If we ever discover Alien life, what will it look like? Convergent evolution and physics can tell us a surprising amount about extraterrestrials…

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A Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

In the original series of Star Trek, the show tries to pass off what is clearly someone’s dog with a horn taped to its head as an ‘alien lifeform.’ It’s pretty hilarious to revisit — not just to see the actors make a heroic attempt to stay incharacter while carrying this thing around — but also because this unicorn dog doesn’t seem distinct enough from life on earth to make a believable alien.

But this raises an interesting question: if there is life elsewhere in the universe, just how ‘alien’ will aliens look? It’s a question many scientists and scifi authors have speculated on, and is a fascinating rabbit hole to go down.

So, for this entry into the archive, we’ll explore relevant phenomena in evolution and physics to determine if extraterrestrials are more likely to look like Earth animals, or something far stranger...

0:00 How ‘Alien’ Should Aliens Look?
0:57 Convergent Evolution
3:34 Evolve to Crab
4:56 Alien Convergence
8:43 Intelligent Aliens
10:52 The Question of Gravity
14:01 Beyond Mortal Comprehension
16:11 The Answer?

Sources:
A Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy Arik Kershenbaum: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Crab Convergence Laurel Hammers: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
Searching for Extraterrestrial Life Sarah Scoles: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
Extreme Possibilities for Life Michael D. Lemonick: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/as...


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