What If Alien Life Were Silicon-Based?

Thank you to Brilliant for Supporting PBS. To learn more go to PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! Life as we know it is carbon-based, but does it have to be this way? There’s another element on the periodic table that shares some of the key properties of carbon but is far more abundant on most planets. I’m talking about silicon. So is there silicon-based life out there? Check out the Space Time Merch Store Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: Hosted by Matt O’Dowd Written by Fernando Franco Félix & Matt O’Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Spacetime is produced by Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2023 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by . Schattenberg: Space Time was made possible in part by Our Patreon Supporters Big Bang Supporters Tim O’Rourke Steffen Bendel Bryce Fort Peter Barrett David Neumann Leo Koguan Sean Maddox Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal Quasar Supporters Glenn Sugden Alex Kern Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Christina Oegren Mark Heising Hank S Hypernova Supporters Ryan Moser David Giltinan Ivari Tölp Vyce Ailour Ken S Gregory Forfa Kirk Honour drollere Joe Moreira Bradley Voorhees Marc Armstrong Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Mathew David S. Cerutti Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner chuck zegar Jordan Young John Hofmann Daniel Muzquiz Gamma Ray Burst Supporters Joe Pavlovic Jswcp Ryan McGaughy Mark West Hypothasies Justin Lloyd Chuck Lukaszewski Edward Hodapp Kevin Tillery Cole Marc Forand D. Delair Walter Montalvo Andrea Galvagni Jerry Thomas Nikhil Sharma Alexander Gruber Jonathan Cordovano John Anderson Scott Hannum Paul Widden Bradley Ulis Craig Falls Kane Holbrook Ross Story teng guo Mason Dillon Harsh Khandhadia Thomas Tarler bsgbryan Susan Albee Frank Walker Matt Q MHL SHS Terje Vold James Trimmier Anatoliy Nagornyy comboy Andre Stechert Paul Wood Kent Durham jim bartosh Nubble Ramon Nogueira The Mad Mechanic Ellis Hall John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Alex Edwards Ádám Kettinger MD3 Endre Pech Daniel Jennings Cameron Sampson Geoffrey Clarion Russ Creech Jeremy Reed David Johnston Web Browser Michael Barton Mr T Andrew Mann Isaac Suttell Oliver Flanagan Bleys Goodson Robert Walter Mirik Gogri Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Nickolas Andrew Freeman Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Robert Ilardi Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Graydon Goss Frederic Simon Tonyface John Robinson Jim Hudson A G David Barnholdt David Neal justahat John Funai Tristan Bradley Jenkins Daniel Stříbrný Luaan Cody Brumfield Thomas Dougherty King Zeckendorff Dan Warren Patrick Sutton John Griffith DFaulk Sam Long What If Alien Life Were Silicon-Based?