If we ever discover Alien life, what will it look like? Convergent evolution and physics can tell us a surprising amount about extraterrestrials…
---
Carlo Balassu Website: https://www.balassu.com/
Carlo Balassu Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/carlobalassu
Teeming Universe Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/christiancline
Teeming Universe Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FCCCDRN/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=the+teeming+universe&qid=1630938058&sr=8-5
Teeming Universe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christian_cline/
Alex Ries Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexriesart
Alex Ries Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexries
A Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646643/the-zoologists-guide-to-the-galaxy-by-arik-kershenbaum/
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 in-character 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 sci-fi 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/books/646643/the-zoologists-guide-to-the-galaxy-by-arik-kershenbaum/
Crab Convergence - Laurel Hammers: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-animals-keep-evolving-into-crabs/
Searching for Extraterrestrial Life - Sarah Scoles: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-search-for-extraterrestrial-life-as-we-dont-know-it/
Extreme Possibilities for Life - Michael D. Lemonick: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/astrobiology/
Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.
I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.
♫ Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com):
Beauty Flow, Majestic Hills, Bittersweet, Floating Cities
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
#CuriousArchive #SpeculativeBiology #ConvergentEvolution