BBC Learnings · Section 20

Searching for life on another planet

Neil, do you believe that life exists away from planet Earth? Well, I'm not sure about the kind of little

Level: B1 · 110 sentences

Transcript

  1. Neil, do you believe that life exists away from planet Earth?
  2. Well, I'm not sure about the kind of little
  3. green men that you see in science fiction movies,
  4. but also I think we cannot be alone in the universe.
  5. What about you, Becca?
  6. What do you think? I agree.
  7. I think that maybe life does exist beyond our planet,
  8. but maybe not as we see in alien movies.
  9. Well, in this episode, we'll be learning from science
  10. and space experts about whether the conditions
  11. for life exist on a planet 40 light-years away.
  12. OK, a quiz question for you, Becca.
  13. How long would it take to drive a car
  14. to the sun at 100 kilometres an hour?
  15. Is it a 70 years, b 170 years or c 1,700 years?
  16. Well, Neil, the sun seems very far away,
  17. so I'll go for c 1,700 years.
  18. I hope you have enough petrol for that. Well,
  19. we'll find out the answer to the question later.
  20. Now though, some science and space experts are excited
  21. about a planet in a different solar system from our own.
  22. Science journalist Caroline Steele talks about this discovery
  23. on the BBC World Service programme What in the World?
  24. So scientists have been looking at an exoplanet,
  25. so that's a planet that exists in a solar system
  26. that isn't our own, called TRAPPIST-1e.
  27. And it's a rocky planet like Earth.
  28. It's a similar size to Earth
  29. and it exist in the habitable zone around its sun
  30. and its sun is called Trappist-1.
  31. Caroline explains that scientists have discovered that the planet Trappist-1e
  32. exists in the habitable zone around its sun.
  33. The adjective habitable describes a place
  34. or habitat that is suitable for something to live.
  35. Yes, and a zone is an area with a particular feature.
  36. For example, people who live in earthquake zones
  37. have to be prepared for danger.
  38. So a habitable zone is an area where something could live.
  39. Caroline goes on to explain why they think TRAPPIST-1e may be habitable.
  40. Scientists have been looking at the potential atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1e
  41. and they've ruled out that it's
  42. really full of hydrogen or carbon dioxide,
  43. which is a great thing because they're greenhouse gases,
  44. which would make the planet really hot.
  45. And there are some small clues
  46. that it might be a nitrogen dominated atmosphere,
  47. which again, is another sort of clue
  48. that there could be life there.
  49. Caroline Steele says that scientists are looking
  50. at the potential atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1e.
  51. That is, they want to find out if the atmosphere is capable
  52. or likely to become able to host life.
  53. If something has potential, it already
  54. has the qualities or abilities to do something.
  55. The adjective potential has a similar meaning
  56. but refers to future capability. Exactly.
  57. We could say the data has potential
  58. in that it shows signs of helping the research.
  59. But when we talk about potential data,
  60. we're referring to data that could help us with future research.
  61. She also mentions how scientists have ruled out
  62. that TRAPPIST-1e is full of hydrogen or carbon dioxide.
  63. The phrasal verb rule out means
  64. to dismiss the possibility or idea of something.
  65. Scientists have found that TRAPPIST-1e is not full of those greenhouse gases.
  66. They've ruled it out. Indeed.
  67. And Caroline goes on to say
  68. how the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1e is dominated by nitrogen.
  69. If something is dominated by something else, it is controlled by it
  70. or is the most significant element of it.
  71. TRAPPIST-1e is full of nitrogen, which is exciting
  72. because nitrogen is a sign of life and habitability.
  73. So what if nitrogen is actually found on this planet?
  74. Caroline Steele has more. My guess is what we'll do is try
  75. and see what other gases are in the atmosphere
  76. and use models to work out how warm
  77. the planet could be and whether or not it's
  78. a temperature that basically could support life
  79. or maybe it's too hot or too cold.
  80. But fingers crossed it has nitrogen,
  81. there's enough of it to keep the planet a decent temperature
  82. and then that's one step closer to finding life.
  83. Caroline guesses that scientists will focus on the planet's temperature
  84. and whether it could support life.
  85. She uses the expression fingers crossed
  86. to express hope for a positive outcome.
  87. Yes, we often make the physical gesture
  88. of crossing our fingers for good luck.
  89. We do. That reminds me, Neil, the answer to your question,
  90. fingers crossed that I answered correctly.
  91. I see what you've done there, Becca.
  92. Yes, I asked you how long it would take
  93. to drive to the sun at 100 kilometres an hour
  94. and you answered c 1700 years. Well...
  95. The sun is very far away,
  96. but the answer was b only 170 years.
  97. Ah well, that's still longer than my lifetime!
  98. Now let's have a recap of the language we've
  99. learnt in this episode, starting with habitable,
  100. which describes a place or habitat
  101. that is suitable for something to live.
  102. A zone is an area with a particular feature.
  103. Potential describes having possible qualities or abilities to do something.
  104. The phrasal verb rule out means
  105. to dismiss the possibility or idea of something.
  106. We also had dominated.
  107. If something is dominated by something else, it is controlled by it
  108. or is the most significant element of it.
  109. And finally, the expression fingers crossed
  110. is used to wish for hope or luck.