237: Exotic Solar Systems

"The Chase" and Panspermia.
 
"The Chase" is a sixth season episode of The Next Generation that
answered a question many fans had wondered about over the years -
why do so many of the species that we see in Star Trek look so
similar? This question is answered when the pieces of a puzzle
spanning many worlds and billions of years is revealed. A
progenitor species found themselves alone in the galaxy four
billions years ago and decided to seed many planets with life in
the hope that the resulting intelligent species would one day
connect and understand each other.


In this episode of Earl Grey, hosts Justin Oser and Richard
Marquez are joined by special guests Mike Wong and Elise Cutts of
the Strange New Worlds: A Science and Star Trek Podcast to
discuss "The Chase" and the science behind the idea of panspermia
presented in the episode. Panspermia is the theory that life can
be introduced in different environments because it was seeded
from outer space, whether through natural objects (such as
asteroids and comets) or through artificial means. We discuss the
science behind panspermia, whether the idea presented in "The
Chase" works from a scientific or a storytelling perspective, and
how we could know if life on Earth was introduced from space.



Chapters 
Intro (00:01:09)  


Babel Conference Feedback (00:01:32)  


Strange New Worlds Podcast (00:04:02)  


The Chase (00:11:45)  


Panspermia (00:18:11)  


Evolution (00:29:03)  


DNA (00:35:34)  


Time (00:45:52)  


Outside Our Solar System (00:57:00)  


Final Thoughts (01:05:04)  


 


Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes 10 seconds


 
Hosts
Richard Marquez, Justin Oser

GuestMike Wong, Elise Cutts
 
Production
Richard Marquez (Editor and Producer) Justin Oser (Producer) Amy
Nelson (Producer) Tony Robinson (Producer) C Bryan Jones
(Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken
Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)
Michael E Hueter (Associate Producer) Thomas Appel (Associate
Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez
(Production Manager) Tony Robinson (Show Art) Brandon-Shea Mutala
(Patreon Manager)