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Aliens

Professor Brian Cox explores how the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water. He looks at Jupiter's moon Europa - a dazzling ball of ice.

Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system.

Brian descends to the bottom of the Pacific in a submarine to witness the extraordinary life forms that survive in the cold, black waters. All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water.

Soaring above the dramatic Scablands of the United States, Brian discovers how the same landscape has been found on Mars. And it was all carved out in a geological heartbeat by a monumental flood.

Armed with a gas mask, Brian enters a cave in Mexico where bacteria breathe toxic gas and leak concentrated acid. Yet relatives of these creatures could be surviving in newly-discovered caves on Mars.

But Brian's sixth wonder isn't a planet at all. Jupiter's moon Europa is a dazzling ball of ice etched with strange cracks. The patterns in the ice reveal that, far below, there is an ocean with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth.

Of all the wonders of the solar system forged by the laws of nature, there is one that stands out. In the final episode of this series, Brian reveals the greatest wonder of them all.

5 minutes

Last on

Sun 6 Feb 2011 19:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Brian Cox
Director Michael Lachmann
Producer Danielle Peck
Executive Producer Andrew Cohen

Broadcasts

  • Sat 16 Oct 2010 19:55
  • Sun 24 Oct 2010 22:20
  • Sun 6 Feb 2011 19:00