Are We Alone?

The volunteers are given a spoon of sand with 50,000 grains. Each grain of sand represents a single star. They try to guess how many stars there are in the galaxy and then use the spoon of sand to create a pile of stars with their estimate. How big will the pile of sand be and how close will it be to the actual number of stars in our galaxy?

Stephen Hawking explains that he believes that we’ll encounter aliens in our lifetime and that the mathematics predicts it. He sends the three volunteers to see one of the largest radio telescopes in the world. It can be used to listen for signs of life in the universe.

Using an equalizer and megaphone alone, the volunteers must work out how to simulate a message from deep space. With the loud static blasting through the speakers, they must work out how isolate only the channel which is broadcasting the message from intelligent life.

Join Professor Hawking as he challenges three ordinary people to work out the likelihood of alien life out there in the universe. See why the team has their minds blown in a way they were never expecting.