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Intelligent Life: Is It Out There?

In Intelligent Life: Is It Out There?, Professor Brian Cox explains what happened when complex life developed and what this means for the search for life beyond Earth. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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The Planets
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2:45
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Lesson Express

Q: What is the theory of how eukaryotic cells came to be?
A: They were formed when two simple cells combined and became a more complex cell.

Q: What is the “fateful encounter” hypothesis?
A: That the merger between two simple cells created something that was better when they were together.

Q: What does the fateful encounter hypothesis suggest about life in the Universe?
A: It suggests that complex life in the Universe is rare.

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