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PROFESSOR BRIAN COX: 7fhis creature
is a wonder of life.
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A voracious predator,
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this male has lived under water
for nearly five months,
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feeding, growing,
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preparing for this moment.
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He is about to undertake one of
the most remarkable transformations
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in the natural world.
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From ağuatic predator
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to master of the air.
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(BUZZING)
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The brief adult life of a dragonfly
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is amongst the most energetic in nature.
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Dragonflies are
the most remarkable animals.
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You can see their
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incredible agility
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in flight just watching them skim
across the surface of this pond.
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They can pull two and a half G in a turn
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and they can fly at 15 miles an hour
which is fast for something that big.
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They've been around on Farth
since before the time of the dinosaurs.
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And in that time they have been
fine-tuned by natural selection
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to do what they do,
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which is to catch their prey
on the wing.
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So, dragonflies are beautiful pieces
of engineering.
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They're intricate, complex machines.
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But is that all they are?
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Because once their brief lives
are over, their vitality will be goöne.
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And this raises deep guestions.
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What is it that makes something alive?
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And how did life begin
in the first place?
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So, what is the difference
between the living and the dead?
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What is life?
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(MYSTICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
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I've come to one of the most
isolated regions of the Philippines,
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to visit the remote hilltop town
of Sagada.
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İt's a two-day drive
from the capital Manila,
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over some of
the country's roughest roads
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that wind their way
1,500 metres up into the hills.
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This is a place
where the traditional belief
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is that mountain spirits give us life
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and that our souls return
to the mountain when we dlle.
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And where the people who live here
still imagine
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that the spirits of the dead
Walk among the living.
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(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
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(CHILD LAUGHING)
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Tonight is November the first
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and here in Sagada,
in fact, across the Philippines,
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that means that it's
the Day of the Dead.
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That's a day when people come
to this graveyard on a hillside
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and, well, celebrate the lives
of their relatives.
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The people light fires to honour
and warm the departed,
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00:05:21,961 --> 00:05:24,801
inviting their souls
to commune with them.
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No matter how
unscientific it sounds, this...
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this idea that there's some
kind of soul or spirit or...
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animating force that makes
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us what we are, and that persists
after our death, is common.
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Virtually every culture, every religion,
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has that deeply-held belief.
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And there is a reason for that.
Because it feels right.
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I mean, just think aboutit.
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00:06:08,601 --> 00:06:13,321
İt's hard to accept that when you die,
you will just stop existing.
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00:06:13,401 --> 00:06:17,361
And that you are, your life,
the essence of you,
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00:06:17,441 --> 00:06:23,321
is just really something that emerges
from an inanimate bag of stuff.
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(SPEAKING TAGALOG)
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Don't get too close. Hooray!
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You can see that these people feel
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not only that they can celebrate
the lives of their relatives,
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00:07:07,401 --> 00:07:11,161
but they're coming, in some sense,
to communicate with their relatives,
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even though
their physical bodies have died,
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they are still, in some sense, here.
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00:07:18,281 --> 00:07:20,481
And when you think about it,
that's not so easy to dismiss.
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00:07:20,561 --> 00:07:26,281
I mean, if we are to state
that science can explain everything
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about us, then it's incumbent
on science to answer the guestion -
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what is it that animates living things?
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What is the difference
between, er...
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a piece of rock that's carved
into a gravestone and me?
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From millennia, some form
of spirituality has been evoked
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to explain what it means to be alive
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and how life began.
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İt's only recently that science
has begun to answer
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these deepest of guestions.
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In February, 1943,
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the physicist Erwin Schrodinger
gave a series of lectures in Dublin.
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Now, Schrodinger is almost certainly
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most famous for being one of
the founders of guantum theory,
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but, in these lectures,
which he wrote up in this little book,
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he asked a very different guestion.
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"What is life?"
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And right up front on page one,
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he says precisely what it isn't.
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"It isn't something mystical,"
says Schrodinger.
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There isn't some mağgical spark
that animates life.
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Life is a process.
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00:09:06,121 --> 00:09:09,721
It is the interaction between matter
and energy described
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by the laws of physics and chemistıy.
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The same laws that describe
the falling of the rain
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or the shining of the stars.
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So, the guestion İs,
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how is it that this magnificent
complexity that we call life
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could have assembled itself
on the surface of the planet
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which itself formed
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from nothing more than
a collapsing cloud of gas and dust?
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To Schrodinger, the answer had
to lie in the way living things process
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öne of the universe's
most elusive properties.
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Energy.
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00:10:19,401 --> 00:10:21,921
Energy is a concept
that's central to physics
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00:10:22,001 --> 00:10:24,001
but, because it's a word
that we use every day,
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its meaning has got a bit woolly.
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I mean, it's easy to say whatit is,
in a sense.
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I mean, obviously this river
has got energy
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00:10:30,761 --> 00:10:32,601
because,
over the decades and centuries,
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it's cut this valley
through solid rock.
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00:10:37,601 --> 00:10:40,761
But while this description
sounds simple,
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in reality
things are a little more complicated.
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For me, the best definition is that
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it's the length of a space-time
core vector in the time direction.
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00:10:49,241 --> 00:10:51,321
But that's not very enlightening,
I'll grant you that.
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Över the years, the nature of energy
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00:10:59,241 --> 00:11:02,321
has proved notoriously difficult
to pin down.
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00:11:02,761 --> 00:11:06,361
Not least because it has
the seemingly magğical property
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that it never runs out.
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00:11:08,121 --> 00:11:11,041
It only ever changes
from one form to another.
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00:11:15,801 --> 00:11:19,761
So, take the water in that waterfall.
At the top of the waterfall,
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it's got something called
gravitational potential energy,
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00:11:22,921 --> 00:11:27,041
which is the energy it possesses due to
its height above the EFarth's surface.
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00:11:27,121 --> 00:11:29,001
See, ifl...
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00:11:29,681 --> 00:11:32,321
scoop some water out of the river
into this beaker,
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00:11:32,401 --> 00:11:36,361
then I'd have to do work to carry it up
to the top of the waterfall.
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00:11:36,441 --> 00:11:38,801
I'd have to expend energy
to get it up there.
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00:11:38,881 --> 00:11:42,281
So, it would have that energy
as gravitational potential.
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00:11:43,961 --> 00:11:45,041
I can even do the sums for you.
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00:11:45,161 --> 00:11:47,561
Half a litre of water
has a mass of half a kilogram
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multiplied by the height.
So, that's about five metres
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00:11:50,401 --> 00:11:54,001
and acceleration due to gravity
is about 10 metres per second sguared.
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00:11:54,081 --> 00:11:58,361
So, that's half times five times
10 is, uh, 25 joules.
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00:11:58,481 --> 00:12:01,561
So, I'd have to put in 25 joules
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00:12:01,641 --> 00:12:04,601
to carry this water
to the top of the waterfall.
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00:12:04,681 --> 00:12:06,361
Then, if I emptied it
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00:12:06,481 --> 00:12:10,801
over the top of the waterfall, then all
that gravitational potential energy
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00:12:10,881 --> 00:12:14,081
will be transformed into
other types of energy.
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00:12:16,041 --> 00:12:19,121
İt's sound,
which is pressure waves in the air.
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There's the energy
of the waves in the river
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and there's heat.
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So, it will be a bit hotter down there
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because the water İs cascading into
the pool at the foot of the waterfall.
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But the key thing is
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energy is conserved.
İt's not created or destroyed.
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So, because energy is conserved
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if I were to add up
all the energy in the water waves,
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all the energy in the sound waves,
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00:12:44,361 --> 00:12:46,881
all the heat energy
at the bottom of the pool,
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then I would find
that it would be precisely egual
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to the gravitational potential energy
at the top of the falls.
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00:12:59,121 --> 00:13:01,361
What's true for the waterfali
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is true for everything in the universe.
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It's a fundamental law of nature
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known as the
first law of thermodynamics.
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And the fact that energy is neither
created nor destroyed
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has a profound implication.
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İt means energy is eternal.
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The energy that's here now
has always been here.
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00:13:30,121 --> 00:13:32,961
And the story of the evolution
of the universe
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is just the story of the transformation
of energy from one form to another,
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from the origin of the first galaxies
to the ignition of the first stars
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00:13:42,041 --> 00:13:44,681
and the formation of the first planets.
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00:13:51,721 --> 00:13:55,161
Every single joule of energy
in the universe today
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Was present at the Big Bang
13.7 billion years ago.
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00:14:02,961 --> 00:14:07,241
Potential energy held
in primordial clouds of gas and dust
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00:14:07,321 --> 00:14:09,961
Was transformed into kinetic energy,
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00:14:10,041 --> 00:14:12,321
as they collapsed to form stars
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00:14:12,401 --> 00:14:16,241
and planetary systems
Jjust like our own solar system.
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In the sun, heat from the collapse
initiated fusion reactions at its core.
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Hydrogen became helium.
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Nuclear binding energy was released,
heating the surface of the sun,
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producing the light that began
to bathe the young Farth.
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And at some point in that story,
around four billion years ago,
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that transformation of energy
led to the origin of life on Earth.
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Around 350 kilometres
south of Sagada, this is lake Taal.
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Despite its sleepy languid appearance,
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this landscape has been
violentiy transformed by energy.
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00:16:06,881 --> 00:16:08,721
When I think of a volcano,
I usually think
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of a pointy, fiery mountain
with a little crater in the top.
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Probably a bit like that one.
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00:16:15,241 --> 00:16:20,521
But, actually, this entire lake is
the flooded crater of a giant volcano.
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It began erupting only about
140,000 years ago.
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And in that time, it's blown 120 billion
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00:16:29,441 --> 00:16:33,601
cubic metres of ash and rock
into the Earth's atmosphere.
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This crater is 30 kilometres across
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and, in places, 150 metres deep.
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I mean, that's a cube of rock
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five kilometres by five kilometres
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by five kilometres just blown away.
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İt's a big volcano.
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Taal lake is testament
to the immense power
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00:17:08,921 --> 00:17:12,401
locked within the Earth
at the time of its formation.
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Since the lake was createdi,
a serles of further eruptions
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formed the island in the centre.
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And at its heart is a place
where you can glimpse the turmorl
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of the inner Farth,
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00:17:35,481 --> 00:17:39,081
where energy from the core
still bubbles up to the surface,
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00:17:43,761 --> 00:17:45,841
producing conditions similar
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00:17:45,921 --> 00:17:50,001
to those that may have provided
the very first spark of life.
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00:18:03,881 --> 00:18:07,361
Now, the water in this lake is different
from drinking water
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in a very interesting way.
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00:18:09,361 --> 00:18:13,721
See, if I test this bottle of water
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00:18:13,841 --> 00:18:17,041
with this, which is called
universal indicator paper,
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00:18:18,201 --> 00:18:21,881
then you see immediately
that it goes green.
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00:18:21,961 --> 00:18:24,681
And that means that
it's completely neutral.
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00:18:24,841 --> 00:18:27,361
İt's called pH 7 in the jargon.
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00:18:27,441 --> 00:18:31,001
Then, look what happens when
I test the water from the lake.
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00:18:33,721 --> 00:18:35,881
Now the indicator paper stays orange,
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00:18:35,961 --> 00:18:38,201
in fact, it might have gone
a bit more orange.
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00:18:38,281 --> 00:18:41,721
So, that means that this is acid.
İt's about pH 3.
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00:18:46,841 --> 00:18:48,041
At the most basic level,
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00:18:48,121 --> 00:18:51,521
the energy trapped inside the Earth
is melting rocks.
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00:18:51,601 --> 00:18:54,761
And when you melt rock like this,
you produce gases.
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00:18:54,841 --> 00:18:56,481
A lot of carbon dioxide.
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00:18:56,601 --> 00:19:00,001
And, in the case of this volcano,
a lot of sulphur dioxide.
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00:19:00,121 --> 00:19:02,681
Now, sulphur dioxide dissolves in water
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00:19:02,761 --> 00:19:06,841
and you get H2SO4, sulphuric acid.
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00:19:11,961 --> 00:19:15,601
Now, what do I mean
when I say that the water is acidic?
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00:19:17,401 --> 00:19:22,641
Well, water is H20, hydrogen
and oxygen bonded together,
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00:19:22,721 --> 00:19:26,081
but actually when it's liguid,
it's a bit more complicated than that.
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00:19:26,161 --> 00:19:28,321
İt's actually a sea of ions.
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00:19:28,401 --> 00:19:32,281
So, H plus ions.
That's just single protons.
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00:19:32,361 --> 00:19:36,321
And OH minus ions. That's oxygen
and hydrogen bonded together.
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00:19:36,401 --> 00:19:38,401
ALI floating around.
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00:19:38,481 --> 00:19:41,281
Now when something is neutral,
when the pH is 7,
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00:19:41,361 --> 00:19:46,761
then that means that the concentrations
of those ions are perfectly balanced.
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00:19:47,241 --> 00:19:49,201
When you make water acidic,
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00:19:49,281 --> 00:19:52,481
then you change
the concentration of those ions,
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and, to be specific,
you increase the concentration
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00:19:55,601 --> 00:19:58,441
of the H plus ions, of the protons.
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00:20:02,361 --> 00:20:06,401
So, this process
of acidification has stored
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00:20:06,481 --> 00:20:09,641
the energy of the volcano
as chemical potential eneragy.
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00:20:13,921 --> 00:20:17,281
The volcano transforms heat
from the inner Earth
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00:20:17,361 --> 00:20:22,921
into chemical energy and stores it
as a reservolrr of protons in the lake.
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00:20:26,401 --> 00:20:29,761
And this is the same way energy
is stored in a simple battery
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00:20:29,841 --> 00:20:31,441
or fuel cell.
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00:20:35,681 --> 00:20:38,201
These bottles contain a weak acid,
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00:20:38,281 --> 00:20:41,161
and are connected by
a semi-permeable membrane.
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00:20:42,041 --> 00:20:45,521
Passing an electric current through them
has a similar effect
242
00:20:45,601 --> 00:20:49,081
to the volcano's energy
bubbling up into the lake.
243
00:20:50,081 --> 00:20:54,281
İt causes protons to builld up
in one of the bottles.
244
00:20:56,201 --> 00:20:58,321
You can think ofit, I suppose,
like a waterfall
245
00:20:58,401 --> 00:21:03,001
where the protons are up here
waiting to Tlow down.
246
00:21:03,081 --> 00:21:04,801
And all you have to do
to release that energy
247
00:21:04,881 --> 00:21:07,601
and do something useful with it
is complete the circuit.
248
00:21:08,321 --> 00:21:11,081
Which I can do
249
00:21:11,441 --> 00:21:13,441
by just connecting a motor to İt.
250
00:21:16,521 --> 00:21:18,441
There you go. Look at that.
251
00:21:18,521 --> 00:21:22,001
That's the protons cascading down
the waterfall,
252
00:21:22,081 --> 00:21:24,921
and driving the motor around.
253
00:21:29,281 --> 00:21:31,961
(CHUCKLES) It actually works.
254
00:21:34,401 --> 00:21:35,921
GOuite remarkable, actually.
255
00:21:37,601 --> 00:21:43,561
Now, the fuel cell produces and exploits
its proton gradient artificially.
256
00:21:43,961 --> 00:21:45,321
But there are places on EFarth
257
00:21:45,401 --> 00:21:48,641
where that gradient occurs
completely naturally.
258
00:21:49,321 --> 00:21:51,081
Here, for example.
259
00:21:51,161 --> 00:21:55,441
So, we've got the proton reservoir
over there, the acidic volcanic lake.
260
00:21:56,201 --> 00:21:58,561
If you look that way,
there's another lake
261
00:21:58,641 --> 00:22:01,841
and the reaction of the water
with the rocks on the shore
262
00:22:01,921 --> 00:22:06,041
make that lake slightly alkaline,
which is to say that there's a deficit
263
00:22:06,121 --> 00:22:07,681
of protons down there.
264
00:22:07,761 --> 00:22:09,961
So, here's the waterfall.
265
00:22:10,081 --> 00:22:13,121
Reservoir of protons up there,
the deficit down there.
266
00:22:13,201 --> 00:22:14,561
If you could just connect them,
267
00:22:14,641 --> 00:22:18,361
then you'd have a naturally
occurring geological fuel cell.
268
00:22:18,841 --> 00:22:19,961
And it's thought
269
00:22:20,041 --> 00:22:24,721
that the first life on our planet
may have exploited the energy
270
00:22:24,841 --> 00:22:28,281
released in those
natural proton waterfalls.
271
00:22:36,361 --> 00:22:38,521
(CHİLDREN SHOUTING, LAUGHING)
272
00:22:57,201 --> 00:22:59,761
What do you think? It's good, isn't it?
273
00:23:07,241 --> 00:23:10,881
These are pictures from deep below
the surface of the Atlantic Ocean,
274
00:23:10,961 --> 00:23:13,641
somewhere between Bermuda
and the Canarles.
275
00:23:13,721 --> 00:23:17,201
And it's a place known as the Lost City.
276
00:23:17,281 --> 00:23:19,361
You can see why. Look at these.
277
00:23:19,441 --> 00:23:24,441
Huge towers of rocks, some of them
50, 60 metres high,
278
00:23:24,521 --> 00:23:28,001
reaching up from the floor
of the Atlantic and into the ocean.
279
00:23:28,881 --> 00:23:31,281
İt's what's known as
a hydrothermal vent system.
280
00:23:31,361 --> 00:23:35,121
So these things are formed
by hot water and minerals and gases
281
00:23:35,201 --> 00:23:38,041
rising up from deep within the Earth.
282
00:23:38,801 --> 00:23:41,921
The reason it's thought that life
on Earth may have begun
283
00:23:42,001 --> 00:23:46,121
in such structures is because
these are a very unigue kind
284
00:23:46,201 --> 00:23:48,841
of hydrothermal vent
called an alkaline vent.
285
00:23:48,921 --> 00:23:52,761
And about four billion years ago,
when life on Earth began,
286
00:23:52,841 --> 00:23:55,961
sea water would have been mildly acidic.
287
00:23:56,041 --> 00:24:01,361
So, here is that proton gradient,
that source of energy for life.
288
00:24:01,721 --> 00:24:05,161
You've got a reservoir of protons
in the acidic sea water
289
00:24:05,241 --> 00:24:09,121
and a deficit of protons
around the vents.
290
00:24:14,441 --> 00:24:17,641
And the vents don't just provide
an energy source.
291
00:24:17,721 --> 00:24:21,641
They're also rich
in the raw materials life needs.
292
00:24:24,881 --> 00:24:27,721
Hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide
293
00:24:27,801 --> 00:24:31,921
and minerals containing iron,
nickel and sulphur.
294
00:24:34,361 --> 00:24:37,041
But there's more than that.
These vents are porous.
295
00:24:37,121 --> 00:24:39,561
There are little chambers inside them
296
00:24:39,641 --> 00:24:43,321
and they can act to concentrate
the organic molecules.
297
00:24:47,961 --> 00:24:51,041
You've got everything
inside these vents.
298
00:24:51,121 --> 00:24:56,881
You've got concentrated building
blocks of life trapped inside the rock.
299
00:24:59,881 --> 00:25:02,161
And you've got that proton gradient.
300
00:25:02,241 --> 00:25:06,681
You've got that waterfall
that provides the energy for life.
301
00:25:06,761 --> 00:25:11,921
So this could be
where your distant ancestors come from.
302
00:25:12,001 --> 00:25:17,401
Places like these could be
the places where life on Earth began.
303
00:25:22,721 --> 00:25:25,601
The first living things
might have started out
304
00:25:25,681 --> 00:25:28,201
as part of the rock that created them.
305
00:25:34,081 --> 00:25:35,601
Simple organisms
306
00:25:35,681 --> 00:25:41,081
that exploited energy from the naturally
occurring proton gradients in the venits.
307
00:25:46,601 --> 00:25:50,761
And we think this because
living things still get their energy
308
00:25:50,841 --> 00:25:52,961
using proton gradients today.
309
00:26:06,881 --> 00:26:08,601
Deep within ourselves,
310
00:26:08,681 --> 00:26:12,081
the chemistry the first life
exploited in the vents
311
00:26:12,201 --> 00:26:16,161
is wrapped up in structures
called mitochondria.
312
00:26:16,241 --> 00:26:18,281
Microscopic batteries
313
00:26:18,361 --> 00:26:21,121
that power the processes of life.
314
00:26:26,761 --> 00:26:29,281
This is a picture
315
00:26:29,761 --> 00:26:32,761
of the mitochondria
from a little brown bat.
316
00:26:34,241 --> 00:26:36,961
This is the picture of mitochondria
from a plant.
317
00:26:37,041 --> 00:26:39,561
İt's actually a member
of the mustard family.
318
00:26:40,921 --> 00:26:44,641
This, a picture of mitochondria
in bread mould.
319
00:26:45,241 --> 00:26:49,961
And this, mitochondria inside
a malaria parasite.
320
00:26:51,601 --> 00:26:54,241
So, the fascinating thing
321
00:26:54,321 --> 00:26:57,641
is that all these animals and plants
322
00:26:57,721 --> 00:27:01,241
and, in fact, virtually
every living thing on the planet
323
00:27:01,321 --> 00:27:04,881
uses proton gradients
to produce energy tolive.
324
00:27:05,721 --> 00:27:06,841
Why?
325
00:27:07,001 --> 00:27:09,081
Well, the answer is probably
326
00:27:09,161 --> 00:27:12,841
because all these radically
different forms of life
327
00:27:12,921 --> 00:27:14,641
share a common ancestor.
328
00:27:15,361 --> 00:27:18,721
And that common ancestor
was something that lived
329
00:27:18,801 --> 00:27:23,281
in those ancient undersea vents
four billion years ago,
330
00:27:23,361 --> 00:27:28,161
where naturally-occurring
proton gradients provided the energy
331
00:27:28,241 --> 00:27:29,841
for the first life.
332
00:27:29,921 --> 00:27:34,201
So, if you are looking
for a universal spark of life,
333
00:27:34,681 --> 00:27:36,241
then this is it.
334
00:27:36,681 --> 00:27:40,321
The spark of life is proton gradients.
335
00:27:50,521 --> 00:27:54,521
In those four billion years,
that spark has grown
336
00:27:54,601 --> 00:27:56,441
into a flame.
337
00:27:57,201 --> 00:27:59,161
And a few simple organisms
338
00:27:59,241 --> 00:28:01,921
clustered around a hydrothermal vent
339
00:28:02,201 --> 00:28:06,121
have evolved to produce
all the magnificent diversity
340
00:28:06,441 --> 00:28:08,161
that covers the Farth today.
341
00:28:27,121 --> 00:28:28,681
(RUMBLING)
342
00:28:33,761 --> 00:28:36,441
Today, life on Earth is so diverse.
343
00:28:36,521 --> 00:28:40,521
İt covers so much of the planet,
that you can find places like this lake.
344
00:28:40,641 --> 00:28:44,121
I mean, it's effectively
its own sealed ecosystem.
345
00:28:44,201 --> 00:28:46,481
İt's salt water.
It's connected to the sea.
346
00:28:46,561 --> 00:28:50,601
But it's only connected through
small channels through the rock.
347
00:28:50,801 --> 00:28:55,121
So that means that the marine life
in the area is effectively isolated.
348
00:29:02,761 --> 00:29:04,081
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
349
00:29:08,041 --> 00:29:09,601
This is the golden jellyfish,
350
00:29:09,681 --> 00:29:16,361
a unigğue subspecies only found
in this öone lake on this öone island
351
00:29:16,441 --> 00:29:19,721
in the tiny Micronesian
Republic of Palav.
352
00:29:23,041 --> 00:29:25,241
They used to live like most jellyfish.
353
00:29:25,481 --> 00:29:29,081
Cruising the open ocean,
catching tiny creatures,
354
00:29:29,161 --> 00:29:32,161
zooplarıkton, in their long tentacles.
355
00:29:34,641 --> 00:29:37,921
But today, their tentacles
have all but disappeared.
356
00:29:38,641 --> 00:29:41,441
Because the golden jellyfish
have evolved to do something
357
00:29:41,521 --> 00:29:44,521
that very few other animals can do.
358
00:30:00,601 --> 00:30:02,121
İt really is incredible.
359
00:30:02,601 --> 00:30:06,121
There are... I want to say, millions
of jellyfish
360
00:30:06,201 --> 00:30:08,441
as far as you can see,
all the way down
361
00:30:08,841 --> 00:30:11,601
till the... till the light vanishes,
there are jellyfish.
362
00:30:12,441 --> 00:30:15,921
And you can see them congregating
in the sun. If you go over there
363
00:30:16,241 --> 00:30:18,521
to where the lake's in shade,
there are just none.
364
00:30:18,721 --> 00:30:20,401
And then, in this pool of light
365
00:30:20,641 --> 00:30:23,681
beneath the sun,
there are millions of them.
366
00:30:23,761 --> 00:30:26,801
Beautifully elegant things
just floating around.
367
00:30:27,041 --> 00:30:28,241
(CHUCKLES)
368
00:30:28,361 --> 00:30:31,521
I'm not being unduly hyperbolic.
İt's gulite remarkable.
369
00:30:36,001 --> 00:30:37,561
(MUFFLED MUMBLING)
370
00:30:55,881 --> 00:30:59,521
This lake is home to
over 20 million jellyfish,
371
00:31:03,561 --> 00:31:07,081
whose success comes down
to a remarkable adaptation.
372
00:31:09,161 --> 00:31:12,681
Their bodies play host to
thousands of other organisms.
373
00:31:13,841 --> 00:31:18,321
Photosynthetic algae that harvest
energy directly from sunliğht.
374
00:31:27,361 --> 00:31:30,401
The jellyfish engulf the algae
as juveniles.
375
00:31:30,761 --> 00:31:36,201
And, by adulthood, algal cells make up
around 1096 of their biomass.
376
00:31:38,481 --> 00:31:42,241
Grouped into clusters
of up to 200 individuals,
377
00:31:42,601 --> 00:31:45,561
they live inside
the jellyfish's own celis.
378
00:31:51,681 --> 00:31:57,721
The gölden jellyfish uses algae to get
most of its energy from photosynthesis.
379
00:32:10,961 --> 00:32:13,201
The ones at the surface are gentiy...
380
00:32:13,401 --> 00:32:16,401
Wow! There's one there.
They're gently turning.
381
00:32:16,561 --> 00:32:19,041
The reason they do that
is to give all their algae
382
00:32:19,241 --> 00:32:22,241
an eğual dose of sunlight.
383
00:32:24,281 --> 00:32:27,201
So they are guite democratic creatures,
just making sure
384
00:32:27,281 --> 00:32:29,081
they get as much food as they can.
385
00:32:29,961 --> 00:32:31,361
And they just come up to you
386
00:32:31,841 --> 00:32:33,481
jellying around,
387
00:32:33,881 --> 00:32:35,481
photosynthesising.
388
00:32:42,201 --> 00:32:44,001
They tell me they don't sting.
389
00:32:45,761 --> 00:32:47,921
But I'm sure I've got a tingling finger.
390
00:32:52,401 --> 00:32:56,441
And it's not just their anatomy that's
adapted to harvest solar energy.
391
00:32:58,201 --> 00:33:00,281
Every morning, as the sun rises,
392
00:33:00,801 --> 00:33:03,881
the jellyfish begin to swim
towards the east.
393
00:33:07,921 --> 00:33:11,641
And as the sun tracks across the sky,
they move back again
394
00:33:11,881 --> 00:33:14,761
towards the west
where they spend their night.
395
00:33:20,121 --> 00:33:22,681
So, the jellyfish have this...
396
00:33:22,761 --> 00:33:27,201
beautiful, intimate
and complex relationship
397
00:33:27,361 --> 00:33:29,401
with the position of the sun in the sky.
398
00:33:33,881 --> 00:33:36,561
As sunliğht is captured by their algae,
399
00:33:36,761 --> 00:33:39,121
it's converted into chemical energy.
400
00:33:41,721 --> 00:33:44,841
Enerogy they use
to combine simple molecules,
401
00:33:45,201 --> 00:33:47,601
Water and carbon dioxide,
402
00:33:47,681 --> 00:33:50,361
to produce
a far more complex one -
403
00:33:51,201 --> 00:33:52,721
glucose.
404
00:33:54,001 --> 00:33:58,241
Önce absorbed by the jellyfish,
glucose and other molecules
405
00:33:58,321 --> 00:34:01,721
not only power their daily voyage
across the lake,
406
00:34:02,001 --> 00:34:06,081
they provide the basic building blocks
the jellyfish use to grow
407
00:34:06,281 --> 00:34:09,801
the elegant and complex structures
of their bodies.
408
00:34:19,441 --> 00:34:23,161
So the jellyfish,
through their symbiotic algae,
409
00:34:23,241 --> 00:34:27,601
absorb the light, the energy from
the sun, and they use İt to...
410
00:34:27,681 --> 00:34:30,561
to live,
to power their processes oflife.
411
00:34:30,641 --> 00:34:33,041
And that's true, directly or indirectly,
412
00:34:33,121 --> 00:34:36,881
for every form of life
on the surface of our planet.
413
00:34:37,281 --> 00:34:40,641
But things are a little bit
more interesting than that,
414
00:34:40,721 --> 00:34:44,721
because energy
is neither created nor destroyed.
415
00:34:44,801 --> 00:34:47,361
So life doesn't eat it somehow.
416
00:34:47,441 --> 00:34:51,281
İt doesn't use İit up.
It doesn't remove it from the universe.
417
00:34:51,761 --> 00:34:53,241
So what does it do?
418
00:34:57,401 --> 00:35:00,241
To understand how energy sustains life,
419
00:35:00,521 --> 00:35:03,721
you have to understand exactiy
what happens to it
420
00:35:03,801 --> 00:35:06,001
as the cosmos evolves.
421
00:35:14,801 --> 00:35:17,721
In the first instance
after the Big Bang,
422
00:35:17,961 --> 00:35:20,961
there was nothing in the universe
but energy.
423
00:35:23,961 --> 00:35:25,481
(RUMBLING)
424
00:35:27,081 --> 00:35:29,761
As it changed from one form to another,
425
00:35:30,321 --> 00:35:33,241
galaxies, stars and planets were born.
426
00:35:38,321 --> 00:35:42,521
But while the total amount of energy
in the universe stays constant,
427
00:35:43,041 --> 00:35:45,481
With every single transformation,
428
00:35:45,721 --> 00:35:47,281
something does change.
429
00:35:47,761 --> 00:35:48,881
(CRACKLING)
430
00:35:48,961 --> 00:35:52,921
The energy itself becomes
less and less useful.
431
00:35:53,521 --> 00:35:55,561
It becomes ever more disordered.
432
00:35:59,521 --> 00:36:01,721
And you can see this process in action
433
00:36:01,801 --> 00:36:05,081
as energy from the sun hits
the surface of the Farth.
434
00:36:09,681 --> 00:36:14,001
Think about this sand on the beach. It's
been under the glare of the sun all day.
435
00:36:14,081 --> 00:36:17,721
İt's been absorbing its light,
which has been heating it up.
436
00:36:17,801 --> 00:36:20,481
And now that the sun is dipping
below the horizon,
437
00:36:20,561 --> 00:36:22,921
then the sand is still hot to the touch.
438
00:36:23,001 --> 00:36:27,881
Because it's reradiating all the energy
that it absorbed as heat
439
00:36:28,081 --> 00:36:29,881
back into the universe.
440
00:36:29,961 --> 00:36:34,121
And the keyword there is "all".
AILL the eneragy.
441
00:36:34,241 --> 00:36:37,201
See, ifit didn't do that, then it would
just gradually heat up
442
00:36:37,281 --> 00:36:41,761
day after day after day and eventually,
I suppose, the whole beach would melt.
443
00:36:41,961 --> 00:36:43,801
So, what's changed?
444
00:36:43,881 --> 00:36:47,921
Well, it's the guality of the energy,
if you like.
445
00:36:48,121 --> 00:36:49,161
I mean, think about it.
446
00:36:49,241 --> 00:36:51,841
If as much energy
was coming back off this sand now
447
00:36:51,921 --> 00:36:55,441
as İit absorbed from the sun, then
it should be giving me a suntan.
448
00:36:55,641 --> 00:36:59,001
Right? I should need sun creamif I sit
looking at this beach all night
449
00:36:59,081 --> 00:37:00,721
and obviously I don't.
450
00:37:00,801 --> 00:37:05,441
The difference is that this energy
is of a lower guality.
451
00:37:05,681 --> 00:37:07,721
It can do less.
452
00:37:07,801 --> 00:37:11,321
İt's heat, which is a very low guality
of energy indeed.
453
00:37:11,401 --> 00:37:12,961
So what the sand's done
454
00:37:13,041 --> 00:37:16,881
is take highly-ordered,
high-guality energy from the sun
455
00:37:16,961 --> 00:37:22,921
and convert it to an egual amount
of low-guality, disordered eneragy.
456
00:37:23,921 --> 00:37:25,361
(WAVES CRASHING)
457
00:37:29,601 --> 00:37:34,401
Ihis descent into disorder
is happening across the entire universe.
458
00:37:40,801 --> 00:37:42,241
(EXPLODING)
459
00:37:46,481 --> 00:37:50,241
As time passes,
every single joule of energy
460
00:37:50,321 --> 00:37:52,681
is converted into heat.
461
00:37:55,761 --> 00:37:59,841
The universe gradually cools
towards absolute zero
462
00:38:00,521 --> 00:38:02,881
until with no öordered energy left,
463
00:38:03,441 --> 00:38:05,881
the cosmos grinds to a hallt...
464
00:38:06,321 --> 00:38:10,041
and every structure in it decays away.
465
00:38:19,761 --> 00:38:22,361
Yet whilst the universe is dying,
466
00:38:22,881 --> 00:38:25,681
everywhere you look, life goes on.
467
00:38:27,881 --> 00:38:31,441
İt's a deep paradox
that Schrodinger was well aware of
468
00:38:31,521 --> 00:38:34,241
when he wrote his book in 1943.
469
00:38:37,361 --> 00:38:39,401
"How can it be," writes Schrodinger,
470
00:38:39,481 --> 00:38:43,281
"that the living organism avoids decay?"
In other words,
471
00:38:43,361 --> 00:38:47,561
how can it be that life
seems to continue to build
472
00:38:47,641 --> 00:38:49,841
increasingly complex structures
473
00:38:49,921 --> 00:38:55,321
when the rest of the universe
is falling to bits, is decaying away?
474
00:38:55,681 --> 00:38:57,441
Now, that's a paradox
475
00:38:57,521 --> 00:39:01,321
because the universe is falling to bits.
476
00:39:01,401 --> 00:39:04,281
İt is tending towards disorder.
477
00:39:04,361 --> 00:39:09,761
That is enshrined in a law of physics
called the second law of thermodynamics.
478
00:39:09,921 --> 00:39:12,441
And I think most physicists believe
479
00:39:12,601 --> 00:39:17,001
that it's the one law of physics
that will never be broken.
480
00:39:32,361 --> 00:39:36,921
The key to understanding how life
obeys the laws of thermodynamics
481
00:39:37,321 --> 00:39:39,841
is to look at both
the energy it takes in
482
00:39:39,921 --> 00:39:42,641
and the energy it gives out.
483
00:39:47,401 --> 00:39:51,721
This is a thermal camera,
so hot things show up as red
484
00:39:51,801 --> 00:39:54,401
-and cold things show up as blue.
-(COCK CROWING)
485
00:39:54,481 --> 00:39:56,521
So what you're seeing here
486
00:39:56,601 --> 00:39:59,761
is that the chicken
is hotter than its surroundings.
487
00:39:59,841 --> 00:40:03,161
Now heat is a
highly-disordered form of eneragy.
488
00:40:03,241 --> 00:40:07,561
So the chicken is radiating disorder
489
00:40:07,681 --> 00:40:10,161
out into the wider universe.
490
00:40:13,641 --> 00:40:16,641
By converting chemical energy into heat,
491
00:40:16,921 --> 00:40:21,801
life transforms energy from an öordered
to a disordered form
492
00:40:21,881 --> 00:40:26,601
in exactiy the same way as every other
process in the universe.
493
00:40:30,681 --> 00:40:32,241
(COCK CROWING)
494
00:40:34,001 --> 00:40:37,001
In fact, every single
human being generates
495
00:40:37,081 --> 00:40:41,761
6, 000 times more heat
per kilogram than the sun.
496
00:40:45,041 --> 00:40:49,321
And it's by converting so much energy
from one form to another
497
00:40:49,561 --> 00:40:51,441
that life is able to hang on
498
00:40:51,521 --> 00:40:54,521
to a tiny amount of order for itself.
499
00:40:55,441 --> 00:41:00,401
Just enougğh to resist the inevitable
decay of the universe.
500
00:41:03,041 --> 00:41:06,161
So it's no accident
that living things are hot
501
00:41:06,241 --> 00:41:08,761
and export heat to their surroundings,
502
00:41:08,841 --> 00:41:11,641
because it's an essential part
of being alive.
503
00:41:11,801 --> 00:41:15,961
The living things borrow order
from the wider universe
504
00:41:16,081 --> 00:41:18,961
and then they export it again
as disorder.
505
00:41:19,041 --> 00:41:23,801
But it's not precisely in balance.
They have to export more disorder
506
00:41:23,961 --> 00:41:26,641
than the amount of order they import.
507
00:41:26,721 --> 00:41:29,361
That is the content of
the second law of thermodynamics.
508
00:41:29,481 --> 00:41:32,441
Living things have to obey
the second law
509
00:41:32,521 --> 00:41:35,001
because they're physical structures.
510
00:41:35,081 --> 00:41:37,601
They obey the laws of physics.
511
00:41:42,681 --> 00:41:44,761
Just by being alive
512
00:41:44,841 --> 00:41:48,961
we too are part of the process
of energy transformation
513
00:41:49,041 --> 00:41:52,041
that drives the evolution
of the universe.
514
00:41:53,441 --> 00:41:54,921
(RUMBLING)
515
00:41:55,361 --> 00:42:00,121
We take sunliğht that has its origins
at the very start of time
516
00:42:00,761 --> 00:42:03,161
and transform it into heat
517
00:42:03,241 --> 00:42:05,801
that will last for eternity.
518
00:42:10,201 --> 00:42:12,441
So far from being a paradox,
519
00:42:12,521 --> 00:42:16,641
living things can be explained
by the laws of physics.
520
00:42:16,921 --> 00:42:20,881
The very same laws that describe
the falling of the rain
521
00:42:20,961 --> 00:42:23,041
and the shining of the stars.
522
00:42:45,601 --> 00:42:49,441
The dragonfly draws its energy
from proton gradients,
523
00:42:49,721 --> 00:42:53,081
the fundamental chemistry
that powers life.
524
00:42:57,681 --> 00:43:00,161
But the real miracles are the structures
525
00:43:00,241 --> 00:43:02,481
they build with that energy.
526
00:43:06,881 --> 00:43:09,961
Borrowing order to generate cells,
527
00:43:11,361 --> 00:43:14,201
arranging those cells into tissues
528
00:43:16,121 --> 00:43:20,601
and those tissues into the intricate
architecture of their bodies.
529
00:43:24,561 --> 00:43:27,361
So we've developed a guite
detailed understanding
530
00:43:27,441 --> 00:43:31,961
of the underlying machinery
that powers these dragonflies
531
00:43:32,041 --> 00:43:33,961
and, indeed, all life on Earth.
532
00:43:34,041 --> 00:43:35,761
And, whilst we don't have
all the answers,
533
00:43:35,841 --> 00:43:39,361
it is certainly safe to say
that there's no mysticism reduired.
534
00:43:39,441 --> 00:43:42,281
You don't need some kind
of magical flame
535
00:43:42,361 --> 00:43:44,521
to animate these little machines.
536
00:43:44,601 --> 00:43:47,961
They operate according
to the laws of physics.
537
00:43:48,161 --> 00:43:51,561
And I think they are no less
magical for that.
538
00:43:55,881 --> 00:44:01,081
Yet the dragonfly will only maintain
this delicate balancing act for so long.
539
00:44:02,241 --> 00:44:05,761
Because all living things
share the same fate.
540
00:44:10,721 --> 00:44:13,241
Fach individual will die.
541
00:44:15,721 --> 00:44:18,521
But life itself endures.
542
00:44:26,441 --> 00:44:29,281
This is because there's something
that separates life
543
00:44:29,481 --> 00:44:32,121
from every other process
in the universe.
544
00:44:35,921 --> 00:44:37,481
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
545
00:44:44,441 --> 00:44:46,441
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETIİNG)
546
00:44:53,721 --> 00:44:55,841
This is the Malaysian state of Sabah
547
00:44:55,921 --> 00:44:58,721
on the northern tip
of the island of Borneo.
548
00:45:00,321 --> 00:45:03,601
It's öone of the most
biodiverse places on the planet.
549
00:45:06,841 --> 00:45:10,001
Home to 15,000 plant species,
550
00:45:11,321 --> 00:45:13,961
3,000 species of tree,
551
00:45:15,481 --> 00:45:18,161
420 species of bird
552
00:45:20,481 --> 00:45:23,441
and 222 species of mammals,
553
00:45:25,041 --> 00:45:27,081
-including those.
-(TRUMPETS)
554
00:45:28,961 --> 00:45:30,521
(ELEPHANT ROARS)
555
00:45:32,321 --> 00:45:34,921
Borneo's rainforests contain trees
556
00:45:35,001 --> 00:45:37,641
that are thought to live
for more than a thousand years.
557
00:45:41,961 --> 00:45:46,601
But the forest itself has existed
for tens of millions of years.
558
00:45:53,001 --> 00:45:57,441
The reason it persists is because
each generation of animal and plant
559
00:45:57,761 --> 00:46:00,961
passes the information
to recreate itself
560
00:46:01,161 --> 00:46:02,961
on to the next generation.
561
00:46:04,441 --> 00:46:05,721
And that's possible
562
00:46:05,801 --> 00:46:10,201
because of a molecule found
in every cell of every living thing.
563
00:46:12,281 --> 00:46:15,561
A molecule called DNA.
564
00:46:26,801 --> 00:46:31,761
Now, all I need to isolate my DNA
is some washing-up liguid...
565
00:46:32,881 --> 00:46:34,121
a bit of salt...
566
00:46:34,841 --> 00:46:37,441
and the chemist's best friend...
567
00:46:38,201 --> 00:46:39,601
vodka.
568
00:46:39,681 --> 00:46:42,041
Now, to get a sample of DNA,
569
00:46:42,321 --> 00:46:45,761
İ can just use myself.
If I just swirl my tongue around
570
00:46:45,881 --> 00:46:47,481
on the edge of my cheek,
571
00:46:48,281 --> 00:46:51,041
I'll dislodge some cheek cells
into my saliva.
572
00:46:56,401 --> 00:46:59,401
(CHUCKLES) I missed the test tube.
573
00:47:00,041 --> 00:47:02,961
There we are.
İt's a physicist doing an experiment.
574
00:47:06,041 --> 00:47:07,241
(CHUCKLING)
575
00:47:08,881 --> 00:47:12,681
Then...
I add a bit of washing-up liguid.
576
00:47:13,441 --> 00:47:15,041
Now, what this will do...
577
00:47:15,601 --> 00:47:19,001
is it will break open those cheek cells
578
00:47:19,081 --> 00:47:23,401
and it will also degrade the membrane
that surrounds the cell nucleus
579
00:47:23,721 --> 00:47:26,041
that contains the DNA.
580
00:47:26,561 --> 00:47:31,601
Salt will encourage the molecules
to clump together.
581
00:47:32,801 --> 00:47:36,481
DNA is insoluble in alcohol.
582
00:47:37,201 --> 00:47:39,321
So you should get a layer...
583
00:47:41,201 --> 00:47:42,801
of alcohol...
584
00:47:42,881 --> 00:47:46,121
with the DNA molecules precipitated out.
585
00:47:51,001 --> 00:47:52,081
Yeah.
586
00:47:53,321 --> 00:47:54,721
There, can you see?
587
00:47:55,241 --> 00:47:58,161
Those strands of white.
588
00:47:58,321 --> 00:48:03,361
And so, in that cloudy,
almost innocuous-looking solid,
589
00:48:04,041 --> 00:48:06,921
are all the instructions needed
590
00:48:07,401 --> 00:48:09,081
to build a human being.
591
00:48:14,001 --> 00:48:18,161
So that is what makes life unigue.
592
00:48:29,241 --> 00:48:32,121
Only living things have
the ability to encode
593
00:48:32,201 --> 00:48:34,641
and transmit information in this way.
594
00:48:38,121 --> 00:48:42,281
And the conseguences of that
profoundly affect our understanding
595
00:48:42,361 --> 00:48:44,761
of what it is to be alive.
596
00:48:45,961 --> 00:48:49,241
This rainforest is part of
the Sepilok Forest Reserve.
597
00:48:49,321 --> 00:48:54,561
And in here somewhere are some
of our closest genetic relatives.
598
00:49:07,921 --> 00:49:09,481
COX: Shh. Shh.
599
00:49:12,721 --> 00:49:14,201
Oh, yeah. There. Can you see?
600
00:49:21,601 --> 00:49:26,361
Orang-utans are highly specialised
for a life lived in the forest canopy.
601
00:49:27,721 --> 00:49:30,841
Their arms are twice
as long as their legs.
602
00:49:31,121 --> 00:49:33,881
And all four limbs
are incredibiy flexible,
603
00:49:35,361 --> 00:49:37,561
each öone ending in a hand
604
00:49:37,801 --> 00:49:42,361
whose curved bones are perfectliy
adapted for gripping branches.
605
00:49:45,761 --> 00:49:51,481
These adaptations are encoded in
information passed down in their DNA.
606
00:49:56,441 --> 00:49:58,641
(CHUCKLES) He's got a hat on.
607
00:50:01,161 --> 00:50:03,241
He has actually just put a hat on.
608
00:50:04,361 --> 00:50:05,601
(CHUCKLES)
609
00:50:17,761 --> 00:50:21,281
This is the orang-utans' genetic code.
610
00:50:21,521 --> 00:50:23,521
It was published in 2011.
611
00:50:23,681 --> 00:50:27,641
And there are over
three billion letters in İt.
612
00:50:28,481 --> 00:50:29,961
And if I flick through it...
613
00:50:33,321 --> 00:50:34,561
Look at that.
614
00:50:36,561 --> 00:50:39,921
Now, it's composed
of only four letters - A, C, T and G,
615
00:50:40,121 --> 00:50:41,921
which are known as bases.
616
00:50:42,001 --> 00:50:45,601
They're chemical compounds.
They're molecules.
617
00:50:45,921 --> 00:50:49,721
And the way it works
is beautifully simple.
618
00:50:49,921 --> 00:50:53,121
They are grouped into threes
called codons.
619
00:50:53,201 --> 00:50:58,321
And some of them just tell
the code reader, if you like,
620
00:50:58,481 --> 00:51:00,641
how to start or where to start
and where...
621
00:51:00,721 --> 00:51:02,601
-(LEAVES RUSTLING)
-...and when it's gonna stop.
622
00:51:04,961 --> 00:51:06,881
(COX CHUCKLES)
623
00:51:08,721 --> 00:51:11,081
He's fast. (CHUCKLES)
624
00:51:12,641 --> 00:51:14,721
So you would have a start and a stop
625
00:51:15,121 --> 00:51:20,481
in between each group of three
codes for a particular amino acid.
626
00:51:22,561 --> 00:51:25,881
Now amino acids
are the building blocks of proteins
627
00:51:25,961 --> 00:51:30,081
which are the building blocks
of all living things.
628
00:51:30,401 --> 00:51:34,841
So you would just read along.
You would find a start-stop.
629
00:51:35,481 --> 00:51:39,361
And then you would go along in threes.
Build amino acid, build amino acid,
630
00:51:39,441 --> 00:51:41,201
build amino acid, build amino acid.
631
00:51:41,961 --> 00:51:45,281
Stitch those together into a protein.
And if you keep doing that,
632
00:51:45,841 --> 00:51:49,241
eventually, you will come out
with one of those.
633
00:51:52,961 --> 00:51:54,841
İ mean, it's not that simple, of course.
634
00:51:55,281 --> 00:51:57,961
But the basics are there.
635
00:52:00,361 --> 00:52:02,321
This code written in there...
636
00:52:03,641 --> 00:52:05,561
are the instructions to make him.
637
00:52:14,361 --> 00:52:17,081
To faithfully reproduce
those instructions,
638
00:52:17,161 --> 00:52:19,321
for generation after generation,
639
00:52:19,721 --> 00:52:22,801
the orang-utans,
and indeed all life on Farth,
640
00:52:23,401 --> 00:52:26,241
rely on a remarkable property of DNA.
641
00:52:26,761 --> 00:52:30,841
Its incredible stability
and resistance to change.
642
00:52:35,441 --> 00:52:38,841
Every time a cell divides,
its DNA must be copied.
643
00:52:38,961 --> 00:52:42,681
And the genetic code
is highly resistant to copying errors.
644
00:52:42,761 --> 00:52:46,201
The little enzymes, the chemical
machines that do the copying,
645
00:52:46,281 --> 00:52:50,721
on average make only one mistake
in a billion letters.
646
00:52:50,801 --> 00:52:54,561
I mean, that's like copying out
the Bible about 280 times
647
00:52:54,641 --> 00:52:56,521
and making just one mistake.
648
00:53:01,001 --> 00:53:05,241
That fidelity means adaptations
are faithfully transmitted
649
00:53:05,321 --> 00:53:07,561
from parent to offspring.
650
00:53:09,681 --> 00:53:13,721
And so while we think of evolution
aS a process of constant change,
651
00:53:14,281 --> 00:53:18,241
in fact, the vast majority
of the code is preserved.
652
00:53:20,721 --> 00:53:23,721
So even though we are separated
from the orang-utans
653
00:53:23,801 --> 00:53:26,801
by nearly 14 million years of evolution,
654
00:53:27,281 --> 00:53:30,961
what's really striking is
Just how similar we are.
655
00:53:32,561 --> 00:53:36,001
And those similarities
are far more than skin-deep.
656
00:53:38,641 --> 00:53:42,841
Orang-utans are surely one
of the most human of animals.
657
00:53:43,521 --> 00:53:48,321
And they share many of the behavioural
traits that you would define
658
00:53:48,401 --> 00:53:50,761
as being uniguely human.
659
00:53:52,521 --> 00:53:54,601
They nurture their young for eight years
660
00:53:54,681 --> 00:53:57,601
before they let them go
on their own into the forest.
661
00:53:58,241 --> 00:54:01,081
In that time, the infants learn
which roots are safe to eat
662
00:54:01,161 --> 00:54:02,681
and which are poisonous,
663
00:54:03,081 --> 00:54:06,081
which branches will hold their weight
and which won't.
664
00:54:07,161 --> 00:54:10,201
And they can do all that
because they have memory.
665
00:54:10,281 --> 00:54:13,321
They can remember things
that happened to them in their life.
666
00:54:13,401 --> 00:54:16,161
They can learn from them
and they can pass them on
667
00:54:16,241 --> 00:54:18,521
from generation to generation.
668
00:54:25,441 --> 00:54:29,601
And that deep connection extends
far beyond our closest relatives
669
00:54:31,121 --> 00:54:34,281
because our DNA contains the fingerprint
670
00:54:34,361 --> 00:54:38,121
of almost four billion years
of evolution.
671
00:54:38,441 --> 00:54:39,961
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
672
00:54:44,601 --> 00:54:47,401
If I draw a tree of life
for the primates,
673
00:54:47,481 --> 00:54:52,681
then we share a common ancestor
with the chimps and bonobos.
674
00:54:53,401 --> 00:54:56,441
About four to six million years ago.
675
00:54:56,521 --> 00:55:01,681
And if you compare
our genetic seguences,
676
00:55:01,881 --> 00:55:07,761
you find that our genes
are 9996 the same.
677
00:55:08,441 --> 00:55:10,521
We go back to the split
678
00:55:10,881 --> 00:55:14,041
with gorillas, about six to eight
million years ago,
679
00:55:14,641 --> 00:55:18,281
and, again, iİf you compare our genes
680
00:55:18,401 --> 00:55:22,881
then you find that they are
98.496 the same.
681
00:55:24,641 --> 00:55:26,201
Back in time again.
682
00:55:26,321 --> 00:55:29,681
Common ancestor with our friends
over there, the orang-utans,
683
00:55:29,921 --> 00:55:34,601
then our genes are 97.496 the same.
684
00:55:35,321 --> 00:55:37,561
And you could carry on
all the way back in time.
685
00:55:37,641 --> 00:55:41,401
You can look for our
common ancestor with a chicken
686
00:55:41,481 --> 00:55:45,881
and you'd find that our codes
are about 6096 the same.
687
00:55:46,121 --> 00:55:52,801
And, in fact, if you look for any animal
like him. A little fly or a bacteria,
688
00:55:52,881 --> 00:55:55,961
something that seems superficially
completely unrelated to us,
689
00:55:56,041 --> 00:55:59,281
then you will still find seguences
in the genetic code
690
00:55:59,361 --> 00:56:02,481
which are identical
to seguences in my cells.
691
00:56:02,601 --> 00:56:09,321
So this tells us that all life on Earth
is related. It's all connected
692
00:56:09,441 --> 00:56:11,801
through our genetic code.
693
00:56:21,561 --> 00:56:24,281
DNA is the blueprint for life.
694
00:56:25,761 --> 00:56:30,641
But its extraordinary fidelity
means it also contains a story.
695
00:56:31,441 --> 00:56:33,401
And what a story it is.
696
00:56:36,721 --> 00:56:39,161
The entire history of evolution
697
00:56:39,481 --> 00:56:44,641
from the present day, all the way back
to the very first spark of life.
698
00:56:47,961 --> 00:56:50,761
And it telis us that we're connected.
699
00:56:50,841 --> 00:56:54,801
Not only to every planet
and animal alive today,
700
00:56:55,401 --> 00:56:59,161
but to every single thing
that has ever lived.
701
00:57:22,761 --> 00:57:26,721
The guestion "What is life?" is surely
one of the grandest of guüestions.
702
00:57:27,081 --> 00:57:30,481
And we've learnt that life
isn't really a thing at all.
703
00:57:30,641 --> 00:57:33,281
İt's a collection of chemical processes
704
00:57:33,361 --> 00:57:37,681
that can harness a flow of energy
to create local islands of order,
705
00:57:37,841 --> 00:57:40,041
like me and this forest,
706
00:57:40,121 --> 00:57:43,441
by borrowing order
from the wider universe.
707
00:57:43,521 --> 00:57:47,441
And then transmitting it from
generation to generation
708
00:57:47,521 --> 00:57:50,401
through the elegant chemistry of DNA.
709
00:57:50,481 --> 00:57:55,241
And the origins of that chemistry can be
traced back four billion years,
710
00:57:55,321 --> 00:57:58,961
most likely to vents
in a primordial ocean.
711
00:57:59,041 --> 00:58:03,601
And, most wonderfully of all,
the echoes of that history
712
00:58:03,681 --> 00:58:07,001
stretching back for a third
of the age of the universe
713
00:58:07,081 --> 00:58:12,001
can be seen in every cell
of every living thing on Earth.
714
00:58:12,481 --> 00:58:16,201
And that leads to what I think is
the most exciting idea of all.
715
00:58:16,321 --> 00:58:21,361
Because far from being some chance event
ignited by a mystical spark,
716
00:58:21,601 --> 00:58:23,401
the emergence of life on Earth
717
00:58:23,481 --> 00:58:27,881
might have been an inevitable
conseduence of the laws of physics.
718
00:58:28,201 --> 00:58:29,681
And, if that's true,
719
00:58:29,761 --> 00:58:33,801
then a living cosmos
might be the only way our cosmos can be.
720
00:58:47,761 --> 00:58:50,161
(GALAXY DNA SONG PLAYING)
60421
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