Episode 1 – 4.5 Billion Years BCE – CODING HUMANs Mini Series

Listen with Closed Caption 1 | 4.5 Billion Years BCE Just outside the edge of Earth’s solar system, a large spherical vessel cuts through the fabric of space like a knitting needle slipping through a bubble. After a quick lightspeed jump, it becomes stationary, floating near Neptune. It then rotates slowly, adjusting its trajectory to align with the Sun. Once the object's course is set, the metallic ball goes from stagnant to a blurred stream shooting past Saturn, gliding across the planet’s rings. The warped space trail leaves The Ringed Planet and loops around Jupiter using its gravitational pull to sling itself towards Earth. On its way to Earth, the craft maneuvers between Phaeton and Mars, sending a gravitational wave through Phaeton's surrounding space-median—the waves are left rippling in its trails. It then gains momentum, reaching speeds upward to seventy-five percent of the speed of light. Once the object reaches terminal vacuum velocity, it travels approximately 694,000,000 kilometers from Jupiter to Earth in just under half a second. It then comes to a crushing halt sending another gravitational wave across the galaxy. The vessel has arrived at its destination; destination: Earth’s orbit. The ball-shaped metallic ship's radius is 1,609 kilometers. Its configuration is nearly spherical but with a slight egg shape—a geometric feature that is only noticeable from a viewpoint outside of the galaxy. The minute oval construction is meant to accommodate the warping of spacetime so that light can bend around it. The light can then stay on a linear path as it flares across the solar system. Once positioned, the craft maneuvers between the Earth and the Sun until the three galactic bodies become colinear. It then moves along the invisible line back and forth until it wedges itself into a perfect eclipse, casting a shadow over the Earth. The Earth all but disappears from view as the vessel finds itself in a fixed orbit with the planet approximately 386,243 kilometers away. The shadowy world is covered entirely with water—a calm blue marble stuck in the black fabric of space. The object's slinging movement interrupts the surface tension of the untouched planet. Like a kid dropping a pebble into a pond, the gravitational waves send contour ripples 12,700 kilometers in diameter until they disappear to the other side of the planet. In approximately 8-minutes, the temperature of the Earth’s liquid surface drops dramatically. The vessel stays put until the exterior of the eclipsed portion turns into an icy shell. Once the ice forms, the ship moves rapidly in orbit to the other side of the planet. It is now eclipsed by the Earth, blocking out all sunlight except for a small glowing hoop. After another 8-minutes, the surface returns to its average temperature, and the ice melts quickly, mixing with the warming water flowing in from the unfrozen side. The blending of the room temperature waters with the breaking sheet of ice causes massive waves and maelstroms to erupt across the globe. The vessel continues these maneuvers for months until 70% of the water is frozen and collected in the north and south poles. The collection forms the polar ice caps, effectively lowering the sea level. The water’s draw-off then exposes a single continent of massive proportion. This freshly exposed earth is littered with flip-flopping sea creatures. As the water runs off, the animals become fixed in limp foliage bedded about assortments of rocks, sand, and crustaceans. Within days, the former sea-dwelling creatures, struggling to breathe on the bare continent, die off. The dead carcasses and plant life leave behind a primordial genetics pool that gives birth to microscopic organisms. These organisms adapt quickly to the dry land environment and, over four billion years, blossom into super animal giants.