| Recent discoveries on Mars, in the universe and on
Earth are leading even mainstream scientists, who once dismissed the
notion of extraterrestrial life, to change their minds. CNN's space
correspondent Miles O'Brien joins the hunt in an hour long CNN Presents
investigation airing this month, Is Anybody Out There? The
show airs on 7 August at 5:30 with a repeat on 8 August at 9:30 am
and 4:30 pm.
As informed by the press release, Scientists say three recent discoveries
have bolstered the case for life existing beyond Earth: Proof that
Mars was once warm and wet - in short, a habitable place; A burgeoning
catalogue of more than 120 solar systems, with orbiting planets
far beyond Earth's nook in the Milky Way; The discovery of hardy
forms of life living in the most unlikely places on Earth.
"For those who are leading the hunt, these are dramatic developments
that suggest the discovery of some form of life out in the universe
could be just around the corner," O'Brien said. "And once
that barrier is broken, all bets are off. If even the most simple,
single-cell life exists on other planets, then it is not so crazy
to think that intelligent life might well be out there as well."
O'Brien takes viewers on a revealing odyssey with intrepid researchers
to what have been described as "the deadliest place on earth".
This is Chile's arid Atacama Desert. The show also goes behind the
scenes at Nasa's Mars Mission Control and to Yellowstone National
Park's boiling, acid-filled, yet living springs. He gleans secrets
from one of the world's leading "planet hunters" and journeys
to the world's largest radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico,
to see first-hand the effort to make contact with a distant, intelligent
civilisation.
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