1 00:00:04,501 --> 00:00:08,256 Human Universe 2 00:00:10,890 --> 00:00:14,810 It's been 200,000 years since humans first emerged 3 00:00:14,811 --> 00:00:18,249 in the Rift Valley of East Africa. 4 00:00:18,250 --> 00:00:21,429 Since then, we've learnt to think, 5 00:00:21,430 --> 00:00:24,400 to dream, to work together. 6 00:00:28,870 --> 00:00:33,609 And today our human civilisation spans the globe... 7 00:00:33,610 --> 00:00:34,623 and beyond. 8 00:00:39,460 --> 00:00:47,593 But our planet is a tiny fragile speck of life in a vast, uncaring universe. 9 00:00:49,180 --> 00:00:52,582 So what next for the apes who went to space? 10 00:01:01,308 --> 00:01:06,305 Human Universe 11 00:01:06,716 --> 00:01:11,055 Edited By Sirwaan N 12 00:01:11,813 --> 00:01:18,225 Part 5 What is our future? 13 00:01:20,477 --> 00:01:23,800 El Castillo Cantabria, Spain 14 00:01:28,460 --> 00:01:34,112 This cave mouth in northern Spain has been inhabited for 150,000 years. 15 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:42,400 There's basic shelter here and safety. 16 00:01:45,340 --> 00:01:47,749 But from time to time, 17 00:01:47,750 --> 00:01:52,893 they left the light behind and headed into the dark. 18 00:02:24,430 --> 00:02:28,309 In these caves you see the transition from just surviving 19 00:02:28,310 --> 00:02:35,516 to living, to observing the world, to enjoying it. 20 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:53,179 There were gatherings here, people coming together to make art 21 00:02:53,180 --> 00:02:57,859 and not just any old art, but specific representations 22 00:02:57,860 --> 00:03:01,669 of particular animals and particular symbols. 23 00:03:01,670 --> 00:03:06,409 So in these caves we see the beginnings of superstition, 24 00:03:06,410 --> 00:03:10,426 the beginnings of an appreciation that there's not just a present 25 00:03:10,427 --> 00:03:13,835 but there's a past and there's a future. 26 00:03:21,460 --> 00:03:25,784 These early artists were leaving messages to future generations. 27 00:03:29,050 --> 00:03:34,068 And the one that speaks loudest lies far deeper into the darkness. 28 00:03:49,701 --> 00:03:55,379 This handprint was made by a child at least 35,000 years ago 29 00:03:55,380 --> 00:03:58,031 and it's thought it was made by a little girl. 30 00:03:58,032 --> 00:04:06,041 She'd have done the painting by taking paint and blowing it through her hand... onto the wall of the cave. 31 00:04:08,831 --> 00:04:12,989 Now, she would have had a basic understanding of her future, 32 00:04:12,990 --> 00:04:15,396 she'd have known that the seasons pass 33 00:04:15,397 --> 00:04:19,247 and maybe she even looked forward to coming back to this cave one day. 34 00:04:22,900 --> 00:04:27,109 Leaving her mark upon the wall suggests she had started down 35 00:04:27,110 --> 00:04:32,282 the road of understanding time and how it stretched out into the future. 36 00:04:40,110 --> 00:04:44,059 In 40,000 years, we've learned to see further ahead than 37 00:04:44,060 --> 00:04:45,892 she could possibly have imagined. 38 00:04:50,340 --> 00:04:53,229 We've walked out into a wider world 39 00:04:53,230 --> 00:04:54,846 and made it our own. 40 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,979 And right now we are at a crossroads. 41 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:09,528 Our civilisation holds the power to shape the future of the whole planet. 42 00:05:14,380 --> 00:05:17,611 I think we pay far too little attention to the future 43 00:05:17,612 --> 00:05:22,471 and the ability to illuminate it, to predict it is unique to us 44 00:05:22,471 --> 00:05:30,139 and our prosperity, and our very survival depend very much on what we glimpse out there in the dark. 45 00:05:30,140 --> 00:05:35,099 Science and reason are the flames and in this film I want to convince 46 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:38,411 you that we must use them to make the darkness visible. 47 00:05:50,692 --> 00:05:54,692 Longyearbyen Svalbard 48 00:06:00,701 --> 00:06:03,203 In late June, Earth's most northerly community 49 00:06:03,203 --> 00:06:06,971 are preparing to celebrate an important turning point of their year. 50 00:06:14,776 --> 00:06:16,838 Summer is the best time 51 00:06:16,992 --> 00:06:18,541 I love the long summer's day 52 00:06:18,870 --> 00:06:21,032 It's great when the dark months are over 53 00:06:21,032 --> 00:06:23,997 and the sun shines all the time 54 00:06:28,100 --> 00:06:32,019 It's midsummer in the Arctic, and the people of Svalbard 55 00:06:32,020 --> 00:06:36,048 are approaching the moment when the sun rides highest in the sky, 56 00:06:36,049 --> 00:06:37,634 the summer solstice. 57 00:06:38,900 --> 00:06:42,318 If I were in Manchester I'd say this was the longest day, 58 00:06:42,319 --> 00:06:46,430 but that kind of language doesn't make sense here, 78 degrees north 59 00:06:46,431 --> 00:06:50,050 and midway between northern Norway and the Arctic Circle 60 00:06:50,051 --> 00:06:54,830 cos this day, summer's day, began on April the 20th 61 00:06:54,831 --> 00:06:57,641 and it will end on August the 23rd. 62 00:07:01,230 --> 00:07:05,554 We can predict exactly the moment that the solstice arrives. 63 00:07:06,201 --> 00:07:08,674 21st June 10:50 GMT 64 00:07:08,674 --> 00:07:14,336 So as strange as this long day feels, there is no mystery as to why it takes place. 65 00:07:30,620 --> 00:07:35,269 The reason for that long polar night and the months of midnight sun 66 00:07:35,270 --> 00:07:37,779 is the geometry of the solar system. 67 00:07:37,780 --> 00:07:42,419 Svalbard is quite literally on top of the world and you feel it 68 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:44,127 when you're here, it's obvious. 69 00:07:44,128 --> 00:07:48,389 The sun doesn't set, it's somewhere over there at the moment 70 00:07:48,390 --> 00:07:56,121 and throughout the course of the day it just moves along the horizon right round,360 degrees 71 00:07:56,121 --> 00:08:02,109 as the Earth rotates with the North Pole pointing directly towards the sun. 72 00:08:02,110 --> 00:08:06,209 And when this place was discovered back in the 1590s, 73 00:08:06,210 --> 00:08:09,218 people didn't know that, or at least it wasn't agreed upon, 74 00:08:09,219 --> 00:08:13,037 it was still possible and indeed argued, back down there towards 75 00:08:13,038 --> 00:08:17,746 the equator in Italy, that the Earth was at the centre of the universe. 76 00:08:17,747 --> 00:08:20,050 It's obvious that it isn't when you come up here. 77 00:08:20,051 --> 00:08:24,749 I wonder what would have happened if Galileo and Copernicus and Bruno 78 00:08:24,750 --> 00:08:26,654 and others had visited Svalbard. 79 00:08:26,654 --> 00:08:29,766 I think that everything would have got worked out much earlier. 80 00:08:33,430 --> 00:08:35,842 After thousands of years of observation, 81 00:08:35,843 --> 00:08:39,768 our inquisitive minds began to develop models of the universe. 82 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:46,959 The full explanation for the clockwork of the solar system 83 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,433 came in the 1680s, with Isaac Newton and his universal law 84 00:08:50,434 --> 00:08:55,499 of gravitation, which is the first modern law of nature. 85 00:08:55,500 --> 00:09:02,251 What Newton's laws allow you to do is to predict the future given a knowledge of the present. 86 00:09:07,670 --> 00:09:10,367 Newton's laws describe a clockwork universe. 87 00:09:12,961 --> 00:09:15,749 Planets orbiting stars, 88 00:09:15,750 --> 00:09:18,499 stars orbiting galaxies. 89 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:22,289 And galaxies falling through a possibly infinite space. 90 00:09:28,060 --> 00:09:31,979 One day, in our own sky, we'll see the galaxy Andromeda 91 00:09:31,980 --> 00:09:33,232 heading our way. 92 00:09:39,270 --> 00:09:43,719 In four billion years' time, it will collide with The Milky Way. 93 00:09:52,430 --> 00:09:57,004 For a billion years, our sky will be filled with cosmic choreography. 94 00:10:10,140 --> 00:10:13,155 And we know that because we can predict the future. 95 00:10:18,430 --> 00:10:22,939 So the laws of physics, in that sense, are little time machines. 96 00:10:22,940 --> 00:10:28,120 They allow you to predict with precision what will happen in the distant future 97 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,408 given a knowledge of the present. 98 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:42,189 We even see the sun ends its days as it swells into a red giant, 99 00:10:42,190 --> 00:10:44,727 some five billion years from now. 100 00:10:55,140 --> 00:11:00,109 So we can be sure that we, along with all other life on Earth, 101 00:11:00,110 --> 00:11:03,011 will not survive into the far future. 102 00:11:09,220 --> 00:11:13,830 Extinction is a necessary part of the evolution of life on Earth. 103 00:11:13,831 --> 00:11:18,619 99. 9% of species that have ever existed have become extinct 104 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:19,866 and that's a good thing, 105 00:11:19,867 --> 00:11:24,401 because when a species goes, there's a niche available in the ecosystem 106 00:11:24,402 --> 00:11:28,239 for other species to colonise - that's how evolution works. 107 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,850 You know, if the dinosaurs hadn't become extinct, 108 00:11:30,851 --> 00:11:33,367 it's very likely that we wouldn't exist. 109 00:11:47,831 --> 00:11:51,899 So when considering the ultimate destiny of our species 110 00:11:51,900 --> 00:11:56,167 the answer seems obvious - extinction. 111 00:11:59,870 --> 00:12:03,090 But I'd argue this doesn't have to be the case. 112 00:12:08,510 --> 00:12:12,731 We are different to the other species on this planet because we're 113 00:12:12,732 --> 00:12:17,830 intelligent. Intelligence matters and it's extremely rare, in fact 114 00:12:17,831 --> 00:12:23,269 you can argue that intelligence may be extremely rare in the universe. 115 00:12:23,270 --> 00:12:27,650 It is possible that we're the only intelligent species in the Milky Way 116 00:12:27,651 --> 00:12:32,859 galaxy amongst 400 billion suns and countless billions of worlds. 117 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:37,764 And that makes us extremely valuable and worth protecting. 118 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:52,322 I think the way to keep this light alive is for humans to continue to venture out. 119 00:12:55,831 --> 00:12:57,367 And explore. 120 00:13:03,630 --> 00:13:08,854 To this end, we've built a ship large enough for six astronauts to train in. 121 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,669 This is Aquarius, which is used by NASA as Nemo, 122 00:13:39,670 --> 00:13:42,492 the Nemo missions. And the reason this place is extreme, 123 00:13:42,493 --> 00:13:44,019 if you look here... 124 00:13:44,020 --> 00:13:46,279 is because... 125 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:47,645 we're below the ocean. 126 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,921 The pressure in here is two and half to three times atmospheric pressure, 127 00:13:53,921 --> 00:13:56,570 which is why I sound like a Munchkin. 128 00:13:58,270 --> 00:14:04,880 50 metres below the surface, Aquarius offers a unique training facility for deep space exploration. 129 00:14:07,430 --> 00:14:11,289 This is, er, this is brilliant cos you can play at being an astronaut, 130 00:14:11,290 --> 00:14:14,250 I mean, you'd have six astronauts in here. The reason that 131 00:14:14,251 --> 00:14:17,389 they use this as a mission simulator 132 00:14:17,390 --> 00:14:20,990 is because the environment is as close as you can get to space on Earth, 133 00:14:20,990 --> 00:14:22,771 you have to live here for weeks. 134 00:14:22,772 --> 00:14:24,868 And if you stay here for more than one hour - 135 00:14:24,869 --> 00:14:28,368 so we've got one hour - you have to stay here for a further 17 hours 136 00:14:28,369 --> 00:14:30,356 to decompress, so you can't just run away 137 00:14:30,357 --> 00:14:33,166 if you, you know, psychologically feel a bit claustrophobic 138 00:14:33,167 --> 00:14:35,486 and you think "I don't like it, " you can't just leave, 139 00:14:35,487 --> 00:14:39,007 it's one of the few places on Earth where that would be the case. 140 00:14:47,310 --> 00:14:52,731 In recent months, Nemo has been tasked with a very specific type of deep space exploration. 141 00:14:57,550 --> 00:15:01,519 They're developing methods to space walk onto asteroids, 142 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,172 where gravity will be a fraction of that experienced on the moon. 143 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,609 Whilst at times dreaming of an asteroid encounter is 144 00:15:10,610 --> 00:15:15,142 a lot of fun, the motive behind the mission is deadly serious. 145 00:15:19,312 --> 00:15:24,264 Chelyabinsk February 2013 146 00:15:29,940 --> 00:15:34,489 In 2013, on a wintry morning in Russia, 147 00:15:34,490 --> 00:15:37,279 a massive fireball cut the sky. 148 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:50,789 Seconds later, it exploded, with 20 to 30 times more energy than the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima. 149 00:15:59,230 --> 00:16:03,394 Earth had been hit by the largest asteroid in more than a century. 150 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,843 And no-one had seen it coming. 151 00:16:09,670 --> 00:16:12,639 It seems our powers of prediction failed us 152 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,894 and that's because, in reality, nature can be chaotic. 153 00:16:17,950 --> 00:16:20,809 I can demonstrate that with a simple experiment. 154 00:16:20,810 --> 00:16:25,294 These are magnets, so let's say that this is an asteroid, then watch 155 00:16:25,295 --> 00:16:30,799 what happens when I set the pendulum off, let's say from this point here. 156 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,398 So I'm going to release it, I've got a laser there. 157 00:16:33,399 --> 00:16:36,303 From exactly that point, I'm just going to let it go. 158 00:16:38,950 --> 00:16:43,359 We see the laser tracing out the path on this photo paper, 159 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:48,199 this is asteroid orbiting the solar system, gravitationally interacting 160 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,248 with the Earth, the sun of course, 161 00:16:50,249 --> 00:16:53,109 let's say a massive planet like Jupiter. 162 00:16:53,110 --> 00:16:55,639 There you go, it's collided with the yellow one, the sun. 163 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,213 I can do it again and what I'm going to try 164 00:16:58,214 --> 00:17:02,639 and do is line it up in exactly the same way and let it go. 165 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,799 In this case it's radically different, that's because 166 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,568 this is what is known as a chaotic system, there you go, 167 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:14,199 and it's hit the Earth, so that will be the end of civilisation as we know it. 168 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:19,279 The point is that the orbit is critically dependent on what 169 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,489 we call, what physicists call, the initial conditions. 170 00:17:22,490 --> 00:17:27,590 That's how precisely did I line this up, how precisely did I release it, 171 00:17:27,591 --> 00:17:32,668 what precisely happens as it sets off on its path through the solar system? 172 00:17:32,669 --> 00:17:35,491 In here are the little air currents that deflect it a little bit, 173 00:17:35,491 --> 00:17:39,720 all those infinitesimally small changes 174 00:17:39,721 --> 00:17:43,294 can be amplified in a complicated system such as this. 175 00:17:43,295 --> 00:17:49,421 And that's why it's not good enough to just discover the asteroids that come near to the Earth, 176 00:17:49,421 --> 00:17:50,808 it's not good enough 177 00:17:50,809 --> 00:17:54,122 because one of those tiny nudges could take something that you 178 00:17:54,123 --> 00:17:58,199 might think was safe, just using Newton's laws very naively, 179 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,818 and in fact nudging it onto a collision course with the Earth. 180 00:18:07,030 --> 00:18:10,592 This fundamental feature of nature means that we may get little 181 00:18:10,593 --> 00:18:12,936 warning when the next one comes our way. 182 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,748 So we must continue to track threatening asteroids... 183 00:18:25,390 --> 00:18:29,816 and develop technologies that will get us out to them at short notice. 184 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:48,149 In January 2014, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft 185 00:18:48,150 --> 00:18:51,802 awoke from a 31-month period of hibernation. 186 00:18:54,750 --> 00:18:58,380 It had travelled four billion miles to intercept a comet. 187 00:19:01,591 --> 00:19:04,159 Throughout August and September, 188 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,891 the tiny spaceship made a careful approach, 189 00:19:06,892 --> 00:19:09,578 scanning the comet for a place to land. 190 00:19:15,950 --> 00:19:21,167 And next week, it will deploy a probe to attach itself to the surface. 191 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:30,210 Rosetta will greatly increase our understanding of comets and the early solar system. 192 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:38,639 It also tests our ability to mount a manned mission to an asteroid if the need arises. 193 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,690 The problem is that even with a sophisticated rocket system, 194 00:19:42,691 --> 00:19:46,322 it took Rosetta ten years to reach its target. 195 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,169 To send astronauts that deep into space will require 196 00:20:03,170 --> 00:20:07,542 a great leap in our technical ability and our ambition. 197 00:20:14,030 --> 00:20:15,840 I had an ambition to be an astronaut 198 00:20:15,841 --> 00:20:18,174 from, you know, as early as I can remember. 199 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,686 I can't remember thinking anything else. 200 00:20:30,030 --> 00:20:33,933 The excitement of, you know, just going way away from Earth. 201 00:20:39,179 --> 00:20:42,589 David Mackay Test Pilot 202 00:20:43,591 --> 00:20:46,079 For the first time in a generation, 203 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,846 new designs of manned spacecraft are being tested. 204 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:00,536 Commercial companies are now developing crafts to get us into space. 205 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,823 The endeavour is never without risk. 206 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,678 It's not an easy thing to do, to escape the Earth's gravity 207 00:21:13,679 --> 00:21:16,696 even for a few minutes takes a lot of energy. 208 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,480 Three, two, one. 209 00:21:21,481 --> 00:21:24,399 Release, release. Quick release. 210 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:43,263 The future of human space exploration faces enormous challenges 211 00:21:43,263 --> 00:21:46,279 and depends on the bravery of test pilots like 212 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,969 David Mackay, Peter Siebold and their colleague, Mike Alsbury, 213 00:21:50,970 --> 00:21:53,974 who lost his life last week in the pursuit of a dream. 214 00:22:00,810 --> 00:22:05,134 A dream that many of us grew up with as children and never lost. 215 00:22:09,550 --> 00:22:13,896 When I was growing up in the 1970s, this was one of my favourite books. 216 00:22:13,897 --> 00:22:20,839 I got it, I think it was 1979, it was about the same time as my first ABBA album. 217 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,009 And I just read it for years and years and years. 218 00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:31,959 It's a sort of fictional history of spacecraft, 2000 to 2100 AD. 219 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,319 It's got things like, "2005 - work starts on the lunar station. " 220 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:42,456 Then this is one of my favourite spacecraft, I used to try and build these out of Lego 221 00:22:42,456 --> 00:22:44,261 , it's called the Martian Queen and it says, 222 00:22:44,261 --> 00:22:48,850 ""Early in 2015, fare-paying passengers stepped aboard 223 00:22:48,851 --> 00:22:52,720 "the first purpose-built interplanetary spaceliner. " 224 00:22:52,721 --> 00:22:57,839 So they imagined that by 2015, by next year, we'd have spaceliners 225 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,039 taking people to the Martian colonies. 226 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,487 And what's interesting is my little boy loves the book as well, 227 00:23:04,488 --> 00:23:10,009 he's got it now, and some of this stuff is in his past. 228 00:23:10,010 --> 00:23:13,837 This is a list of things that didn't happen, whereas for me, 229 00:23:13,838 --> 00:23:18,290 back in the '70s, it was a list of things that I thought would happen. 230 00:23:23,830 --> 00:23:28,829 Breaking free from Earth's bonds is so difficult that there are only 231 00:23:28,830 --> 00:23:33,290 eight people alive that know what it's like to walk on another world. 232 00:23:35,140 --> 00:23:36,972 Hi. Charlie. 233 00:23:41,250 --> 00:23:42,938 What's your name? Charlie. 234 00:23:42,938 --> 00:23:46,199 Believe it or not, I'm the other half of Judy. 235 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,899 Hello, Charlie. How you doing? Nice to meet you. 236 00:23:48,900 --> 00:23:50,966 Wonderful to meet you. Pleasure to meet you. 237 00:23:50,967 --> 00:23:53,019 Good to be here with you. Have a seat. 238 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,209 Charlie Duke was Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 16 239 00:24:05,210 --> 00:24:08,610 and the youngest person ever to walk on the moon. 240 00:24:08,611 --> 00:24:12,218 How about an extension, you guys? We're feeling good. 241 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,759 Mission objective - to bring back samples from the lunar highlands 242 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,343 and test drive new technologies. 243 00:24:27,090 --> 00:24:32,549 And here we go. We are really going up a hill, I'll tell you. 244 00:24:32,550 --> 00:24:37,159 When I was just becoming aware of Apollo, I thought that 245 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,858 I would be able to go into... at least into Earth orbit myself. 246 00:24:40,859 --> 00:24:45,329 Yeah, really, my dad was born in 1907 and so he was just 247 00:24:45,330 --> 00:24:51,763 right after the Wright brothers and, er, and he could barely believe that his son went to the moon. 248 00:24:51,764 --> 00:24:56,839 And yet at the time my five-year-old, Tom, he didn't think it was any big deal! 249 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:01,559 You know, that everybody in the neighbourhood was going to the moon. 250 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,046 Neil Armstrong was a next door neighbour, 251 00:25:04,047 --> 00:25:06,771 Tom Stafford was in the neighbourhood, Frank Borman 252 00:25:06,772 --> 00:25:10,566 was in the neighbourhood, the whole neighbourhood was either NASA engineers 253 00:25:10,567 --> 00:25:12,977 or astronauts, so everybody's... it's natural, 254 00:25:12,978 --> 00:25:15,621 "Let's go to the moon, Dad, when you going to do it?" 255 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,623 Hey, John, this is perfect, with the LM, and the rover, and you, 256 00:25:20,624 --> 00:25:24,679 and Stone Mountain, and the old flag. 257 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,092 Come on out here and give me a salute. 258 00:25:27,093 --> 00:25:28,879 Big Navy salute. 259 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,700 Off the ground a bit more. 260 00:25:32,030 --> 00:25:33,369 There we go. 261 00:25:33,370 --> 00:25:39,048 You're most famous probably for the most famous photograph involving you, it's not you, 262 00:25:39,049 --> 00:25:41,819 it's the photograph of your family that you left on the moon. 263 00:25:41,820 --> 00:25:44,328 I asked the boys, they were five and seven, 264 00:25:44,329 --> 00:25:47,051 I said, "Would you guys like to be with your dad on the moon?" 265 00:25:47,052 --> 00:25:49,420 They said "Oh, yeah, that'd be great, Dad. " 266 00:25:49,421 --> 00:25:51,816 So on the back of that picture we had written, 267 00:25:51,817 --> 00:25:54,518 "This is the family of astronaut Charlie Duke, 268 00:25:54,519 --> 00:26:00,279 "from planet Earth who landed on the moon in April 1972" 269 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,999 and we all signed it and then I dropped the picture on the moon. 270 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,857 It sort of shows the human side of space flight and, you know, 271 00:26:08,858 --> 00:26:12,279 we were family men, we were dads, husbands, 272 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,863 and so wanted my family to be a part of it. 273 00:26:14,864 --> 00:26:20,189 They'll sit there for millions of years, won't they, they won't go anywhere. 274 00:26:20,190 --> 00:26:24,913 And if you look back to those days, so less than a year from the first test flight, 275 00:26:24,913 --> 00:26:27,545 first manned test flight to landing on the moon. Yeah. 276 00:26:27,546 --> 00:26:29,983 Would that be possible now? No. 277 00:26:29,983 --> 00:26:30,526 Why? 278 00:26:30,526 --> 00:26:33,919 We don't have the, er, the schedule, 279 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,844 the money to build spacecraft that quickly. 280 00:26:36,845 --> 00:26:41,879 We don't have the, er, the manpower to do it. 281 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:46,849 I mean, 400,000 people and unlimited budget, you can do a lot, you know. 282 00:26:46,850 --> 00:26:48,089 Yeah. 283 00:26:48,090 --> 00:26:51,071 Yeah! And that's what we had. 284 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:16,600 After Charlie left, only two men have ever gone back 285 00:27:16,601 --> 00:27:18,467 and there's good reason for that. 286 00:27:18,468 --> 00:27:23,809 The energy required to break free from Earth's gravitational embrace 287 00:27:23,810 --> 00:27:26,061 is staggering. 288 00:27:31,330 --> 00:27:34,646 This is the spacecraft that took John Young, Ken Mattingly 289 00:27:34,647 --> 00:27:36,567 and Charlie Duke to the moon. 290 00:27:36,568 --> 00:27:38,977 There's the Service Module and the Command Module, 291 00:27:38,978 --> 00:27:42,190 that's the engine that fired to bring them back from the moon to the Earth, 292 00:27:42,190 --> 00:27:46,039 the Lunar Lander sat inside there 293 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,487 and this piece is essentially a single rocket motor 294 00:27:49,488 --> 00:27:53,629 that fired to take them from Earth orbit to the moon. 295 00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:58,809 So this is the 120 tonne moon spacecraft, if you like. 296 00:27:58,810 --> 00:28:03,143 But from a physics perspective, the difficulty is getting that into orbit, 297 00:28:03,143 --> 00:28:07,679 and on Saturn V that was done in two bits 298 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:13,719 and this is stage two and that is the stage two fuel tank. 299 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,490 Inside there are 450 tonnes of rocket fuel. 300 00:28:18,491 --> 00:28:23,039 And this burnt through those 450 tonnes in about 6 minutes, 301 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,169 taking the spacecraft from an altitude of 200,000 feet, 302 00:28:27,170 --> 00:28:33,909 about 38 miles, up to 114 and a half miles, that's virtually in orbit. 303 00:28:33,910 --> 00:28:38,643 And it did that by burning the fuel in five engines. 304 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,717 Now, at the time, that was one of the most powerful rockets ever built, 305 00:28:51,717 --> 00:28:55,929 but not the most powerful - that was this, 306 00:28:55,930 --> 00:28:58,183 Stage One of the Saturn V. 307 00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:09,319 There are 2, 200 tons of fuel in here, 308 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:15,169 and stage one burnt through that in about two and a half minutes. 309 00:29:15,170 --> 00:29:22,015 To do that they add fuel pumps that were more powerful than a 747 at lift off 310 00:29:22,015 --> 00:29:27,632 to pump 15 tonnes of fuel a second into these... 311 00:29:29,690 --> 00:29:31,988 the F1 engines. 312 00:29:47,990 --> 00:29:51,259 Every statistic about these engines is ridiculous. 313 00:29:51,260 --> 00:29:54,779 In those two and half minutes when this spacecraft was lifting off 314 00:29:54,780 --> 00:30:02,861 the power generated was more than the peak electrical power generation capacity of the United Kingdom. 315 00:30:32,330 --> 00:30:37,444 Building a vehicle powerful enough to accelerate three men to escape velocity 316 00:30:37,445 --> 00:30:40,013 was a triumph of human ingenuity. 317 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:48,209 But the technology at the heart of any rocket is essentially ancient technology, 318 00:30:48,210 --> 00:30:50,736 the release of energy by combustion. 319 00:31:01,130 --> 00:31:06,305 We used fire to release energy from the Sun stored in the wood from trees. 320 00:31:15,850 --> 00:31:19,329 Then we discovered better things to burn. 321 00:31:19,330 --> 00:31:23,611 Energy-packed ancient sunlight buried underground. 322 00:31:23,611 --> 00:31:26,459 Burning that has set us free. 323 00:31:36,850 --> 00:31:40,707 But fire has surely taken us as far as it can. 324 00:31:51,890 --> 00:31:57,209 The reason we aren't flying to other planets is the same reason 325 00:31:57,210 --> 00:32:01,893 we're endangering this one. 326 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:17,999 Every day we burn the equivalent of all the plants growing on this planet over a year 327 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,456 to meet our energy needs. 328 00:32:23,481 --> 00:32:29,639 But that's not to say that energy use is of itself necessarily a bad thing. 329 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,907 Indeed by many measures it's an extremely good thing indeed. 330 00:32:38,450 --> 00:32:44,915 In every country where the per capita energy use is greater than about half the European average 331 00:32:44,916 --> 00:32:49,169 then adult life expectancy is greater than 70 years, 332 00:32:49,170 --> 00:32:51,929 literacy rates are greater than 90%, 333 00:32:51,930 --> 00:32:54,639 infant mortality rates are low 334 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:59,610 and more than one in five of the population are in higher education. 335 00:32:59,611 --> 00:33:03,799 So the story of energy use is a complicated one. 336 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:09,199 On the one hand, obviously, energy use is important and to be valued, 337 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,379 it's the foundation of our modern civilisation, 338 00:33:12,380 --> 00:33:13,696 and on the other hand, 339 00:33:13,697 --> 00:33:16,857 if we generate our energy mainly by burning fossil fuels 340 00:33:16,858 --> 00:33:18,545 then it can be a bad thing. 341 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,279 Now in the short-term of course... 342 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,944 we can increase the efficiency of our energy usage. 343 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,929 But in the long-term, 344 00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:38,610 if we aspire to continue to advance as a civilisation, 345 00:33:38,611 --> 00:33:42,514 if we want to give every citizen of the world a quality of life 346 00:33:42,515 --> 00:33:45,839 that is as good as or even better than mine, 347 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:49,929 and if ultimately we want to build a space-faring generation 348 00:33:49,930 --> 00:33:53,901 and journey to the stars then we have to find a better way. 349 00:33:57,770 --> 00:34:01,849 In the short-term, we can move to cleaner electric motors, 350 00:34:01,850 --> 00:34:05,070 but because we burn fossil fuels in power stations, 351 00:34:05,071 --> 00:34:08,559 that simply moves the problem upstream. 352 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,329 So what we face is not an energy crisis 353 00:34:12,330 --> 00:34:14,344 but an energy conversion crisis. 354 00:34:16,491 --> 00:34:19,567 Renewable energy might be part of the solution, 355 00:34:19,568 --> 00:34:23,349 but I believe there's a far more promising long-term alternative. 356 00:34:33,366 --> 00:34:35,115 If you could do one thing, 357 00:34:35,116 --> 00:34:39,012 if you could wave a magic wand and do one thing, what would you do? 358 00:34:40,376 --> 00:34:44,609 If you could produce abundant clean energy, it would solve many problems. 359 00:34:46,327 --> 00:34:48,414 It's a grand challenge of our time, 360 00:34:48,415 --> 00:34:50,943 and I truly am committed and proud to be part of it. 361 00:34:53,166 --> 00:34:56,249 Can we for the first time bring a star to Earth? 362 00:35:04,656 --> 00:35:07,903 Here at the National Ignition Facility in California 363 00:35:07,904 --> 00:35:10,467 they're trying to create man-made stars. 364 00:35:12,166 --> 00:35:13,755 It's a big laser. 365 00:35:13,756 --> 00:35:16,214 It's the biggest in the world by probably a factor of 50, 366 00:35:16,215 --> 00:35:19,365 or maybe even 100, so in size and in energy. 367 00:35:19,366 --> 00:35:20,846 How much power's in there? 368 00:35:20,847 --> 00:35:24,014 If you look at all the electricity that's produced in the United States, 369 00:35:24,015 --> 00:35:27,089 this is about a thousand times more power than that. 370 00:35:29,016 --> 00:35:31,252 But of course only for a fraction of a second, 371 00:35:31,253 --> 00:35:32,782 a few billionths of a second. 372 00:35:41,327 --> 00:35:47,820 In a star, fusion begins when the gas cloud that forms the star collapses under its own gravity, 373 00:35:47,821 --> 00:35:50,980 heating the core to many millions of degrees. 374 00:35:54,447 --> 00:35:59,595 Here at NIF, it's coaxed into life in the laser's target chamber 375 00:35:59,596 --> 00:36:02,456 encased in two metre thick walls 376 00:36:02,457 --> 00:36:05,575 and 47 of the biggest glass doors I've ever seen. 377 00:36:06,966 --> 00:36:09,415 So this is the sharp end of the whole system, if you like, 378 00:36:09,416 --> 00:36:11,254 this is where the lasers come down 379 00:36:11,255 --> 00:36:13,818 and start to get focused into the chamber. 380 00:36:13,819 --> 00:36:19,458 And each one of them has to be synchronised to a few trillionths of a second to arrive at exactly the same time 381 00:36:19,459 --> 00:36:22,172 and of course in exactly the right spot. 382 00:36:22,173 --> 00:36:25,892 It's worth sort of stepping back and realising what's happening here 383 00:36:25,893 --> 00:36:29,745 cos you said 192 of these laser beams, which are not small. Indeed. 384 00:36:29,746 --> 00:36:32,547 In the middle of that which is definitely not small. Absolutely. 385 00:36:32,548 --> 00:36:34,267 What's the target? It's about that big. 386 00:36:34,268 --> 00:36:36,093 It's about a millimetre wide. 387 00:36:36,094 --> 00:36:39,978 But it's the level of precision and power that you're able to achieve. 388 00:36:39,979 --> 00:36:43,391 And if you can do it uniformly then you can create a little star. 389 00:36:56,406 --> 00:37:00,563 It reminds me a little bit of Apollo in a sense cos you just think, 390 00:37:00,564 --> 00:37:03,826 you know, look what we can do if we try. 391 00:37:13,876 --> 00:37:16,538 So you see there, there's a gold cylinder 392 00:37:16,539 --> 00:37:21,735 and in the middle a little red ball, that's the fusion fuel. 393 00:37:21,736 --> 00:37:23,685 One of those pellets, 394 00:37:23,686 --> 00:37:26,685 when all of the fusion happens just right, 395 00:37:26,686 --> 00:37:29,665 could power my house for a day. 396 00:37:29,666 --> 00:37:32,173 So you imagine having a little bag of those pellets, 397 00:37:32,174 --> 00:37:34,423 let's say you three or four hundred of them, 398 00:37:34,424 --> 00:37:36,339 you could fit them in your pocket, 399 00:37:36,340 --> 00:37:39,388 then that would power your life for a year. 400 00:37:40,486 --> 00:37:42,671 Thousands of these little pellets 401 00:37:42,672 --> 00:37:45,525 could power a spacecraft to the Moon. 402 00:37:45,526 --> 00:37:49,846 Hundreds of thousands could power a spacecraft out to the edge of the solar system 403 00:37:49,846 --> 00:37:51,692 or perhaps outward to the stars. 404 00:37:51,693 --> 00:37:55,099 And one of the interesting things about fusion technology is 405 00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:57,525 that there's no waste, right? 406 00:37:57,526 --> 00:38:01,178 What happens when you release all the energy in that pellet of fuel 407 00:38:01,179 --> 00:38:05,615 is you produce helium, so you get your electricity 408 00:38:05,616 --> 00:38:08,620 and you get your party balloons, and that's pretty much it. 409 00:38:08,621 --> 00:38:15,365 So it's an inherently clean, safe and extremely efficient technology. 410 00:38:18,166 --> 00:38:20,402 May I have your attention. 411 00:38:20,403 --> 00:38:24,629 Preparations for shot operations in laser bay two are under way. 412 00:38:24,630 --> 00:38:27,895 Leave laser bay two now. 413 00:38:27,896 --> 00:38:30,945 I repeat. Leave laser bay two now. 414 00:38:35,686 --> 00:38:40,056 This is the NIF control room, this is the heart of all operations, 415 00:38:40,057 --> 00:38:41,904 and the reason I have to be quiet is 416 00:38:41,905 --> 00:38:43,648 because they're getting ready for a shot. 417 00:38:44,886 --> 00:38:48,652 Main laser operation will begin in approximately one minute. 418 00:38:57,166 --> 00:39:00,285 It's a bit like charging a flash gun. 419 00:39:00,286 --> 00:39:05,175 Banks and the capacitors store electric charge, 420 00:39:05,176 --> 00:39:09,446 getting ready to discharge all this energy into the lasers. 421 00:39:09,447 --> 00:39:11,134 Amplify, amplify, amplify, bang. 422 00:39:11,135 --> 00:39:13,256 It looks like it just turned green. 423 00:39:13,257 --> 00:39:15,695 Are you comfortable with us going forward? 424 00:39:15,696 --> 00:39:17,102 I don't see a problem. 425 00:39:17,103 --> 00:39:19,838 OK. We're ready to proceed if you're OK with it. 426 00:39:23,646 --> 00:39:25,206 There's the countdown. 427 00:39:25,207 --> 00:39:29,642 Start sequence on my mark. 428 00:39:33,136 --> 00:39:34,765 255 seconds. 429 00:39:34,766 --> 00:39:37,115 In 255 seconds time, 430 00:39:37,116 --> 00:39:42,725 a thousand times the power generating capacity of the United States of America 431 00:39:42,726 --> 00:39:48,805 is going to be fired down into something a few millimetres across. 432 00:39:48,806 --> 00:39:50,114 It's cool. 433 00:39:51,526 --> 00:39:54,257 Brilliant that we can do this, isn't it? 434 00:39:54,258 --> 00:39:55,463 By "we" I mean them. 435 00:39:58,926 --> 00:40:01,395 Yeah, "we", it's our civilisation. 436 00:40:27,896 --> 00:40:33,300 Five, four, three, two, one, shot. 437 00:40:45,046 --> 00:40:46,628 That's a bang... 438 00:40:49,217 --> 00:40:50,707 and that's the future. 439 00:40:59,816 --> 00:41:03,298 Commercial fusion power stations are still a long way off, 440 00:41:03,299 --> 00:41:07,075 but NIF has proved that it can be done in principle. 441 00:41:10,366 --> 00:41:13,645 If fusion can be made economically viable, 442 00:41:13,646 --> 00:41:17,245 it would end the days of fire 443 00:41:17,246 --> 00:41:20,750 and it would do much more than power our cars and cities, 444 00:41:20,751 --> 00:41:24,565 it would provide a new foundation for our civilisation, 445 00:41:24,566 --> 00:41:26,876 it would even open up the road to the stars. 446 00:41:30,776 --> 00:41:34,125 I think we expect, in fact, we demand that 447 00:41:34,126 --> 00:41:36,937 the future is going to be better than the past, 448 00:41:36,938 --> 00:41:40,635 but it seems to me that we're not prepared to pay for it. 449 00:41:40,636 --> 00:41:42,715 So how might things change? 450 00:41:42,716 --> 00:41:45,825 Well, we're fortunate enough to live in democracies, 451 00:41:45,826 --> 00:41:47,887 and in democracies things change 452 00:41:47,888 --> 00:41:50,427 when people have access to knowledge, 453 00:41:50,428 --> 00:41:52,456 when they understand facts 454 00:41:52,457 --> 00:41:55,695 and when they can make informed decisions. 455 00:41:55,696 --> 00:41:57,380 Did you know, for example, 456 00:41:57,381 --> 00:42:05,206 that Americans spend ten times more money each year on pet grooming than they do on nuclear fusion? 457 00:42:05,207 --> 00:42:08,326 Now I think that if you said to someone, 458 00:42:08,327 --> 00:42:10,983 "Well, actually, why don't you brush your own cat, 459 00:42:10,984 --> 00:42:14,697 "and take the money you were going to spend having somebody else brush it 460 00:42:14,698 --> 00:42:17,428 "and give it to those people who are trying to find a way 461 00:42:17,429 --> 00:42:21,655 "of generating unlimited access to clean energy?" 462 00:42:21,656 --> 00:42:25,535 Then people would say, "Well, yeah, that's a good deal. " 463 00:42:25,536 --> 00:42:35,731 See, in democracies things change when people like you and me want them to change. 464 00:42:43,009 --> 00:42:47,560 I see a future the oceans are full 465 00:42:48,125 --> 00:42:50,756 and man is gone 466 00:42:56,416 --> 00:42:58,565 I'm optimistic about the future. 467 00:42:58,566 --> 00:43:01,263 No matter how deep we keep digging our hole right now, 468 00:43:01,264 --> 00:43:03,715 I feel like there is hope. 469 00:43:06,194 --> 00:43:10,004 I'm going to space 470 00:43:15,059 --> 00:43:19,593 I might be gone some time 471 00:43:24,710 --> 00:43:29,068 They say that history repeats itself 472 00:43:30,943 --> 00:43:34,621 I think that is not a good idea anymore 473 00:43:39,616 --> 00:43:42,576 You know, I look at my life and I think, "it's almost over, " 474 00:43:42,577 --> 00:43:45,866 when in fact with the advances in healthcare and such 475 00:43:45,867 --> 00:43:47,018 it may not be. 476 00:43:56,899 --> 00:44:03,769 I hope the world will open its eyes 477 00:44:09,976 --> 00:44:12,832 Fundamentally, I think we all want the same thing, 478 00:44:12,833 --> 00:44:16,992 we want our children and their children to have a future. 479 00:44:18,706 --> 00:44:21,550 And that requires us to plan for that future. 480 00:44:22,143 --> 00:44:24,004 I think it is fantastic 481 00:44:24,466 --> 00:44:27,655 I'd heard about the vault before 482 00:44:27,886 --> 00:44:32,659 and I've looked after the building for two years 483 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:40,581 I feel proud to be part of this 484 00:44:40,906 --> 00:44:43,989 Hello. Nice to meet you. Hello. 485 00:44:54,496 --> 00:44:59,887 This place addresses a fundamental human need that we're going to face in the future, 486 00:44:59,887 --> 00:45:02,791 which is how are we going to feed ourselves? 487 00:45:09,087 --> 00:45:15,353 The tunnel itself runs about 130 metres downwards on this gentle gradient, 488 00:45:15,353 --> 00:45:18,346 and by the time we get to the vaults at the end, 489 00:45:18,347 --> 00:45:23,501 it's going to be 160 metres of solid rock up to the surface. 490 00:45:26,087 --> 00:45:29,775 Buried down here is a priceless treasure, 491 00:45:29,776 --> 00:45:32,996 and everything about this building is designed to keep it safe. 492 00:45:35,136 --> 00:45:39,775 This arc that you see, this curve here, is deliberate, 493 00:45:39,776 --> 00:45:41,905 it's in case there's a blast, 494 00:45:41,906 --> 00:45:44,432 some kind of explosion up at the surface. 495 00:45:44,433 --> 00:45:47,725 And this is designed to reflect the blast back. 496 00:45:47,726 --> 00:45:51,117 An extremely precious place... 497 00:45:52,626 --> 00:45:53,626 covered in ice. 498 00:45:55,656 --> 00:45:58,000 Then we have to go through this airlock... 499 00:46:06,366 --> 00:46:07,561 and into the vault. 500 00:46:10,266 --> 00:46:15,125 The treasure in here is not currency, not gold, not rare jewels 501 00:46:15,126 --> 00:46:19,757 but something important, it's the future of our food. 502 00:46:20,806 --> 00:46:27,565 Here are the seeds, the food crops of virtually every country in the world. 503 00:46:27,566 --> 00:46:30,149 These are from Mexico. 504 00:46:31,986 --> 00:46:33,078 There are India. 505 00:46:34,256 --> 00:46:39,638 There are Nigerian seeds next to Germany, Australia. 506 00:46:42,416 --> 00:46:47,905 There are over 800,000 different populations of seeds 507 00:46:47,906 --> 00:46:52,975 collected here from virtually every country in the world. 508 00:46:52,976 --> 00:46:55,445 These here are from Syria. 509 00:46:55,446 --> 00:46:58,747 These were taken out just before recent troubles, 510 00:46:58,748 --> 00:47:04,815 so they're out there, they're protected there in case the Syrian seed vaults are lost. 511 00:47:04,816 --> 00:47:07,946 And then there are some strangest of all countries you wouldn't 512 00:47:07,947 --> 00:47:10,997 believe would cooperate in such an international endeavour. 513 00:47:10,998 --> 00:47:15,895 Look at this here - box number 5DPR of Korea, 514 00:47:15,896 --> 00:47:18,275 these are North Korean seeds. 515 00:47:18,276 --> 00:47:23,535 And just over there are the South Korean seeds next to them. 516 00:47:23,536 --> 00:47:25,216 Canada. 517 00:47:25,217 --> 00:47:26,469 Philippines. 518 00:47:32,576 --> 00:47:37,295 This represents, as a library of life, 519 00:47:37,296 --> 00:47:40,135 just the whole of civilisation 520 00:47:40,136 --> 00:47:43,948 rests with the genetic codes contained in these boxes. 521 00:47:52,217 --> 00:47:54,754 Our future might just rest on these seeds 522 00:47:54,755 --> 00:48:00,312 squirreled away in the Global Seed Vault, drilled into the top of the world. 523 00:48:03,776 --> 00:48:07,713 The driving force behind its construction was agriculturist, 524 00:48:07,714 --> 00:48:10,086 Dr Cary Fowler. 525 00:48:10,087 --> 00:48:12,601 So why did you decide to take this project on? 526 00:48:12,602 --> 00:48:18,375 Well, I've spent all of my life working on trying to conserve crop diversity, 527 00:48:18,376 --> 00:48:23,295 and those of us in my field, we live in a world of wounds. 528 00:48:23,296 --> 00:48:28,855 We see the injuries, we see the loss of diversity, the extinction. 529 00:48:28,856 --> 00:48:31,667 And at a certain point, you know, enough is enough, 530 00:48:31,668 --> 00:48:33,536 and you, you try to figure out, 531 00:48:33,537 --> 00:48:35,943 well, what can we do that's not just stopgap? 532 00:48:35,944 --> 00:48:39,509 Cos we know we're going to need this crop diversity in the future, 533 00:48:39,510 --> 00:48:42,725 it's the biological foundation of agriculture. 534 00:48:42,726 --> 00:48:45,346 We're going to need it as long as we need agriculture. 535 00:48:45,347 --> 00:48:47,594 Which is as long as civilisation exists, I suppose? 536 00:48:47,595 --> 00:48:50,669 Exactly, after that we're not worried about it, are we? 537 00:48:57,746 --> 00:49:02,991 Some of the seeds in this vault will still be viable in 20,000 years. 538 00:49:09,296 --> 00:49:13,655 When you look at this achievement, how do you see it? 539 00:49:13,656 --> 00:49:16,707 When I walk in here, I see a history of agriculture, 540 00:49:16,708 --> 00:49:18,943 all the way back to Neolithic days. 541 00:49:18,944 --> 00:49:26,695 So our ancestors, yours and mine, have been saving these seeds in a successful, unbroken line until today. 542 00:49:26,696 --> 00:49:29,053 They're every option that we're going to have for the future, 543 00:49:29,053 --> 00:49:33,959 so any and everything we want and need - rice and wheat to be in the future 544 00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:37,705 is represented, is made possible by this diversity. 545 00:49:37,706 --> 00:49:39,953 Some people call this The Doomsday Vault. Yeah. 546 00:49:39,954 --> 00:49:44,258 Seems to me to be a rather, er I don't know, grim... Apocalyptic? 547 00:49:44,259 --> 00:49:47,467 Yeah. Yes. Is that a, a reasonable description? 548 00:49:47,468 --> 00:49:52,985 For me, when I walk down here I get this immense feeling of happiness 549 00:49:52,986 --> 00:49:55,865 and frankly, hope that, 550 00:49:55,866 --> 00:50:00,725 OK, here are 800,000 crop varieties 551 00:50:00,726 --> 00:50:03,885 that are not going to become extinct. 552 00:50:03,886 --> 00:50:07,625 So to me, this represents a problem that didn't happen. 553 00:50:07,626 --> 00:50:10,996 Also seems to me, it's an example of genuine long-term thinking, 554 00:50:10,997 --> 00:50:14,718 this transcends political cycles, it transcends lifetimes. 555 00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:19,931 Yeah, when I look at this place, I see about the only structure in the world 556 00:50:19,931 --> 00:50:23,848 that I know of that's built essentially for eternity, 557 00:50:23,849 --> 00:50:28,495 for as long as we can imagine, involving all the countries of the 558 00:50:28,496 --> 00:50:33,065 world in something that's long-term and positive. 559 00:50:33,066 --> 00:50:34,249 That's hopeful, to me. 560 00:50:49,146 --> 00:50:53,245 I came here to tell a story of an uncertain future, 561 00:50:53,246 --> 00:50:57,575 but I found something else under the permafrost of Svalbard... 562 00:50:57,576 --> 00:50:58,953 optimism. 563 00:51:08,786 --> 00:51:12,544 We have the privilege to live in a very special and unique time, 564 00:51:12,545 --> 00:51:16,393 because for the first time in the history of life on Earth, 565 00:51:16,394 --> 00:51:22,165 there's a species that at least in part is masters of its own destiny - 566 00:51:22,166 --> 00:51:24,794 has its survival in its own hands. 567 00:51:27,097 --> 00:51:29,716 It's true to say that because there's an unbroken 568 00:51:29,717 --> 00:51:35,520 line of life stretching back from me to the origin of life on earth 3. 8 billion years ago, 569 00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:38,695 that at any point in that long history, 570 00:51:38,696 --> 00:51:40,869 something could have happened to wipe us out, 571 00:51:40,870 --> 00:51:44,705 and something could happen tomorrow to wipe us out, 572 00:51:44,706 --> 00:51:48,605 but increasingly, we can see those threats coming. 573 00:51:48,606 --> 00:51:52,575 So, we have a chance, the possibility, 574 00:51:52,576 --> 00:51:57,106 of prolonging our existence into the indefinite future, 575 00:51:57,107 --> 00:52:01,829 if we can just find a way of taking that responsibility seriously. 576 00:52:11,816 --> 00:52:15,468 Today, we are writing our chapter in the human story. 577 00:52:16,736 --> 00:52:18,655 But as we do so, 578 00:52:18,656 --> 00:52:22,604 we must keep in mind the future and learn lessons from the past. 579 00:52:28,386 --> 00:52:31,162 Back in the darkness of the El Castillo caves, 580 00:52:31,163 --> 00:52:36,038 there may be a stark reminder of life's perilous existence. 581 00:52:37,896 --> 00:52:41,665 More accurate dating of the paintings suggests that the 582 00:52:41,666 --> 00:52:46,081 story of our young artist might have a sting in its tail. 583 00:52:51,656 --> 00:52:56,465 If this art is not just around 40,000 years old, 584 00:52:56,466 --> 00:53:00,335 but over 43,000 years old, not much of a difference, 585 00:53:00,336 --> 00:53:03,895 then this is not human. 586 00:53:03,896 --> 00:53:08,745 Because there were no humans in this area of Europe 43,000 years ago. 587 00:53:08,746 --> 00:53:13,015 If that's the case, this art was created by Neanderthals, 588 00:53:13,016 --> 00:53:15,895 a completely different species. 589 00:53:15,896 --> 00:53:17,341 Just think about that. 590 00:53:17,342 --> 00:53:22,305 Neanderthals were pretty much as capable, mentally, as we are. 591 00:53:22,306 --> 00:53:25,545 So if they'd been given enough time, 592 00:53:25,546 --> 00:53:28,986 given the pressures that we humans felt, 593 00:53:28,987 --> 00:53:33,945 then there's no reason why they couldn't have developed a civilisation. 594 00:53:33,946 --> 00:53:35,448 But they didn't have time. 595 00:53:35,449 --> 00:53:39,895 Instead they disappeared, they became extinct, 596 00:53:39,896 --> 00:53:46,870 leaving perhaps, these signs of the beginnings of their culture on the roof of a cave. 597 00:53:55,196 --> 00:53:59,145 But our species didn't die out - 598 00:53:59,146 --> 00:54:03,935 we worked together, held on and then flourished. 599 00:54:03,936 --> 00:54:06,815 Should we send these up to Grandad? 600 00:54:06,816 --> 00:54:08,830 Yeah, let's send them up to Grandad. 601 00:54:12,496 --> 00:54:14,705 In the face of adversity, 602 00:54:14,706 --> 00:54:19,678 we adapted and used our brains to develop technologies. 603 00:54:29,536 --> 00:54:32,895 In time, we built mighty civilizations 604 00:54:32,896 --> 00:54:36,444 with science as their foundation. 605 00:54:40,786 --> 00:54:44,695 And then, within the blink of a cosmic eye, 606 00:54:44,696 --> 00:54:46,710 we journeyed to other worlds... 607 00:54:51,156 --> 00:54:55,036 and we glimpsed the very nature of reality itself. 608 00:55:03,816 --> 00:55:06,106 Right, let's send these to Grandad. 609 00:55:06,107 --> 00:55:08,191 Going to put them in the envelope. 610 00:55:17,586 --> 00:55:24,591 We even have an outpost of our civilisation living beyond Earth. 611 00:55:25,536 --> 00:55:27,755 Science is unreasonably effective, 612 00:55:27,756 --> 00:55:31,665 it's generated knowledge beyond all expectation. 613 00:55:31,666 --> 00:55:33,748 It's also delivered perspective. 614 00:55:33,749 --> 00:55:38,315 Yes, we are an insignificant speck in an infinite universe, 615 00:55:38,316 --> 00:55:40,735 but we're also rare. 616 00:55:40,736 --> 00:55:44,255 And because we're rare, we're valuable. 617 00:55:44,256 --> 00:55:47,105 So what are we to do to secure our future? 618 00:55:47,106 --> 00:55:50,397 Well, we must learn to value the acquisition of knowledge 619 00:55:50,398 --> 00:55:53,879 for its own sake, and not just because it grows our economy 620 00:55:53,880 --> 00:55:56,415 or allows us to build better bombs. 621 00:55:56,416 --> 00:55:59,535 We must also learn to value the human race 622 00:55:59,536 --> 00:56:02,315 and take responsibility for our own survival. 623 00:56:02,316 --> 00:56:04,752 Why? Because there's nobody else out there 624 00:56:04,753 --> 00:56:07,935 to value us or to look after us. 625 00:56:07,936 --> 00:56:11,795 And finally, most important of all, 626 00:56:11,796 --> 00:56:15,880 we must educate the next generation in the great discoveries of science 627 00:56:15,880 --> 00:56:21,437 and we must teach them to use the light of reason to banish the darkness of superstition, 628 00:56:21,438 --> 00:56:29,940 cos if we do that, then at least there's a chance that this universe will remain a human one. 629 00:56:50,056 --> 00:56:52,155 There's a card in here. 630 00:56:52,156 --> 00:56:54,895 It's got "Grandad" written on it. 631 00:56:54,896 --> 00:56:56,547 Are you a grandad? I'm not a grandad. 632 00:56:56,548 --> 00:56:57,985 Hey, Alex, you a grandad? 633 00:56:58,051 --> 00:57:01,049 No, not that I know of. I guess it's me. 634 00:57:22,261 --> 00:57:27,033 END 635 00:57:34,417 --> 00:57:40,788 In the memory of Test Pilot Michael Alsbury 1975-2014