Beyond the Stars is a series of Science Fiction related posts where I discuss different aspects of the genre and the many tropes and plot lines associated with it. Today, I talk about aliens and the possibility of life outside of Earth.

Beyond The Stars: Aliens

Been a while since I had a topic discussion for a genre, so let’s talk about our celestial cousins. Life on other planets has long been a possibility, potentially likely with all of the available planets out there. But what they look like has been a wild theory since the idea was thought up. And everyone has a different ideas. I’ll talk about each concept and what I think of them.

 

Little Green Men

We know the type. Small, scrawny little bodies, big, oblong heads. Oval eyes that are almost animal-like? These were some of the early concepts in the 40s and 50s in the B-movie Era of Sci-Fi Films. These aliens tend to be a punchline than a possibility since I doubt these things truly exist.

But those sorts of films were often unusual to begin with. Think of the oddest thing you can come up with and make them aliens. Giant ants from space? Check. Killer Toasters? Check. Aliens disguised as everyday people who act exactly like we do until they reveal themselves? Check.

Back to the subject, these things never intrigued me due to how silly they looked. They didn’t seem like real aliens to me, but then again, how would anyone know what real aliens looked like. To be clear, I see aliens as more primal, unlike humans. We have our own culture with varying shades of skin color and eye-shapes. I doubt aliens would have the same features we do. Speaking of humans.

 

Humans as Aliens

They look exactly like us, only they have some noticeable feature to them. Maybe their brains are massive that they act as a hat. Maybe they have odd, tribal-like markings. Maybe their skin color is unusual, like purple or blue or green, something unnatural to us. Maybe they have monkey tails or swords for hands.

The problem again, stems from the fact that it’s likely humans are one of a kind. I can’t prove that an alien will look that different from us, but I doubt aliens will be a one to one copy. How many animals are exact replicas of each other. A lion is different from a tiger. A wolf is different from a dingo. That might also stem from evolution as well, that some creatures changed to adapt to their environment.

Aliens that look literally like humans is unlikely, since unless humans left our world and evolved to fit their environment, will they look exactly like us, only they have funny faces? And even if they did, consider how different the earliest humans were to us now. I doubt people from thousands of years ago look anything like we do now.

I doubt any of them will look exactly close to humans. We’re literally the only kind on our planet, and nothing else has come close in our entire history. Only theories and possibilities. I can’t claim to be a science expert, but I love to wonder the possibilities based on what I know. So a few scenarios seem likely.

 

Anthropomorphic Creatures

The aliens are likely going to be something animal-ish in their own little way. They may not walk on their hind legs, they may not even speak. But they can interact with one another on the same level as us. And they wouldn’t have to be like humanoid cats and dogs either, but they could be something they’re used to. The protoss from StarCraft are in interesting concept since they’re not necessarily human, nor do they act like us. They only speak through telepathy, their legs aren’t human-like, and they don’t consume food like humans do.
So what would they look like? That’s the thing. Many alien concepts are what we know of. It’s entirely possible that actual aliens look nothing like anything from our world. We could be looking at entirely new concepts, some no scientist had even considered possible.
Technically, we’re the only creatures we know of that can walk upright all the time. There could be others that can do the same out there. Also, what’s impossible for us, might be possible for them. Perhaps there are creatures that can swim deep underwater and exist on land simultaneously. One that lives permanently underground and will die if exposed to sunlight. Or maybe they live in the highest reaches of the atmosphere, and might die if they go near the surface.
So many ideas that seem unrealistic to us, and might be possible elsewhere. We can’t base the universe off our own, so we have to consider those possibilities.

 

Non-sapient animals

I think the likely reason we haven’t seen life outside of our own is that many of them are animals who can’t communicate or even possess sapient thought. Creatures like the above who wouldn’t last even a second here. They could definitely exist, but they wouldn’t be able to come here.
This might be why we haven’t seen any sign of them our solar system, and that’s because we could be the only technologically developed one that’s close by. I also find it curious that all of the planets near us are either gas giants, really hot, or contain past remnants of life. If those worlds did have the possibility for life, then perhaps such a feat would be possible.
But at one point, we didn’t exist. Many of them were animals. Our world might be the unique one in that it has the possibility for creatures to alter themselves and adapt to their new environment. Dinosaurs existed once, and many creatures prior to humans existed. Possibly because the world was new then. Changing and altering itself to adapt to its purest.

 

Final thoughts

Thinking about potential for life is always fun and I have my own possibilities on what could be out there.
I feel space travel should be a massive priority because let’s face it: Not all of us can stay here. 7 billion-plus humans and God knows however many animals on top of it. The atmosphere is slowly eroding, our ice caps are melting and before long, we may not see what’s out there. Sure there’s the possibility we’d ruin other worlds, but it also gives us the opportunity to start fresh and reinvent humanity.
There are so many other things on our priority list, but I feel space travel should be where we put all of our efforts instead of wars and violence. Give us a chance to prove life outside of our own instead of staying here assuming that a possibility could stay as such.
I do believe there’s life out there. Considering that there’s billions upon billions of world, there has to be at least one with an ecosystem to have odd creatures and people. I doubt we’re going to find it by sitting on our butts reading twitter. I truly hope space travel is possible one day, and while I understand the risks, I feel it would be better for all of us.
I like thinking up alien concepts and being creative. Going beyond what’s typical for us is important to understanding what could be out there. One day, I feel the first contact will be a big deal, and we’d better be ready for it.

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That’s all for today. Take care, and remember, the inn is always open.

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