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00:00I've been lucky. I've lived an extraordinary life, exploring the universe and attending the odd party or two.
00:15But imagine I could go anywhere and see anything.
00:20Well, then this bad boy, I can.
00:27Join me on a fantastical trip.
00:30To my favorite places.
00:37After all, why should astronauts have all the fun?
00:45Every journey has a beginning, and my own had a very difficult start.
00:51At age 21, I received a life-changing diagnosis.
00:56Doctors said a disease would steal my independence, and then my life.
01:02So I decided to devote what time I had left to studying something truly worthwhile.
01:08We've all seen computer animations of the Big Bang.
01:19The big explosion.
01:22The flying galaxies, and then us.
01:25But that's not right.
01:30It was far more elegant, and strange.
01:36To see what really happened.
01:38I'm going to wind back time.
01:41As we go back, everything converges.
01:55Everything converges.
02:00Space itself is shrinking.
02:05Unwinding the work of 200 million lifetimes.
02:10Until finally, we reach a point of infinite density.
02:14The beginning of not just space, but time as well.
02:26This is my life's obsession.
02:29The Big Bang.
02:30The Big Bang.
02:34There are no fireworks.
02:38Light won't exist for hundreds of thousands of years.
02:44Our universe begins in darkness, not in light.
02:51And time has begun to flow forwards.
02:54So the Big Bang must have caused itself.
02:58Because without time, nothing can have come before it.
03:08All around us heat and energy are spreading at incredible speed.
03:13There are slight imperfections.
03:16Some parts hotter than others.
03:18In a billionth of a second, it's grown from smaller than an atom, to a billion kilometers.
03:34This rapid inflation can last forever.
03:39The universe is settling into steadier growth, and cooling.
03:43Three hundred and eighty thousand years after the Big Bang.
03:47Three hundred and eighty thousand years after the Big Bang.
03:51The light switch of the universe is thrown.
03:58A flash so bright we will still be able, to detect it in 14 billion years.
04:03I predicted that this flash would contain fluctuations preserved from the Big Bang.
04:21Our universe, a magnified version of its earlier tiny self.
04:25The tiny imperfections present then, are now causing the universe to expand at different rates.
04:37Everything that exists.
04:39Planets.
04:41Stars.
04:43Galaxies.
04:45And even us, are formed from these imperfections.
04:47I am still on the same journey I began years ago.
04:58Just as the expanding universe slowed, so did the progress of my disease.
05:05I've been lucky to live to see some of my predictions confirmed.
05:10That first flash of light we saw, is now called the cosmic microwave background.
05:20You hear it in the crackle of a radio.
05:24And see it in the static of a television.
05:28It reveals wrinkles in the beginning of time.
05:31Which is why I believe perfection is so overrated.
05:38Nothing in nature is perfect.
05:42If it were, we wouldn't exist at all.
05:54Any good adventure means taking a few risks.
05:57Even if your reputation is at stake.
06:04Years ago I made a very public bet, with fellow scientist Kip Thorne,
06:10about one of the most mind-boggling phenomena in the universe.
06:14It was a bet I would live to regret.
06:27People always ask me what would happen, if you fell in a black hole.
06:37Well there's only one way to find out.
06:44Hidden in the center of our galaxy, by thick dust clouds,
06:49lies one of the more extraordinary things in the universe.
06:57Sagittarius space star.
06:58A black hole, with a mass of four million suns.
07:11It bends light around itself like a cosmic lens.
07:18So massive and dense, that it warps space-time into an infinitely deep well.
07:23Its gravity is so strong, not even light can escape.
07:37My bet was about what happens to things, sucked into this warped edge of reality.
07:42The nearer we get, the stronger gravity pulls.
07:51Harder on our front, than our back.
07:56Too strong and it will stretch us out like spaghetti.
07:59Hopefully we won't get turned into pasta.
08:12I'm going to need some serious power to hide the tide of gravity.
08:22Go any deeper.
08:24Cross the event horizon, and it'll be the last trip I ever make.
08:27Nothing escapes out of a black hole.
08:34Or does it?
08:38Eventually, I realized something good.
08:43It became known as Hawking Radiation.
08:47You see, space isn't actually empty.
08:50Virtual particles and antiparticles, are popping into existence all the time, and canceling each other out.
09:00At the edge of a black hole, one particle might fall in, but the other could escape out into space.
09:11This would drain energy from the black hole, and eventually cause it to totally disappear.
09:20So, I bet that everything that had ever fallen into the black hole, would be lost for good.
09:29But that causes a huge problem.
09:30You see, you can think of the universe, as a giant data file which constantly changes, as one event follows the next.
09:44But if black holes can destroy part of this data, then the entire file becomes corrupted.
09:53And both the past and the future of the universe, becomes uncertain.
09:58Eventually, I realized this must be impossible.
10:06So I lost a bet.
10:08My latest theory is that the data is not lost, but preserved in turbulence around the black hole.
10:21Like a fingerprint.
10:23So the universe is safe.
10:26For now.
10:27But if you ever find yourself heading for your own personal black hole, keep an open mind, and take your chances.
10:43You will find a way out of it in the end.
10:50Our next destination reminds me of being a young child, full of wonder.
10:55Gazing at the stars.
10:59I always imagined there was someone up there, looking back.
11:11As I grow older, I am more convinced than ever, that we are not alone.
11:25After a lifetime of wondering, I am helping to lead a new global effort to find out.
11:34The Breakthrough Listen Project will scan the nearest million stars for signs of life.
11:42But I know just the place to start looking.
11:45In recent years, we've found thousands of planets outside our solar system.
11:54Some are burning hellscapes, of fire and larva.
11:59Others are solid diamond, made in deadly X-rays from a dying star.
12:06But some are more like home.
12:12Incredibly, we found one only 16 light years away.
12:17Right on our doorstep.
12:20Gliese 832C.
12:31One of my favorites.
12:37And one of the closest habitable world candidates discovered so far.
12:41It's a breathtaking sight.
12:53A super earth, five times more massive than ours.
13:00Here, a year lasts only 36 days.
13:03Its atmosphere could be thick, smothering the surface in super-heated smog.
13:16Or worse, the gravity of its nearby sun, could lock the planets spin.
13:22One side always facing the sun.
13:27Perhaps not such a good place for a picnic after all.
13:34But if 832C has escaped such fates,
13:38this planet could have earth-like temperatures.
13:43With abundant liquid water.
13:46And where there is water, there is very often life.
13:54Plants here wouldn't be green.
13:57Photosynthesis from the sun's red light,
14:00would produce purple or black foliage.
14:04There could be animals too.
14:08Perhaps intelligent ones.
14:13From Earth we cannot see what lies on 832C.
14:19But if intelligent life has evolved here,
14:23we should be able to hear it.
14:24This planet is in range of the Breakthrough Listen Project.
14:34Using the world's most sensitive radio telescopes.
14:38What might we hear?
14:40Maybe an alien opera.
14:41Or perhaps a phone call home.
14:51One day we might receive a signal from a planet like this.
14:57But we should be wary of answering back.
15:00Meeting an advanced civilization could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus.
15:10That didn't turn out so well.
15:15Time to leave I think.
15:18Finding intelligent life would be the greatest single discovery in history.
15:23It would force us to change.
15:24We would have to give up the idea that we are unique.
15:26And start acting with more compassion and humility.
15:29At school I was never more than halfway up my class.
15:30At school I was never more than halfway up my class.
15:31I like to think it was a very brain disability.
15:34It would have to have to have to do the same choice.
15:35We would have to have to have to have the alternative to an evolution.
15:36We would have to give up the idea that we are unique.
15:40And start acting with more compassion and humility.
15:43And start acting with more compassion and humility.
15:55At school I was never more than half way up my class.
15:58I like to think it was a very bright glass.
16:03I preferred spending time taking things apart to see how they worked.
16:11Today I study the machinery of the universe.
16:17And surprises are everywhere.
16:28When I'm in need of inspiration, I often look to my favorite planet.
16:40A speck of light in the night sky.
16:44That turns out to be one of the most spectacular destinations in the solar system.
16:51Saturn.
16:54I've no doubt that in the future, it will be a massive tourist hotspot.
17:01Complete with hot dogs, dance and screaming children.
17:07But for me, it's the most beautiful cog in an intricate machine.
17:16The rings formed by Saturn's immense gravity look calm.
17:22But trust me, that's an illusion.
17:29They are immense boulders of ice and dust.
17:33Racing at 40,000 miles per hour.
17:37A cosmic masquerade, complete with all the crashes.
17:44And there are enormous ripples.
17:51Caused by comets striking and tilting the rings.
17:57But, by catching or deflecting comets, Saturn could be acting as a shield.
18:07Protecting the inner solar system, from cosmic debris.
18:14Safeguarding life on Earth.
18:19Saturn also shelters more than 60 moons.
18:26Like Enceladus.
18:31Iridescent plumes spew from the surface.
18:34Hundreds of miles into space.
18:36Saturn's gravity pushes and pulls on this little moon constantly.
18:43Heating it through friction.
18:46Giving it a cosmic workout.
18:59The certain smoke are right, but water vapor.
19:05Thanks to Saturn, Enceladus seems to have heat, water, and organic molecules.
19:15It could harbor alien life, hidden in subterranean oceans.
19:26Saturn might have helped life develop on Earth too.
19:36When the galaxy was forming, Saturn acted as a sort of cosmic counterbalance.
19:43Its gravity stopping Jupiter from spiraling into the sun, taking all the planets with it.
19:51Earth included.
19:57We may owe our very existence to Saturn.
20:02Something that as a child, I would have been delighted to know.
20:09Back then, I remember a friend bet another bag of sweets, that I would never amount to anything.
20:18I don't know how the bed was settled.
20:21But I've learned that curiosity can take you to the stars.
20:35And when you get there, who knows what you might find.
20:39Like Saturn, the universe is full of surprises.
20:48I am excited to show you my final choice.
20:55Of all the places in the universe, this is my absolute favorite.
21:02A world of extraordinary beauty, and breathtaking diversity.
21:07Best of all, the journey is succinct.
21:11This remarkable planet gave us life, and continues to support us, even as we do it great harm.
21:27Here, I am spoiled for destinations.
21:42I could choose to visit the cradle of humanity.
21:47Journey into the heart of the planet.
21:52Or back into the mists of time.
21:57But where I am heading is far more special to me.
22:02It's inspired me to do some of my best work.
22:07Given me many happy memories.
22:10And some sand in unfortunate places.
22:14My home away from home.
22:17Santa Barbara, California.
22:20In 1974, Caltech offered me a job in California.
22:27And I jumped at the opportunity.
22:30In the sun with my young family.
22:33It was a world away from the gray skies of Cambridge.
22:37I've traveled the globe.
22:41But I've never found anywhere quite like this.
22:44Many of my happiest days have been spent here.
22:50Watching the waves roll in.
22:52It's a place with abundant life.
22:55The largest animals that have ever lived.
23:01Passed here on their epic annual voyage.
23:04It's a truly inspiring place to be.
23:08And it even has a beach club.
23:13For theoretical physicists.
23:16The Catholic Institute.
23:21The perfect place for blue sky thinking.
23:27It was here.
23:28Overlooking the endless Pacific Ocean.
23:31That Jim Hartle and I developed a radical theory.
23:34We proposed the boundary condition of the universe.
23:38Was that it has no boundary.
23:41In essence.
23:43That the laws of physics would hold true always.
23:47Everything in the universe.
23:49Determined by a set of unchanging laws.
23:52Even at the big bang.
23:55Completely self-contained.
23:59When you think of the universe like that.
24:02It's easy to see how truly unique a place like this is.
24:07It depends on a whole series of cosmic coincidences.
24:18For instance.
24:19If the moon had never formed.
24:21The Earth's spin would be less stable.
24:23Under the catastrophic shifts in the seasons.
24:29Not great for a big town.
24:32And if the charge of an electron was set just slightly differently.
24:38Then stars wouldn't burn to give us light.
24:41There'd be no California dreaming.
24:44Or sun tans.
24:47If gravity were just a touch weaker.
24:51Matter wouldn't have congealed into stars and planets.
24:55So forget about beautiful beaches.
25:00There would be no Earth.
25:02Or solar system.
25:04And if the rate of expansion.
25:08After the big bang had been any smaller.
25:11The universe would have re-collapsed.
25:14Before it ever reached its present size.
25:16So nothing would be here at all.
25:17In fact.
25:18Most outcomes would give rise to universes.
25:19That although beautiful.
25:20Would contain no one able to wonder at their beauty.
25:21So next time you find yourself thinking about your life.
25:23Please don't take it for granted.
25:25Take a moment to marvel.
25:26At all the wonders that allow you to exist.
25:31All the incredible things that happened.
25:32Just so you could be here.
25:33To enjoy your own favorite places.
25:34Just so you could be here.
25:35To enjoy your own favorite places.
26:04Fenway Speaking
26:08Looks like immigration will be healthy.
26:11Or on the blue one.
26:13But whatever happened to your eyes.
26:14To be safe.
26:15Physical on the afar.
26:16Some who have referenced Argentina.
26:17He's the number of extremes of Marguerite.
26:21So you could be here.
26:23Like a modernian upro אל remained.
26:25But anyway...
26:27Such as like an円ís arm.
26:29That is a Claire.
26:30That is really epic.
26:31The forehas from the sun.