What If Alien Life Were Silicon-Based?

Thank you to Brilliant for Supporting PBS. To learn more go to

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to

Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord!

Life as we know it is carbon-based, but does it have to be this way? There’s another element on the periodic table that shares some of the key properties of carbon but is far more abundant on most planets. I’m talking about silicon. So is there silicon-based life out there?

Check out the Space Time Merch Store

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here

Hosted by Matt O'Dowd

Written by Fernando Franco Félix & Matt O'Dowd

Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria

Directed by Andrew Kornhaber

Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour

Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez

Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing

Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Spacetime is produced by Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios.

This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content.

© 2023 PBS. All rights reserved.

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg

Space Time was made possible in part by Our Patreon Supporters

Big Bang Supporters

Tim O’Rourke

Steffen Bendel

Bryce Fort

Peter Barrett

David Neumann

Leo Koguan

Sean Maddox

Alexander Tamas

Morgan Hough

Juan Benet

Vinnie Falco

Fabrice Eap

Mark Rosenthal

Quasar Supporters

Glenn Sugden

Alex Kern

Ethan Cohen

Stephen Wilcox

Christina Oegren

Mark Heising

Hank S

Hypernova Supporters

Ryan Moser

David Giltinan

Ivari Tölp

Vyce Ailour

Ken S

Gregory Forfa

Kirk Honour

drollere

Joe Moreira

Bradley Voorhees

Marc Armstrong

Scott Gorlick

Paul Stehr-Green

Ben Delo

Scott Gray

Антон Кочков

John R. Slavik

Mathew

David S. Cerutti

Donal Botkin

John Pollock

Edmund Fokschaner

chuck zegar

Jordan Young

John Hofmann

Daniel Muzquiz

Gamma Ray Burst Supporters

Joe Pavlovic

Jswcp

Ryan McGaughy

Mark West

Hypothasies

Justin Lloyd

Chuck Lukaszewski

Edward Hodapp

Kevin Tillery

Cole

Marc Forand

D. Delair

Walter Montalvo

Andrea Galvagni

Jerry Thomas

Nikhil Sharma

Alexander Gruber

Jonathan Cordovano

John Anderson

Scott Hannum

Paul Widden

Bradley Ulis

Craig Falls

Kane Holbrook

Ross Story

teng guo

Mason Dillon

Harsh Khandhadia

Thomas Tarler

bsgbryan

Susan Albee

Frank Walker

Matt Q

MHL SHS

Terje Vold

James Trimmier

Anatoliy Nagornyy

comboy

Andre Stechert

Paul Wood

Kent Durham

jim bartosh

Nubble

Ramon Nogueira

The Mad Mechanic

Ellis Hall

John H. Austin, Jr.

Diana S

Faraz Khan

Almog Cohen

Alex Edwards

Ádám Kettinger

MD3

Endre Pech

Daniel Jennings

Cameron Sampson

Geoffrey Clarion

Russ Creech

Jeremy Reed

David Johnston

Web Browser

Michael Barton

Mr T

Andrew Mann

Isaac Suttell

Oliver Flanagan

Bleys Goodson

Robert Walter

Mirik Gogri

Mark Delagasse

Mark Daniel Cohen

Nickolas Andrew Freeman

Shane Calimlim

Tybie Fitzhugh

Robert Ilardi

Eric Kiebler

Craig Stonaha

Graydon Goss

Frederic Simon

Tonyface

John Robinson

Jim Hudson

A G

David Barnholdt

David Neal

justahat

John Funai

Tristan

Bradley Jenkins

Daniel Stříbrný

Luaan

Cody Brumfield

Thomas Dougherty

King Zeckendorff

Dan Warren

Patrick Sutton

John Griffith

DFaulk

Sam Long

What If Alien Life Were Silicon-Based?