Should we ever discover real aliens, I'm confident they won't look like the stereotypical little green men that humanity has portrayed them as in popular culture for decades.

[–] Aldehyde@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago (4 children)

If we find aliens, they almost certainly won’t look like any organism on earth, because they would have evolved independently.

[–] Kata1yst@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I dunno, genetic evolution really really seems to like the crab form...

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago

Turtles I think too. Either way, probably not humanoid. Maybe similar to other things on earth, assuming they evolved in a similar situation.

[–] AngrilyEatingMuffins@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

all you have to do is look at a shark and a dolphin to know that isn't necessarily true

[–] li10@feddit.uk 5 points 1 year ago

I always think something jellyfish like would be most likely, if I had to picture something like creatures we know

[–] Harpsist@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago

That's why they made them that way. Possible deniability.

Next you're gonna say the government wouldn't ever intentionally infect 1000000s of thousands of people with a virus and then spend decades studying the untreated ailments of it.

Or bombing their own towns.

Or mowing down with assault machine guns their own population. Or poisoning their own drinking water.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Most likely the first evidence of extraterrestrial life will be mechanical (IE rovers, drones, landers) as they can survive indefinitely in space and are at the least risk of damage from the environment.

[–] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I could imagine that something like the slime mold could be an alien.

Single-celled amoebae can remember, make decisions and anticipate change, urging scientists to rethink intelligent behavior.

They are one of the oldest organism on planet (almost a billion years old) they have no brain but are able to plan, anticipate, remember and even share information. We can find them a bit everywhere on the planet and yet barely anyone knows about them.

If you ever encounter one they love oatmeal but hate salt.