Is there life beyond Earth in our solar system?
Ima li života van Zemlje u našem solarnom sistemu?
Wow, what a powerful question. You know, as a scientist -- planetary scientist -- we really didn't take that very seriously until recently.
Ala je to moćno pitanje. Znate, kao naučnici - planetarni naučnici - do skoro to zaista nismo shvatali naročito ozbiljno.
Carl Sagan always said, "It takes extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims." And the claims of having life beyond Earth need to be definitive, they need to be loud and they need to be everywhere for us to be able to believe it.
Karl Sagan je uvek govorio: "Potrebni su izvanredni dokazi za izvanredne tvrdnje." A tvrdnje da postoji život van Zemlje moraju da budu definitivne, moraju da budu očite i moraju da budu sveprisutne da bismo mogli u njih da verujemo.
So how do we make this journey? What we decided to do is first look for those ingredients for life. The ingredients of life are: liquid water -- we have to have a solvent, can't be ice, has to be liquid. We also have to have energy. We also have to have organic material -- things that make us up, but also things that we need to consume.
Pa, kako da se otisnemo na to putovanje? Odlučili smo da prvo tražimo sastojke za život. Sastojci za život su: tečna voda - moramo da imamo rastvor, ne može da bude led, mora da bude tečnost. Takođe moramo da imamo energiju. Takođe moramo da imamo organske materije - stvari od kojih smo sačinjeni, ali i stvari koje moramo da konzumiramo.
So we have to have these elements in environments for long periods of time for us to be able to be confident that life, in that moment when it starts, can spark and then grow and evolve.
Te moramo da imamo ove elemente duži vremenski period u okruženju kako bismo pouzdano znali da život, u momentu kad nastane, može da se primi, a potom da raste i razvija se.
Well, I have to tell you that early in my career, when we looked at those three elements, I didn't believe that they were beyond Earth in any length of time and for any real quantity.
Pa, moram da vam kažem da na samom početku moje karijere, kad smo tražili ta tri elementa, nisam verovao da oni postoje van Zemlje dovoljno dugo i u dovoljnim količinama.
Why? We look at the inner planets. Venus is way too hot -- it's got no water. Mars -- dry and arid. It's got no water. And beyond Mars, the water in the solar system is all frozen.
Zašto? Posmatrali smo unutrašnjost planeta. Venera je suviše vrela - nema vodu. Mars - suv i pust. Nema vodu. A dalje od Marsa, sva voda u solarnom sistemu je zaleđena.
But recent observations have changed all that. It's now turning our attention to the right places for us to take a deeper look and really start to answer our life question.
Ali skorašnje opservacije su izmenile sve to. Trenutno je naša pažnja usmerena na prava mesta kako bismo podrobnije pratili i zaista počeli da odgovaramo na naša pitanja o životu.
So when we look out into the solar system, where are the possibilities? We're concentrating our attention on four locations. The planet Mars and then three moons of the outer planets: Titan, Europa and small Enceladus.
Pa, kad pogledamo u solarni sistem, gde su mogućnosti? Usmeravamo našu pažnju na četiri lokacije. Na planetu Mars i zatim na tri meseca na spoljnim planetama: Titan, Evropu i maleni Enceladus.
So what about Mars? Let's go through the evidence. Well, Mars we thought was initially moon-like: full of craters, arid and a dead world.
Šta se dešava s Marsom? Pređimo kroz dokaze. Pa, prvobitno smo mislili da je Mars nalik mesecu: pun kratera, suv i mrtav svet.
And so about 15 years ago, we started a series of missions to go to Mars and see if water existed on Mars in its past that changed its geology. We ought to be able to notice that. And indeed we started to be surprised right away. Our higher resolution images show deltas and river valleys and gulleys that were there in the past. And in fact, Curiosity -- which has been roving on the surface now for about three years -- has really shown us that it's sitting in an ancient river bed, where water flowed rapidly. And not for a little while, perhaps hundreds of millions of years. And if everything was there, including organics, perhaps life had started.
Te smo pre otprilike 15 godina započeli niz misija da bismo stigli na Mars i videli da li je u prošlosti postojala voda na Marsu koja je izmenila njegovu geologiju. Morali bismo to da primetimo. I zaista odmah smo bili zatečeni. Naši snimci u visokoj rezoluciji prikazuju delte i rečne doline i useke koji su postojali u prošlosti. I zapravo, Kjuriositi - koji luta po površini sad već oko tri godine - nam je zaista pokazao da počiva na drevnom rečnom koritu, na kom je reka silovito proticala. I ne za kratko, možda tokom stotina miliona godina. A ako je sve postojalo tu, uključujući i organske materije, možda se i život začeo.
Curiosity has also drilled in that red soil and brought up other material. And we were really excited when we saw that. Because it wasn't red Mars, it was gray material, it's gray Mars. We brought it into the rover, we tasted it, and guess what? We tasted organics -- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur -- they were all there.
Kjuriositi je takođe bušio to crveno tlo i doneo je druge materijale. I bili smo zaista uzbuđeni kad smo to videli. Jer Mars nije bio crven, radilo se o sivom materijalu, Mars je siv. Stavili smo to u rover, okusili ga i znate šta? Okusili smo organske materije - ugljenik, vodonik, kiseonik, azot, fosfor, sumpor - sve je bilo tu.
So Mars in its past, with a lot of water, perhaps plenty of time, could have had life, could have had that spark, could have grown. And is that life still there? We don't know that.
Dakle, Mars je u prošlosti, s mnogo vode, možda uz dovoljno vremena, mogao da sadrži život, mogao je da ima tu iskru, mogao je da raste. A da li je taj život i dalje tamo? To ne znamo.
But a few years ago we started to look at a number of craters. During the summer, dark lines would appear down the sides of these craters. The more we looked, the more craters we saw, the more of these features. We now know more than a dozen of them.
No pre nekoliko godina smo počeli da posmatramo niz kratera. Tokom leta, tamne linije bi se pojavljivale duž strana tih kratera. Što smo više gledali, više smo kratera videli, više ovih osobina. Sada znamo za preko desetak njih.
A few months ago the fairy tale came true. We announced to the world that we know what these streaks are. It's liquid water. These craters are weeping during the summer. Liquid water is flowing down these craters. So what are we going to do now -- now that we see the water? Well, it tells us that Mars has all the ingredients necessary for life. In its past it had perhaps two-thirds of its northern hemisphere -- there was an ocean. It has weeping water right now. Liquid water on its surface. It has organics. It has all the right conditions.
Pre nekoliko meseci bajka se ostvarila. Obznanili smo svetu da znamo šta su te pruge. To je tečna voda. Ovi krateri plaču tokom leta. Tečna voda teče niz ove kratere. Pa, šta ćemo sad da radimo - sad kad vidimo vodu? Pa, to nam kaže da Mars ima sve potrebne sastojke za život. U prošlosti je možda dve trećine njegove severne hemisfere - bio okean. Trenutno sadrži cureću vodu. Tečnu vodu na njegovoj površini. Ima organske materije. Ima sve odgovarajuće uslove.
So what are we going to do next? We're going to launch a series of missions to begin that search for life on Mars. And now it's more appealing than ever before.
Pa šta ćemo sledeće da uradimo? Pokrenućemo niz misija kako bismo započeli potragu za životom na Marsu. I trenutno je to privlačnije nego ikad pre.
As we move out into the solar system, here's the tiny moon Enceladus. This is not in what we call the traditional habitable zone, this area around the sun. This is much further out. This object should be ice over a silicate core.
Kako idemo sve dublje u solarni sistem, imamo sićušni mesec Enceladus. On se ne nalazi u onome što nazivamo tradicionalnom nastanjivom zonom, ovom oblasti oko sunca. Ovo je mnogo dalje. Ovaj objekat bi trebalo da bude led preko silikatskog jezgra.
But what did we find? Cassini was there since 2006, and after a couple years looked back after it flew by Enceladus and surprised us all. Enceladus is blasting sheets of water out into the solar system and sloshing back down onto the moon. What a fabulous environment. Cassini just a few months ago also flew through the plume, and it measured silicate particles. Where does the silica come from? It must come from the ocean floor. The tidal energy is generated by Saturn, pulling and squeezing this moon -- is melting that ice, creating an ocean. But it's also doing that to the core.
Međutim, šta smo otkrili? Kasini je tamo od 2006, i nakon nekoliko godina brige o njemu, preleteo je Enceladus i sve nas iznenadio. Enceladus ispaljuje snopove vode u solarni sistem, koji se prskajući vraćaju na mesec. Kakvo izvanredno okruženje. Kasini je takođe pre nekoliko meseci proleteo kroz isparenja i izmerio je silikatske čestice. Odakle potiče silicijum-dioksid? Mora da potiče s morskog dna. Energiju za plimu dobija od Saturna, koja razvlači i sabija ovaj mesec - topi led, stvarajući okean. Međutim, isto to radi i sa jezgrom.
Now, the only thing that we can think of that does that here on Earth as an analogy ... are hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents deep in our ocean were discovered in 1977. Oceanographers were completely surprised. And now there are thousands of these below the ocean.
Sad, jedino što nam pada na pamet, što se slično dešava ovde na Zemlji, kao analogija... su hidrotermalni izvori. Hidrotermalni izvori duboko u našem okeanu su otkriveni 1977. Okeanografi su bili potpuno iznenađeni. A sada imamo na hiljade sličnih ispod okeana.
What do we find? The oceanographers, when they go and look at these hydrothermal vents, they're teeming with life, regardless of whether the water is acidic or alkaline -- doesn't matter. So hydrothermal vents are a fabulous abode for life here on Earth.
Šta smo otkrili? Okeanografi kad odu i pogledaju ove hidrotermalne izvore, oni su prepuni života, bez obzira na to da li je voda kisela ili alkalna - nije važno. Stoga su hidrotermalni izvori bajkovita staništa života ovde na Zemlji.
So what about Enceladus? Well, we believe because it has water and has had it for a significant period of time, and we believe it has hydrothermal vents with perhaps the right organic material, it is a place where life could exist. And not just microbial -- maybe more complex because it's had time to evolve.
Dakle, šta je s Enceladusom? Pa, verujemo da zato što ima vodu i ima je već značajno dugo vremena, i verujemo da ima hidrotermalne izvore s možda odgovarajućim organskim materijalima, da je to mesto na kom bi život mogao da postoji. I to ne samo mikropski - možda i složeniji jer je imao vremena za evoluciju.
Another moon, very similar, is Europa. Galileo visited Jupiter's system in 1996 and made fabulous observations of Europa. Europa, we also know, has an under-the-ice crust ocean. Galileo mission told us that, but we never saw any plumes. But we didn't look for them.
Još jedan veoma sličan mesec je Evropa. Galileo je 1996. posetio Jupiterov sistem i napravio fantastične opservacije Evrope. Takođe znamo da Evropa ima okean pod ledenom opnom. Galileova misija nam je to saopštila, ali nikad nismo videli isparenja. Međutim, nismo ih ni tražili.
Hubble, just a couple years ago, observing Europa, saw plumes of water spraying from the cracks in the southern hemisphere, just exactly like Enceladus.
Habl, pre samo nekoliko godina, posmatrajući Evropu, spazio je vodena isparenja kako izlaze iz pukotina na južnoj hemisferi, identično kao kod Enceladusa.
These moons, which are not in what we call a traditional habitable zone, that are out in the solar system, have liquid water. And if there are organics there, there may be life.
Ovi meseci, koji nisu nešto što nazivamo tradicionalno nastanjivim zonama, koji se nalaze u solarnom sistemu, imaju tečnu vodu. I ako tamo ima organskih materija, možda ima i života.
This is a fabulous set of discoveries because these moons have been in this environment like that for billions of years. Life started here on Earth, we believe, after about the first 500 million, and look where we are. These moons are fabulous moons.
Ovo je fantastičan skup otkrića jer su ovi meseci postojali kao takvi u ovom okruženju milijardama godina. Život je nastao ovde na Zemlji, verujemo, nakon prvih 500 miliona godina, i pogledajte gde smo. Ovi meseci su fantastični meseci.
Another moon that we're looking at is Titan. Titan is a huge moon of Saturn. It perhaps is much larger than the planet Mercury. It has an extensive atmosphere. It's so extensive -- and it's mostly nitrogen with a little methane and ethane -- that you have to peer through it with radar.
Drugi mesec koji posmatramo je Titan. Titan je ogroman Saturnov mesec. Verovatno je znatno veći od planete Merkur. Ima prostranu atmosferu. Toliko je prostrana - i uglavnom se sastoji od azota uz nešto metana i etana - da morate da škiljite kroz nju uz pomoć radara.
And on the surface, Cassini has found liquid. We see lakes ... actually almost the size of our Black Sea in some places. And this area is not liquid water; it's methane. If there's any place in the solar system where life is not like us, where the substitute of water is another solvent -- and it could be methane -- it could be Titan.
A Kasini je na površini otkrio tečnost. Vidimo jezera... zapravo su na nekim mestima veličine gotovo kao naše Crno more. A ova oblast nije od tečne vode; od metana je. Ako postoji neko mesto u našem solarnom sistemu gde život nije poput našeg, gde je zamena za vodu drugi rastvor - a mogao bi da bude metan - to bi bio Titan.
Well, is there life beyond Earth in the solar system? We don't know yet, but we're hot on the pursuit. The data that we're receiving is really exciting and telling us -- forcing us to think about this in new and exciting ways. I believe we're on the right track. That in the next 10 years, we will answer that question. And if we answer it, and it's positive, then life is everywhere in the solar system. Just think about that. We may not be alone.
Pa, ima li života u solarnom sistemu, mimo Zemlje? Još uvek ne znamo, ali željno tragamo za njim. Podaci koje dobijamo su zaista uzbudljivi i govore nam - teraju nas da razmišljamo o ovome na nove i uzbudljive načine. Verujem da smo na pravom putu. Da ćemo u narednih 10 godina odgovoriti na to pitanje. A ako odgovorimo na njega, i odgovor bude potvrdan, onda je život svuda u solarnom sistemu. Samo razmislite o tome. Možda nismo sami.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)