The Search for Life in the Universe

“The Search for Life in the Universe” poses the question, “Are we alone in the universe?” Nimoy (Star Trek's Mr. Spock) takes us on a journey to try and answer this question which has puzzled humanity since its beginning. This is a fascinating journey from the realm of the mysterious to the realm of reality. The audience will eavesdrop on signals from space, delve into emerging solar systems and learn how scientists and amateur astronomers explain mysterious cosmic phenomena.

Originally produced by the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, “The Search for Life in the Universe” explores the chances life might exist elsewhere in the universe, based on what we know about how life began on Earth, and how we might be able to find that life. People have been interested in aliens for a long time and the past few decades have seen an enormous increase in claims of alien visits and sightings. Claims have been made that Stonehenge, the Egyptian Pyramids, the faces on Easter Island , crop circles and many other artifacts must have been made by extraterrestrials. Yet, all the evidence we have suggests these objects are the work of terrestrial minds. Even worse, many "alien objects" are more likely the result of terrestrial hoaxes.

Now astronomers take a scientific approach to solving one of the greatest puzzles – the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. It is only in the past few years we have had the technology to allow scientists to seriously ponder such questions with a realist hope of being able to answer them.

Total Running Time (approx): 38:00 minutes