Rose Center Anniversary Isaac Asimov Debate: Is Earth Unique?

[tumadrewhammy]

"Sittin on tha toilet" has 55 million views and this has 15,000. I don't want to live on this planet anymore (maybe I'll move to Titan).

[smcam3]

My question would be - is life 'beginning' all the time here on earth? And by beginning I mean that very first moment when a cell first reproduced on earth. Some say the odds of life beginning are so high that it creates an argument for life on earth to be unique in the universe. But is this 'beginning' event actually occuring all the time on earth, possibly suggesting the odds aren't that high?

[arjabbar409]

@smcam3 Life isn't beginning or evolving the same way it was back in the beginnings of life because the same microbes don't have an environment that is good for evolving. They would get consumed by more advanced life. I forgot the actual source for that, but you can try the TalkOrigins website just to be sure.

[Tomatis]

Im sitting in Sweden, the time is 04:57 AM. And I just want to say thanks to the American Museum of Natural History for making this video avalible on YouTube.

[AzureSky317]

WHY IS ALL YOUR GOOD VIDEOS OVER ONE HOUR LONG???!!!!! I've spend the last 7 hours watching NDT on all his speeches from 2008

[paul13nov]

I don't understand how someone can sit there, say that life may have been on Mars before, when it is more probable that it is maybe just getting started, if our sun was cooler millions of years ago, it is more likely Venus was the last Earth like planet as it wouldn't have been as hot as 900 degrees in the past.

Yes bacteria/algae could have survived on Mars, it is possible, but I think what were seeing now though is a beginning, I have to doubt a little though, that it already had an end.

[Zurround100]

As far as discovering extraterrestrial life is concerned I hope the ALMA radio telescope finds evidence of alien life. One single AMOEBA would excite me more than a million galaxies if it was not from Earth.

[AlkPacino]

Yes, the exoplanet app is great for details, updated regularly and full of information. But we have to remember also to step into our creative free thinking mode to ponder what the details mean.

[Giby86]

0 dislikes. This is good sign.

[nak807]

@Giby86 Who cares what trolls think?

[Giby86]

@nak807 Trolls, I guess. But anyway, it's a good sign either because it means that trolls don't watch these kind of videos, or because even trolls don't dare to desacrate them.

[ZachRose88]

Science. Science. Science. I can't get enough. Keep the uploads coming! I greatly appreciate them.

[ExtreamThrills]

147:30 the foxp2 gene has not been confirmed to be the gene that is responsible for our ability to speak to one another and understand each other. it may just allow us to be able to move our mouths. just wanted to clear that up.

[SonLastName]

i wish i knew what they're all saying.

[hummerume]

0 dislikes :), i like that. awesome stuff

[LilDrummerBoy74]

I have that app at 0:29:45!Its amazing.

[srikargottipati]

Loved this conversation. Science never ceases to amaze me

[Scurmicurv]

Just thought to comment that the article "Artificial Leaf Turns Sunlight Into a Cheap Energy Source" in Science a few weeks ago might be interesting, following the statement at around the one hour mark. Don't look now, but we might very well have the very first version of using sunlight to split water at normal room temperature and viable chemical conditions right there.

[DerMacDuff]

This discussion turned me into a scientist !

[rabbitkiller842]

I agree about the moon, it needs a bit more explanation, otherwise it's great fun to wonder about life.

[skinnyjohnsen]

I amazed that no one adressed the question about the Moon until about1:26:00.

And I'm disappointed that it was laughed away so easily; Would animal (not just microbial) life have been here without it?

Apart from that; Wonderful show ;-)

[Poleschs]

Always bothers me when people assume that intelligence is a goal in evolution, when it most likely is to the contrary. Intelligence is not a good way of propagating genes, the brain is also too expensive for the body to produce. Like the "freak accident" of speech, as he was talking about, intelligence is probably one of those, or several. Where consciousness is just a consequence of that process.

[sbergman27]

@Poleschs It's a niche, like any other. If we think about ourselves as pieces of meat trying to popularize our particular genes, it's not a very successful strategy. Which is why only about 6.5 billion gene sets are currently using it. That, out of the approximately 5 trillion trillion (5 septillion) distinct gene sets on Earth. So only about a 10th of a trillionth of a percent of genes which are trying to replicate go this route. Also, April 15th is just another day to them. Another plus.

[GodlessMorality]

Wow, I learned a lot of good stuff from these talks. Well done. Wish the panel had mics that were as good as Neil's though. And he was awesome as usual!

[0zzy07]

I love science

[mdiem]

@hobatu

Gottamit, that's pretty funny.

[mdiem]

@hobatu

Gottamit, that's pretty funny.

[cristianfcao]

Neil: You've been owned @ 40:09. We still love you man!

[mdiem]

@cristianfcao

Nah, Neil is lobbing softballs at these guys and getting easy answers.

He's a showman. He plays it up for the crowd

[neurohm]

haha I just noticed the danish guy sounds alot like milton waddams from the movie office space which I just saw yesterday

[2eelShmeal]

Well I read all the comments prior to watching and I have to say that aside from the mic volume, NDT did a great job. As for all all you who disliked his presentation, all I can say is it's not my fault that England has such shitty weather and you're grumpy all the time. Cheer up you plunkers!

[dycarbon1]

Neil Tyson as the mod makes this debate a lot more special.

[spurcheck]

magnificent

[marredsun]

This would have been SO much cooler if Tyson wasn't moderating it so stringently. We barely got to hear any discussion among the panelists, and there were many points that would have been great to hear arguments against. A poorly organised discussion about a thrilling topic I think...

[mdiem]

@marredsun

They only had 2 hours. . .

[MattHunX]

"Or see 'something' running down the beaches" LOL

[Dimy761]

Real nerds. Unfortunately I've never met such people in person.

[hastious]

@Dimy761

You must be around a lot of slow minds I see.

[Bugside]

Thank you very much

[Moryton]

This was awesome.

[swastikaPOWER]

i like waffles

[lehman]

@swastikaPOWER blue waffles?

[swastikaPOWER]

@lehman i dont know what do u think

[FedupwithR]

That was most enjoyable. Thank you.

[mlonster]

lovely, more of this please! :)

[TheSokwe]

Great discussion, we need more of these out on the net!

[marcos5777]

A fascinating talk. Thanks for sharing.

[moneyman10k]

I'd like this more if I didn't already know the answer to the question

an astronomical not very

[GodofCider]

@moneyman10k Lol, ya, I knew the answer as soon as I read the question. Didn't leave much in the way of a surprise.

[WhirledSol]

YAY Chris McKay!

[RedAlphaDingo]

Love it

[likter]

intressting!