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Introduction

Does life on another planet exist? Will we ever be able to live on a planet that isn't Earth? We hear from a science and space journalist as she explains the latest research and data collected from planet TRAPPIST-1e. Neil and Becca teach you some new language to understand this potentially habitable planet.

This week's question

How long would it take to drive to the Sun at 100km an hour? Is it:

a) 70 years
b) 170 years
c) 1,700 years

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

habitable
describes a place or habitat that is suitable for something to live

zone
an area with a particular feature

potential
describes possibly having qualities or abilities to do something

rule out
dismiss the possibility or idea of something

dominated
controlled by or is the most significant element of

fingers crossed
an expression we use to wish for hope or luck

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript. 

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

Becca
And I'm Becca. Neil, do you believe that life exists away from planet Earth?

Neil
Well, I'm not sure about the kind of little green men that you see in science fiction movies, but also, I think we cannot be alone in the universe. What about you, Becca? What do you think?

Becca
I agree, I think that maybe life does exist beyond our planet, but maybe not as we see in alien movies.

Neil
Well, in this episode, we'll be learning from science and space experts about whether the conditions for life exist on a planet 40 light years away.

Becca
Yes, and as usual, you can find a transcript for this episode, along with all the vocabulary and a worksheet, on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
OK, a quiz question for you, Becca. How long would it take to drive a car to the Sun at 100km an hour? Is it:

a) 70 years,
b) 170 years, or
c) 1,700 years?

Becca
Well, Neil, the Sun seems very far away so I’ll go for c) 1,700 years.

Neil
I hope you have enough petrol for that. Well, we’ll find out the answer to the question later. Now, though, some science and space experts are excited about a planet in a different solar system from our own. Science journalist, Caroline Steele, talks about this discovery on the BBC World Service programme What in the World.

Caroline Steele
So, scientists have been looking at an exoplanet. So, that's a planet that exists in a solar system that isn't our own, called TRAPPIST-1e, um, and it's a rocky planet like Earth. It's a similar size to Earth, and it exists in the habitablezone around its sun, and its sun is called TRAPPIST-1.

Becca
Caroline explains that scientists have discovered that the planet, TRAPPIST-1e, exists in the habitable zone around its sun. The adjective habitable describes a place or habitat that is suitable for something to live.

Neil
Yes, and a zone is an area with a particular feature. For example, people who live in earthquake zones have to be prepared for danger.

Becca
So, a habitable zone is an area where something could live. Caroline goes on to explain why they think TRAPPIST-1e may be habitable.

Caroline Steele
Scientists have been looking at the potential atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1e and they've ruled out that it's really full of hydrogen or carbon dioxide, which is a great thing because they're greenhouse gases, which would make the planet really hot. And there are some small clues that it might be a nitrogen-dominated atmosphere, which, again, is another sort of clue that there could be life there.

Neil
Caroline Steele says that scientists are looking at the potential atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1e. That is, that they want to find out if the atmosphere is capable or likely to become able to host life. If something has potential, it already has the qualities or abilities to do something. The adjective potential has a similar meaning but refers to future capability.

Becca
Exactly. We could say the data has potential in that it shows signs of helping the research. But when we talk about potential data, we're referring to data that could help us with future research.

Neil
She also mentions how scientists have ruled out that TRAPPIST-1e is full of hydrogen or carbon dioxide. The phrasal verb rule out means to dismiss the possibility or idea of something. Scientists have found that TRAPPIST-1e is not full of those greenhouse gases, they’ve ruled it out.

Becca
Indeed. And Caroline goes on to say how the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1e is dominated by nitrogen. If something is dominated by something else, it is controlled by it or is the most significant element of it. TRAPPIST-1e is full of nitrogen, which is exciting because nitrogen is a sign of life and habitability.

Neil
So, what if nitrogen is actually found on this planet? Caroline Steele has more.

Caroline Steele
My guess is what we'll do is try and see what other gases are in the atmosphere and use models to work out how warm the planet could be and whether or not it's a temperature that basically could support life, or maybe it's too hot or too cold, but fingers crossed it has nitrogen. There's enough of it to keep the planet a decent temperature. And then that's one step closer to finding life.

Becca
Caroline guesses that scientists will focus on the planet’s temperature and whether it could support life. She uses the expression fingers crossed to express hope for a positive outcome.

Neil
Yes. We often make the physical gesture of crossing our fingers for good luck.

Becca
We do. That reminds me Neil, the answer to your question! Fingers crossed that I answered correctly.

Neil
I see what you've done there, Becca. Yes, I asked you how long it would take to drive to the Sun at 100km an hour, and you answered c) 1,700 years. Well, the Sun is very far away, but the answer was b) only 170 years.

Becca
Oh well, that’s still longer than my lifetime! Now let’s have a recap of the language we've learnt in this episode, starting with habitable, which describes a place or habitat that is suitable for something to live.

Neil
A zone is an area with a particular feature.

Becca
Potential describes possibly having qualities or abilities to do something.

Neil
The phrasal verb rule out means to dismiss the possibility or idea of something.

Becca
We also had dominated. If something is dominated by something else, it is controlled by it or is the most significant element of it.

Neil
And finally, the expression fingers crossed is used to wish for hope or luck. Once again, our six minutes are up, but head over to our website, bbclearningenglish.com, for a quiz and worksheet for this episode. See you soon. Goodbye for now.

Becca
Bye!

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