The Real Aliens
For well over a century the world of science fiction has spawned cult characters from other worlds, the majority of whom have looked remarkably similar to humans. Is it coincidence or arrogance that causes us to imagine aliens as oxygen breathing bipeds? Stephanie Smith reckons the truth is out there.TV and movies have presented many warped images of what aliens could look like. The slug-like aliens in Star Trek, Ridley Scott’s Alien with its acidic blood and double mouth, Jabba the Hutt.
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As early as the 19th century scientists began to think outside the box. It’s thought that German astrophysicist Julius Scheiner was the first person to theorise on the possibility of silicon-based life forms.
Silicon lies just below carbon in the periodic table and shares many of carbon’s properties including having a valance of four. This means that it can make four bonds with other elements, such as oxygen, and form similar compounds, including highly useful polymers. So is it that difficult to believe that other worlds are inhabited by silicon based as opposed to carbon based life forms?
When it comes to finding life outside our own world we have to expect the unexpected. Palaeontologists studying fossils see hundreds and thousands of body plans that gave rise to evolutionary lines, some of which died out, others of which have made it to the present day. So it is logical to assume that on other worlds there may be and have been the same number of evolutionary possibilities. Today, despite the fact that most scientists believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, very little money is being put into looking for them; mainly because of the ridicule such ‘frivolous’ projects attract.
SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is an endeavour that was almost halted when NASA stopped funding it in 1993. Despite money from wealthy believers, such as Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, the SETI institute in California still struggles to keep its head above water and in the stars.
They hope to create an ‘Alien Telescope Array’, an instrument dedicated to finding ETs by picking up any artificial signals floating around the cosmos. But until a source of funding is found the telescope remains nothing more than a fantasy.
Most astrobiologists theorise that space is infinite, so where do we start looking for our alien relatives? When scientists search the sky for planetary bodies that could support life they look for planets like Earth; ones orbiting stars that could provide the correct environment for water to exist in a liquid state. But could this ‘habitable zone’ be as limited as our own theories on how life could begin? Could we be missing the signs closer to home?
Last year astrobiologists at Columbia University theorised that life could exist in colder areas of space, even in the further reaches of our own solar system.
Researchers saw that moons orbiting large planetary bodies often experience strong gravitational interactions that cause their interiors to be stretched and compressed. The moons orbiting Jupiter, for example, experience such forces and the movements produce enough heat, theoretically, to support life. So perhaps before exploring other solar systems we should check out what’s on our own celestial doorstep.
Although many of us scoff at the thought of ‘little green men’, finding intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy might benefit mankind in many ways. It could provide insights into evolution, and the development of communication and culture. But if we are to make contact with aliens, we need to think outside the box and throw away our preconceptions. Finding ET won’t be like looking in a mirror (unless you have a rather long neck of course).
Why not check out Stephanie's homepage or for more outside-the-box thinking try:
- Straight - Has the world gone mad?
- Reviews - 500 ways to change the world
- Strange - Life behind the cosmic laylandii
- News - Life aquatic with nutjob
Image: Janet Goulden
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