What If Alien Life Was Silicon-Based?

Thanks CuriosityStream for sponsoring this episode! Go to for unlimited access to the world’s top documentaries and non­fiction series. Enter the promo code ‘whatif’ during the sign­up process and your membership is completely free for the first 30 days. Thumbnail from the amazing short about silicon based life by zeyi (泽亿): There are billions of planets in the Universe that, theoretically, can support life. But so far, we haven’t discovered any aliens out there. Maybe the reason is we’re just looking in the wrong places. What if alien life isn’t anything like the life we know of? What if it doesn’t need water? Or oxygen? What if it can withstand incredibly hot temperatures? Or very acidic environments? And what would we need to search for to finally find it? Watch more what-if scenarios: