It is almost like a novel. Was it written primarily by one individual or a group? We had a creative scientific board that included scientists from a variety of disciplines, as well as science fiction authors and the production team at atlas media.
We'd meet and throw around ideas, follow it up with emails. The show has the aliens use an electromagnetic pulse to take out our technology before they invade. This seems like a gamble for the aliens. How would they even know that is how our technology works? Maybe we just use mechanical computers or something - or biological computers. Did you consider this problem? Yes — but it didn't seem outlandish to believe that they would be able to detect our radio and power signatures once they were close to earth, especially since we ourselves have technology to do this.
What do you consider the coolest physics concept or device from the show? While it's not neccesarily physics, once we got into the concept of using birds to infect large populations, it was pretty mind blowing how easy it might be. Parts of the research actually scared us. Was there any discussion to discuss the Drake equation in the show? If so, was it just cut because of time?
Obviously, television is not the ideal forum for exploring mathematical equations. However, we did edit a short sequence on it that did not make the premier run - but there is a 2 hour version of this show which will air internationally, and may also air at a later date on the science channel.
There was one thing that bothered me about the aliens. It would seem that any civilization that could survive long enough to obtain that level of technology would also have to survive itself by being peaceful isn't this part of the Drake equation? Did you consider this aspect of the alien invasion?
Our experts didn't take it as a given that a civilization that survived for a long time would be peaceful. Obviously, some of the most successful species on earth are quite aggressive — ants for example. Also, peaceful aliens don't allow you to blow things up on screen. What is one thing you wanted to put in the show, but it didn't make it in? We had a sequence on the Kepler Project, which is currently looking for Earth-like planets — planets that could conceivably contain alien lifeforms.
Hopefully, if we ever get to do a sequel or a series, we can explore exactly from where we think aliens could originate. However, we also know that whilst life on our planet began relatively soon after Earth was formed, it evolved in many different ways.
A massive variety of creatures can exist and thrive on this planet, and just as readily die out and vanish. So, alien life would presumably need all the things we need to survive, such as energy, protection from predators and a way to move - but beyond that they could look startlingly different.
Like most astrophysical things, there are simply too many possible answers. The universe, as you may have heard, is big. Mind you, our alien pals may have advanced transportation methods to get here sooner — maybe making use of worm holes or warping space-time.
We will have to wait and see. We also have to contemplate Dyson spheres. Distinguished Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev 9 devised a three-tier system to describe how technologically advanced an alien civilisation may be. A type I civilisation is capable of collecting all of the energy that falls on their planet from their sun. A type II civilisation would be able to collect all of the energy from their parent star remotely in space, rather than on the planet itself. This would have to involve a massive solar energy collector orbiting the planet, known as a Dyson sphere.
It might be one great ball of solar panels or just loads of interconnected solar panels. And if this alien civilisation has managed to build one Dyson sphere to serve their needs, they could be promoted to a type III Kardashev civilisation. Here, they start to grab the energy from neighbouring stars, then slowly build a network of Dysons that could eventually harness the energy of an entire galaxy. And these solar vampires would need the materials to build these planet-sized structures.
The telescope had been scouring the Milky Way for exoplanets, planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. These exoplanets are spotted when they pass in front of a star; the starlight appears to dim as they partially block it out.
This dimming is usually quite uniform and predictable. But Kepler identified an event that was not uniform and predictable… It was strange and irregular…Something very un-planet-shaped was passing in front of the star. Could this be a Dyson sphere in our neighbourhood?
And, if it was harvesting the juice from that star, could our sun soon be in its sights? More space telescopes were pointed at the potential Dyson sphere to try to ascertain whether a highly advanced alien civilisation was at work nearby.
It could happen even sooner, depending how many civilizations are out there to be found. To understand why this is, it helps to know about someone name Frank Drake. Drake is the least lonely man on Earth—if not in the entire galaxy. Start with the number of stars in our galaxy, which is conservatively estimated at billion, though is often cited as three times that. Not all of those exoplanets would be capable of sustaining Earth-like life, so the equation assumes from 1 to 5 in any system could.
The mere existence of intelligent life forms tells us nothing, however, unless they have the ability to make themselves known—which means to manipulate radio waves and other forms of electromagnetic signaling. Finally, and perhaps most anthropocentrically, the equation considers how long any one of those semaphoring civilizations would be around to blink their signals our way. A sun like ours survives for about 10 billion years; life on Earth has been around for only about 3.
If we destroy ourselves in an environmental or nuclear holocaust tomorrow, our signal will go dark then.
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