The day is nearing when, for the first time in human history, the existence of extraterrestrial life will be a reality. Recently, through cutting-edge space research, including the efforts of NASA, environments have been discovered around Jupiter and Saturn which satisfy the conditions for the birth of life.

In collaboration with astrobiologist Kousuke Fujishima (of the Tokyo Institute of Technology ELSI / the Earth-Life Science Institute) and his team based in the NASA Ames Research Center, this movie was made in anticipation of their project to launch a space probe toward Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. The surface of Enceladus is covered with ice while the inside contains hot water. This creates “plumes,” or geysers, which erupt out toward the void of space. According to the data gathered by Cassini–Huygens, a probe from some years back, these plumes contain salts similar to the primary components in Earth’s alkaline sea waters. Fujishima’s team wants to gather and analyze some of this water to bring to light the existence of the protein peptides which form the foundation of life. This plan has become one of the seven leading contenders to be selected for NASA’s 2020 mission. The team’s dream is steadily becoming a reality.

This movie was made not only to gather interest and support from the public for this project and the researchers trying to make it a reality, but also as a response to WOW’s artistic goal to stimulate thought about the existence of the “anima,” or soul, through expressions of movement, bringing us closer to the true nature of the wonder of life.

Lastly, this work can be seen as a prologue, which marks the beginning of grand story surrounding the history of life and space, in which mankind will learn, for the first time, of the existence of new life.

(TEXT BY ARINA TSUKADA / Curator)

関連リンク：宇宙生物学からALife（人工生命）まで、「生命の起源」を探る実践
http://boundbaw.com/world-topics/articles/8

Credits

WOW
Conceptor： Yuki Tazaki
Director：Tyler Bowers
3D Artists：Takuma Sasaki, Kenji Tanaka, Yusuke Mizuno
Sound Design：Tomohiro Nagasaki
ELSI Scientific Supervisor：Kosuke Fujishima
Curator：Arina Tsukada