Brian Cox

remained unbroken for a third of the age of the universe in a violent universe. We know there are impacts from space. Many stars are significantly more active than the sun. So the sun's kind of quite a boring little star that just ticks along. It's very nice to us. We're also on the edge of the galaxy, by the way. We're not close in. If you go into this region where that black hole is,

remained unbroken for a third of the age of the universe in a violent universe. We know there are impacts from space. Many stars are significantly more active than the sun. So the sun's kind of quite a boring little star that just ticks along. It's very nice to us. We're also on the edge of the galaxy, by the way. We're not close in. If you go into this region where that black hole is,

remained unbroken for a third of the age of the universe in a violent universe. We know there are impacts from space. Many stars are significantly more active than the sun. So the sun's kind of quite a boring little star that just ticks along. It's very nice to us. We're also on the edge of the galaxy, by the way. We're not close in. If you go into this region where that black hole is,

There are a lot of stars around. There are supernova explosions and all sorts of stuff going on. So it's violent in there. So maybe you can only get unbroken chains of life for billions of years on the outskirts of a galaxy. So there are fewer stars and planets out there. And maybe even then you need to be fortunate.

There are a lot of stars around. There are supernova explosions and all sorts of stuff going on. So it's violent in there. So maybe you can only get unbroken chains of life for billions of years on the outskirts of a galaxy. So there are fewer stars and planets out there. And maybe even then you need to be fortunate.

There are a lot of stars around. There are supernova explosions and all sorts of stuff going on. So it's violent in there. So maybe you can only get unbroken chains of life for billions of years on the outskirts of a galaxy. So there are fewer stars and planets out there. And maybe even then you need to be fortunate.

The moon is big, and so it stabilizes the spin. So the spin axis, Mars, I think, if I'm right, I think the spin axis is wobbled around by something like 60 degrees or something over its history. Imagine that. Imagine Earth was – the pole was wobbling around and everything was falling over. You wouldn't imagine that complex life like us would emerge on a planet like that.

The moon is big, and so it stabilizes the spin. So the spin axis, Mars, I think, if I'm right, I think the spin axis is wobbled around by something like 60 degrees or something over its history. Imagine that. Imagine Earth was – the pole was wobbling around and everything was falling over. You wouldn't imagine that complex life like us would emerge on a planet like that.

The moon is big, and so it stabilizes the spin. So the spin axis, Mars, I think, if I'm right, I think the spin axis is wobbled around by something like 60 degrees or something over its history. Imagine that. Imagine Earth was – the pole was wobbling around and everything was falling over. You wouldn't imagine that complex life like us would emerge on a planet like that.

Yeah, an evolutionary biologist would say the counter-argument. is that what life does, what evolution does, is produce organisms that are well-fit to their environment. They fit niches in the environment. But there's no drive to complexity. There's no law that says that the more complex you are, the more likely you are to survive and flourish.

Yeah, an evolutionary biologist would say the counter-argument. is that what life does, what evolution does, is produce organisms that are well-fit to their environment. They fit niches in the environment. But there's no drive to complexity. There's no law that says that the more complex you are, the more likely you are to survive and flourish.

Yeah, an evolutionary biologist would say the counter-argument. is that what life does, what evolution does, is produce organisms that are well-fit to their environment. They fit niches in the environment. But there's no drive to complexity. There's no law that says that the more complex you are, the more likely you are to survive and flourish.

And the example of life on Earth probably backs that up. Biologically. Yes, three billion years of single cells. What that means is that the single-celled organisms were just doing very well. Right. And so it's not obvious. It's not a given that just because you suddenly get more complicated, you're better than the single-celled things. Right.

And the example of life on Earth probably backs that up. Biologically. Yes, three billion years of single cells. What that means is that the single-celled organisms were just doing very well. Right. And so it's not obvious. It's not a given that just because you suddenly get more complicated, you're better than the single-celled things. Right.

And the example of life on Earth probably backs that up. Biologically. Yes, three billion years of single cells. What that means is that the single-celled organisms were just doing very well. Right. And so it's not obvious. It's not a given that just because you suddenly get more complicated, you're better than the single-celled things. Right.

Earth was almost that. Right. So you go back one billion years from now and Earth was that planet. So the interesting things that happened, photosynthesis, complex biochemistry. But as far as we can tell, nothing more complex than a single cell. So as most of the history of life on Earth. So that might suggest that that's the way that things are usually. And that this is an aberration.

Earth was almost that. Right. So you go back one billion years from now and Earth was that planet. So the interesting things that happened, photosynthesis, complex biochemistry. But as far as we can tell, nothing more complex than a single cell. So as most of the history of life on Earth. So that might suggest that that's the way that things are usually. And that this is an aberration.

Earth was almost that. Right. So you go back one billion years from now and Earth was that planet. So the interesting things that happened, photosynthesis, complex biochemistry. But as far as we can tell, nothing more complex than a single cell. So as most of the history of life on Earth. So that might suggest that that's the way that things are usually. And that this is an aberration.

And again, emphasize we don't know. Right. But we've got one example. The other observation, though, it goes back to your first question. It is true that we do look sort of systematically for signals or evidence of civilizations out there. There's the Breakthrough Listen Project and there's SETI, as it's called. So we do. And we haven't seen anything, I would say.

And again, emphasize we don't know. Right. But we've got one example. The other observation, though, it goes back to your first question. It is true that we do look sort of systematically for signals or evidence of civilizations out there. There's the Breakthrough Listen Project and there's SETI, as it's called. So we do. And we haven't seen anything, I would say.