Are We Alone in The Galaxy? Brian Cox on Alien Life 

What is your answer for the Fermi paradox?

I love listening to Brian Cox. Somehow his voice always seems like he's smiling and really passionate about the subject.

I've always believed that there is plenty of life in the Universe. Problem is that everything is so far apart that its virtually impossible to reach another civilisation.

The universe is unimaginable huge. Billions of galaxies each with hundreds of billions of stars each with multiple planets. Finding life somewhere else in the universe is not only likely but inevitable.

I course we are not alone! The universe is just too vast and infinite to be otherwise. The only question is how far are they away from us?

It's a very big universe.The premiss that there would be a first civilization is, to say the least, shortsighted. One could imagine life evolving on thousands, maybe even millions of planets simultaneously.

“If it’s just us, that seems like an awful waste of space, right?” - Ellie Arroway

Every time I think about how much we’ve advanced as a civilization, it makes you just wonder what the future is going to be like. it makes me sad to think that our species doesn’t even live to a century which is literally nothing in astronomical time. Just imagine the things that are out there it’s incredible.

space is simply so vast i refuse to believe we are the only example of life in the entire universe it just makes absolutely zero sense

I'm still waiting for them to discover intelligent life on earth . . .

My theory is that there is intelligent life all over the galaxy, and it is all alone, in the sense that there could be no possible communication or detection of other civilizations because of the distances involved and the speed of light barrier. Lets think about it a different way ... Suppose we could position our self anywhere in the galaxy we want, and we knew exactly where earth was ... How far away could we possibly be and yet still detect signs of intelligent life?, even if we knew exactly where to look and exactly what to look for. Keep in mind that data we could possibly use to detect life (radio, atmosphere, etc) can't possibly travel faster than the speed of light. So depending on your "intelligent life detecting approach" it suggests there is a maximum distance from earth beyond which it would be impossible to detect intelligent life on earth. Even if you knew it existed. Maybe 100 light years. Maybe 200 hundred ... Much further than that and the data you are looking for would not have had time to reach you yet. But these are crazy insignificant numbers when you consider distances on a galactic scale. And lets not even get started on inter-galactic scales. And of course, there is the "when you look" question. Anything you could possibly detect would be a view of reality that is many years out of date. Like thousands or millions or billions. of years More than enough time for any detected civilization to have vanished. And for new civilizations to have emerged whose "clues" have not reached us yet. TLDR; - unless you break the speed of light barrier, we will always be alone. Even in a galaxy full of intelligent life. BTW - is there intelligent life on earth? Gotta wonder sometimes ...

I do belive that somewhere there is intellgent life, but the distance between is so big that its impossible to detect each other

No matter what, it's beautiful and we were lucky to be aware of it.

There is a difference between life and conscious life. I believe we are the only conscious beings in the Universe and are alone so it is so important to appreciate life and the beauty of Earth and really enjoy it all.

It's amazing to think how long it actually took to construct earth into a living habitat and even scarier at how quickly we are destroying it.

finally we're asking the right question, focusing on if there's life in the galaxy is the only question that we can hope to answer anytime soon

What an amazing and outstanding chap Brian really is 👍 I've just watched The Planets and have to say I was amazed by it all! Well done buddy 😊👍

Few years ago i had an encounter while on a canoe camping trip with my son, it was about 3.30am and ide crawled out the tent to take a leak, there wasn`t a cloud in the sky, it was pitch black but you could see every star in the sky from this field we`d camped in, as i walked towards a few bushes i felt something like a static charge and i looked about and for a split second i saw a bluey green light just above me, reminded me of what a plasma discharge looks like from a tesla coil, i looked straight up above my head and saw a distortion in the sky, i could still see the stars but it was like i was looking at them in the reflection in water, they shimmered, only way i can describe it it was like the predator when he engages his invisibility device, this distortion was moving real slow, eventually it passed over head and as i looked more at it and the further it got away it started to see a solid object, eventually i saw a leading edge to a disk shaped object, it looked like brushed tin or pewter, no sound at all apart from a gentle hum which i could feel in my chest, like you do at a rock concert when the bass kicks in, there was no engine exhaust, no rotors or ailerons or anything you`d identify as an aircraft, it was seamless and looked like it was injection moulded from 1 piece, i guess it travelled about half a mile away from me, over the river we`d canoed down that day and all of a sudden it shot up vertically that fast ide say within 2 seconds it looked like just another star, this was in the UK at a place called Ironbridge near telford, i`ll never forget that as long as i live

Love documentaries like this. ANything with Dr. Brian Cox in it, is worth watching right when I find it. I've loved all of his documentaries, because he is such an incredible thinker.

I love how when these experts are interviewed in a future this is your life program you find out that they were winging it and needed to read up on the subject, That would probably be more accurate for what we actually know when all is said and done?

Don't forget the universe had to age through 1st and 2nd generation stars in order to have the necessary heavier elements for life. We may well be one of the firstborn.

At 3 minutes the narrator says, “ I don’t think that there is anything special. Life is just chemistry……” If that is the case why have they not created LIFE in the controlled environment of a Lab?” Quote: “Origin-of-life researchers now know that Stanley Miller’s simulation experiment(1953)has little, if any, relevance to explaining how amino acids-let alone their precise sequencing, necessary to produce proteins-could have arisen in the actual atmosphere of the early earth.”

The question should not be “are we alone in the universe” the question should be “where are they”? However finding and pinpointing where other civilizations are does us little good. We still wouldn’t be able to communicate with them. The nearest intelligent beings are most likely hundreds if not thousands of light years away from us

I once told a work colleague as a youth l didn't believe in aliens ghosts etc but now as an old man I've been seeing such objects all my life.

Cox succulently put it best : "IF we last" !

they said life is just chemistry, but why haven't any of the life creation experiments created any life yet?

I love Brian. I slightly disagree on the development of civilisations as guaranteed by time for the reason that there is a lot of opposition that can challenge progress, politics most crucially: we could’ve been farther ahead as an intelligent species if we listened to the scientists of the past more, like in the Roman era all the way to the classical era, even now.

I think there are more civilizations in the galaxy...and some kind of life in all galaxies. They just have the same problem we do.....distances and time travel.

We, humans and non-humans, have been living alone in the universe that we know. The dinosaurs knew it until most died out because the earth made them ended, likewise, many previous strange civilizations once existed then vanished as earth changed again and several again in its history with the moon, the sun, and the sibling planets. Is there any civilization existed beyond our universe? Maybe because our senses are bounded by 3D.

Brian's wife: I'm leaving you Brian: 🙂

People who say aliens aren't out there because we can't find them , or that aliens aren't interested in us because we're the ants of the proverbial ant hill hold an opinion I disagree with.

I think considering the sheer size of the universe it's arrogant of us in the extreme to say we are alone. It is a completely different matter if we will ever discover or meet that life but I do feel it's out there.

All discussions I have seen surrounding the FP I have a tendency to assume intelligent alien life in a similar image to our own. With just one example (us) that seems a big assumption to me. The problem could be one of perception. Professor Cox seems to touch on this as well. Once we find the first one (or should I say second) then we may well start finding others quite quickly as our understanding grows. As we get our eye in as it were.

Chances we are alone: practically 0 Chances we will ever meet other intelligent life: practically 0

Amazing video, very informative, thank you, and Professor Brian Cox's voice is so soothing and the way he explain things is really good.

"There's been so much time." Exactly what I keep coming back to when pondering this. If our civilization "only" lasts a million years before it destroyed itself that would have been .0001 of a % of time of the whole scheme of things.

I've seen the entire discussion in the past yet it still fascinates me. Brian is a master of explanation using lightly constructed sentences with enormous complexity of thought stimulating the wonder of scale. For example, so complex life used a tool 500 years ago lets say, this paradox. What about a place that's "a million years old?" I laugh at the thought we would be observed as intelligent to them. What I am saddest about is, none of us will most likely live long enough to know the truth of "are we alone" 100% positive. I say we are not from a numbers pov.

I can’t wait till we hear our first discovery from the James Webb Telescope. 😁

What would really be unsettling ,if we're all alone 🤔

1) We can only see a small snippet of the universe today. 2) The universe is expanding faster than the speed of light. So we will never see any more of the universe than we see today and the outer limits of what we see today will start disappearing.

The likelihood of intelligent beings that create civilizations existing has to be almost vanishingly small. We're probably alone at least in our local region of the galaxy.

It’s impossible for us to be alone in the infinitely expanding universe. To say we are the only life in the universe is like throwing a grain of sand in the ocean and expecting it to be the only grain of sand

Maybe aliens communicating with us is the equivalent of us talking to a leaf. So they simply don't bother.

Fermi Paradox assumes other life forms have the same goals as we do.

There will be life out there for sure, intelligent and non intelligent. But, because of the vast distances, even if you could travel at the speed of light, which is impossible by the way, it would take many life times or longer to travel to other worlds. So we have this little patch of space all to ourselves and it won't take us long to stuff that up anyway.

It's very disappointing such a big question is explored here and not one word or shred of scientific curiosity is afforded to UAP's and the mountain of evidence buzzing around right under their noses. Simply Amazing

Brian Cox's voice is great asmr.

You can have all the 'suitable' planets you want, and all the components for life - but you still need a molecule that can self-replicate. Take, for example, the smallest possible molecule of RNA, say 500 bases. With four nucleotide bases how many combinations can you have and how many will self-replicate. The odds against it are enormous. It happened on Earth but the chances of it happening twice in one universe? Remote.

We are alone in OUR particular Space/Time. The SAME applies to any OTHER Civilisations. Any Civilisation that become intelligent will inevitably destroy itself. The fermi paradox doesn't apply.

I used to be skeptical about Alien civilizations existing here on Earth along side Humans. The unimaginable distances between Stars? With the advent of the cell phone, almost everyone has a camera. Fighter Jets from every Country have reported in, there are thousands of sightings a week. Underwater sightings. Locked into a gun sight, and Pilots weapons are neutered by What? I'm thinking if we or someone else hasn't already made contact now might be the perfect time.

Could also be that intelligent life always evolves enough to ultimately discover higher dimensions that are much more interesting than ours…Other dimensions are actually predicted by string theory. Maybe we just live in the “lame” dimension .😂

For centuries, mankind thought Earth was the center of the heavens, not because they were dumb but because they had no means to prove anything else. It's proven Earth isn't, but our vanity still makes us even bother to think we are the only "intelligent" life in the universe. Your home isn't anything unique, why would you think you are?

I do believe as the fermi paradox suggests we are likely the only intelligent life in our galaxy but as for detecting intelligent life outside our galaxy, given the distance between neighboring galaxies of about 10 million light years, unless their signature is very obvious they will forever remain undiscovered

Webb will begin to give us more reliable numbers to plug into the Drake equation. That alone will be exciting. As for civilizations surviving millions or billions of years - the odds are absolutely against it. Human civilizations have survived, at most, a few hundred years (here I am not talking about ALL of human civilization, but individual civilizations, such as empires - the Persians, the Incas, the Egyptians, etc). Plus, any civilization will eventually encounter geologic and climate shifts (including changes in atmospheric and oceanic composition), and cosmic challenges such as changes in the local star(system) or impacts from other celestial bodies. Very good point that we may not recognize advanced alien technology - for many reasons, a few of which are: 1. Other intelligent lifeforms may not look like us - they may not have 2 arms, two legs, big black eyes, and a bubbly big brained head like they are almost always depicted. What if they looked like a cloud of particles? Or a patch of tar? 2. The way we do space travel - with big, heavy, metallic, fossil fueled objects may not turn out, in the long run, to be a very good way to do it. I suspect our space rockets are pretty much analogous to the stage in which airplanes were built from wood and had fabric sewn on them, and were powered by what would be a moped engine by today's standards. There's absolutely no reason to expect that a space-travelling extraterrestrial's vehicle would look just like ours, only better - or even be made out of similar materials, or be controlled by what we would recognize as a computer. In fact, the way we imagine space travelling vehicles is entirely limited by our own past - a past which another space-travelling society would not share. So yeah, it's entirely possible we're surrounded by them, but we just don't see them. Like the way an ant colony can be surrounded by a city of 20 million humans and not be aware of it. We may not have evolved to the point where we can even see a civilization that has managed to persist millions of years. To such a civilization, we would not register at all on a scale of intelligence. Sometimes I wonder if the whole idea that humanity is intelligent at all isn't just more ignorant arrogance. At the species level, I don't think we behave intelligently at all. We're killing ourselves and destroying our ecosystem with our own waste products - and that is a problem that plagues even the most primitive bacteria that become over-successful. We haven't solved the basic problem that causes species of bacteria to go extinct, yet we call ourselves "intelligent". What's with that?

He says life originated on Earth and probably didn't come from other worlds. Based on what exactly? It's possible it started here in the oceans, but panspermia is still a possibility imo. It would explain why life got here so fast after the cooling down of the planet.

Once we get the right equipment into place I think we will find plenty of signs of life... even some intelligent life. However, I highly doubt we will see that much life traveling through space to other solar systems, etc. At best, each one might inhabit one or two extra solar systems to ensure the survival of their species. Any more than that just doesn't make sense and could even work against that goal.

I love to see the story of Dr. Wudi. He observed timelapse of all Universes. He holds a very different view. He has an unusual Theory of Everything. He has been observing in silence since 2017. If you make a video about him, I think it would be a truly fascinating story.

Fermi paradox is such an egocentric way to look at things. If there is a more advanced civilization (Or multiple) out there, what makes us think that they are necessarily close to us??? Space is so infinitely impossibly infinite and hard to understand, that assuming that "we should be able to see something out there" is just senseless. I am sure there are civilizations out there, and while it would be AWESOME to be in touch, I don't think it will happen in MILLIONS of years (If our species survive that long).

We once asked similar questions such as is the earth flat. Are there people in America etc. We’re just asking this particular question because we don’t know yet but I’m sure this will go the same way as the others ie of course we’re not alone. The universe is just to big.

Yes we are alone. Though there are animals of different species out there in the universe. When we begin to venture out into the universe then some humans are going to evolve to adapt to different environments. Some of us will also use science to change our DNA so we can live longer or to make us more adaptable to certain environments thus creating a new race/species.🖖

The universe works like a giant quantum computer and it was programmed to do what you see here on Earth and this is the only place in the universe this has happened. Even though Earth contains semi intelligent life you will find no other in the universe. Understanding this you can see how sacred the Earth is. This knowledge and wisdom has made me the wealthiest man in the universe. When you see the universe as she truly is she will let you know that she sees you seeing her. This will scare the hell out of you at first but you will soon see there's nothing to fear 👁

The distances are so vast and incomprehensible that communication between potential civilisations is impossible.

If there is intelligent life out there is one of 3 things behind us in development the same level as us or so far ahead of us it’s unreal, I just wish I was around to see us become a space fairing race we don’t do enough to be getting out there and exploring

We should all act like we are alone. There is no one coming to save us from ourselves.

An excellent presentation, I think. Thanks. Yes, I would say we are alone in this galaxy, purely because nothing ever works out as exciting and interesting as we wish. That's a sort of rule for a species whose members carry with them a sense of sadness & disappointment that underlies everything they experience.

I already believe that we have been visited by Aliens since ancient times. Our current level of technology is that of a very small row boat thinking that reaching the other stars is the same way. Imagine explaining to Galileo on stars(our current Knowledge compared to theirs ), Ships, Airplanes, Rockets. Humans require a new kind of thinking to advance.

What's scary is that we are alone in the universe, what's even more scary, is that we are not and we will know this, but never be able to communicate with that life.

Is there sentient life on other planets in the galaxy ? In my belief yes there is yet they are so far away for us to know what kind of life forms that may inhabit them or how far that they may have advanced or if they are not very advanced . Some of the planets inhabitants may be as primitive as what it was like in the history of our planet and with other new and younger planets life may just be starting . So thinking that our planet is the only one to support life is totally wrong .

God I love Cox's accent and voice

I think we have had science for much longer than 500 years!

Wow, Brian... such an optimist. I disagree. If when the moment I die we still have not found life beyond Earth, then the answer to the question is yes, we are alone in the galaxy. It doesn't matter whether we make contact in a thousand years, for me within the timeframe of my consciousness, there is nothing beyond our planet. Nothing. Either we are the first or the vastness of time and space make it statistically impossible for two civilizations to ever meet. And the latter seems less and less likely as well since we also see no tell-tale signs of life anywhere at all. AT.ALL.

Hard to believe we would be. Infinite universe and all.

2.41 “but it probably didn’t.” Brian Cox’s dismissal of the ancient alien hypothesis. Oh dear.

More we realize how big the universe is, more its seems it’s void of life and we may be alone in a tiny small blue dot. 🔵. On extraterrestrial intelligence, Enrico Fermi asks, “Where is everybody?”

Why do we presume that "alien life' requires a solar system and atmosphere "like our own"? Isn't it likely, and possible, that "alien life" is more alien than us and has different requirements to sustain "their life"?

“Apply yourself to a multi-faceted existence, learn and connect to the multiverse the influence is quite powerful, profound and dominant’- Andrew Rogers. The multiverse is a group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, sentient beings, spirits, spirit guides, gods, goddess and aliens, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The different universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes", "alternate universes", or "many worlds".

For me, it's pretty much the same repeat Qs that I had when 10-11 years old. it's still all about recanting/recycling the same theories founded on the same ideas .. but same expressions of uncertainties ... There's something magical around us for sure... we should just enjoy & appreciate it 😄

The Drake Equation might as well be the Drake Guess. How do you equate something when you're missing ALL of the mathematical variables? You can't do it.

If life started here as soon as conditions were right, why don’t we see evidence of multiple life origins and lineages? It seems there might have been an origin in basically every tide pool or mud puddle. Did evolution snuff out the competition that quickly? I think at some point we’ll find fossils that indicate separate beginnings.

With our technology, yes. Bob Lazar, for what’s it’s worth… believes the craft he’s worked on had technology and reactors to create ‘pockets’ in space they can slip through. He basically described the craft seen in the military videos decades before they were filmed.

It's probable that intelligent life exists out there. However it's improbable that we'll ever be aware of each other. The Cosmic speed limit, Time, Distances, Human life span, Special relativity, et al, all combine to confound each seeking the other out. It's bizarre that our perceptions are usually built on other intelligent life having cracked economic space travel. Moonlike topography with remote 'Jetson' Metropolis.

question.... will rocky planets in habitable zone have "enough atmosphere" for us to detect? or will we mostly only be able to detect the chemistry of huge gas giants ??

So even if we do find a planet like ours how will we get there to see if it's habitable? We've all totally fallen apart with covid, how the heck do we think we could even hope to survive on a new planet???

Mind blowing stuff.

It's a shame that when we do find the life that's out there, the general population wont even know anything about it. It'll be kept more secret than what happens at groom Lake.

Mathematically it's inconceivable... Currently with our technological development there's no way to truly know beyond theoretical bacteria.

Maybe we'll never know. The only three ways we could know is either we travel to them, they come to us, or they broadcast their media or message through our equipment. some say there is no good reason to wonder about other life outside our atmosphere. But the brilliance in the curiosity is that we are potentially preparing ourselves from the unknown. Maybe there's one or four hostile alien lifeforms around our galaxy or even hiding inside our beloved milkyway.

Life is more than just chemistry

It's all fun and exciting to think and dream about.

With the launch of JWST I wonder what stipulations were made about what and what not is to be declared in the event that real evidence of habitable Worlds is discovered, or evidence of Alien technology is found.

8:15 "....if we last" The ultimate question.

In this day and enlightened age, this is a question that no longer needs to be asked. 300 billion stars, and we're the only one? Come on! The same elements and chemistry are spread throughout the galaxy. Stable stars like ours are common place. All that's needed is time.

What if the signals or any form of communication from the other civilizations are like the ripples on the surface of water? They can be broken and look random if they encounter the other ripples surrounding them, thus making them unidentified. What if we’ve been using the wrong approach to receive those signals?

The problem with part of the video and those like is the statement that the galaxy is so old so where is everyone. You don't take into account that advanced civilizations would require a second generation solar system in order for it to have the heavier elements needed for advanced science. It would be impossible to start an advanced civilization in a first generation solar system with Hydrogen, helium lithium and the like. Good luck with that. The best thing about channels such as this is that it sparks conversations and the spread of knowledge.

Brian Cox... Top Man

A supremely gifted educator.

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

I see a Brian Cox video come up in my suggested videos, I click on it

That was good, spontaneous life theory and I liked the ending about nano bots and technology being indistinguishable from our experience of the universe that we don’t recognise it as the signature of advanced intelligence

You can't ignore consciousness of Human Being