Caves: Extreme Conditions for Life

This video segment adapted from NOVA raises the provocative idea that if life can exist in the most extreme environments on Earth — such as in dark, toxic caves — then perhaps living things can also survive in harsh environments on other planets.

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Comets Bombard the Early Earth

Visualize how comets carrying chemicals necessary for life could have made their way to Earth billions of years ago in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

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Comets Deliver Amino Acids to Earth

Amino acids, essential ingredients for life, may have been delivered to Earth by comets billions of years ago, as visualized in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

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Dark Energy

In this video adapted from QUEST, learn about the discovery of a form of energy, called dark energy, which has the potential to alter our theories of how the universe is structured.

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Detecting Life on Other Planets

In this video from NOVA scienceNOW, learn how scientists detect potential signs of life on distant planets.

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Europa Jupiter System Mission

This video from NASA introduces a proposed mission to study potential habitable worlds around gas giants such as Jupiter.

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The Habitable Zone

This illustration is an approximate representation of the planets in our solar system and their relation to what scientists call "The Habitable Zone." The planet distances from the sun are measured in Astronomical Units (AU) and are not to scale.

How the Inner Solar System Formed

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, explore the theory that small bits of gas and dust combined to form protoplanets billions of years ago, which in turn collided to create the four rocky planets of the inner solar system.

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Ingredients for Life: Carbon

This video segment adapted from NOVA illustrates why carbon is at the center of life on Earth. It also asks whether carbon-based life might exist on other planets.

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Io and Volcanism

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a scientist explains the unexpected heat source fueling widespread volcanic activity on Io, a moon of Jupiter that many had previously assumed to be frozen.

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Jupiter: Earth's Shield

Jupiter's immense gravity protects Earth from asteroids. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists searching for signs of life in the universe identify solar systems with Jupiter-like planets that may be shielding smaller nearby Earth-like planets from comets and asteroids.

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Life in the Water Supply

Take a close look at life in one town’s water supply in this video segment from Nature.

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Life on Enceladus?

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists are startled to discover evidence for the three key ingredients for life on Saturn's moon Enceladus.

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Life on Europa?

This video excerpt from NOVA suggests there is an ocean beneath the surface of Europa.

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Life on Mars?

This video excerpt from NOVA describes the discovery of water ice on Mars.

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Life on Titan?

This video excerpt from NOVA describes the discovery of methane lakes on Titan.

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Life's Basic Ingredients

This video excerpt from NOVA introduces the basic ingredients of life.

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Life's Extreme Environments

This video excerpt from NOVA explores microbes thriving in extreme environments.

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Meet Carrie Anderson: Taking on Titan

In this video from NASA, astronomer Carrie Anderson studies Saturn's moon, Titan, using data transmitted from the Cassini space probe.

Methane on Mars

This video from NASA looks at recent discoveries on Mars, such as water ice and methane plumes, that could indicate it is geologically or biologically active.

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Microbial Life in Antarctica

This video excerpt from NOVA shows life thriving in Mars-like conditions.

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Possible Ice Volcano on Titan

In this video from NASA, learn how features derived from Cassini radar data indicate a possible ice volcano on Saturn's moon Titan.

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Revealing the Origins of Life

Learn how scientists explore the chemistry behind the first life on Earth and discover one way it may have arisen from simple chemicals and natural pathways, in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.

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The Search for Another Earth

This NASA video provides an overview of technology under development to explore the planets and stars outside our solar system. These will be the most sensitive instruments built to date.

Seeing Stars

This video segment, adapted from QUEST, explores the modern techniques employed by astrophysicists to detect planets in orbit around stars in the universe other than our own.

Thriving on the Arctic Seafloor

This video excerpt from NOVA shows life thriving deep in the Arctic ocean.

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Water Formation Hypothesis

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about an experiment investigating whether liquid water on Earth could have resulted from a massive planetary impact billions of years ago.

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