Rosetta spacecraft
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awoke from a 31-month period
of hibernation.
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It had travelled four billion miles
to intercept a comet.
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Throughout August and September,
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the tiny spaceship made
a careful approach,
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scanning the comet for a place to land.
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And next week, it will deploy
a probe to attach itself
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to the surface.
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Rosetta will greatly increase
our understanding of comets
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and the early solar system.
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It also tests our ability to mount
a manned mission to an asteroid
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if the need arises.
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The problem is that even with
a sophisticated rocket system,
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it took Rosetta ten years
to reach its target.
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To send astronauts that deep
into space will require
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a great leap in our technical ability
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and our ambition.
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I had an ambition to be an astronaut
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from, you know, as early
as I can remember.
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I can't remember thinking anything else.
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The excitement of, you know,
just going way away from Earth.
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For the first time in a generation,
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new designs of manned spacecraft
are being tested.
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Commercial companies
are now developing crafts
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to get us into space.
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The endeavour is never without risk.
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It's not an easy thing to do,
to escape the Earth's gravity
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even for a few minutes
takes a lot of energy.
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Three, two, one.
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Release, release. Quick release.
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The future of human space
exploration faces enormous
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challenges and depends on
the bravery of test pilots like
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00:21:47,940 --> 00:21:52,629
David Mackay, Peter Siebold and
their colleague, Mike Alsbury,
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who lost his life last week
in the pursuit of a dream.
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A dream that many of us grew up
with as children and never lost.
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When I was growing up in the 1970s,
this was one of my favourite books.
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I got it, I think it was 1979, it
was about the same time as my first
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ABBA album.
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And I just read it for years
and years and years.
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It's a sort of fictional history
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of spacecraft, 2000 to 2100 AD.
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It's got things like, "2005 -
work starts on the lunar station."
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Then this is one of my favourite
spacecraft, I used to try and build
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these out of Lego, it's called the
Martian Queen and it says, "Early in
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00:22:47,131 --> 00:22:50,510
"2015, fare-paying passengers
stepped aboard
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00:22:50,511 --> 00:22:54,380
"the first purpose-built
interplanetary spaceliner."
235
00:22:54,381 --> 00:22:59,499
So they imagined that by 2015,
by next year, we'd have spaceliners
236
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,699
taking people to the Martian colonies.
237
00:23:02,700 --> 00:23:06,147
And what's interesting is my little
boy loves the book as well,
238
00:23:06,148 --> 00:23:11,669
he's got it now, and some of this
stuff is in his past.
239
00:23:11,670 --> 00:23:15,489
This is a list of things that
didn't happen, whereas for me,
240
00:23:15,490 --> 00:23:19,950
back in the '70s, it was a list of
things that I thought would happen.
241
00:23:25,490 --> 00:23:30,489
Breaking free from Earth's bonds is
so difficult that there are only
242
00:23:30,490 --> 00:23:34,950
eight people alive that know what
it's like to walk on another world.
243
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,632
Hi. Charlie.
244
00:23:42,910 --> 00:23:46,585
What's your name? Charlie. Believe
it or not, I'm the other half
245
00:23:46,586 --> 00:23:47,859
of Judy.
246
00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:50,559
Hello, Charlie. How you doing?
Nice to meet you.
247
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,626
Wonderful to meet you.
Pleasure to meet you.
248
00:23:52,627 --> 00:23:54,679
Good to be here with you.
Have a seat.
249
00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:06,869
Charlie Duke was Lunar Module
pilot for Apollo 16
250
00:24:06,870 --> 00:24:10,270
and the youngest person ever
to walk on the moon.
251
00:24:10,271 --> 00:24:13,878
How about an extension,
you guys? We're feeling good.
252
00:24:17,540 --> 00:24:22,419
Mission objective - to bring back
samples from the lunar highlands
253
00:24:22,420 --> 00:24:25,003
and test drive new technologies.
254
00:24:28,750 --> 00:24:34,209
And here we go. We are really going
up a hill, I'll tell you.
255
00:24:34,210 --> 00:24:38,819
When I was just becoming aware
of Apollo, I thought that
256
00:24:38,820 --> 00:24:42,518
I would be able to go into...
at least into Earth orbit myself.
257
00:24:42,519 --> 00:24:46,989
Yeah, really, my dad was born
in 1907 and so he was just
258
00:24:46,990 --> 00:24:51,749
right after the Wright brothers
and, er, and he could barely believe
259
00:24:51,750 --> 00:24:53,423
that his son went to the moon.
260
00:24:53,424 --> 00:24:58,499
And yet at the time my five-year-old,
Tom, he didn't think it was any
261
00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:01,492
big deal! You know, that everybody
in the neighbourhood
262
00:25:01,493 --> 00:25:03,219
was going to the moon.
263
00:25:03,220 --> 00:25:05,706
Neil Armstrong was a next door neighbour,
264
00:25:05,707 --> 00:25:08,431
Tom Stafford was in the
neighbourhood, Frank Borman
265
00:25:08,432 --> 00:25:12,226
was in the neighbourhood, the whole
neighbourhood was either NASA engineers
266
00:25:12,227 --> 00:25:14,637
or astronauts, so everybody's...
it's natural,
267
00:25:14,638 --> 00:25:17,281
"Let's go to the moon, Dad,
when you going to do it?"
268
00:25:18,460 --> 00:25:22,283
Hey, John, this is perfect, with
the LM, and the rover, and you,
269
00:25:22,284 --> 00:25:26,339
and Stone Mountain, and the old flag.
270
00:25:26,340 --> 00:25:28,752
Come on out here and give me a salute.
271
00:25:28,753 --> 00:25:30,539
Big Navy salute.
272
00:25:30,540 --> 00:25:32,360
Off the ground a bit more.
273
00:25:33,690 --> 00:25:35,029
There we go.
274
00:25:35,030 --> 00:25:39,019
You're most famous probably
for the most famous photograph
275
00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:40,699
involving you, it's not you,
276
00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:43,488
it's the photograph of your family
that you left on the moon.
277
00:25:43,489 --> 00:25:45,979
I asked the boys,
they were five and seven,
278
00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:48,722
I said, "Would you guys like to be
with your dad on the moon?"
279
00:25:48,723 --> 00:25:51,080
They said "Oh, yeah,
that'd be great, Dad."
280
00:25:51,081 --> 00:25:53,476
So on the back of that picture
we had written,
281
00:25:53,477 --> 00:25:56,178
"This is the family of astronaut
Charlie Duke,
282
00:25:56,179 --> 00:26:01,939
"from planet Earth who landed on
the moon in April 1972"
283
00:26:01,940 --> 00:26:06,659
and we all signed it and then
I dropped the picture on the moon.
284
00:26:06,660 --> 00:26:10,517
It sort of shows the human side
of space flight and, you know,
285
00:26:10,518 --> 00:26:13,939
we were family men,
we were dads, husbands,
286
00:26:13,940 --> 00:26:16,523
and so wanted my family
to be a part of it.
287
00:26:16,524 --> 00:26:21,849
They'll sit there for millions of years,
won't they, they won't go anywhere.
288
00:26:21,850 --> 00:26:26,119
And if you look back to those days,
so less than a year from the first
289
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:29,205
test flight, first manned test
flight to landing on the moon. Yeah.
290
00:26:29,206 --> 00:26:32,579
Would that be possible now? No. Why?
291
00:26:32,580 --> 00:26:35,579
We don't have the, er, the schedule,
292
00:26:35,580 --> 00:26:38,489
the money to build spacecraft
that quickly.
293
00:26:38,490 --> 00:26:43,539
We don't have the, er, the manpower
to do it.
294
00:26:43,540 --> 00:26:48,509
I mean, 400,000 people and unlimited
budget, you can do a lot, you know.
295
00:26:48,510 --> 00:26:49,749
Yeah.
296
00:26:49,750 --> 00:26:52,731
Yeah! And that's what we had.
297
00:27:13,340 --> 00:27:18,260
After Charlie left, only two
men have ever gone back
298
00:27:18,261 --> 00:27:20,127
and there's good reason for that.
299
00:27:20,128 --> 00:27:25,469
The energy required to break free
from Earth's gravitational embrace
300
00:27:25,470 --> 00:27:26,710
is staggering.
301
00:27:32,990 --> 00:27:36,306
This is the spacecraft that took
John Young, Ken Mattingly
302
00:27:36,307 --> 00:27:38,227
and Charlie Duke to the moon.
303
00:27:38,228 --> 00:27:40,629
There's the Service Module
and the Command Module,
304
00:27:40,630 --> 00:27:43,440
that's the engine that fired
to bring them back from the moon
305
00:27:43,441 --> 00:27:47,699
to the Earth, the Lunar Lander
sat inside there
306
00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:51,130
and this piece is essentially
a single rocket motor
307
00:27:51,131 --> 00:27:55,289
that fired to take them from Earth
orbit to the moon.
308
00:27:55,290 --> 00:28:00,469
So this is the 120 tonne moon
spacecraft, if you like.
309
00:28:00,470 --> 00:28:03,644
But from a physics perspective,
the difficulty is getting that
310
00:28:03,645 --> 00:28:09,339
into orbit, and on Saturn V
that was done in two bits
311
00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:15,379
and this is stage two and that
is the stage two fuel tank.
312
00:28:15,380 --> 00:28:20,150
Inside there are 450 tonnes
of rocket fuel.
313
00:28:20,151 --> 00:28:24,699
And this burnt through those
450 tonnes in about 6 minutes,
314
00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:28,829
taking the spacecraft from
an altitude of 200,000 feet,
315
00:28:28,830 --> 00:28:35,569
about 38 miles, up to 114 and a half
miles, that's virtually in orbit.
316
00:28:35,570 --> 00:28:40,303
And it did that by burning
the fuel in five engines.
317
00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:52,669
Now, at the time, that was one
of the most powerful rockets
318
00:28:52,670 --> 00:28:57,589
ever built, but not the most
powerful - that was this,
319
00:28:57,590 --> 00:28:59,843
Stage One of the Saturn V.
320
00:29:06,470 --> 00:29:10,979
There are 2,200 tons of fuel in here,
321
00:29:10,980 --> 00:29:16,829
and stage one burnt through that
in about two and a half minutes.
322
00:29:16,830 --> 00:29:22,749
To do that they add fuel pumps
that were more powerful than a 747
323
00:29:22,750 --> 00:29:29,292
at lift off to pump 15 tonnes of
fuel a second into these
324
00:29:31,350 --> 00:29:33,648
the F1 engines.
325
00:29:49,650 --> 00:29:52,909
Every statistic about these engines
is ridiculous.
326
00:29:52,910 --> 00:29:56,439
In those two and half minutes
when this spacecraft was lifting off
327
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,572
the power generated was more than
the peak electrical power generation
328
00:30:00,573 --> 00:30:04,521
capacity of the United Kingdom.
329
00:30:33,990 --> 00:30:36,429
Building a vehicle powerful enough
330
00:30:36,430 --> 00:30:39,104
to accelerate three men
to escape velocity
331
00:30:39,105 --> 00:30:41,673
was a triumph of human ingenuity.
332
00:30:44,300 --> 00:30:47,339
But the technology at
the heart of any rocket
333
00:30:47,340 --> 00:30:49,869
is essentially ancient technology,
334
00:30:49,870 --> 00:30:52,396
the release of energy by combustion.
335
00:31:02,790 --> 00:31:05,859
We used fire to release energy from
the Sun
336
00:31:05,860 --> 00:31:07,965
stored in the wood from trees.
337
00:31:17,510 --> 00:31:20,989
Then we discovered better things to burn.
338
00:31:20,990 --> 00:31:24,739
Energy-packed ancient sunlight
buried underground.
339
00:31:24,740 --> 00:31:28,119
Burning that has set us free.
340
00:31:38,510 --> 00:31:42,367
But fire has surely taken us as far
as it can.
341
00:31:53,550 --> 00:31:58,869
The reason we aren't flying to
other planets is the same reason
342
00:31:58,870 --> 00:32:00,315
we're endangering this one.
343
00:32:13,820 --> 00:32:16,299
Every day we burn the equivalent of
344
00:32:16,300 --> 00:32:19,659
all the plants growing on
this planet over a year
345
00:32:19,660 --> 00:32:21,116
to meet our energy needs.
346
00:32:25,141 --> 00:32:29,270
But that's not to say that
energy use is of itself
347
00:32:29,271 --> 00:32:31,299
necessarily a bad thing.
348
00:32:31,300 --> 00:32:35,567
Indeed by many measures
it's an extremely good thing indeed.
349
00:32:40,110 --> 00:32:44,549
In every country where the per
capita energy use is greater than
350
00:32:44,550 --> 00:32:46,575
about half the European average
351
00:32:46,576 --> 00:32:50,829
then adult life expectancy is
greater than 70 years,
352
00:32:50,830 --> 00:32:53,589
literacy rates are greater than 90%,
353
00:32:53,590 --> 00:32:56,299
infant mortality rates are low
354
00:32:56,300 --> 00:33:01,270
and more than one in five of the
population are in higher education.
355
00:33:01,271 --> 00:33:05,459
So the story of energy use
is a complicated one.
356
00:33:05,460 --> 00:33:10,859
On the one hand, obviously, energy
use is important and to be valued,
357
00:33:10,860 --> 00:33:14,030
it's the foundation of our
modern civilisation,
358
00:33:14,031 --> 00:33:15,356
and on the other hand,
359
00:33:15,357 --> 00:33:18,517
if we generate our energy mainly
by burning fossil fuels
360
00:33:18,518 --> 00:33:20,205
then it can be a bad thing.
361
00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:26,939
Now in the short-term of course...
362
00:33:26,940 --> 00:33:30,604
we can increase the efficiency
of our energy usage.
363
00:33:34,460 --> 00:33:36,589
But in the long-term,
364
00:33:36,590 --> 00:33:40,270
if we aspire to continue to advance
as a civilisation,
365
00:33:40,271 --> 00:33:44,174
if we want to give every citizen of
the world a quality of life
366
00:33:44,175 --> 00:33:47,499
that is as good as or even better
than mine,
367
00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:51,589
and if ultimately we want to build a
space-faring generation
368
00:33:51,590 --> 00:33:55,561
and journey to the stars
then we have to find a better way.
369
00:33:59,430 --> 00:34:03,509
In the short-term, we can move to
cleaner electric motors,
370
00:34:03,510 --> 00:34:06,709
but because we burn fossil fuels
in power stations,
371
00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:10,219
that simply moves the problem upstream.
372
00:34:10,220 --> 00:34:13,989
So what we face is not an energy crisis
373
00:34:13,990 --> 00:34:16,004
but an energy conversion crisis.
374
00:34:18,151 --> 00:34:21,219
Renewable energy might be part of
the solution,
375
00:34:21,220 --> 00:34:25,009
but I believe there's a far more
promising long-term alternative.
376
00:34:35,026 --> 00:34:36,775
If you could do one thing,
377
00:34:36,776 --> 00:34:39,919
if you could wave a magic wand
and do one thing, what would you do?
378
00:34:42,036 --> 00:34:46,269
If you could produce abundant clean
energy, it would solve many problems.
379
00:34:47,987 --> 00:34:50,074
It's a grand challenge of our time,
380
00:34:50,075 --> 00:34:52,603
and I truly am committed
and proud to be part of it.
381
00:34:54,826 --> 00:34:57,909
Can we for the first time
bring a star to Earth?
382
00:35:06,316 --> 00:35:09,563
Here at the National Ignition
Facility in California
383
00:35:09,564 --> 00:35:12,127
they're trying to create man-made stars.
384
00:35:13,826 --> 00:35:15,415
It's a big laser.
385
00:35:15,416 --> 00:35:17,874
It's the biggest in the world
by probably a factor of 50,
386
00:35:17,875 --> 00:35:21,025
or maybe even 100,
so in size and in energy.
387
00:35:21,026 --> 00:35:22,516
How much power's in there?
388
00:35:22,496 --> 00:35:25,682
If you look at all the electricity
that's produced in the United States,
389
00:35:25,683 --> 00:35:28,749
this is about a thousand times more
power than that.
390
00:35:30,676 --> 00:35:32,905
But of course only for a fraction of
a second,
391
00:35:32,906 --> 00:35:34,442
a few billionths of a second.
392
00:35:42,987 --> 00:35:47,465
In a star, fusion begins when
the gas cloud that forms the star
393
00:35:47,466 --> 00:35:49,480
collapses under its own gravity,
394
00:35:49,481 --> 00:35:52,640
heating the core to many millions of
degrees.
395
00:35:56,107 --> 00:36:01,255
Here at NIF, it's coaxed into life
in the laser's target chamber
396
00:36:01,256 --> 00:36:04,116
encased in two metre thick walls
397
00:36:04,117 --> 00:36:07,215
and 47 of the biggest glass doors
I've ever seen.
398
00:36:07,216 --> 00:36:08,625
Ah, yeah.
399
00:36:08,626 --> 00:36:11,084
So this is the sharp end of
the whole system, if you like,
400
00:36:11,085 --> 00:36:12,914
this is where the lasers come down
401
00:36:12,915 --> 00:36:15,478
and start to get focused into
the chamber.
402
00:36:15,479 --> 00:36:18,713
And each one of them has to be
synchronised to a few trillionths
403
00:36:18,714 --> 00:36:21,129
of a second to arrive at exactly
the same time
404
00:36:21,130 --> 00:36:23,825
and of course in exactly the right spot.
405
00:36:23,826 --> 00:36:27,552
It's worth sort of stepping back
and realising what's happening here
406
00:36:27,553 --> 00:36:31,395
cos you said 192 of these laser
beams, which are not small. Indeed.
407
00:36:31,396 --> 00:36:34,218
In the middle of that which is
definitely not small. Absolutely.
408
00:36:34,196 --> 00:36:35,937
What's the target?
It's about that big.
409
00:36:35,938 --> 00:36:37,753
It's about a millimetre wide.
410
00:36:37,754 --> 00:36:41,638
But it's the level of precision and
power that you're able to achieve.
411
00:36:41,639 --> 00:36:45,051
And if you can do it uniformly
then you can create a little star.
412
00:36:58,066 --> 00:37:02,223
It reminds me a little bit of Apollo
in a sense cos you just think,
413
00:37:02,224 --> 00:37:04,719
you know, look what we can do if we try.
414
00:37:15,536 --> 00:37:18,198
So you see there, there's a gold cylinder
415
00:37:18,199 --> 00:37:23,395
and in the middle a little red ball,
that's the fusion fuel.
416
00:37:23,396 --> 00:37:25,345
One of those pellets,
417
00:37:25,346 --> 00:37:28,345
when all of the fusion happens
just right,
418
00:37:28,346 --> 00:37:31,325
could power my house for a day.
419
00:37:31,326 --> 00:37:33,833
So you imagine having a little bag
of those pellets,
420
00:37:33,834 --> 00:37:36,083
let's say you three or four hundred
of them,
421
00:37:36,084 --> 00:37:37,999
you could fit them in your pocket,
422
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,048
then that would power your life
for a year.
423
00:37:42,146 --> 00:37:44,331
Thousands of these little pellets
424
00:37:44,332 --> 00:37:47,185
could power a spacecraft to the Moon.
425
00:37:47,186 --> 00:37:50,545
Hundreds of thousands could power a
spacecraft out to the edge of
426
00:37:50,546 --> 00:37:53,352
the solar system
or perhaps outward to the stars.
427
00:37:53,353 --> 00:37:56,759
And one of the interesting things
about fusion technology is
428
00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,185
that there's no waste, right?
429
00:37:59,186 --> 00:38:02,838
What happens when you release all
the energy in that pellet of fuel
430
00:38:02,839 --> 00:38:07,275
is you produce helium,
so you get your electricity
431
00:38:07,276 --> 00:38:10,280
and you get your party balloons,
and that's pretty much it.
432
00:38:10,281 --> 00:38:17,025
So it's an inherently clean, safe
and extremely efficient technology.
433
00:38:19,826 --> 00:38:22,067
May I have your attention.
434
00:38:22,068 --> 00:38:26,265
Preparations for shot operations
in laser bay two are under way.
435
00:38:26,266 --> 00:38:29,555
Leave laser bay two now.
436
00:38:29,556 --> 00:38:32,605
I repeat. Leave laser bay two now.
437
00:38:37,346 --> 00:38:41,705
This is the NIF control room,
this is the heart of all operations,
438
00:38:41,706 --> 00:38:43,555
and the reason I have to be quiet is
439
00:38:43,556 --> 00:38:45,509
because they're getting ready for a shot.
440
00:38:46,546 --> 00:38:50,312
Main laser operation will begin in
approximately one minute.
441
00:38:58,826 --> 00:39:01,945
It's a bit like charging a flash gun.
442
00:39:01,946 --> 00:39:06,835
Banks and the capacitors
store electric charge,
443
00:39:06,836 --> 00:39:11,106
getting ready to discharge
all this energy into the lasers.
444
00:39:11,107 --> 00:39:12,794
Amplify, amplify, amplify, bang.
445
00:39:12,795 --> 00:39:14,916
It looks like it just turned green.
446
00:39:14,917 --> 00:39:17,355
Are you comfortable with us going
forward?
447
00:39:17,356 --> 00:39:18,762
I don't see a problem.
448
00:39:18,763 --> 00:39:21,498
OK. We're ready to proceed
if you're OK with it.
449
00:39:25,306 --> 00:39:26,878
There's the countdown.
450
00:39:26,879 --> 00:39:28,494
Start sequence on my mark.
451
00:39:34,796 --> 00:39:36,425
255 seconds.
452
00:39:36,426 --> 00:39:38,775
In 255 seconds time,
453
00:39:38,776 --> 00:39:41,848
a thousand times the power
generating capacity of
454
00:39:41,849 --> 00:39:44,385
the United States of America
455
00:39:44,386 --> 00:39:50,465
is going to be fired down into
something a few millimetres across.
456
00:39:50,466 --> 00:39:51,774
It's cool.
457
00:39:53,186 --> 00:39:55,905
Brilliant that we can do this, isn't it?
458
00:39:55,906 --> 00:39:57,123
By "we" I mean them.
459
00:40:00,586 --> 00:40:03,055
Yeah, "we", it's our civilisation.
460
00:40:29,556 --> 00:40:34,960
Five, four, three, two, one, shot.
461
00:40:46,706 --> 00:40:48,288
That's a bang
462
00:40:50,877 --> 00:40:52,367
and that's the future.
463
00:41:01,476 --> 00:41:04,958
Commercial fusion power stations
are still a long way off,
464
00:41:04,959 --> 00:41:08,735
but NIF has proved that it can be
done in principle.
465
00:41:12,026 --> 00:41:15,305
If fusion can be made economically
viable,
466
00:41:15,306 --> 00:41:18,905
it would end the days of fire
467
00:41:18,906 --> 00:41:22,410
and it would do much more than power
our cars and cities,
468
00:41:22,411 --> 00:41:26,225
it would provide a new foundation
for our civilisation,
469
00:41:26,226 --> 00:41:28,536
it would even open up the road to
the stars.
470
00:41:32,436 --> 00:41:35,785
I think we expect, in fact,
we demand that
471
00:41:35,786 --> 00:41:38,608
the future is going to be better
than the past,
472
00:41:38,609 --> 00:41:42,275
but it seems to me that we're not
prepared to pay for it.
473
00:41:42,276 --> 00:41:44,375
So how might things change?
474
00:41:44,376 --> 00:41:47,485
Well, we're fortunate enough to
live in democracies,
475
00:41:47,486 --> 00:41:49,547
and in democracies things change
476
00:41:49,548 --> 00:41:52,075
when people have access to knowledge,
477
00:41:52,076 --> 00:41:54,116
when they understand facts
478
00:41:54,117 --> 00:41:57,355
and when they can make
informed decisions.
479
00:41:57,356 --> 00:41:59,040
Did you know, for example,
480
00:41:59,041 --> 00:42:04,275
that Americans spend ten times more
money each year on pet grooming
481
00:42:04,276 --> 00:42:06,866
than they do on nuclear fusion?
482
00:42:06,867 --> 00:42:09,986
Now I think that if you said to someone,
483
00:42:09,987 --> 00:42:12,643
"Well, actually,
why don't you brush your own cat,
484
00:42:12,644 --> 00:42:16,357
"and take the money you were going to
spend having somebody else brush it
485
00:42:16,358 --> 00:42:19,088
"and give it to those people who are
trying to find a way
486
00:42:19,089 --> 00:42:23,315
"of generating unlimited access to
clean energy?"
487
00:42:23,316 --> 00:42:27,195
Then people would say, "Well, yeah,
that's a good deal."
488
00:42:27,196 --> 00:42:31,555
See, in democracies things change
when people like you and me
489
00:42:31,556 --> 00:42:32,967
want them to change.
490
00:42:58,076 --> 00:43:00,225
I'm optimistic about the future.
491
00:43:00,226 --> 00:43:02,923
No matter how deep we keep digging
our hole right now,
492
00:43:02,924 --> 00:43:05,375
I feel like there is hope.
493
00:43:41,276 --> 00:43:44,236
You know, I look at my life
and I think, "it's almost over,"
494
00:43:44,237 --> 00:43:47,505
when in fact with the advances
in healthcare and such
495
00:43:47,506 --> 00:43:48,706
it may not be.
496
00:44:11,636 --> 00:44:14,492
Fundamentally, I think we all want
the same thing,
497
00:44:14,493 --> 00:44:18,652
we want our children and their
children to have a future.
498
00:44:20,366 --> 00:44:23,210
And that requires us to plan for
that future.
499
00:44:42,566 --> 00:44:45,649
Hello. Hello. Nice to meet you.
500
00:44:56,156 --> 00:45:00,445
This place addresses a fundamental
human need that we're going to
501
00:45:00,446 --> 00:45:04,451
face in the future, which is
how are we going to feed ourselves?
502
00:45:10,747 --> 00:45:15,395
The tunnel itself runs about 130
metres downwards on this
503
00:45:15,396 --> 00:45:20,006
gentle gradient, and by the time
we get to the vaults at the end,
504
00:45:20,007 --> 00:45:25,161
it's going to be 160 metres of solid
rock up to the surface.
505
00:45:27,747 --> 00:45:31,435
Buried down here is a priceless treasure,
506
00:45:31,436 --> 00:45:34,656
and everything about this building
is designed to keep it safe.
507
00:45:36,796 --> 00:45:41,435
This arc that you see,
this curve here, is deliberate,
508
00:45:41,436 --> 00:45:43,565
it's in case there's a blast,
509
00:45:43,566 --> 00:45:46,092
some kind of explosion up at the surface.
510
00:45:46,093 --> 00:45:49,385
And this is designed to
reflect the blast back.
511
00:45:49,386 --> 00:45:52,777
An extremely precious place
512
00:45:54,286 --> 00:45:55,486
covered in ice.
513
00:45:57,316 --> 00:45:59,660
Then we have to go through this airlock
514
00:46:08,026 --> 00:46:09,226
and into the vault.
515
00:46:11,926 --> 00:46:16,785
The treasure in here is not
currency, not gold, not rare jewels
516
00:46:16,786 --> 00:46:21,417
but something important,
it's the future of our food.
517
00:46:22,466 --> 00:46:27,435
Here are the seeds, the food
crops of virtually every
518
00:46:27,436 --> 00:46:29,225
country in the world.
519
00:46:29,226 --> 00:46:31,809
These are from Mexico.
520
00:46:33,646 --> 00:46:34,846
There are India.
521
00:46:35,916 --> 00:46:41,298
There are Nigerian seeds next to
Germany, Australia.
522
00:46:44,076 --> 00:46:49,565
There are over 800,000 different
populations of seeds
523
00:46:49,566 --> 00:46:54,635
collected here from virtually every
country in the world.
524
00:46:54,636 --> 00:46:57,105
These here are from Syria.
525
00:46:57,106 --> 00:47:00,395
These were taken out just before
recent troubles,
526
00:47:00,396 --> 00:47:03,525
so they're out there,
they're protected there in case
527
00:47:03,526 --> 00:47:06,475
the Syrian seed vaults are lost.
528
00:47:06,476 --> 00:47:09,606
And then there are some strangest
of all countries you wouldn't
529
00:47:09,607 --> 00:47:12,657
believe would cooperate in such
an international endeavour.
530
00:47:12,658 --> 00:47:17,555
Look at this here -
box number 5DPR of Korea,
531
00:47:17,556 --> 00:47:19,935
these are North Korean seeds.
532
00:47:19,936 --> 00:47:25,195
And just over there are the
South Korean seeds next to them.
533
00:47:25,196 --> 00:47:26,876
Canada.
534
00:47:26,877 --> 00:47:28,129
Philippines.
535
00:47:34,236 --> 00:47:38,955
This represents, as a library of life,
536
00:47:38,956 --> 00:47:41,795
just the whole of civilisation
537
00:47:41,796 --> 00:47:45,608
rests with the genetic codes
contained in these boxes.
538
00:47:53,877 --> 00:47:56,414
Our future might just rest on these seeds
539
00:47:56,415 --> 00:48:00,105
squirreled away in the Global Seed Vault,
540
00:48:00,106 --> 00:48:01,972
drilled into the top of the world.
541
00:48:05,436 --> 00:48:09,355
The driving force behind its
construction was agriculturist,
542
00:48:09,356 --> 00:48:11,746
Dr Cary Fowler.
543
00:48:11,747 --> 00:48:14,261
So why did you decide to take
this project on?
544
00:48:14,262 --> 00:48:16,465
Well, I've spent all of my life
545
00:48:16,466 --> 00:48:20,035
working on trying to
conserve crop diversity,
546
00:48:20,036 --> 00:48:24,955
and those of us in my field,
we live in a world of wounds.
547
00:48:24,956 --> 00:48:30,515
We see the injuries, we see the
loss of diversity, the extinction.
548
00:48:30,516 --> 00:48:33,327
And at a certain point, you know,
enough is enough,
549
00:48:33,328 --> 00:48:35,196
and you, you try to figure out,
550
00:48:35,197 --> 00:48:37,603
well, what can we do that's
not just stopgap?
551
00:48:37,604 --> 00:48:41,169
Cos we know we're going to need this
crop diversity in the future,
552
00:48:41,170 --> 00:48:44,385
it's the biological
foundation of agriculture.
553
00:48:44,386 --> 00:48:46,996
We're going to need
it as long as we need agriculture.
554
00:48:46,997 --> 00:48:49,261
Which is as long as civilisation
exists, I suppose?
555
00:48:49,262 --> 00:48:52,329
Exactly, after that we're not
worried about it, are we?
556
00:48:59,406 --> 00:49:04,651
Some of the seeds in this vault will
still be viable in 20,000 years.
557
00:49:10,956 --> 00:49:15,315
When you look at this achievement,
how do you see it?
558
00:49:15,316 --> 00:49:18,367
When I walk in here, I see
a history of agriculture,
559
00:49:18,368 --> 00:49:20,609
all the way back to Neolithic days.
560
00:49:20,610 --> 00:49:24,525
So our ancestors, yours and mine,
have been saving these seeds
561
00:49:24,526 --> 00:49:28,355
in a successful, unbroken
line until today.
562
00:49:28,356 --> 00:49:31,405
They're every option that we're going
to have for the future, so any
563
00:49:31,406 --> 00:49:35,619
and everything we want and need -
rice and wheat to be in the future
564
00:49:35,620 --> 00:49:39,365
is represented,
is made possible by this diversity.
565
00:49:39,366 --> 00:49:41,619
Some people call this
The Doomsday Vault. Yeah.
566
00:49:41,620 --> 00:49:45,905
Seems to me to be a rather, er
I don't know, grim... Apocalyptic?
567
00:49:45,906 --> 00:49:49,115
Yeah. Yes. Is that a,
a reasonable description?
568
00:49:49,116 --> 00:49:54,645
For me, when I walk down here I get
this immense feeling of happiness
569
00:49:54,646 --> 00:49:57,525
and frankly, hope that,
570
00:49:57,526 --> 00:50:02,385
OK, here are 800,000 crop varieties
571
00:50:02,386 --> 00:50:05,545
that are not going to become extinct.
572
00:50:05,546 --> 00:50:09,285
So to me, this represents a problem
that didn't happen.
573
00:50:09,286 --> 00:50:12,665
Also seems to me, it's an example
of genuine long-term thinking,
574
00:50:12,666 --> 00:50:16,365
this transcends political cycles,
it transcends lifetimes.
575
00:50:16,366 --> 00:50:21,115
Yeah, when I look at this place,
I see about the only structure
576
00:50:21,116 --> 00:50:25,485
in the world that I know of that's
built essentially for eternity,
577
00:50:25,486 --> 00:50:30,155
for as long as we can imagine,
involving all the countries of the
578
00:50:30,156 --> 00:50:34,725
world in something
that's long-term and positive.
579
00:50:34,726 --> 00:50:35,926
That's hopeful, to me.
580
00:50:50,806 --> 00:50:54,905
I came here to tell
a story of an uncertain future,
581
00:50:54,906 --> 00:50:59,235
but I found something else under
the permafrost of Svalbard...
582
00:50:59,236 --> 00:51:00,613
optimism.
583
00:51:10,446 --> 00:51:14,212
We have the privilege to live
in a very special and unique time,
584
00:51:14,213 --> 00:51:18,035
because for the first time in the
history of life on Earth,
585
00:51:18,036 --> 00:51:23,825
there's a species that at least in
part is masters of its own destiny -
586
00:51:23,826 --> 00:51:26,454
has its survival in its own hands.
587
00:51:28,757 --> 00:51:31,376
It's true to say that
because there's an unbroken
588
00:51:31,377 --> 00:51:35,542
line of life stretching back from me
to the origin of life on earth
589
00:51:35,543 --> 00:51:40,355
3.8 billion years ago, that at any
point in that long history,
590
00:51:40,356 --> 00:51:42,529
something could have happened to
wipe us out,
591
00:51:42,530 --> 00:51:46,365
and something could
happen tomorrow to wipe us out,
592
00:51:46,366 --> 00:51:50,265
but increasingly, we can see those
threats coming.
593
00:51:50,266 --> 00:51:54,235
So, we have a chance, the possibility,
594
00:51:54,236 --> 00:51:58,766
of prolonging our existence into the
indefinite future,
595
00:51:58,767 --> 00:52:03,489
if we can just find a way of taking
that responsibility seriously.
596
00:52:13,476 --> 00:52:17,128
Today, we are writing our chapter
in the human story.
597
00:52:18,396 --> 00:52:20,315
But as we do so,
598
00:52:20,316 --> 00:52:24,264
we must keep in mind the future and
learn lessons from the past.
599
00:52:30,046 --> 00:52:32,822
Back in the darkness
of the El Castillo caves,
600
00:52:32,823 --> 00:52:37,698
there may be a stark reminder of
life's perilous existence.
601
00:52:39,556 --> 00:52:43,325
More accurate dating of the
paintings suggests that the
602
00:52:43,326 --> 00:52:47,741
story of our young artist
might have a sting in its tail.
603
00:52:53,316 --> 00:52:58,125
If this art is not
just around 40,000 years old,
604
00:52:58,126 --> 00:53:01,995
but over 43,000 years old,
not much of a difference,
605
00:53:01,996 --> 00:53:05,555
then this is not human.
606
00:53:05,556 --> 00:53:10,405
Because there were no humans in this
area of Europe 43,000 years ago.
607
00:53:10,406 --> 00:53:14,675
If that's the case, this art was
created by Neanderthals,
608
00:53:14,676 --> 00:53:17,555
a completely different species.
609
00:53:17,556 --> 00:53:19,001
Just think about that.
610
00:53:19,002 --> 00:53:23,965
Neanderthals were pretty much as
capable, mentally, as we are.
611
00:53:23,966 --> 00:53:27,205
So if they'd been given enough time,
612
00:53:27,206 --> 00:53:30,646
given the pressures that we humans felt,
613
00:53:30,647 --> 00:53:32,725
then there's no reason why they
614
00:53:32,726 --> 00:53:35,605
couldn't have developed a civilisation.
615
00:53:35,606 --> 00:53:37,108
But they didn't have time.
616
00:53:37,109 --> 00:53:41,555
Instead they disappeared,
they became extinct,
617
00:53:41,556 --> 00:53:45,275
leaving perhaps, these signs of the
618
00:53:45,276 --> 00:53:48,530
beginnings of their culture on the
roof of a cave.
619
00:53:56,856 --> 00:54:00,805
But our species didn't die out -
620
00:54:00,806 --> 00:54:05,595
we worked together,
held on and then flourished.
621
00:54:05,596 --> 00:54:08,475
Should we send these up to Grandad?
622
00:54:08,476 --> 00:54:10,490
Yeah, let's send them up to Grandad.
623
00:54:14,156 --> 00:54:16,365
In the face of adversity,
624
00:54:16,366 --> 00:54:21,338
we adapted and used our brains to
develop technologies.
625
00:54:31,196 --> 00:54:34,555
In time, we built mighty civilizations
626
00:54:34,556 --> 00:54:36,786
with science as their foundation.
627
00:54:42,446 --> 00:54:46,355
And then, within the
blink of a cosmic eye,
628
00:54:46,356 --> 00:54:48,370
we journeyed to other worlds
629
00:54:52,816 --> 00:54:56,696
and we glimpsed the very
nature of reality itself.
630
00:55:05,476 --> 00:55:07,766
Right, let's send these to Grandad.
631
00:55:07,767 --> 00:55:09,851
Going to put them in the envelope.
632
00:55:19,246 --> 00:55:23,729
We even have an outpost of our
civilisation living beyond Earth.
633
00:55:27,196 --> 00:55:29,415
Science is unreasonably effective,
634
00:55:29,416 --> 00:55:33,325
it's generated knowledge
beyond all expectation.
635
00:55:33,326 --> 00:55:35,408
It's also delivered perspective.
636
00:55:35,409 --> 00:55:39,975
Yes, we are an insignificant
speck in an infinite universe,
637
00:55:39,976 --> 00:55:42,395
but we're also rare.
638
00:55:42,396 --> 00:55:45,915
And because we're rare, we're valuable.
639
00:55:45,916 --> 00:55:48,756
So what are we to do to
secure our future?
640
00:55:48,757 --> 00:55:52,057
Well, we must learn to value
the acquisition of knowledge
641
00:55:52,058 --> 00:55:55,539
for its own sake, and not just
because it grows our economy
642
00:55:55,540 --> 00:55:58,075
or allows us to build better bombs.
643
00:55:58,076 --> 00:56:01,195
We must also learn to
value the human race
644
00:56:01,196 --> 00:56:03,975
and take responsibility
for our own survival.
645
00:56:03,976 --> 00:56:06,412
Why? Because there's nobody
else out there
646
00:56:06,413 --> 00:56:09,595
to value us or to look after us.
647
00:56:09,596 --> 00:56:13,455
And finally, most important of all,
648
00:56:13,456 --> 00:56:15,823
we must educate the next generation in
649
00:56:15,824 --> 00:56:20,373
the great discoveries of science and
we must teach them to use the light
650
00:56:20,374 --> 00:56:23,097
of reason to banish the
darkness of superstition,
651
00:56:23,098 --> 00:56:26,965
cos if we do that,
then at least there's a chance that
652
00:56:26,966 --> 00:56:29,503
this universe will remain a human one.
653
00:56:51,716 --> 00:56:53,815
There's a card in here.
654
00:56:53,816 --> 00:56:56,555
It's got "Grandad" written on it.
655
00:56:56,556 --> 00:56:58,217
- Are you a grandad?
- I'm not a grandad.
656
00:56:58,218 --> 00:56:59,652
Hey, Alex, you a grandad?
657
00:56:59,637 --> 00:57:01,685
- No, not that I know of.
- I guess it's me.
57368
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