@@DctrBread Carbon is an exceptional conductor of both heat and electric current, doesn't even need to be hot... It's the best conductor of electricity... and if you heated it up enough it would lose it's conductivity, so you could make it a semi-conductor by heating it up... And seeing as carbon has extremely high melting temperatures, it would be possible to do it in a safe way, as long as it's in an oxygen free environment, after all, carbon sequesters oxygen better than anything else and it's not always a good property... it's one of the reasons for why diamonds don't last forever. Specially in hot environments, and near superheated gas, aka fire.
Yes, their "meat computers"..."discarded" after their living cells start to die. If we ever encounter them, both sides will have a lot of explaining to do.
This dude's accent, lisp , or speech impediment is bloody great. U can tell He has practiced annunciating words too minimise the issue. Dude has my respect
It's fun that when reading the comments I got confused as hell because his voice sounds perfectly normal to me. As a person whose English is not the first language, he sounds more understandable than most English-speaking people on youtube.
@Brian Hensley Bingo, my thoughts exactly. Honestly, we are surely wasting our time even hypothesizing about the likelihood of life being made of anything beyond Silicon. I'm pretty comfortable saying that with near certainty.
I actually like the way he speaks It is a odd and interesting way And 1 of my dnd players has this and voices 1 of our npcs in our game ... Its the added touch that makes the npc have another layer and draws him further into the game
I know it's an impediment but it sounds cool. Makes the word flow seamless like water or fluid. But maybe u shouldn't listen to what I be saying....I still think the kids from Shriners are the x men. Seriously.
Love the way you talk man. My mom talked to same way when she was younger. I hate that people view this way of speaking incorrect. Who says it's wrong? Why does their opinion matter more than yours. Or mine. Or someone else. Keep it up bro.
Silica in the presence of oxygen will crystallize. If silica based life exists it will probably be most likely to occur in environments devoid of water and oxygen.
Pure silicon actually is fairly inert and doesn't react to oxygen, unless it is exposed to an alkali. Then they turn into silicates the most common compound in the Earth's crust and it seems the Mantle too.
Plus oxygen wasn’t all that common before the appearance of Cyanobacteria on earth, and probably wouldn’t be found in abundance anywhere other than planets with life. I think we can safely assume most non-carbon based life would be anaerobic. Maybe they would use chemosynthesis or some alternative form of photosynthesis
@@theunreadyone oxygen is the third most common element in the universe. a lot of it didn't naturally occur on a planet here, but it could somewhere else.
@@i_am_anxious02 oxygen in general is very common, but it’s also highly reactive. Most planet’s atmospheres don’t have it because most of the oxygen just gets converted to CO2 or some other gas. The reason we have so much of it is because of Cyanobacteria.
@@theunreadyone Oxygen was as common as before the cyanobacteria. But it was bound to carbon (CO2). Cyanobacteria don't produce oxygen out of nothing. They release it from carbon. So ... minor correction :) - oxygen wasn't as available to react before cyanobacteria....
Everyone in the comments section: "omg you guys are making fun of his speech impediment!" Me, looking through the comments section, unable to find anyone criticizing him:
this man just did the work and research to put together a video about a topic that is probably too complex for 90% of the audience to even grasp and everyone just goes to the comments to poke fun at his speech impediment. i’m disappointed. you did a great job isaac
Who's poking fun of his speech impediment? And why would 90% of the audience even watch his videos if they couldn't grasp the topics discussed? His style of content is for people who understand the concepts talked about, sure he dumbs it down a bit, and I'd say that's to appeal to those who are newer to these topics. Generally I've found that people who are more educated in these topics also tend to be more mature than to bully someone who has spent hours of their own time in order to provide free education over a slight speech impediment, as they value people's efforts to contribute to science. Whoever is saying that shit about Isaac is an asshole but I don't think this content really appeals to assholes.
@@journeyfan05 Because it's a masturbatory comment to make them feel like they're better than others for patting some supposedly disenfranchised person on the back. It's adjacent to "inspiration porn".
Hey Issac, congrats on beating your speech impediment. Your voice has changed a lot since I last saw your videos a year and a half ago. I'm so happy to see you progress and succeed. Best wishes.
His knowledge always fascinates me because his scripts are very very diverse in topics and deep enough to make us want to pursue one of such big dreams mankind really needed right now.
"It's also possible that life could form on large rocky formations held together by gravity orbiting stars rather than in nebulas; though this may be rather improbable due to the limited amounts of gamma and x-ray radiation making basic electrostatic powered mechanical processes very inefficient. Some of suggested forms of chemistry could fulfill a similar purpose."
I remember reading a short story where aliens freak out when they discover an intelligent lifeform made of meat - us - and go into hiding to avoid further contact with such horrors.
If you really think about it, we humans are really quite freakish. We're stuck here on this planet. We could not easily exist (for now) anywhere else. Damn primordial sludge flukes we are. Oh yeah, and the fact that we can't even reach the middle of our backs to scratch is just obscene ! LOL
@@vicariousgamer2871 The scariest part about Earth's life would be oxygen: there's this molecule that corrodes everything it touches, reacting with some materials so strongly it can turn gas into plasma, and there's a lifeform that not only survives in atmosphere that has 21% of that volatile element, but uses it to burn carbon compounds inside of it for energy.
He has this incredible ability to break down fairly complex topics into easily digestible chunks that flow so well together. I really appreciate the work you're doing and I wish I had found this channel sooner.
Chemist here, some reasons, why Silicon-based life is unlikely to exist (long): - Chirality: Especially in carbon based scaffolds there is a property called chirality, which arises from the central atom being bound to 4 different substituents. There are two ways to bind four different groups to a central carbon atom, the resulting structures being mirror images of one another, we call them enantiomers. This is a very important property, as all biological machinery use this to their advantage, as substrate-enzyme recognition is based on structure. Try putting on your right shoe on your left foot and the concept becomes obvious. Now, Silicon has the tendency to connect to five substituents sometimes. With some wobbling and ejecting the fifth substituent again, this can invert chiralty of the central atom (look up berry pseudo-rotation for more). - Double bonds: Carbon atoms are not always bonded to 4 other atoms, double and triple bonds also exist. Biologically, double bonds are highly important, because of the electronic, structural and chemical properties of the resulting molecule. Look up retinol. Retinol is the compound that lets you see, because the alternating double and single bonds in the structure actually are not fixed in the position. They actually are what we call conjugated, meaning their properties lie between that of an isolated double bond and an isolated single bond. This conjugation allows for the abosorption of light in the visible range, as the size of the conjugated system is correlated to it's optical properties. Another example are what we call aromatic compounds, cyclic conjugated systems. A prominent example in biology are the nucleobases found in your DNA. The interesting thing is that aromatic systems form flat molecules, which can interact in unique ways, like stacking on top of each other (one of the mechanisms, that lets DNA keep it's shape). Silicon does not form such structures. There are Si-Si double bonds, but only under harsh conditions and they are only found in isolated systems like Si2H4) -Hydrogen bonding: Let's stick with DNA. The nucleic bases on the two strands are held together not by actual chemical bonds, but by electric forces. In chemistry, we have a concept called electronegativity. It describes how much an atom of a given element likes to tug on the electrons in a chemical bond. If two elements bonded to each other have a somewhat high (but not to great) difference in electronegativity, we call the bond between them polarized. Example for this are bonds like N-H and O-H. In those bonds the hydrogen is the less electronegative element and thus somewhat more positively charged. This allows the hydrogen atom to interact with parts of other molecules (like water, or a part of another nucleobase), thus creating an magnetic force between the molecules. Hydrogen bonds are key to structures like enzymes and proteins, DNA, RNA and others. With carbon, bonds like R3C-O-H (R being a generic carbon group) are stable, like in Ethanol (CH3-CH2-OH), with silicone we have silanols (R3Si-OH). Silanols are not stable and react with each other. In this reaction water is kicked out and a Si-O-Si bond is created, ultimately giving SiO2 (glass). - Thermodynamics: Si-Si single bonds aren't stable either, so structures analogous to hydrocarbons (oils and fats) are impossible. There are silicones, where silicon atoms are spaced apart by oxygen, but they are formed in a reaction of silicon halides with water. Silicon halides are highly reactive and are formed in a reaction between acids like HCl (hydrogen chloride) and silicone in the abscence of moisture and air. Now, a natural process, where silicon halides are formed is possible. But there being free water to produce silicones on the same planet is unlikely. Also, silicones have organic groups along the chains side, if you reacted SiCl4 with water, you'd just get SiO2 (glass) again, which is a thermodynamic pit. These are just things from the top of my head, but there are more reasons. Though, this has taken me long enough and I'll stick with this for now.
Also chemist here. Poorly written episodes like this one really call into question all the other episodes. This is pretty much a fiction channel to me.
@@yaldabaoth2 This has been my feeling as well, consulting someone in the field is important for such topics. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt though and say, that he might be more into the physics science.
this guy has huge balls to start a youtube channel and grind out COMMENTARY videos WITH a speech impediment for hundreds of thousands of people to watch everyday i mean the internet can be cruel and this dude gives no shit. respect 💯
Alternatively: "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 drug store, but that's just peanuts to space." -Douglas Adams (possibly paraphrased? I recall a version where it said "chemist" instead of "drug store")
@@nickmalachai2227 I'm 99% sure it was "chemist's" as that's the English terminology. I think the "drug store" version is a modification made to appeal to American audiences.
Who remembers the old school star trek episode the "devil in the dark" where they depict silicon based life as just big rocks that can move through other rocks. I always felt like they missed the point hilariously. I can think of a ton of sci-fi that would have been so much better with Isaac Arthur as a science consultant. Keep it up Isaac. Thanks!
That was a great episode ! McCoy heals one with plaster and a trowel and they were all pissed off because we smashed their eggs... something like that.
The auto generated captions can understand and translate this man perfectly which means he has better pronunciation than 99% of us. Thank you for this well researched, well edited, and well narrated content sir❤️
The captions aren't auto generated. You can tell because of the punctuation. I appreciate that he provided his own captions, because auto generated captions are imperfect & this is such a complicated subject.
I've thought of this ever since I was a kid... like everyone says oh all life is carbon based all life needs water. And i always thought couldnt it be possible for things to breath off some other chemical as long as its reaction in the internal body outcomes life i mean what the heck.
Same. Ever since I heard scientists were looking for water I was curious if life could only survive with water, why do they need water? Now that I'm older, I realize we don't have the answers and I think non carbon based life is possible. If a primordial soup can somehow produce proteins, why can't this be true?
@@rawsaucerobert Carbon because it is the superior building material due to its strong bondings. (longevity allowing for more complex chemical reactions to emerge over time) Water is more earth life specific but it is a great solvent. (primordial soup)
Hey Issac, just want to let you know, I love your work man! I'm a science fiction writer, and you videos have given me some great ideas (as in the science)! I actually put a reference to you in the name of an ancient scientist from a precousor empire, I changed some letters around and added and removed some. Let me know if that's not ok. Keep it up man!
:) Thanks, and yes its fine, truth be told I have a growing (and probably slightly smug & egotistic) collection of novels on the shelf of folks who attributed me in some fashion
I was literally going to ask "I wonder how many science fiction writers have used SFIA as a toolbox / reference guide." So, not zero is answer. Yay! When I first started listening, I wondered who the target audience would be. I listen at work. I've been doing avionics for so long that I have plenty of attention to spare for entertainment / education but I doubted that many people have the kind of work environment that allows for this sort of distraction. So ultimately I figured aspiring SF authors would be a large group of the subscribers.
@@isaacarthurSFIA hello there Isaac, i am a amateur sci-fi writter as well...i finished a prequel book of around 80 pages long. And I would like to send it to you and see what you think about my writting and science acurracy. I send my prequel book to some friends in Discord and tell me it is really good, but i need the oppinion of a expert of Science and Space. Btw, it is heavily inspired on Mass Effect and Halo
Or the silicoids from Master of Orion. They were a menace in the first game, because they quickly started colonizing every rock in everyones back yards. You needed to research to be able to settle hostile worlds, they did not care, plus they polluted every planet they were on. On the plus side, killing them was a good way of getting better rep with everyone else.
I've been seeing people make fun of your speech. I dont need subtitles, your voice is calming and completely clear tbh, one of the best voices on youtube I can listen to it for hours and not lose interest. Ignore them becuase it's one of the rare things in life to have a flaw make you stronger and for the better. Love your work and all the people that keep it going. Bringing credibility to scifi is hard to do. Good job.
You used music from Stellaris. I don't care about your speech problem. You just got a sub. Also, great video. I'm glad more people are thinking about different kinds of life. The Stellaris DLC "Lithoids" is quite the interesting one in thinking that geodes can be life.
Immediately got an image of silicon based creatures looking up at the crust wondering if life could form in those unexplored frozen wastes with that earth cross section...
im not making fun of his voice.its not funny its just annoying and hard to understand.but i will make fun of your comment.from your comment i can tell how old are you...9 year old....1st: pp energy ( is pewdiepie thing and all his viewers are 9 year olds) 2nd : again pp energy and "u cant dislike it.its not his own fault he is like that.." bla bla...u just didnt grow balls yet to be honest.yes its not his fault his voice sucks but you dont need to act like u like it and if you actually like it.stop telling other ppl what to do or not to do and insulting them for having different opinions and expressing them
Read a book Golem XIV by Stanislav Lem. Very good sci-fi writer and futurologist from east europe (Poland). The book is about a super computer made by previously built computers, Golem is the 14th series. It has interesting point of view and philosophy.
So much of sci-fi and speculation about extra-terrestrial lifeforms makes the assumption that life would not only be carbon-based, but resemble recognisable life from earth, usually with a head, arms and legs where we'd expect to find them. Where you read about the search for life in the universe, it's invariably for the Goldilocks regions where conditions would allow life as we know it to exist. It's refreshing to hear someone thinking way out of the box to contemplate radically differing forms of life.
0:12: 🌌 The video discusses the possibility of alternative chemistries and approaches to life in the universe, including silicon-based life and non-chemical forms of life powered by sunlight, lightning, or geothermal energy. 0:12: Speculation on alien life that operates on different chemistry than our own. 0:38: Examining alternative chemistries, particularly silicon-based life. 0:49: Exploring non-chemical approaches to life, such as photovoltaic power and geothermal energy. 1:04: Acknowledging the rarity of these alternative forms of life. 1:11: The likelihood of life based on sunlight, carbon compounds, and water. 1:34: The vastness of the universe and the potential for rare events. 1:59: The uncertainty and complexity of studying alternative forms of life. 4:14: 🔬 Silicon-based life forms can exist and have different chemical properties than carbon-based life forms. 4:14: Silicon-based life forms utilize different chemical properties of silicon when bound to atoms of other elements in a molecule. 5:14: Silicon analogs of carbon-containing molecules exist but have different properties. 6:59: Silicon-based life processes may require more energy compared to carbon-based life processes. 7:20: Carbon is more abundant than silicon in the universe. 7:20: Earth's crust has more silicon than carbon. 7:32: ! Carbon is less abundant than silicon in Earth's crust, but more abundant in the universe; different chemistries may allow for alternative forms of life. 7:32: Carbon is about 7 times less abundant than silicon in Earth's crust. 8:06: Silicon tends to remain at the surface while carbon bonds to other elements and forms complex organic molecules. 8:19: A more massive or hotter planet may have even less crustal carbon, favoring silicon-based life. 9:03: Conditions that interfere with organic carbon chemistry may allow for the emergence of alternative chemistries. 9:42: Water is ideal as the primary medium for life due to its abundance and solvent properties. 10:11: Silicon dioxide and sodium chloride are potential alternatives for liquid mediums in alternative biochemistries. 10:42: Supercritical carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sub-surface oceans on distant moons are also plausible for alternative life forms. 11:21: 🌌 The video discusses the possibility of alternative power sources and liquid mediums for life in the universe. 11:21: Life on Jupiter's moon Europa might be fueled by tidal power instead of sunlight. 11:47: Alternative power sources such as geothermal energy and cold liquid mediums like liquid nitrogen or hydrogen could support life in the universe. 12:26: Different acids and organic compounds like acrylonitrile could potentially serve as liquid mediums for life. 13:06: Boron-based chemistries might be plausible but are rare in the universe. 14:01: Silicon-based life, though not naturally evolved, could be created artificially. 14:27: Life based on improbable foundations could occur in nature, but it is highly unlikely. 14:39: The discussion also touches on the possibility of different universes with varying physical forces and elements. 15:07: 💡 Life on other worlds could potentially be powered by unconventional sources such as electricity or nuclear energy. 15:07: Life could form around strange or charm quarks instead of up and down ones. 15:34: The two most critical things for life are a decent concentration of matter and a source of energy. 15:45: Life might exist on storm-wracked worlds that run on electricity or have natural lightning rods. 16:12: Life could emerge on mineral-rich worlds with conductors and semiconductor crystals, potentially forming natural computers. 16:37: Photovoltaic pathways for energy could exist through natural or organic conductors or semiconductors. 17:06: Nuclear-based life or life powered by beta radiation could be possible. 17:45: Radioisotopes like carbon-14 could serve as power sources for life. 19:14: 🌍 Life on other worlds may exist at different speeds and scales than life on Earth. 19:14: Life on a world with slower chemical processes may be slow and long-lived, but problematic for evolution. 19:40: Power-starved worlds may host life but have less diversity and fewer biological niches. 20:05: Life running on electricity may be faster than our own nervous systems or biology. 20:38: Life based on atomic and quantum scales may occur at a much quicker pace with lower energy. 21:05: Interstellar travel may be unattractive or impractical for life that experiences time differently. 21:18: Life forms with extremely slow or fast life cycles may not have evolved yet or may be difficult to communicate with. 22:00: Our understanding of non-carbon based life is limited, but advancements in modeling may provide more insights in the future. 23:03: 👽 The video discusses the possibility of finding alien life and recommends a science fiction series that explores the topic in depth. 23:03: Vernor Vinge's novel 'A Fire Upon the Deep' is praised for its portrayal of alien biology and psychology. 23:17: Vinge's Zones of Thought series is highly recommended for its thought-provoking ideas. 23:29: Audible offers a wide range of audiobooks and exclusive content. 23:59: Listeners can start a 30-day Audible trial and get 1 audiobook and 2 Audible Originals for free. 24:11: Future episodes will discuss trade and economics, genetic divergence, and the future of garbage. 24:37: Viewers can subscribe to the channel and support it through donations or merchandise purchases. Recap by Tammy AI
Or species that originated and evolved based on carbon or silicon biochemistry then intentionally replaced that with an artificial alternative (whether silicon electronic or not).
I only got the game a week ago, but still recognised it immediately. I'm usually the type who spends hours trying to remember where the song is from, but apparently not this time.
I remember some youtuber explaining the likeliness of Silicon based lifeforms managing to survive in a world where instead of water the medium of life is ammonia instead. Its been close to 6 months since i saw that video so maybe im wrong but certainly something about non-carbon based lifeform in an ammonia world. I think the channel was TREY the explainer but maybe not. Anyways great video.
Shortly after you secure a trade treaty with the bird people. But hold on, we have to research the positronic supercomputer. in the meantime, spies have uncovered the secrets of neutronium physics....Shit, now the starfighters need an armor upgrade. Recall the fleet!
You know, I had this book way back in 3rd grade around the year 2000 that touched on something like this - it had some picture of a weird creature that was an artist rendition that breathed nitrogen and was not carbon based. I hadn't thought about it for testers and I have no idea what book it was now, but this video brought back insane amounts of memories from then. I want to find that book again
THANK YOU !! Loved the content !! Since I was a child (without any knowledge) I always wondered why we assume that life must be similar chemically to what we find on earth, even later when I learned chemistry and biology I still couldnt understand why we still assume amino acids to be the base of ALL life forms. I agree it is the base of all life forms on earth but out there ? We have absolutely no clue, and couldnt really rule out the possibility of a non carbon based, amino acids based life form. So whenever someone talks about probabilities of life in the universe, I always correct them and say that he is only talking about amino acids based, similiar to earth's life form and that he is not accounting all of the life forms possible we have no clue could exist. This video was refreshing !! I subscribed right away !
0:17 We often speculate about non carbon based life, but how realistic is that? (intro: dundun dun dun dun dundun dundun dun dun dun dundun) It isnt. (outro: dundun dun dun dun dundun dundun dun dun dun dundun)
All of your videos are informative and enlightening whether they are older or newer ones. You make the universe a bright and entertaining place to explore.
I honestly have to thank you for this video, I've been looking everywhere for a good reference for more unique, weird aliens. I'm writing a sci-fi story so of course, I gotta have the aliens, but I don't want the basic cookie cutter "hehe hoho human but squid" aliens, and this video was exactly what I was looking for.
I love these topics. When I was a kid, I remember reading science fiction and wondering if any of the fantastical life forms described would ever be possible. It seems like silicon-based life has been a staple forever but I appreciate the look at what other forms might be possible.
As a kid, I hung out at the magazine racks so much that the manager at the 7-11 gave me a job cleaning the store. My payment was that I could take home one each of as many books and magazines as I wanted, just had to return them undamaged. That summer I discovered Science Fiction. Ooorah! Fair winds and following seas to all.
Hey, quick correction: Vernor Vinge’s name actually rhymes with “stingy” (as in “cautious with money,” not a descriptor for an angry bee), not “hinge”.
@@iainballas "Hing-ee" sounds like how Ian is saying it would be pronounced, as 'stingy' is pronounced "stinj-ee." Like Hinge but with an E at the end :V
Most comments are on the speaking. He speaks perfectly fine and clear for me (german). You should hear ME speaking wizz my heavy djörman accent - THEN you can complain (if you don’t mind being rude 😊)
You’re talking to nobody like 90% of the other white knights assuming he’s getting bullied literally nobody’s complaining they just find it mildly annoying smh
"So you might have some amusing equivalent to wax dolls as a lifeform somewhere." I know you have a speech impediment but I've never heard "horrifying" mispronounced as "amusing".
On the other hand, the poor wax-doll critters would likely consider us to be Grade-A Nightmare Fuel. Just imagine what a candle would be from their point of view, and how terrifying would be the idea of a human casually lighting and holding such a thing, and using it as a light source.
Why life would grow on Carbon as opposed to Silicon? Answer: "Due to molecular bonding its cheaper to run on Carbon" Meme quality material right there.
One of my brothers speaks like issac. I didn't even realize "experts" classified it as a speech impediment till reading comments here. I just figured it was the way my brother spoke (and issac once i found his videos) Easy to understand. Easy to listen to. Shrug, my vote is keep it the way it is Isaac.
Reminds me of the episode in Star Trek TNG where they found the crystals in the surface for the planet they were mining was actually alive, a collective, and intelligent.
There's two key aspects that must be taken into account, one is transport of matter (either for energy or construction of tissues) the other is ionization that's needed for gathering energy, transmission of signals and energy conversions. Any naturally formed life need to work on it's medium, ionizing atoms or molecules immersed in it, that's quite difficult for a cryogenic lifeform as it would have way less energy, and that would limit the number of possible chemical reactions.
Great episode, I was waiting for this for a long time! As a lot of sci fi tends to make non carbon based life a glowing ball of stuff, or humanoid in appearance. Its kind of cool to wonder what it would be made of and what it might look like, and how we would interact with it. I now I have 3 more books to pick up. btw the background music with the female vocal in the background was great.
Have you think about a non-atomic based life, like they're consisted of elements beyond our understanding like some kind of matter we couldn't see nor detect.
I feel that any advanced alien species out there, those that are capable of harnessing their suns or Interstellar travel, have evolved into tiny machines and are moving at a rhythm in the universe that we cannot even detect. Of course I came to these conclusions by watching channels like this.
I wish I'd watched this before dropping out of a university chemistry major. Chemistry and astronomy really are linked and how the 2 interact really are fascinating.
I had to search in the comments to find what the hell was the speech problem, to me he just sounded like normal english with a subtle quirk, unlike many accents that are impossible to understand or actually sound like a speech problem (sorry Boston people)
Corium is a mix of atomic elements involving silicon and radioactive material. What if silicon based life is half corium based and half metabolism based? Silicon based life could start as corium then simplify as radioactive materials decay into iron. Instead of primordial soup. Radioactive lava might be silicon based primordial soup. Fusion reactors that produce more energy than they cost might be the start of silicon based life. Three silicon isotopes could have lighter silicon with average silicon as electrical batteries and heavier silicon and average silicon as magnetic field generators.
But why are you not happy with the way we search for life? We specifically look for things we know for sure can turn out life, but still pay attention to things we find along the way, that could yield alternative forms of life. Thats literally the most effective way of looking for life. Or would you rather we look for something if we dont even know what it is we are looking for, and blindly turn around every single rock individually instead of specifically targeting those that already look promisin? Would you rather we had no tactic at all and just look at everything? Thats a waste of our very limited ressources, and definately a waste of money
The speech didn’t stop him from creating this very informative video and I have a lot of respect for that. Way to go man, I hope to see more great content in the future.
I wonder if the silicon-based intelligent species have a Carbon Valley where they develop their computers?
We’re the Earthnet AI that Terminated the silicon lifeforms ...
No. They located it on a active fault line and it was completely destroyed in the Great Quake.
possibly, i heard carbon crystals become decent semiconductors at extreme temperatures.
@@DctrBread Carbon is an exceptional conductor of both heat and electric current, doesn't even need to be hot... It's the best conductor of electricity... and if you heated it up enough it would lose it's conductivity, so you could make it a semi-conductor by heating it up... And seeing as carbon has extremely high melting temperatures, it would be possible to do it in a safe way, as long as it's in an oxygen free environment, after all, carbon sequesters oxygen better than anything else and it's not always a good property... it's one of the reasons for why diamonds don't last forever. Specially in hot environments, and near superheated gas, aka fire.
Yes, their "meat computers"..."discarded" after their living cells start to die. If we ever encounter them, both sides will have a lot of explaining to do.
This dude's accent, lisp , or speech impediment is bloody great. U can tell He has practiced annunciating words too minimise the issue. Dude has my respect
That's what I was thinking. For some reason I respect him for it.
Reminds me of that character from the big bang theory. Can't remember his name though.
@@sleazysloth8755 Kripky? you mean
i was thinking the exact same
moko baby i think he is deaf
It's fun that when reading the comments I got confused as hell because his voice sounds perfectly normal to me. As a person whose English is not the first language, he sounds more understandable than most English-speaking people on youtube.
A small bit less understandable but still understandable to me
@@luftwaffle3766 play it at 2x
Nah, but his English is clear. He just has a lisp
Lol, same. It wasnt until I read the comments and I started to listen with more attention
Sounds like ELMER FUDD 🤣🤣🤣
"Boron based life forms are very unlikely"
The boron based aliens monitoring our communication:
:[
@Brian Hensley Bingo, my thoughts exactly. Honestly, we are surely wasting our time even hypothesizing about the likelihood of life being made of anything beyond Silicon. I'm pretty comfortable saying that with near certainty.
not much to learn from us
@Brian Hensley I don't helium is really reactive enough for that, but it is an interesting concept.
I know one boron-based lifeform, actually. He's been my professor in inorganic chemistry.
The boron based aliens monitoring our communications:
9#~
I had this same exact Speech Impediment as this man, i took speech therapy for a long time to change it.... this really brings me back.
I actually like the way he speaks
It is a odd and interesting way
And 1 of my dnd players has this and voices 1 of our npcs in our game ... Its the added touch that makes the npc have another layer and draws him further into the game
I thought it was just a british accent
He reminds me of Kripke from the Big Bang theory
I know it's an impediment but it sounds cool. Makes the word flow seamless like water or fluid. But maybe u shouldn't listen to what I be saying....I still think the kids from Shriners are the x men. Seriously.
Love the way you talk man. My mom talked to same way when she was younger. I hate that people view this way of speaking incorrect. Who says it's wrong? Why does their opinion matter more than yours. Or mine. Or someone else. Keep it up bro.
Silica in the presence of oxygen will crystallize. If silica based life exists it will probably be most likely to occur in environments devoid of water and oxygen.
Pure silicon actually is fairly inert and doesn't react to oxygen, unless it is exposed to an alkali. Then they turn into silicates the most common compound in the Earth's crust and it seems the Mantle too.
Plus oxygen wasn’t all that common before the appearance of Cyanobacteria on earth, and probably wouldn’t be found in abundance anywhere other than planets with life. I think we can safely assume most non-carbon based life would be anaerobic. Maybe they would use chemosynthesis or some alternative form of photosynthesis
@@theunreadyone oxygen is the third most common element in the universe. a lot of it didn't naturally occur on a planet here, but it could somewhere else.
@@i_am_anxious02 oxygen in general is very common, but it’s also highly reactive. Most planet’s atmospheres don’t have it because most of the oxygen just gets converted to CO2 or some other gas. The reason we have so much of it is because of Cyanobacteria.
@@theunreadyone Oxygen was as common as before the cyanobacteria. But it was bound to carbon (CO2). Cyanobacteria don't produce oxygen out of nothing. They release it from carbon. So ... minor correction :) - oxygen wasn't as available to react before cyanobacteria....
"I don't really know what I'm talking about, but odds are no one else does either."
issac arthur 2018. i think this line suit this episode well.
Haha
exactly, it suits many more episodes on this channel.
Suits evolutionary biology completely.
In a parallel universe:
"Non-Silicon based life"
🤯🤯🤯
I don’t think it would be called silicon in a parallel universe but who knows
@@holamilambo8228 everything is possible in a parallel universe, that's the whole point
U mean other Star System?
Demonslayer64 U rite
Everyone in the comments section: "omg you guys are making fun of his speech impediment!"
Me, looking through the comments section, unable to find anyone criticizing him:
Search by new and you'll see them.
Exactly ppl just wanna look all humble
Bruh he has a speech impediment? I barely even noticed. Thought it was just maybe some accent.
@@wiva4707 Same for me, seems the more voices I hear the less I can distinguish between them lol I can hardly even recognize some actual accents now.
@@wiva4707 it’s the örth
this man just did the work and research to put together a video about a topic that is probably too complex for 90% of the audience to even grasp and everyone just goes to the comments to poke fun at his speech impediment. i’m disappointed. you did a great job isaac
Who's poking fun of his speech impediment? And why would 90% of the audience even watch his videos if they couldn't grasp the topics discussed? His style of content is for people who understand the concepts talked about, sure he dumbs it down a bit, and I'd say that's to appeal to those who are newer to these topics. Generally I've found that people who are more educated in these topics also tend to be more mature than to bully someone who has spent hours of their own time in order to provide free education over a slight speech impediment, as they value people's efforts to contribute to science. Whoever is saying that shit about Isaac is an asshole but I don't think this content really appeals to assholes.
Condescension aside, I'm sure he appreciates that every comment (including yours) feels the need to point it out.
@@journeyfan05 Because it's a masturbatory comment to make them feel like they're better than others for patting some supposedly disenfranchised person on the back. It's adjacent to "inspiration porn".
dude i'm 13, i'm just trying to understand this topic, i see no comments mocking him
@@hoomannlicher go to the newest comments
Hey Issac, congrats on beating your speech impediment. Your voice has changed a lot since I last saw your videos a year and a half ago. I'm so happy to see you progress and succeed. Best wishes.
so if silicon-based life forms invent cream sauce pasta would they call it siliconara
I hate every single part of this. Take my like.
I hate every single part of this. Take my like.
And in a galaxy far away, Son Halo is frozen in Siliconite...
Undoubtedly.
My God.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Still smell the ink on this world-changing script.
The greatest of the second generation of science communicators.
You're a hero, Isaac.
Agreed! I proselytize for Isaac all the time to anyone who'll listen.
Anybody know how to contact Isaac Arthur so I can ask him a question I have.
His knowledge always fascinates me because his scripts are very very diverse in topics and deep enough to make us want to pursue one of such big dreams mankind really needed right now.
second?
@M 40 LOL
On a parallel universe where everything is mostly identical to ours except life on earth is silicon based
"Non-Silicon Based Life" by Isaac Arthur
"It's also possible that life could form on large rocky formations held together by gravity orbiting stars rather than in nebulas; though this may be rather improbable due to the limited amounts of gamma and x-ray radiation making basic electrostatic powered mechanical processes very inefficient. Some of suggested forms of chemistry could fulfill a similar purpose."
Amazing
Triumph263 I loled hard.
@@Triumph263 I agree 🤔🤔🤪
@@richards4986 wrong reality
Couldn’t care less about the guys voice - his knowledge is unreal. Never heard such knowledge packed into 25 min videos. Insane free content
I remember reading a short story where aliens freak out when they discover an intelligent lifeform made of meat - us - and go into hiding to avoid further contact with such horrors.
“They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson
We are like eldritch horrors to them! Sweet now we just need some cultists and we are miniature Cthulhu's.
I remeber everyone in my English class laugh at it. Ah, the mind of a 14 year old
If you really think about it, we humans are really quite freakish. We're stuck here on this planet. We could not easily exist (for now) anywhere else. Damn primordial sludge flukes we are. Oh yeah, and the fact that we can't even reach the middle of our backs to scratch is just obscene ! LOL
@@vicariousgamer2871 The scariest part about Earth's life would be oxygen: there's this molecule that corrodes everything it touches, reacting with some materials so strongly it can turn gas into plasma, and there's a lifeform that not only survives in atmosphere that has 21% of that volatile element, but uses it to burn carbon compounds inside of it for energy.
aliens be like: "you make computer chips out of WHAT?" :)
Qwerty :P as would wearing diamonds lol
Drinking water is cannibalism
Thinking meat... if you are a silicon based lifeform anyway.
i know it's a joke but...human eat meat too. i don't think it's a problem.
@Qwerty :P that's why I eat charcoal
He has this incredible ability to break down fairly complex topics into easily digestible chunks that flow so well together. I really appreciate the work you're doing and I wish I had found this channel sooner.
Chemist here, some reasons, why Silicon-based life is unlikely to exist (long):
- Chirality: Especially in carbon based scaffolds there is a property called chirality, which arises from the central atom being bound to 4 different substituents. There are two ways to bind four different groups to a central carbon atom, the resulting structures being mirror images of one another, we call them enantiomers. This is a very important property, as all biological machinery use this to their advantage, as substrate-enzyme recognition is based on structure. Try putting on your right shoe on your left foot and the concept becomes obvious.
Now, Silicon has the tendency to connect to five substituents sometimes. With some wobbling and ejecting the fifth substituent again, this can invert chiralty of the central atom (look up berry pseudo-rotation for more).
- Double bonds: Carbon atoms are not always bonded to 4 other atoms, double and triple bonds also exist. Biologically, double bonds are highly important, because of the electronic, structural and chemical properties of the resulting molecule. Look up retinol. Retinol is the compound that lets you see, because the alternating double and single bonds in the structure actually are not fixed in the position. They actually are what we call conjugated, meaning their properties lie between that of an isolated double bond and an isolated single bond. This conjugation allows for the abosorption of light in the visible range, as the size of the conjugated system is correlated to it's optical properties.
Another example are what we call aromatic compounds, cyclic conjugated systems. A prominent example in biology are the nucleobases found in your DNA. The interesting thing is that aromatic systems form flat molecules, which can interact in unique ways, like stacking on top of each other (one of the mechanisms, that lets DNA keep it's shape).
Silicon does not form such structures. There are Si-Si double bonds, but only under harsh conditions and they are only found in isolated systems like Si2H4)
-Hydrogen bonding: Let's stick with DNA. The nucleic bases on the two strands are held together not by actual chemical bonds, but by electric forces. In chemistry, we have a concept called electronegativity. It describes how much an atom of a given element likes to tug on the electrons in a chemical bond. If two elements bonded to each other have a somewhat high (but not to great) difference in electronegativity, we call the bond between them polarized. Example for this are bonds like N-H and O-H. In those bonds the hydrogen is the less electronegative element and thus somewhat more positively charged. This allows the hydrogen atom to interact with parts of other molecules (like water, or a part of another nucleobase), thus creating an magnetic force between the molecules. Hydrogen bonds are key to structures like enzymes and proteins, DNA, RNA and others. With carbon, bonds like R3C-O-H (R being a generic carbon group) are stable, like in Ethanol (CH3-CH2-OH), with silicone we have silanols (R3Si-OH). Silanols are not stable and react with each other. In this reaction water is kicked out and a Si-O-Si bond is created, ultimately giving SiO2 (glass).
- Thermodynamics: Si-Si single bonds aren't stable either, so structures analogous to hydrocarbons (oils and fats) are impossible. There are silicones, where silicon atoms are spaced apart by oxygen, but they are formed in a reaction of silicon halides with water. Silicon halides are highly reactive and are formed in a reaction between acids like HCl (hydrogen chloride) and silicone in the abscence of moisture and air. Now, a natural process, where silicon halides are formed is possible. But there being free water to produce silicones on the same planet is unlikely. Also, silicones have organic groups along the chains side, if you reacted SiCl4 with water, you'd just get SiO2 (glass) again, which is a thermodynamic pit.
These are just things from the top of my head, but there are more reasons. Though, this has taken me long enough and I'll stick with this for now.
Was looking for this comment. Thank you. I also found the berry pseudo rotation thing pretty interesting
Great comment, should be pinned. I was disappointed at how the episode glossed over the chemistry, as it is really the heart of the whole topic.
Also chemist here. Poorly written episodes like this one really call into question all the other episodes. This is pretty much a fiction channel to me.
OK, so, he mentioned Ammonia. In your opinion, how well would ammonia-instead-of-water life work?
@@yaldabaoth2 This has been my feeling as well, consulting someone in the field is important for such topics. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt though and say, that he might be more into the physics science.
"The Universe _is_ fairly large"
Isaac Arthur. 2020.
Only a medium sized infinite.
the "univors"
That's the first rule of universe
Big, if true.
Only fairly
this guy has huge balls to start a youtube channel and grind out COMMENTARY videos WITH a speech impediment for hundreds of thousands of people to watch everyday i mean the internet can be cruel and this dude gives no shit. respect 💯
I want a mug with '"The universe is fairly large" - Isaac Arthur' printed on it.
i wouldnt buy it
It's at least 3
i stopped the video at that point and scrolled down looking for this comment.
Alternatively:
"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 drug store, but that's just peanuts to space."
-Douglas Adams (possibly paraphrased? I recall a version where it said "chemist" instead of "drug store")
@@nickmalachai2227 I'm 99% sure it was "chemist's" as that's the English terminology. I think the "drug store" version is a modification made to appeal to American audiences.
Who remembers the old school star trek episode the "devil in the dark" where they depict silicon based life as just big rocks that can move through other rocks. I always felt like they missed the point hilariously. I can think of a ton of sci-fi that would have been so much better with Isaac Arthur as a science consultant. Keep it up Isaac. Thanks!
That was a great episode ! McCoy heals one with plaster and a trowel and they were all pissed off because we smashed their eggs... something like that.
Tng did an episode on tiny sand like silicoids that took control of ming lasers and attacked the mining crew.
james wilson silicon life form speaking:
“Ugly bags of mostly water.”
The Horta would be a great aid to us colonizing other planets. Maybe Elon Musk's Boring Co. can bio-engineer such a creature.
I would like to see him write episodes for outer limits reboot 2020.
dear non-carbon based lifeforms:
do you fart
No but its name is fart.
lmao
faht*
If they do, that's not methane they're producing...
Yes we do and its made up of qwarks
What I expected: Theories on what weird aliens may be out there.
What I got: Chemistry lesson.
thats astrobiology
Live with it
*Chemistwy wesson
The auto generated captions can understand and translate this man perfectly which means he has better pronunciation than 99% of us. Thank you for this well researched, well edited, and well narrated content sir❤️
I don't think that's how pronunciation works
The captions aren't auto generated. You can tell because of the punctuation. I appreciate that he provided his own captions, because auto generated captions are imperfect & this is such a complicated subject.
I've thought of this ever since I was a kid... like everyone says oh all life is carbon based all life needs water. And i always thought couldnt it be possible for things to breath off some other chemical as long as its reaction in the internal body outcomes life i mean what the heck.
all life dont need need water fool......smh
Same. Ever since I heard scientists were looking for water I was curious if life could only survive with water, why do they need water? Now that I'm older, I realize we don't have the answers and I think non carbon based life is possible. If a primordial soup can somehow produce proteins, why can't this be true?
@@rawsaucerobert Carbon because it is the superior building material due to its strong bondings. (longevity allowing for more complex chemical reactions to emerge over time) Water is more earth life specific but it is a great solvent. (primordial soup)
@@michaelnewson5395 what known life form does not reequire water?
@@TheSkrubjay What alien is a known life form? Far more likely that discovering aliens would change our models of Biology rather than reinforce then
Hey Issac, just want to let you know, I love your work man! I'm a science fiction writer, and you videos have given me some great ideas (as in the science)! I actually put a reference to you in the name of an ancient scientist from a precousor empire, I changed some letters around and added and removed some. Let me know if that's not ok. Keep it up man!
:) Thanks, and yes its fine, truth be told I have a growing (and probably slightly smug & egotistic) collection of novels on the shelf of folks who attributed me in some fashion
I was literally going to ask "I wonder how many science fiction writers have used SFIA as a toolbox / reference guide."
So, not zero is answer. Yay!
When I first started listening, I wondered who the target audience would be. I listen at work. I've been doing avionics for so long that I have plenty of attention to spare for entertainment / education but I doubted that many people have the kind of work environment that allows for this sort of distraction. So ultimately I figured aspiring SF authors would be a large group of the subscribers.
@@isaacarthurSFIA hello there Isaac, i am a amateur sci-fi writter as well...i finished a prequel book of around 80 pages long. And I would like to send it to you and see what you think about my writting and science acurracy. I send my prequel book to some friends in Discord and tell me it is really good, but i need the oppinion of a expert of Science and Space.
Btw, it is heavily inspired on Mass Effect and Halo
@@isaacarthurSFIA I'll be adding to that list, some day!
@@jimBobuu His target audience is all of mankind, because these videos are a glimpse of what mankind able to dream and aspire to create.
"The universe is fairly large."
Fairly, he says. As if it's not literally the largest thing possible.
As far as we know
It isnt the largest thing. There is another void beyond ours full of other universes
@@WorivpuqloDMogh source?
@@maxsync183 thats classified
@@maxsync183 i just know its the case. I am not giving any further information
Y'all: dragging this guy for his speech quirk
Me, an non-native english speaker: ????? Isn't that just his accent?
No, there is no regional accent like this. It is clearly a speech impediment. He's very brave to narrate.
Robinson Papo yes
j stanton Good more of a lisp
It’s just he can’t pronounce his Rs right
@Robinson Papo r into v, er into ur, and some more stuff like that. It's kinda hard to understand without subtitles tho
For unknownn reasons, when Isaac Arthur said: "Non carbon life forms"
I thought in the Lithoids DLC from Stellaris...silicon based.
For "unknown" reasons - maybe because Stellaris soundtrack is playing in that section of the video? ;)
@@wandraak58 dang you beat me to it lol.
Or the silicoids from Master of Orion.
They were a menace in the first game, because they quickly started colonizing every rock in everyones back yards. You needed to research to be able to settle hostile worlds, they did not care, plus they polluted every planet they were on.
On the plus side, killing them was a good way of getting better rep with everyone else.
@@wandraak58 I also noticed stellaris soundtrack :)
Hard to miss..
In a way, imagining silicon based in rocks is naive however - it's like if silicon based aliens imagined carbon based beings as living lumps of coal.
Non carbon life? HERESY!
Disdain the Xenos, praise the Emperor!
+Fanatical Techpriest
Says the silicon-man.
(Actually, I've no idea what the composition of cogitators is)
Hi guys dumb question but what is carbon?
@@callumunga5253 mostly human brains, probably
@@callumunga5253
A cogitator is a human brain, but altered with all sorts of machinery.
i've not even finished the video; but the amount of information you not only fit in, but skillfully piece together for a good flow is phenomenal
I've been seeing people make fun of your speech. I dont need subtitles, your voice is calming and completely clear tbh, one of the best voices on youtube I can listen to it for hours and not lose interest. Ignore them becuase it's one of the rare things in life to have a flaw make you stronger and for the better. Love your work and all the people that keep it going. Bringing credibility to scifi is hard to do. Good job.
No one:
Isaac's Voice: "UwU"
Yeah omgi thought i was crazy!
Yeah i thought that was just an accent lol
@@plonzz Speech impediment
I actually like it. It's like this guy's flavor, a different tinge from other space-exploration content. Kind of calming.
@LE Jimenez I don't think people mean anything by it.
They just don't know and find it different.
You used music from Stellaris. I don't care about your speech problem. You just got a sub. Also, great video. I'm glad more people are thinking about different kinds of life. The Stellaris DLC "Lithoids" is quite the interesting one in thinking that geodes can be life.
Shut up!
If im correct, lithoid species are supposed to be silicon-based, right?
Immediately got an image of silicon based creatures looking up at the crust wondering if life could form in those unexplored frozen wastes with that earth cross section...
Certainly a possibility.
He might have a speech impediment, but he's smarter than everyone in the comment section 😂
Rich Mckenith Agreed, Rich. I actually like his speech; I don’t know why everyone wants to call it an impediment.
why does his voice matter?
bold assumption considering theres almost 3 thousand comments
They’re joking not bullying him
On god
People who make fun of this guy's voice have little pp energy his voice is amazing
Who here is making fun of him?
Agreed
im not making fun of his voice.its not funny its just annoying and hard to understand.but i will make fun of your comment.from your comment i can tell how old are you...9 year old....1st: pp energy ( is pewdiepie thing and all his viewers are 9 year olds) 2nd : again pp energy and "u cant dislike it.its not his own fault he is like that.." bla bla...u just didnt grow balls yet to be honest.yes its not his fault his voice sucks but you dont need to act like u like it and if you actually like it.stop telling other ppl what to do or not to do and insulting them for having different opinions and expressing them
@@Gytis_Of_KFP_The_4th_PenKing My man, for someone calling people 9 year olds you sure don't seem much older..
gytis uzupis, you’re that person that can’t take a joke or listen to a conversation without getting offended.
Hot off the presses!
Imagine a robotic life-form created by a Boltzmann brain, being conscious and having a religion with the Boltzmann brain as the god
The Nature Soldier Azathoth?
@@benjacksonwithnonumbers An adaption of Lovecraft with that idea would be super awesome.
Read a book Golem XIV by Stanislav Lem. Very good sci-fi writer and futurologist from east europe (Poland). The book is about a super computer made by previously built computers, Golem is the 14th series. It has interesting point of view and philosophy.
@@amciuam157 Unrelated to this topic he also wrote Solaris. It has interesting look at alien intelligences.
dude everyone knows machine empires can't take the spiritualist ethic
So much of sci-fi and speculation about extra-terrestrial lifeforms makes the assumption that life would not only be carbon-based, but resemble recognisable life from earth, usually with a head, arms and legs where we'd expect to find them. Where you read about the search for life in the universe, it's invariably for the Goldilocks regions where conditions would allow life as we know it to exist. It's refreshing to hear someone thinking way out of the box to contemplate radically differing forms of life.
The Stellaris soundtrack fits so well
hahaha I was scrolling down looking for this comment!
@@hadrianos1 same
Imagine getting infected by a silicon bug, and suffocating as your lungs filled up with sand (SiO2).
"I hate sand..."
!AWESOME!
That wouldn't be a fun way to go!
@@kevincrady2831 It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere
Up next: Anakin massacres an entire race of silicon-based lifeforms
0:12: 🌌 The video discusses the possibility of alternative chemistries and approaches to life in the universe, including silicon-based life and non-chemical forms of life powered by sunlight, lightning, or geothermal energy.
0:12: Speculation on alien life that operates on different chemistry than our own.
0:38: Examining alternative chemistries, particularly silicon-based life.
0:49: Exploring non-chemical approaches to life, such as photovoltaic power and geothermal energy.
1:04: Acknowledging the rarity of these alternative forms of life.
1:11: The likelihood of life based on sunlight, carbon compounds, and water.
1:34: The vastness of the universe and the potential for rare events.
1:59: The uncertainty and complexity of studying alternative forms of life.
4:14: 🔬 Silicon-based life forms can exist and have different chemical properties than carbon-based life forms.
4:14: Silicon-based life forms utilize different chemical properties of silicon when bound to atoms of other elements in a molecule.
5:14: Silicon analogs of carbon-containing molecules exist but have different properties.
6:59: Silicon-based life processes may require more energy compared to carbon-based life processes.
7:20: Carbon is more abundant than silicon in the universe.
7:20: Earth's crust has more silicon than carbon.
7:32: ! Carbon is less abundant than silicon in Earth's crust, but more abundant in the universe; different chemistries may allow for alternative forms of life.
7:32: Carbon is about 7 times less abundant than silicon in Earth's crust.
8:06: Silicon tends to remain at the surface while carbon bonds to other elements and forms complex organic molecules.
8:19: A more massive or hotter planet may have even less crustal carbon, favoring silicon-based life.
9:03: Conditions that interfere with organic carbon chemistry may allow for the emergence of alternative chemistries.
9:42: Water is ideal as the primary medium for life due to its abundance and solvent properties.
10:11: Silicon dioxide and sodium chloride are potential alternatives for liquid mediums in alternative biochemistries.
10:42: Supercritical carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sub-surface oceans on distant moons are also plausible for alternative life forms.
11:21: 🌌 The video discusses the possibility of alternative power sources and liquid mediums for life in the universe.
11:21: Life on Jupiter's moon Europa might be fueled by tidal power instead of sunlight.
11:47: Alternative power sources such as geothermal energy and cold liquid mediums like liquid nitrogen or hydrogen could support life in the universe.
12:26: Different acids and organic compounds like acrylonitrile could potentially serve as liquid mediums for life.
13:06: Boron-based chemistries might be plausible but are rare in the universe.
14:01: Silicon-based life, though not naturally evolved, could be created artificially.
14:27: Life based on improbable foundations could occur in nature, but it is highly unlikely.
14:39: The discussion also touches on the possibility of different universes with varying physical forces and elements.
15:07: 💡 Life on other worlds could potentially be powered by unconventional sources such as electricity or nuclear energy.
15:07: Life could form around strange or charm quarks instead of up and down ones.
15:34: The two most critical things for life are a decent concentration of matter and a source of energy.
15:45: Life might exist on storm-wracked worlds that run on electricity or have natural lightning rods.
16:12: Life could emerge on mineral-rich worlds with conductors and semiconductor crystals, potentially forming natural computers.
16:37: Photovoltaic pathways for energy could exist through natural or organic conductors or semiconductors.
17:06: Nuclear-based life or life powered by beta radiation could be possible.
17:45: Radioisotopes like carbon-14 could serve as power sources for life.
19:14: 🌍 Life on other worlds may exist at different speeds and scales than life on Earth.
19:14: Life on a world with slower chemical processes may be slow and long-lived, but problematic for evolution.
19:40: Power-starved worlds may host life but have less diversity and fewer biological niches.
20:05: Life running on electricity may be faster than our own nervous systems or biology.
20:38: Life based on atomic and quantum scales may occur at a much quicker pace with lower energy.
21:05: Interstellar travel may be unattractive or impractical for life that experiences time differently.
21:18: Life forms with extremely slow or fast life cycles may not have evolved yet or may be difficult to communicate with.
22:00: Our understanding of non-carbon based life is limited, but advancements in modeling may provide more insights in the future.
23:03: 👽 The video discusses the possibility of finding alien life and recommends a science fiction series that explores the topic in depth.
23:03: Vernor Vinge's novel 'A Fire Upon the Deep' is praised for its portrayal of alien biology and psychology.
23:17: Vinge's Zones of Thought series is highly recommended for its thought-provoking ideas.
23:29: Audible offers a wide range of audiobooks and exclusive content.
23:59: Listeners can start a 30-day Audible trial and get 1 audiobook and 2 Audible Originals for free.
24:11: Future episodes will discuss trade and economics, genetic divergence, and the future of garbage.
24:37: Viewers can subscribe to the channel and support it through donations or merchandise purchases.
Recap by Tammy AI
People looking for other intelligent species often overlook the possibility of synthetic species that have outlived their original creators...
agreed
Or species that originated and evolved based on carbon or silicon biochemistry then intentionally replaced that with an artificial alternative (whether silicon electronic or not).
Silicon life forms would literally shit bricks.
Wouldnt they also breathe Out sand
"The universe is fairly large..." - UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE MILLENNIA!
Fairly small compared to how big it will get?
More like decently large, I agree!
It’s all relative
relative to what? what makes the universe look small you youtube donkey 🤣
Meanwhile on Wikipedia: "The universe is fairly large [citation needed]"
Was that Stellaris music in the background?
I liked it.
Surely he plays the game too
Yeah noticed that. Truly isaac is a man of Good taste
I only got the game a week ago, but still recognised it immediately.
I'm usually the type who spends hours trying to remember where the song is from, but apparently not this time.
Stellaris gang
Stellaris gang
Definatly Stellaris! When i broke my collarbone and couldn't move, I played the soundtrack a lot, definatly not trippin on painkillers ha
"10-24 stars in the observable universe"
wow that's a lot of stars
bwuh dwid hwe weawy sway thwat
That's 10^24 stars
With the amount of light in the night sky of cities, you can probably only observe less than 24 stars anyway
@@PupperTiggle 🤔👎🏻👎🏻
omg, dude, look at this planet's carbon based life, they're making weird things with buttons and lights made of our bodies!
Turns out WE WERE THE MONSTERS ALL ALONG
@@mitchh3092 but they would be our monsters lol
I remember some youtuber explaining the likeliness of Silicon based lifeforms managing to survive in a world where instead of water the medium of life is ammonia instead. Its been close to 6 months since i saw that video so maybe im wrong but certainly something about non-carbon based lifeform in an ammonia world. I think the channel was TREY the explainer but maybe not. Anyways great video.
When can we do battle against those repulsive Silicoids.
For the emperor
Even worse, the PaperClipoids
Bongos oh shit! This is like Scribblenauts mate! You’ve just doomed us all!
Shortly after you secure a trade treaty with the bird people. But hold on, we have to research the positronic supercomputer. in the meantime, spies have uncovered the secrets of neutronium physics....Shit, now the starfighters need an armor upgrade. Recall the fleet!
@@Daltem For retaliation due to them unleashing their genocidal BETA creations loose on the galaxy.
I swear god that I first read "non-cabron based life" lmaoo😂
"The smaller the scale, the faster stuff happens"
Can't wait a small alien saying that when teased of it's height
An that's why you're a quick shot. XD
@@draconisthewyvern3664 Careful, they could very well be the perfect height for a low blow.
However the universe expands faster than the speed of light so I disagree
"...or even stranger sources like lightning..."
Oh god
Hattifatteners
That means the gas giants are absolutely full of Hattifnatt.
Snufkin is not gay
moomin crime time
You know, I had this book way back in 3rd grade around the year 2000 that touched on something like this - it had some picture of a weird creature that was an artist rendition that breathed nitrogen and was not carbon based. I hadn't thought about it for testers and I have no idea what book it was now, but this video brought back insane amounts of memories from then.
I want to find that book again
sounds cool
that's quite interesting, I have never heard or read of nitrogen-breathing non-carbon-based lifeforms tbh....
THANK YOU !! Loved the content !! Since I was a child (without any knowledge) I always wondered why we assume that life must be similar chemically to what we find on earth, even later when I learned chemistry and biology I still couldnt understand why we still assume amino acids to be the base of ALL life forms. I agree it is the base of all life forms on earth but out there ? We have absolutely no clue, and couldnt really rule out the possibility of a non carbon based, amino acids based life form. So whenever someone talks about probabilities of life in the universe, I always correct them and say that he is only talking about amino acids based, similiar to earth's life form and that he is not accounting all of the life forms possible we have no clue could exist. This video was refreshing !! I subscribed right away !
0:17 We often speculate about non carbon based life, but how realistic is that?
(intro: dundun dun dun dun dundun dundun dun dun dun dundun)
It isnt.
(outro: dundun dun dun dun dundun dundun dun dun dun dundun)
🤔
Woah! Spoilers
Why would you spoil it like this 😡
considering the vastness of galaxy it is pretty realistic. I think you missed the point of the video.
@@jgtogi6839
Yeah it turned out not to be a real spoiler
All of your videos are informative and enlightening whether they are older or newer ones. You make the universe a bright and entertaining place to explore.
I honestly have to thank you for this video, I've been looking everywhere for a good reference for more unique, weird aliens. I'm writing a sci-fi story so of course, I gotta have the aliens, but I don't want the basic cookie cutter "hehe hoho human but squid" aliens, and this video was exactly what I was looking for.
Book name ???
I love these topics. When I was a kid, I remember reading science fiction and wondering if any of the fantastical life forms described would ever be possible. It seems like silicon-based life has been a staple forever but I appreciate the look at what other forms might be possible.
As a kid, I hung out at the magazine racks so much that the manager at the 7-11 gave me a job cleaning the store. My payment was that I could take home one each of as many books and magazines as I wanted, just had to return them undamaged. That summer I discovered Science Fiction. Ooorah! Fair winds and following seas to all.
I'm not even a native speaker and I can understand his voice perfectly well without CC. I get that he can't pronounce Rs but it's still intelligible.
I'm a non-native speaker as well and to me most English accents barely pronounce the R anyway so this just sounds like an accent to me.
Hey, quick correction: Vernor Vinge’s name actually rhymes with “stingy” (as in “cautious with money,” not a descriptor for an angry bee), not “hinge”.
Wait, I thought it was Hing-ee? Was I saying it wrong my whole life?
@@iainballas "Hing-ee" sounds like how Ian is saying it would be pronounced, as 'stingy' is pronounced "stinj-ee."
Like Hinge but with an E at the end :V
Indeed. It's ['vIn dʒi]
Oh
Last time I was this early this joke was funny.
You get one like for the meta, but don't get carried away...
Last time I was this early I was possessed by the gene-memory of my great ancestor Nuatl Hamun - he who fixes the bicycles.
@@The_Crimson_Fucker You get one like for the Bike, But don't get carried away...
Jokes on you it never was
Elmer fudd.
Most comments are on the speaking. He speaks perfectly fine and clear for me (german). You should hear ME speaking wizz my heavy djörman accent - THEN you can complain (if you don’t mind being rude 😊)
You’re talking to nobody like 90% of the other white knights assuming he’s getting bullied literally nobody’s complaining they just find it mildly annoying smh
@@onyx4462 "smh" you wanna pretend like your dissapointed?! That's it, * *vores* *
@@NT-sx2bd that's enough internet for one day
*Audible ad playing *
Beginning of the video :
"This video is sponsored by Audible"
“Time... is about how much living you can get done”
damn...
Tip: To find the negative comments, go to newest first
I did, and I just found bad attempts at meme-ing. The closest thing to a negative comment was that his voice sounds like "an UWU accent"
@@bigchungus6827 UwU
@@livingart2576 Exactly, the newest first filter is the definition of cursed though
This got me thinking : would we actually know if there was silicon based live in the earths mantle?
Properly harder to get there then to visit Mars or Titan
@@mrnice4434 much harder. we've only barely scraped the crust, meanwhile we have invested billions in space travel
The act of minerals expanding, crystals growing, that perfect assimilation and compilation, borders on the requirements to be considered “life”.
like Tremors
Somewhere in the universe, some silicon based life forms are watching a video discussing the likelihood of carbon based life...
excellent video. i also appreciate the effort into enunciating ur words man!
subscribed.
"So you might have some amusing equivalent to wax dolls as a lifeform somewhere."
I know you have a speech impediment but I've never heard "horrifying" mispronounced as "amusing".
On the other hand, the poor wax-doll critters would likely consider us to be Grade-A Nightmare Fuel. Just imagine what a candle would be from their point of view, and how terrifying would be the idea of a human casually lighting and holding such a thing, and using it as a light source.
@@kevincrady2831 Yeah, even us just breathing on them could be warm enough to start melting them, which would probably be painful to them.
@@kevincrady2831 I mean... Humans make some of our candles out of animal fat, it's about the same thing.
Why life would grow on Carbon as opposed to Silicon?
Answer: "Due to molecular bonding its cheaper to run on Carbon"
Meme quality material right there.
One of my brothers speaks like issac. I didn't even realize "experts" classified it as a speech impediment till reading comments here.
I just figured it was the way my brother spoke (and issac once i found his videos) Easy to understand. Easy to listen to.
Shrug, my vote is keep it the way it is Isaac.
Reminds me of the episode in Star Trek TNG where they found the crystals in the surface for the planet they were mining was actually alive, a collective, and intelligent.
Silicon-based life would have carbon-based computers
There's two key aspects that must be taken into account, one is transport of matter (either for energy or construction of tissues) the other is ionization that's needed for gathering energy, transmission of signals and energy conversions. Any naturally formed life need to work on it's medium, ionizing atoms or molecules immersed in it, that's quite difficult for a cryogenic lifeform as it would have way less energy, and that would limit the number of possible chemical reactions.
Great episode, I was waiting for this for a long time! As a lot of sci fi tends to make non carbon based life a glowing ball of stuff, or humanoid in appearance. Its kind of cool to wonder what it would be made of and what it might look like, and how we would interact with it. I now I have 3 more books to pick up. btw the background music with the female vocal in the background was great.
Awesome dude, non-carbon based life is one of my favorite things to wonderr about
Me too
Have you think about a non-atomic based life, like they're consisted of elements beyond our understanding like some kind of matter we couldn't see nor detect.
Higher consciousness?
Uwu lithoids.
Yes
Calamitous Birth OP pls nerf
Nuke them from the orbit and laugh in Fantaic Purrfier!
They'd be very calm, wouldn't they?
@@moriadine2517 Aren't all the origins totally busted? But yes, dedicated crater worlds are so strong. ^-^
I feel that any advanced alien species out there, those that are capable of harnessing their suns or Interstellar travel, have evolved into tiny machines and are moving at a rhythm in the universe that we cannot even detect. Of course I came to these conclusions by watching channels like this.
What stars turn out to be a life form that would be interesting.
I wish I'd watched this before dropping out of a university chemistry major. Chemistry and astronomy really are linked and how the 2 interact really are fascinating.
*understands every single word of this fantastic essay, still focuses on the pronunciation* you're brilliant, keep it up
Last time I was this early, I was still a K-1 civilization.
what are you now?
FireBird Studios K0.7
Love this narration! Keep it up dude!
This sounds like it's be presented by an old timey southern lawyer
I had to search in the comments to find what the hell was the speech problem, to me he just sounded like normal english with a subtle quirk, unlike many accents that are impossible to understand or actually sound like a speech problem (sorry Boston people)
Corium is a mix of atomic elements involving silicon and radioactive material. What if silicon based life is half corium based and half metabolism based?
Silicon based life could start as corium then simplify as radioactive materials decay into iron. Instead of primordial soup. Radioactive lava might be silicon based primordial soup.
Fusion reactors that produce more energy than they cost might be the start of silicon based life. Three silicon isotopes could have lighter silicon with average silicon as electrical batteries and heavier silicon and average silicon as magnetic field generators.
I've seen a similar video from john michael godier about non-carbon based life as well. Would love to see a colab from the both of you
Dwight Alexander they did one on uplifting
Isaac has also been a guest on john michael godier's second channel event horizon at least 4 times.
That masterpiece thumbnail!
Space *🅱ig ChunGuS!*
*as long as any life covergently evolved the humanoid way; no purges'll commerce(!)
:) I was thinking Jakub was inspired by the sandworms from Dune on that one, though forgot to ask.
Soooooooo, pretty alien girls for you
@@tariqahmad1371 *for *all* the mankind(!)
@The DORUK even tau and elder?
You did an outstanding job of producing and narrating this video. Great knowledge you shared and very well explained.
This is my biggest beef with the way we search for alien life...our understanding of life is limited to 1 planet.
But why are you not happy with the way we search for life? We specifically look for things we know for sure can turn out life, but still pay attention to things we find along the way, that could yield alternative forms of life. Thats literally the most effective way of looking for life. Or would you rather we look for something if we dont even know what it is we are looking for, and blindly turn around every single rock individually instead of specifically targeting those that already look promisin? Would you rather we had no tactic at all and just look at everything? Thats a waste of our very limited ressources, and definately a waste of money
@@MrMegaMetroid i love the fact we search for it just not sure we're doing it very well was my point...good response
The speech didn’t stop him from creating this very informative video and I have a lot of respect for that. Way to go man, I hope to see more great content in the future.
Wonderful visuals and a great explanation! Good job, Isaac, keep the awesome content up.
13:00 I like the Stellaris Soundtrack btw
This has always been a shower thought for me
I can't get over how much your diction has improved. Very inspiring!
Would be interesting to cover life inside an alien empire, if earth got annexed.