WATER WORLDS: Hideouts for Alien Life?

Far beyond Earth, a new type of alien water planet could be speckling our galaxy by the billions, like cosmic dew drops.

These “Hycean Planets” range up to ten times the mass of the Earth, containing mega-oceans that could stretch down hundreds of kilometers.

Their extreme pressures keep their water liquid across a wide range of temperatures, broadening the zone in which they could host life. And researchers now believe that these worlds are extremely common in the universe.

Soon we will get our first peek into the atmosphere of a possible Hycean world, K2-18b, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. What secrets will these ocean worlds reveal? Is something out there, swimming freely in an ocean more vast that we can imagine?

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Visuals, sound, and script by melodysheep
Narrated by will crowley
Stock footage courtesy Artgrid

Special thanks to my highest level supporters on Patreon:

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And all other supporters on Patreon – thank you all!

Sources:

feature/ames/kepler/exoplanet-populations

Benneke, Björn, et al. Water Vapor and Clouds on the Habitable-Zone Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b. 2, 2019.
Innes, Hamish, et al. The Runaway Greenhouse Effect on Hycean Worlds. 1, 2023. DOI.org (Datacite),
Madhusudhan, Nikku, Julianne I. Moses, et al. Chemical Conditions on Hycean Worlds. 1, 2023. DOI.org (Datacite),
Madhusudhan, Nikku, Anjali A. A. Piette, et al. Habitability and Biosignatures of Hycean Worlds. 2, 2021. DOI.org
Madhusudhan, Nikku, Matthew C. Nixon, et al. The Interior and Atmosphere of the Habitable-Zone Exoplanet K2-18b.

[lazibsabir]

The animation the sound design everything is just immaculate

[fayyaznoor]

Enough is enough. Someone just give this man an Oscar for Sound design already. Level of creativity is just plain insane. The quality of background score and creative visuals are simply setting benchmarks for generations to come.

[arrionelton]

melodysheep, your series about space are getting better and better every time, which deserves great praise!

[AxCreepyxxd]

What i love about melody's videos is that they never shy away from actually showing aliens and how they might look, it's always a big part of the narrative

[justanotherguyful]

You are singlehandedly saving the Space Documentary genre, hell, the spectacle documentary as a whole.

[Remora_]

I'm a marine biologist and I love space so much. This video ticked every box and is absolutely incredible. Great work!

[francescomusto]

It’s insane how this is way better than 99% of millions dollar budget projects.

Never stop, your work is truly made with passion, and that’s so rare in todays world.

[sao_rav]

Why the world hasn’t been talking about this channel and it’s creators?? It just takes me from my normal fast paced life to an unknown voyage! And sheer efforts have been made into making these videos and the background scores is just amazing and bread taking and I am truly thankful to the creators of this channel Melodysheep! Thank you.

[jh]

No better way to kick the weekend off right than with a new MelodySheep video!

[benjaminreid]

I feel like you could make a full-length documentary or series and it would be a huge success. Amazing work as always!

[shivangisrivastava]

Everyday I feel more and more grateful to be born on this planet. How can anything be more beautiful than our nature, atmosphere and our minds. I mean it's just awesome 😌

[AstroKrish]

There isn't a single channel other than this at which we can get such high quality visuals. Thankyou so much Melodysheep❤

[huseyinfurkankardiyen]

This is horrifying yet inspiring. The thought of an sentient alien life that was able to evolve and conquer their oceans. Looking at stars and getting hyped when they find that there are other planets they can live in and find life in sends chills down to my spine. Maybe they even peaked at our world from afar in the long past or in the distant future.

[maryefromky]

i cannot express in words how much i love these videos, all of them. they evoke a lot of emotion in me for some reason. incredibly well-done, each one is a masterpiece.

[dec]

I still can't fathom how your videos don't get tens of millions of views instantly. These are the best visual/audio masters there are on youtube. Hans zimmer level soundtracks, beatiful 3D artwork, perfect lighting and camera work. I'm sure your channel will become a reference in the matter in the next few years. You deserve it man!

[Thecoochiemaster]

I can't even put into words what an absolute treat it is to watch every single new video this channel puts out. You can't deny the passion this team has for what they do, and they are so good at making me feel the same way about the exciting and mysterious vastness of outer space

[Tommeei]

The creature at 4:12 is the Desert Titan from Ark. Even though in the game it's mainly a flying creature, it fits so well into this kind of humongous underwater environment. I really enjoyed this video and am looking forward to seeing more on these "Hycean Planets"!

[tswan]

The way you craft an atmospheric experience for the viewer, Melody... It's absolutely stunning. Just puts me in such a beautiful headspace and mood.

Thank you for what you do. This was a treat.

[Hoot]

Amazing work as always. Up there with the most polished and best work on YT in my opinion.

[arunmoses]

Update: JWST has just detected signs of dimethyl sulfide on Kepler K2-18B

This does not confirm the presence of biosignatures let alone extraterrestrial life, but it is exciting.