What Are We?

The volunteers start Stephen Hawking’s Machine of Life. The machine works by transferring an impulse from one place to another, sustained by the input of energy. Each moving part follows the laws of physics and together they keep the impulse moving.

The volunteers are given magnets and an energy source to see how complex molecules can form almost at random with just a bit of energy. We learn that the building blocks of life can appear seemingly out of nowhere if the correct conditions are present.

Two of the volunteers make shapes of their choice while the third flings them off the top of the tower to see which will get closest to the target. As they re-make the best performing shapes we see how the winning features are passed onto the next generation.

Three ordinary people take on challenges to try to understand what they really are. In this episode the volunteers are led to an amazing realization about the nature of life itself.