Page 4 - John Smithson News Today

Began 14.7 billion years ago. and how might all end. it just, its really beyond ultimate story. >> larry: let me get a break and come right back with john smithson and ben buoy. steven hawking, by the way is coming up. first, how would we respond if alien life landed on earth? chlor-trimeton relieves itchy, watery eyes and sneezing for 12 full hours with less drowsiness than benadryl. it does all that? chlor-trimeton. less drowsy relief that lasts 12 hours. i switched to a complete multivitamin ...

Because it really is one of the big questions we all face. are we alone in this planet of ours? and were talking even if it is one in a billion, then there are billions of dollars. so were playing a big numbers game here. >> larry: john, was this fun to do? is he easy to work with? >> it was -- it was fun, but its probably the most complex and challenging program ive ever been involved with because youre dealing with the most ferociously complicated story, most ferociously complicated science im...

Qualified to answer that, but i dont think so. >> larry: john -- well, ben, you first. the tendency has been to kind of dismiss this, until mr. hawking arrived, as kind of kooky, right? >> i think that -- you know, maybe its been overstated slightly from what he actually says in the film. what he says in the film is that if intelligent aliens exist -- that a big if -- and if they were to meet us -- thats another big if -- then we might be wise to treat them with caution. its not stephen saying a...

Do you think we would be hostile or not hostile to another environment coming here? >> do i think -- i dont think you can really say. i think the only thing you can say is you dont know. if you dont know caution seems to be the most sensible approach. so im not one to call whether aliens will come here and stroke us and pet us or zap up with lazers. i think we just dont know, and, therefore, you cant really say. you cant say one way or another. you can just think that maybe caution would be a go...

So it was -- it was brain numbingly difficult, but also really good fun. and steven hawking is just a remarkable man. i mean, he -- he just has this presence. everyone feels it. we did something with him last night in london, and the whole room stops when he comes in. he has, you know, its weird. we almost talk of him as a rock star of science. he has this extraordinary aura about him, and we just know that trapped in this body that he cant use is this quite brilliant brain. theres something abo...

Chance of doing a series that was both totally big-deal science, definitive science about what we know about the cosmos, but in an educating and in an informative and in an entertaining way, so that a global audience on discovery channel could be sort of interested in this. >> larry: ben, does the british government take this seriously? >> im not -- im not sure im qualified to answer that, but i dont think so. >> larry: john -- no, ben, you first. the tendency has been to kind of dismiss this un...

Received, called the wow signal. take a look. >> on august 16th, 1977, a radio telescope in ohio picked up a signal that became famous. the signal was a steady source of radio waves, just the kind an alien race might send, because it stands out from the radio static that fills the universe. a computer recorded the signal as six letters and numbers. astronomer jeremy erman saw the data and wrote one word in the margin. >> larry: this is a remarkable, remarkable entertaining feature that will air ...

Questions. we gave him our pitch, showed him a tape and had to wait a while, but thankfully the answer was yes, id love to do it. thats how it got going. >> larry: john, are you surprised at the reaction its gotten around the world? >> no, im not, because, you know, professor hawking is this distinguished academic as weve said, but also he wants to bring science to a new generation, to people around the world. and hes prepared to -- everything he says is scientifically sourced. he wants to enter...

Saying i ining aliens are comine to hide under the bed. hes saying if you follow the argument logically wed be wise to exercise caution when dealing with aliens. >> larry: what do we do with this, john, oath e than entertain and inform us? whats the next step? >> the next -- well, what were trying to do with this -- what -- you know, whats just so amazing about this subject? it blew my mind. im not a scientist. what blew my mind is just the huge scale of the universe. ill never look at the night...

Look like. thats what were able to do here. larry >> larry: ben, how did this come about? how did you and stephen and john all get together and do this? >> well, discovery wanted to do a new and exciting show on cosmology. and so we sat around the table for a while and thought who best to do it. and there isnt a bigger name than stephen hawking. so it was a very simple, very, very short list of who we wanted to work with. and then we pitched it to him. and you may know that stephen takes quite a...