Name: Did a civilisation exist on Earth before humans? ⏲️ 6 Minute English
Uploaded: 2025-11-24T17:08:17.000Z
Duration: 6 min 15 s
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Six Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

Phil, do you believe there's life on other planets?

Well, there's a lot of other planets, so yeah, I think there must be.

Well, it's a question that interests American astrophysicist Adam Frank, who discussed it with his colleague Gavin schmid, director of NASA's Institute for Space Studies here.

Adam recalls their conversation for BBC World Service program CrowdScience.

We know that there's been no other civilization on Earth.

And he stopped at me and said, how do you know that?

And my jaw just dropped down to the floor.

An idiom for when someone looks shocked and surprised.

Could there have been a technologically advanced civilization before us, human here on Earth?

It may sound weird, but this idea has a scientific name.

Here is Caroline Steele, presenter of BBC's CrowdScience.

To explain the Silurian hypothesis proposes that if there was a technologically advanced civilization hundreds of millions of years ago, we wouldn't be able to find traces of it.

A hypothesis is an idea which explains how something happens and can be tested to find out if it's correct.

And in this episode, we'll be discussing the Silurian hypothesis, the idea that a technologically advanced civilization existed before us on Earth but vanished without leaving a trace.

As usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and idioms.

And remember, you'll find all the vocabulary on our website, bbclearningenglish.com but first, I have a question for you, Phil.

Human civilization is thousands of years old, but.

So how old do scientists think the Earth is?

Is it A, three and a half billion years, B, four and a half billion years, or C, five and a half billion years?

I'm going to guess C five and a half billion years.

Okay, well, we will find the answer out later in the program.

To believe a technologically advanced civilization existed on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, most people would probably want evidence.

We have evidence about other species from the past, such as the dinosaurs, from fossils, the remains of prehistoric plants or animals that have been preserved in rock for a very long time.

But according to Adam Frank, fossils won't help prove the Silurian hypothesis.

As he explains here to BBC World Service program CrowdScience, most things are not fossilized.

It's only a tiny fraction of Earth's life that has ever become fossilized.

So imagine that you have a 10,000 year long civilization, which is a blink of the eye for geology.

That's too short to really create a lot of fossils.

Adam argues that only a tiny fraction, meaning a very small amount of life on earth, has turned into fossil.

Even a 10,000 year old civilization is the blink of an eye, an idiom meaning a very short period of time.

In other words, older civilizations might have existed on Earth, but

not for long enough to leave fossilized evidence.

However, not everyone is convinced by Adam's ideas.

Evidence of our own civilization, including plastics and man made materials like concrete, is already being layered into the earth earth's crust.

And these are going to last a very long time.

So surely a technologically advanced civilization from prehistory would have left similar marks.

Well, here's Adam Frank again answering these objections on BBC World Service program CrowdScience.

What happens is somebody else will pick up on their work, either affirming it and showing new evidence for it or pushing back on it.

And once you get to like 20, 30, 40 papers, then you have a consensus.

You're like, okay, we've really, really looked at this and now we don't.

Adam welcomes new evidence, even evidence which contradicts his ideas as part of the scientific method needed to prove a hypothesis, right or wrong.

It's how scientists form a consensus, meaning a general agreement about the issue.

Personally, I think the idea of prehistoric civilizations on Earth is so mysterious, it's okay to keep an open mind.

Now, isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question, Beth?

I asked you, how old do scientists think the Earth is?

And I'm afraid you were wrong, Phil, it's four and a half billion years.

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt, starting with the idiom my jaw dropped, which is used to say someone looks very shocked and surprised.

A hypothesis is a suggestion that's proposed to explain something which can then be tested to see if it's true.

Fossils are the remains of prehistoric plants or animals that have been preserved in rock for a very long time.

A tiny fraction of something, a very small amount of it.

The idiom the blink of an eye means a very short period of time.

And finally, a consensus is a general agreement.

But if you're keen for more, then head over to our website, bbclearningenglish.com where you'll find a worksheet and a quiz for this episode.

6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.