Alex McColgan

Ultimately, we would be wise to tread carefully.

Meeting alien civilizations might sound exciting, but it would inevitably come with terrible risks.

And possibly fantastic rewards.

Is it worth the gamble?

Looking up to the stars on a bitingly clear night, a horizon away from the nearest town, you'll feel alone.

But as your eyes adjust, you are embraced by the light of an entire universe.

Surrounded by such scale and wonder,

It's hard in that moment to imagine that we are it, isn't it?

That we are the only life the universe will ever know, confined as we are on this pale blue dot.

Perhaps we are alone.

Or maybe, just maybe, given enough time, nature's laws conspire to make life not just probable, but inevitable.

I'm Alex McColgan, and you're watching Astrum.

Join me today as we explore the chaotic transition from chemistry to biology on our planet, seeking answers to some of the most debated and fervent questions in science.

What is life?

How could life have emerged on Earth in an environment that would kill us as we are today?

And can it begin all over again elsewhere in the universe, or even on our own planet?

To begin to answer those questions, let's imagine that while walking across a barren desert, your foot kicks a stone.

It wouldn't occur to you that someone put it there or crafted it, since the stone is too simple an object.

Now, imagine instead that you stumble across a glistening, precision-made, embossed gold pocket watch.

William Haley argued that because, unlike a stone, a watch obviously requires a designer, you'd have to assume that someone had made the watch and placed it there.