What If Alien Life Was Silicon-Based?

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There are billions of planets in the Universe that, theoretically, can support life. But so far, we haven't discovered any aliens out there. Maybe the reason is we're just looking in the wrong places. What if alien life isn't anything like the life we know of? What if it doesn't need water? Or oxygen? What if it can withstand incredibly hot temperatures? Or very acidic environments? And what would we need to search for to finally find it?
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What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. Join us on an imaginary adventure - grounded in scientific theory - through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different.

[@HinndwanGaming]

Advanced silicon based alien race invades earth. Immediately dies by oxidation

[@chairmanofrussia]

TheAlchemist I can just imagine all of their heavily armed warriors dropping to the surface by the hundreds, only to instantly screech in agony before falling to the ground. 😂

[@justascarecrow6988]

"CRUSH THOSE VERMIN" *leaves ship and turns into a solid statue* "So, Medusa does exist, huh?"

[@taukedabai4613]

@@justascarecrow6988 mind blown. illuminati confirmed

[@justascarecrow6988]

@Cekeybula till they get punctured.

[@purpleemerald5299]

Franz Zimlich At first I thought you wrote “till they get punched”. I now have the image of a single man running up to a legion of alien soldiers and somehow punching holes into their space suits. XD

[@KarusMBII]

"Silicone life would most likely be in the form of microbes" - Puts giant alien worm creature as thumbnail

[@porojandaniel5738]

It.s a giant microbe then

[@KarusMBII]

Porojan Daniel Yeah, no I don’t think that’s how it works

[@AuthorityCat]

Also who said this anyway? With the right conditions, why wouldn't the lifeforms be more advanced? If the structure is the same and simply requires different temperature and atmosphere, what's the big difference that prevents more advanced silicone life? Someone please explain since the video didn't. Also, there are carbon "giant microbes". Large single cell organisms exist.

[@voradorhylden3410]

@@AuthorityCat thank you exactly my point

[@adamdesouza6153]

@@AuthorityCat He doesn't deny it in the video, it sounds like he does but he just says ANY life would likely be microbes because complex life is rare for other reasons. but if a silicon based organism can communicate between cells and bond to eachother in a similar way to our ones, then there shouldn't be much differene

[@MrHope-gz9iu]

Meanwhile in another alien civilization: What if life was carbon-based?

[@overscoreSX]

underrated comment! :)

[@The_Beast_666]

Mr. Hope You’re our only hope!

[@getrekt1717]

Damn lol I just commented this and now I feel unoriginal :/

[@tgmtf5963]

As a silicone-based creature, i find this accurate!

[@evanraymond8728]

Youre creative

[@PythonPlusPlus]

Meanwhile... Silicon Lifeforms: If carbon life forms did exist, they would most likely only exist in microbe form because larger multi-cell creatures will need a lot of water to be sustained.

[@matrixarsmusicworkshop561]

: D Underrated comment

[@SteelBerserkChannel]

Brilliant XD

[@blueJay196]

Bruh that kinda blew my mind

[@theiridiumgamer5225]

Compared to how we also work with minimum settings, that does make a lot of scenes

[@legendarypussydestroyer6943]

Yeah but water is literally the most abundant molecule in the universe.

[@deflectyou4460]

Somewhere in the universe there is a video about "What if life was Carbon based?"

[@cannedmusic]

And the video would probably speculate that we survive on that noxious gas called oxygen.

[@cormacb2326]

@@cannedmusic Maybe even using that incredibly reactive and toxic liquid, water, as a solvent.

[@amolmohadikar6716]

@@cormacb2326 yes 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@mmaking7382]

With infinite timelines and infinite possibilities, yes

[@mrpedrobraga]

@@IAmMuffin. yes, it's right there

[@ramade9040]

Meanwhile in another silicon-based civilisation: USING CARBON FOR THEIR CPU.

[@asahmosskmf4639]

Silicone based life comes to earth, sees computers and immediately leaves the planet lol !

[@escape9014]

Wtf ,you humans are made up of carbon

[@jameswilkes451]

Quantum computers can use carbon atoms to code on, but so far all they can do is simple equations like 3+4=7

[@ivanrubiomorales1818]

SOMEONE SAID IT

[@frost3dart]

@@asahmosskmf4639 what if they see kim kardashian bootie?

[@ILoveYou-uo1xb]

Aliens: Entering Earth Oxygen : Iam about to end this man's whole career.

[@ILoveYou-uo1xb]

@Calen Crawford lol

[@xenodrone3367]

@Calen Crawford war of worlds

[@SirKolass]

I'm about to end this alien's whole career*

[@dylanhinegardner6778]

Just as we can survive for periods of time in zero oxygen environments, what makes you think they could not do the opposite, given that they would have already traveled through deep space.

[@zakboukhriss]

@Calen Crawford human diseases would probably be ineffective on alien bodies since they need a carbon-based biochemistry to function and reproduce.

[@titancloud]

Aliens currently getting priced out of Titan’s tech hub, Carbon Valley.

[@dddf27]

Lol

[@c.s.robertsstephensen4133]

titancloud DUHHH!!!

[@nichsulol4844]

@@dddf27 a thumbnail nothing this machine A.I own their favorite to doing weird

[@claywebb786]

DAD JOKE OF THE YEAR!! 🤠

[@mikeeclipse]

@@nichsulol4844 what the f**k are you talking about?

[@hexadecimal973]

Complex silicon lifeforms: We will conquer earth hydrogen fluoride: I'm gonna stop you right there

[@robloxtriothecommenter6639]

Sodium chloride

[@MachineThatCreates]

What did Spok say? "It's life captain.....but not as we know it"

[@RedmarKerkhof]

I'm disappointed that they didn't even mention Star Trek in this video. It's one of the few pieces of media that has even paid attention to silicon based life in the pas half century.

[@alextrill5829]

"And no life could possibly begin in that state." - this is EXACTLY the problem you outlined in the beginning - limiting out definition of life to something tangentially related to earthly life.

[@kevmasengale6903]

That's the big problem with most "scientist" who study this stuff. They can't look outside the box and realize we don't know shit about the universe. They always have to be right, even if it's wrong.

[@WhiteGinger10000]

If we are ever going to find extraterrestrial life, whether it be microbe or an advanced race, we will definitely need to think outside the box and think what life is truly capable of instead of it being based on what we see on Earth.

[@Xomage999]

What 'life' is, is a fairly open definition for researchers looking for extraterrestrial life, but we have solid evidence for life that requires water and speculation for life that does not. Part of it is going to be an issue of narrowing down probabilities as well as human interest. Establish how common earth-like exoplanets are vs methane balls vs less ideal candidates to enable better more accurate modeling. Plus, humanity as a whole will care a lot more if a potentially colonizable world is found than some oxygenless wasteland with microbes. Science is a process.

[@MalcolmBlk]

@@kevmasengale6903 "most scientists" use the scientific method, which relies on constant testing and verification of any model. If the current (tested and verified to the best of our current abilities) model is showing that life cannot begin as a solid - scientists will assume that is correct until proven otherwise. It's not about being right, it's about using the scientific method to find out the truth.

[@Aplesedjr]

Malcolm Black the scientific method doesn’t work with this very well though. We have extensive research about life on a single planet. That’s it. That life is extremely varied, but it’s all still bound to earth. We haven’t even found life elsewhere, much less studied it, so we can’t say what the absolute rules for life are. For anyone to assume they know how the entirety of a facet of the universe works without looking beyond earth would be folly.

[@Gamertron-fv5dt]

I've solved it. Thanos is made of purple silicon

[@escape9014]

So silicon is stronger than vibranium😒

[@c.glazercrush3994]

@@escape9014 maybe that's why he was so hard to kill.

[@spaceowl9246]

haHAA a thanos joke LUL

[@ceiling771]

Boof 😂

[@MrBones-yc1jg]

No wonder hes angry,hes reminded of barney everyday.

[@KyoushaPumpItUp]

If alien life was silicon-based, then the aliens would want carbon gel to increase their breast size.

[@ub3rfr3nzy94]

Petrolium implants.

[@Mycatisinapiano]

Assuming they evan have breasts and have intreats in them

[@unixpert321]

Silicon-Silicone There's a difference

[@fwMMVII]

>_>

[@lupitalomeli7128]

Lmao 😂

[@tornadix99]

Carbon based life: breathes into silicon-based lifeform. Silicon-based life: *turns into stone* im medusa.

[@skepabbas9400]

Don't we breathe out Carbon dioxide?

[@Cybakilla]

“In our OWN SOLAR SYSTEM” *proceeds to show a picture of the eggs from alien*

[@mr.normalguy69]

We should try that scenario in a lab to see if silicon based life is possible.

[@anuragkumar2062]

Its tried and tested and yes it's possible

[@Packrunner4]

jonathan smith that’s a trilion dollar idea

[@The_Beast_666]

jonathan smith you sir are a genius. None of the scientists in the whole wide world have ever thought about this!

[@Navaneethkrishnamar]

@@The_Beast_666 did they told you

[@roufeyel7866]

How

[@Ali107]

Two types of silicon-based life. 1. Robots 2. Life made of silicon

[@Ali107]

*Hmmm yes, this silicon life form is made out of silicon*

[@taventube2151]

Robots aren't alive

[@Ali107]

@@taventube2151 what is alive? I meant mentally alive in terms that a thing can think or feel. Robots can get self aware and have feelings, it's just that we haven't made suck robot that can think like it's self aware.

[@taventube2151]

@@Ali107 robots can only go off of programming they have no free will

[@Ali107]

@@taventube2151 you know there are stuff called self learning or machine learning? It makes the AI rewrite its own program making it self aware, only if we reach the technology level to the point we could make a robot actually self aware. Right now, self learning and machine learning are just used to predict marketing things and do basic tasks.

[@madhusudhan2661]

What if aliens would die as soon as they enter in Earth's atmosphere and maybe that's why they're not visiting Earth?

[@snipeselite4]

Ok bro

[@951perres6]

Stay right where you are.

[@billysmiley6780]

What if there was no music

[@bl0bf1sh50]

Dude if they've figured out bout the existence of humans they are most likely advance enough to make suits that can withstand Earth's "rough" climate

[@madhusudhan2661]

@@bl0bf1sh50 Maybe they are trying that that's why it's taking them time.

[@DragonRazor9283]

Before my lifetime is over, I'd very much like it if we finally discover an actual alien species out there. That'd be the greatest moment, I believe.

[@Firedragon-cv9oj]

not really even if there was evidence of alien life we would probably be a way to far away to meet them since there messages would taken millions of years to reach us

[@billsmith987]

@@Firedragon-cv9oj Not far away at all. They are here and seem friendly👍

[@aidanmatthewgalea7761]

that would be called contact and it would be a milestone for our species

[@billsmith987]

@@aidanmatthewgalea7761 not sure if it was actually contact, but I was aware of it, and it was aware of me.

[@billsmith987]

@TIGHT FUCKABLE DICKHOLE best summary I've ever heard of how 'intelligent ' we 'are'👍

[@TheDailyDailies-c6i]

My chemistry study in school actually makes sense now. Silicon is also, like carbon, tetravalent and can form covalent bonds with various elements. All while having extended flexibility.

[@osamabinladen824]

Thanks. Now I'm eating sand for breakfast.

[@tysondennis1016]

@@osamabinladen824 Wilbur?

[@johndawson6057]

@@tysondennis1016 Osama Wilbur "Willy" Bin Laden😂

[@tysondennis1016]

@@johndawson6057 That gives my the idea of Wilbur doing 9/11, before chewing the scenery. “Ahhh…MY TWIN TOWERS, PHIL! MY UNFINISHED SYMPHONY, FOREVER UNFINISHED! IF I CAN’T HAVE THEM, NO ONE CAN, PHIL!”

[@soumyashishdas8779]

I always had this thought honestly, that why do we even associate water with life ... And why why can't there be life that doesn't need water or oxygen but some other element altogether!

[@The_Beast_666]

Soumyashish Das there’s no life without water!

[@fergoka]

@@The_Beast_666 lol what? Have you ckeck every single planets, moons and large interstellar objects to come to this conclusion in the known universe? Or you say this with 0 proof in your hand based on a single example, us?

[@fergoka]

@Unbreakable Patches You know, drawing a conclusion (or forging ideas out if this for that matter) based on a single 1 example is the best recipe for a major failure, statistically speaking. P. S. Tt Miller has right. We are discovering new elements all the time, adding a new one to the periodic table in every 2-3 years. So who knows how many element truly exists in the physical universe. Remember that we aren't a clever race, we pollute and kill the planet we depend from. We know nothing. Borderline.

[@w1z4rd9]

fergoka well said

[@netbotcl586]

because we need water, and we try to find where we can live, not finding alien life; and the universe is vast, so planets with water are prioritized.

[@akashdeb5201]

The moment he starts talking about **Carbon** ..... *Ah Shit,Here we go again*

[@Aura96968]

No shit Sherlock

[@akashdeb5201]

@@Aura96968 Why so salty,kid?

[@Aura96968]

@@akashdeb5201 it's a pun/joke.

[@The-wo4du]

Oops your name contain deb that means u r from ... Yeah u get it

[@MrPr1nglz]

@@The-wo4du No I don't..... please do educate me on what "deb" implies

[@jiryensaber6090]

This is the same idea behind "Transformers".. there was a story in one of the comics explaining it in more details. But that's how they didn't need oxygen and extreme cold was hazzardous. Although their home planet is often showed to just be all on it's own, it was explained that it was once very close to a sun, before getting ejected. It would have been a world we could never survive in. After life had developed, starting as silicon based, it collected and more metals via evolution (including carbon, among others) becoming more metallic based to protect again the cold when the planet was ejected and then that metal sheld and started moving onto actual machines. Heat was harvested from the core. But by then they had provided their own heat sources both from deep in the planet and themselbes. You know how computers often overheat? Same idea. I know it's sci-fi but sci-fi is usually based on some sort of truth... and this idea was around for a while. Just something interesting...

[@technostalgic4979]

Computers overheat because we provide energy to them through electricity that we harvest through the sun. (except in the case that your electricity comes from a nuclear power plant). All other sources of energy come from the sun. You can't "produce your own heat" or any other form of energy from nothing.

[@atgwiuz]

@@technostalgic4979 computers overheat because of resistance of the semi conductors in the processor.

[@technostalgic4979]

@@atgwiuz no shit, Sherlock. You know what these semi conductors are resisting? Electrical current. See the rest of my comment.

[@atgwiuz]

@Phil Ofthefuture yeah thanks for the acknowledgement and I know I'm not dumb. That guy is just butthurt I corrected him for giving incomplete information. The current is not the only parameter that heat produced depends on.

[@technostalgic4979]

@Phil Ofthefuture I OVER explained it? by saying the warming up of computers is caused by electrical current? And this other guy came out of nowhere for no reason and tried to sound smart by saying "computers overheat because of resistance of the semi conductors in the processor." and I'm the one over explaining it? lol okay.

[@maximus4765]

I'm imagining Titan is filled with sentient super-worms now.

[@j0epa51]

How much more mass does a silicon molecule have.. .how does Titans gravity effect locomotion

[@polinttalu7102]

So... The Hive gods lmao

[@enscroggs]

1:50 "organic alien life"... No, no, no. If it's organic it involves carbon, that's what organic means. Silicon-based life would be inorganic by definition.

[@coolstuff4640]

Then we would just redefine the word.

[@jailoutafreecard4414]

@@coolstuff4640 there would need to be a new word for silicon based living tissue

[@condeuiosandilixtos7858]

Does that mean that silicon-based lifeforms would feel somewhat metalic and dry? Just wondering if they would be as squishy as us carbon-based lifeforms.

[@jailoutafreecard4414]

@@condeuiosandilixtos7858 flesh is always squishy. They could have hard shells like insects or crustaceans though.

[@nitesan2814]

Organic just means domething living or that was once livng. Plastic is organic

[@mitseraffej5812]

These aliens might have carbon chips in their computers.

[@Edzhjus]

There was cartoons such as Bikermice from Mars, Beast Wars Transformers..

[@flygreen2522]

They might be tasty

[@getrekt1717]

Somewhere in a distant sentient silicon based society: What if life were carbon based?

[@suhanesetne985]

Maybe they are transformers or somethin

[@ls200076]

@Smarticus You never know. Remember Space is big, bigger than you think.

[@donkeykong4983]

suhane setne Yeah

[@AuthorityCat]

@Smarticus What if the life reacted with Methane in its gas state?

[@goose2574]

That’s the problem with us trying to find life on other planets we assume that because we need water to live everything in the universe needs water to live

[@peoplez129]

Water is important in many ways toward developing life. Firstly, it allows materials that would otherwise be disparate, to intermingle, for long periods of time. If you have water in a constant liquid state, rather than evaporated or frozen, that's a sign of a stable environment, which is paramount for the beginnings of life. You need millions of years of a fairly stable range of conditions for life to develop and grow enough to be able to resist larger environmental changes. Cell membranes are essentially lipid (fat/oil) layers that allow them to stay separate from water, which allows for a whole range of complex interactions. Since water is pretty abundant in the universe, it's safe to say that it would be the most likely precursor to finding life. Water on its own though, is fairly inert, which also helps. It gives a medium for things to intermingle, without actually causing any kind of odd interactions that would otherwise mess up chemical reactions that could keep life from happening. Carbon is also very abundant. So while silicon life could be potentially possible, it's highly likely that silicon life is a much harder path for life to take and be successful. But any cells would need cell walls, and honestly, we really don't know what kind of cell walls would be naturally possible that could help silicon survive in its environment, especially when we're talking about high temp methane environments. So when we say silicon life is possible, that's not really true. What they're really saying is a small part of what makes life possible, is possible with silicon. The problem for silicon also, is that silicon itself is fairly inert and doesn't interact with much. So it would be pretty difficult for any silicon based life to actually get very far, and it would likely progress at such a slow rate, that environmental conditions would change faster than silicon based life could adapt.

[@kipter]

We haven't observed any other kind of life so we have to go off the assumption that carbon based life is all we are going to find

[@CheapseaChicken]

that really isnt the main problem we face when searching for life

[@hunterjenkins3209]

Water has very specific properties that allow it to be optimal for life to form.

[@cormacb2326]

@@hunterjenkins3209 There are compunds with simmilar properties.

[@tiltednite2366]

Me: a plain carbon-based organism Alien: a plain silicon-based organism

[@CaptPatrick01]

Now for the opposite end of the temperature scale: What if alien life was Ammonia-Based?

[@JimmyCerra]

Ammonia contains nitrogen. Long chains of nitrogen easily decompose into N2. This is what makes them explosive.

[@wsp233]

@@JimmyCerra Soo... they like space arabs??

[@thesaiyannes9202]

@friikz as someone who also makes alien species and planets with unique chemical attributes/evolution, this is a fascinating approach to Amono-based organisms. this is really cool and multi-layered to think about, I've had to create species before but never considered one with an ammonia base component. you did an excellent job explaining your point and a fantastic job coming up with this theoretical form of life. I had to make my stuff for a story I've been working on for quite a long time (I created a large interactive universe practically (3 separate languages, a new time-scale, and multiple forms of measurements, and my very own encryption code) but I'm curious to know what you're working on with this in mind

[@thesaiyannes9202]

@friikz yeah trust me I know the feeling, I've been working on this story for roughly 8-9 years now, and I'm still not really sure how to go about making it a reality ;-; see I'm wanting it to be an animated series like an anime or such, but with no funding, minimalist artistic skills, and no insight to the world of animation it's not exactly easy. not to mention I'm not really the best when it comes to trying to get a following (I suck at social media) but anyway. yeah a couple of the species in my series aren't humanoid as well, because I want the story to be as realistic as possible and let's face it the human body is *far* from perfect, and certain environmental factors would support different body structures, but I keep finding myself making characters that are humanoid regardless of anything I suppose simply because the instinct is to make things that seem "familiar" or "normal" so it makes it difficult to sympathize with non-humanoid characters. (wow I'm rambling) anyway, I went way off topic so I'll just end it here lol

[@cookieviper3264]

@friikz please make more of these for other elements i love this

[@joseppleee]

What if “WHAT IF” did a face reveal?

[@good-gpt2-chatbot]

that's a story for another what if..

[@rickyshah2454]

We will die i guess

[@punicagranatum8414]

Ricky Shah LMAO

[@350SSLT1]

A.I runs the page lol

[@dominicpersaud1155]

Maybe he is an alien or maybe he is an A.I

[@mreboric8406]

I always thought about this as a kid after I understood why being a carbon based lifeform made us so versatile and have so much variation. Then learning silicone had the similar properties immediately made me think that maybe they could have complex chemical patterns to form lifeforms. Why not the universe has shown its capabilities to make far more unlucky possibilities. What if the vast majority of life in the universe is silicone as they would be capable of surviving much more harse environments than carbon based. What if we drew that short straw and just happen to develop on a planet that wouldn't allow silicon life to survive and we are screwed and trapped on this little island while most other civilizations can just hope about without fear. We always hold ourselves so special. I would kinda think it was hilarious if we are the sickly runts of the litter that cant go outside that cave.

[@kellocouncil4121]

"Right here, Inquisitior.

[@orlandovazquez9662]

@@kellocouncil4121 Heresy, anyone?☠️

[@someguywithangerissues566]

You def get bullied bro 💀

[@cirejc2235]

tbh, it's likely silicon based life would be less complex and appear more like rocks rather than lifeforms due to silicon's nature, carbon is simply a better building block

[@brotherhoodofsteeld.c.chap1917]

@@cirejc2235Very true, they would be able to survive harsher conditions but we will always be much more advanced and capable of adapting to other worlds, while they are stuck to their single hell-world.

[@hasmuddin1424]

What if WHAT IF gives me heart😵

[@yourdad6501]

Heh...

[@BasoSonia]

grats

[@yourdad6501]

Lmao

[@Sathish_12]

@@Arcanikeswhat if " what if " is not a single person?

[@rockboi91]

Haha

[@gzme4132]

When u realize the earth is just a Minecraft server.

[@blueJay196]

If that's true imagine the graphics in the real world we must look like pixelated shiiiiitt

[@Lovish8190]

Well thought !!👍🏻😀

[@LoboVR07]

And ur minecraft girlfriend is your bully

[@indayteray8647]

When u realize that we live in a simulation made by Minecraft redstone engineers

[@LoboVR07]

@@indayteray8647 Okay we have find one person that knows, mumbo jumbo

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

"Jovian Scientists sit around asking if life could be made of any element as reactive as carbon, or survive in the highly flammable oxygen atmospheres of Rocky planets like earth." - Jack Cohen

[@seamusmckeon9109]

Yeah. If we were to look at earth the same way we look at alien planets for life, we would only get a 80% on the scale

[@Void_Dweller7]

What if every object in the solar system collided? If you like this idea please like it so it can be seen 🧐 Edit:Ik we would all die, and Ik most of the objects would get swallowed by the sun but I think it would be interesting to see how the sun would react to all of this and how the solar system would function and ps I’m not going to play universe sandbox 2 its not as accurate as I’d like it to be

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Thanks for the idea!

[@Void_Dweller7]

What If No Problem 😊

[@Light-rs6jp]

@@WhatIfScienceShow I have an idea too the idea is that what if God existed and if you can make a vedio on it plz give me a shout out

[@ATERAH]

cool what if idea

[@Nene_760]

Finally a good comment that's actually about the video ! And great idea .

[@United4Games]

There is probably some silicon based alien out there watching a video called "What if Alien Life Was Carbon-Based" lol

[@oktawidiasa9440]

Meanwhile in paralel universe...

[@AlStone2]

They'd be like wow they could actually survive in oxygen?! That's crazy!

[@suhanesetne985]

They needed water?! Dats a story for another what if

[@mellovesmusic]

What if makes me wonder about things I never thought I’d be thinking about

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Stay tuned! :)

[@The_Beast_666]

mellovesmusic that’s the idea!

[@yaelvacacenteno1382]

This is what I’ve always thought when they say a planet is void of life because it’s too hot/ too cold or has no oxygen or water. There are many planets and many other elements from which life could sustain on.

[@XenXenOfficial]

Movie at 0:19 is Alien: Covenant. Movie at 4:45 is Life (2017).

[@gregorynofsker7554]

Anybody else ever see the original Star Trek series episode "Devil in the Dark" with the silicon based lifeform known as the Horta.

[@InfectedChris]

Yes, one of my favs since I was a kid. My dad explained the whole chemistry of it since he had to learn lots of chemistry for his doctorate.

[@mechatecha8514]

@@InfectedChris ok boomer

[@InfectedChris]

@@mechatecha8514 Uh, I'm 25 and have the ability to watch shows from the 1960's.

[@mechatecha8514]

@@InfectedChris it was just a joke.

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

@Millenial King You don't need to be an archaeologist to watch the episodes and movies of a franchise that had been in production through the past 50 years, available in CBS All Access, Netflix around the world, and multiple piracy websites. Star Trek Picard airing now, the third season of Discovery in the works, other two series at least in pre-production, and also a movie. Plenty to enjoy, including a very interesting episode about a silicon based lifeform. Which would give you the background to understand plenty of allusions, parodies and jokes in many new movies and series. That's called popular culture for you 😀.

[@dstinnettmusic]

The number of comments conflating silicon and silicone is staggering

[@disciple68]

Yeah cuz silicone doesn't have any silicon! (sarcastic)

[@TheHolyFox123]

Jaime Navarro thats like saying oxygen and water are the same bc water has oxygen molecules

[@froggobaggins3328]

you can't blame them . Who is the idiot who thought it was a good idea to give the almost same name to differents thing?

[@cormacb2326]

@@froggobaggins3328 I agree with you but I do like the sound of silicone.

[@bhuvaneshs.k638]

This video will go down as possible one of the most accurate in this alien life prediction

[@lebonr8268]

Bhuvanesh s.k i agree

[@The_Beast_666]

Agreed

[@ManOfTheWildWoods]

There were several errors/oversimplifications in this video and there are better videos on this subject out there.

[@Mr.Obongo]

Yeah up until we discover alien life or they discover us (they already have they just won’t contact) then the whole microbe idea would fall apart. Not saying there isn’t microbial life in the universe, of course there is it’s just people act like that’s all the life there is, like it’s just microbes and then there’s us and everything on this planet that just happened to stand out and not consist of only microbes for once, yeah I ain’t buying it.

[@Mr.Obongo]

Hedara Helix agreed there is

[@greensky01]

-The Simpsons- >Dr. Hibbert “is the alien life carbon based or silicon based” >Homer “Uh... the second one. Zilliphone.”

[@oberonqa8734]

Nice video. I've always felt that we've been looking for life in the universe using a very narrow specification on what life is. If we started expanding that search to include life in any form, regardless of composition, I'm sure our chances of finding Alien life will increase exponentially. It doesn't have to be carbon-based in order to be life.

[@bl0bf1sh50]

What if dogs evolved like humans did OR What if dogs were as intelligent as humans

[@andrejahacic1325]

I actually know dogs more intelligent than some humans

[@Moonz97]

What if humans evolved like dogs did

[@polandball9937]

What if humana were as intelligent as dogs*

[@bl0bf1sh50]

Well Donald Trump evolved like a dog

[@DiorskiePrepossessing]

@@andrejahacic1325 yeah you're that human

[@doggofv]

Meanwhile silicone civilization: if carbon life existed it would most likely be found near the surface where it is extremely cold

[@HoodlumMedia]

If life was spent near the core, would you have a knowledge of the surface or space? Interesting to think about...

[@minakshishahi5840]

Imagine a war: silicon kingdom vs carbon kingdom Result we will burn into CO2

[@pyark]

"Potentially silicon could be a building block of organic alien life" Well no because organic refers to the life we see here on earth

[@davidschwimmer7940]

Does it though?

[@pyark]

@@davidschwimmer7940 absolutely positive, organic life is litterally defined as carbonbased life.

[@davidschwimmer7940]

@@pyark Yeah I'm gonna need a source on that.

[@pyark]

@@davidschwimmer7940 Yeah I'm not gonna waste my time trying to prove anything online sorry, feel free to use google.

[@cormacb2326]

@Alexander Markland I doubt it. Organic doesn't mean biological, it just means carbon based. Organic chemicals that came existence via non-biological means exist.

[@Be_Nice1200]

What if coastal cities went underwater? Who would still be there?

[@300ml_brasil]

Good one

[@iwiffitthitotonacc4673]

Aquaman of course.

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Thanks for your suggestion!

[@gustavoc305]

@@WhatIfScienceShowWhat if the American Revolution failed?

[@chadatl7217]

Hopefully all the politicians.

[@CJ-yj3ig]

What if money has no value? •Would it start a war? •What would the many countries look like? This is What If and here’s what would happen if money had no value. 😭👏🏽

[@oktawidiasa9440]

I think they already make a video about that topic

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Check this out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ennLoGuGlpWCbKs

[@icebearmusic6577]

*IF ALIEN LIFE WAS SILICON BASED* *BUT DO ALIENS EXISTS ?*

[@dylanmcadam8509]

@Tai Ho’o maybe

[@dylanmcadam8509]

Maybe

[@johnbell5398]

Johnbellkill

[@indianrail-addicts3320]

There are billions and billions of planets in our Galaxy only so imagine the whole universe so probability of existence of other species on those planets are very very high

[@phenomenalone7241]

Yes

[@redforest9269]

"What If Alien Life Was Silicon-Based?" "Could it withstand hot temperatures?" He says right before he starts looking at Titan, which has an average temperature of -290 degrees Fahrenheit and probably couldn't even support immobile silicon-based lifeforms, let alone mobile ones. Not to mention that we've landed a probe there before and are pretty sure that there are just rocks and crystalized liquids on that moon. THEN when he finally realizes that Titan can't even remotely support silicon-based life, he spends the last minute and a half saying that it would probably just be unicellular. And here I thought someone would add some new insight or something, what a waste of time.

[@doctorb.r.u.hofficial6457]

Those kids in school who thought aliens were living on mars: *our life has been a lie*

[@doctorb.r.u.hofficial6457]

TIME TO LIKE MY OWN COMMENT ;w;

[@brettbocik7880]

Damn i remember like 6 months ago What If only had a couple hundred thousand subscribers. Growing fast

[@WaffleSauze]

weird flex but ok

[@brettbocik7880]

@@WaffleSauze nothing weird about my comment fuckface

[@Asterite]

@@brettbocik7880 get help :).

[@brettbocik7880]

@@Asterite 😁

[@bleach4052]

Blue car

[@natalijapetrov2093]

What if humans never existed? Honestly idk why but I wanna know that😂

[@RainKaythiel]

Natalija Petrov our earth wouldn’t be dying out

[@theswagateer2806]

Natalija Petrov Just watch the anime called Dr. Stone. This basically shows you what earth would look like when humans never existed for thousands of years.

[@pauldavis5665]

All the animal life would be happier.

[@rizaruschwartz9357]

there's no massive garbage floating in the middle in the ocean.

[@adityaadit2004]

You wouldn't type this if humans didn't exist

[@santriptaswain6578]

Wow!! Never thought of Silicon lifeforms... Best innovative channel..

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Stay tuned! :)

[@clickpause8732]

The weakness of silicon as a source for an alien's version of DNA (whatever it may be) is that the bonds it forms are weaker than carbon bonds. Carbon is quite unique in the periodic table for the strength and number of its bonds, only opposed by things like hydrogen oxygen bonds, which are strong due to oxygen being quite negatively charged and hydrogen being quite positively charged. This would perhaps make them unable to survive in earth-like temperatures, because the integrity of their DNA may be compromised in the higher temperatures, especially if they are evolved to survive on as cold a place as Titan.

[@Grim_Concept]

What if we're the advanced beings in the galaxy/universe and the other species are still in their infancy?

[@Tarun.Maheshwari]

*What if British Never Ruled INDIA ?*

[@sachinbharti4312]

Then whole india is islamic country

[@Tarun.Maheshwari]

@@sachinbharti4312 Ha ha True

[@fortunex69]

Why I always get goosebumps when you say “That's a story for another What if"? 🤔😂

[@brookekathryn1980]

I've been asking this for years. We are always looking for carbon based life... So many building blocks in the universe, carbon is just one of the simplest, it ultimately means nothing in the complexity of the universe(s)!

[@ChinnuSped]

yeh but it's better to look for something we have some understanding about (carbon based life) than something we don't even think possible and understand (silicon based life)

[@brookekathryn1980]

@@ChinnuSped it's true, but what's even crazier and more fun is the fact that other life forms can exist in other variations.

[@XxTheAwokenOnexX]

I had this conversation with an avid Alien believer 3 year's ago, and today iam watching a What If video about the same conversation. Awesome.

[@aukofx6393]

one day there will be legends about how silicon based life arose from Silicon Valley, and they will praise their ancient carbon based builders that went extinct millennia ago

[@recarras]

"what if alien life was silicon-based?", "It would ve different than carbon-based". Thanks what if, i needed 5 minutes to conclude that.

[@beccailene]

If they were I would have actually raided Area 51 so I could get some even better alien cheeks I just realized that it says “silicon” not “silicone” so that would be worse that regular old aliens. lol an alien is an alien so go for it anyways

[@futurespaceship3000]

I tell you. Secret space program powered lunar operation command. Real extraterrestrial alien work in the lunar operation command is in the moon and mars. Alien life form inside the inner of mars and moon.

[@manee2k696]

What if Alien life was silicon based? Theyd move into silicon vally

[@Supasmartguy]

Fun fact: the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies are stated to be silicon-based.

[@ab3040]

I think that when aliens land in this planet, they'll be really small, and we won't realize they are in the spaceship.

[@kashutosh9132]

It was in a episode of doraemon and those aliens come from a small rock revolving moon

[@JasonVectrex_187]

I wouldn't assume all life needs warmth either. I think our imagining of how life should be is too much thinking about how life is on Earth for us.

[@IamINERT]

we have to base it on our assumptions because we are the only life we know. Its better to be specific and actually have a goal in mind.

[@JasonVectrex_187]

@@IamINERT no because then you ignore all other possibilities, its closed minded

[@IamINERT]

@@JasonVectrex_187 no it can'r possibly be. We need actual facts to know what to look for. As I said earlier we only know about life based on our planet so its best to be specific of what we are looking for to increase the chances of actually finding life. If we somehow miraculously found silicon based life, that would be a different story.

[@JasonVectrex_187]

@@IamINERT you need to go back to school....yes obviously look for water and warmth first, but we assume that thats what you need, really all that's probably needed is energy or material transferring, in any kind of temperature or environment.

[@IamINERT]

@@JasonVectrex_187 No that's not what we are doing. We only can look for what we can based on facts. End of story. Facts. If Silicon life comes along. Then it becomes facts. But at the end of the day. Facts. Its pretty meaningless trying to explain to you at this point. Good life.

[@MK-ts9gx]

The fact that there is frozen water mean there is oxygen! I'm sure water i made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Those silicone organism must have use for all that water.

[@artificialartist1]

It’s not water.. it’s methane

[@achannel3412]

*who else is watching this in bed??! 🛌 🔥🔥*

[@davidhancock4768]

Haha yeah had a few cones n the what if comes out...way to end the night

[@rollacoastaride1937]

a horned viper hiding in sand is basically all you need to confirm a silicon alien hybrid configuration, compared to us humble ordinary human beans

[@Blakeneyd]

Narrator: what if life was silicon based? Me: they probably wouldn’t need potholders when getting cookies out of the oven.

[@FeedMeSalt]

Titan is theorized to have liquid oceans beneath that ice.

[@midnight8341]

There is no frozen surface on Titan... It's completely rocky and oceans of alkenes, like methane and ethane. What you mean are Europa or Enceladus.

[@kosmonautdan6715]

I've always found it a bit weird to call earth life carbon-based. It's pretty likely that alien life will somehow incorporate carbon in their chemical make up for all the reasons mentioned. The stability and variety of silicon based polymers doesn't even come close to carbon (boron actually seems to be a better candidate but still far off from what carbon can do). And just because alien life might use water in some capacity wouldn't automatically mean it's Earth-like or something. That's also a non sequiter. The only thing all life on Earth has in common is DNA, beyond that the term "Earth-like" quickly becomes ambiguous to say the least. The rarest element in our DNA is phosphorus. So imho it would be better to say life on Earth is phospohorus-based. DNA is made up of just four nucleotides. Many more exists. Same for amino acids, there are many more than life on Earth uses. And amino acids were discovered in deep space. Even within those known boundaries there's more possible than just the permutations of life we see here. And it would be very alien to us even if we ignored whatever space evolution produced.

[@manojankk9585]

But I hope that these aliens won’t attack us like aposhus Edit: I never got so many likes thanks guys

[@ChicagoTypewriter52]

Anytime you see a strange alien quartz statue it is actually just silicon aliens entering the atmosphere

[@Just_som_Ottur]

Computer nerds all over the world: *DID SOMEONE SAY SILICON?!*

[@ashutoshrajput3838]

We can't find them because universe is extremely vast(unimaginable)

[@CampaignerSC]

People spend time imagining it though, lol. So I guess it isn't unimaginable at all.

[@FingeringThings]

Then silicon is the base of alien life

[@CampaignerSC]

No, carbon is still more likely because it is more plentiful and has more potential formations. Silicon is merely a possibility.

[@kaszym.6891]

I swear this channels answers my shower thoughts 💭😂

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Stay tuned! :)

[@WeltSchmerz1349]

Unsettling fact: in this case, stories by H.P. Lovecraft are not sci-fi horror but pure realism.

[@dixiebiscuit5623]

We haven’t seen aliens yet because we barely left our home planet

[@Hi-xk8ej]

What if humans never existed? What if we were living in the same year/day over and over again? What if nobody invented the internet? What if we became an anime? (lol jk) What if we were as small as a ant? What if diseases never existed? What if we weren’t as smart as we were today? What if what if??????? What if we were immortal?

[@WhatIfScienceShow]

Thanks for the ideas. You can watch one of those here kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYbIp2t7iqZ8jqc

[@sebastianstan9655]

I hope the last one could come true for my dad. He just died yesterday in an accident when he was coming back from office.

[@YusukeEugeneUrameshi]

I like the "what if nobody invented the internet"

[@Nuestra_MiraMira]

@@sebastianstan9655 i don't think you would want immortality

[@tutsiraidzimwasha3626]

That's what I have been saying in my mind to myself all this time: Alien life is not carbon based and is not dependent upon water. It exists under totally different circumstances than our own.

[@midnight8341]

Silicon can't form double bonds with itself, only single bonds, which means it can't form 95% of structures needed to form anything that can store information or catalyze reactions. Also, just because you swap carbon for silicon, doesn't mean that it magically doesn't need water.

[@cormacb2326]

@@midnight8341 That is a very uncreative way to look at things. Evolution takes the easiest path not the only one. There may be alternate ways of storing information or catalyzing reactions that don't exist in earth life.

[@shehzadaraheel4975]

What if human were living on sun like star🤔🤔

[@zannatirajib5157]

Simple WE DIE!!!!!

[@polandball9937]

If you could stand its temperatures, you would fall to its core and be stuck in the core

[@ninobrown9564]

Shehzada raheel they would never tell us. Better to keep the "were the only ones in the Galaxy" thing goin. That way people aren't making a big deal about going to another planet.

[@anonimosu7425]

imagine harvesting silicon based aliens for producing computer parts.

[@blasphemyincarnate6498]

A species of aquatic ,silicon-based archaebacteria has been found ,in some underground lake or something .

[@YourboiM]

Based aliens?

[@gabrielnijland5848]

What if we (could) created live ''playing God scenario'' Maby silecon baste living beings on earth in a lab of course.

[@AngraMainiiu]

Protip: The Earth contains far more Silicon than Carbon, yet we have found not one example of Silicon based lifeforms...

[@friendlyone2706]

At least not that we recognize as life. Remember the Star Trek episode, the miners were mining for Horta eggs? They had no idea they were eggs.

[@ryanhampson673]

Did you not watch the video? Oxygen oxidizes silicon and turns it into a solid....Silicon based life would have to have zero oxygen in the atmosphere.

[@AngraMainiiu]

@@ryanhampson673 Explain the lack of underground Silicon life then.

[@friendlyone2706]

@@ryanhampson673 If the first life forms on this planet had intelligence, they would have said no life would survive atmospheric oxygen above a very minute level---oxygen is poison.

[@ryanhampson673]

@@friendlyone2706 Yes oxygen is poison and life evolved to tolerate and then use it. Early earth was nothing like what we have today and we have oxygen because of the blue green algae that exhaled it during photosynthesis The fact the video was saying is that silicon has a very hard time existing in other forms with oxygen present. Its a chemical reaction and forms a solid (silicon dioxide) where as carbon and oxygen form a gas, Co2, which happens to be vital for all plants.

[@leljdam3189]

yeah but they can't invade us or their entire body becomes shiny crystals

[@aaaaastr0man584]

Silicon Lifeforms: *looks at earth* That doesn't look like something that could support life

[@mannysmandatories5595]

So you're saying that earth is racist to other forms of life? we're atomic racist? we're atomists?

[@burneraccount2829]

I always thought it was dumb that we try to find life using the conditions we need to live

[@guhh8792]

Rule 34 artists: *"its free real state"*

[@kujojotarostandoceanman2641]

Wait no

[@animationspace8550]

Thank you so much for crediting the original video you got the thumbnail from

[@gustavoantonio194]

Thinking that they are silicon makes me believe that some extraterrestrial life out there is completely autonomous artificial intelligence

[@douglasarcher58]

What if alien life was based?