Topic 96 of 99: Aliens
Wed, Nov 9, 2005 (11:24) |
Paul Terry Walhus (terry)
Aliens. What would they really be like?
6 responses total.
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 1 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Nov 9, 2005 (11:25) * 36 lines
Is there life on other planets? And if so, are they the little green
men of science fiction?
Professor Ian Stewart from the University of Warwick thinks there is
life on other planets and while it could be little and green, it’s
highly unlikely to be anything we would recognise as men.
Despite our fascination with science fiction it seems our imagination
rarely extends beyond pointed ears and different coloured skin when we
picture alien races.
Now an exhibition at London’s Science Museum addresses just what alien
life might look like when it develops on planets with different
physical and chemical properties to our own.
Apply scientific principles and alien life might be very alien indeed.
As a scientist who is also a science fiction writer, Professor Stewart
was one of the early advisors to the Exhibition and is uniquely
positioned to comment on what alien life could really be like!
Professor Stewart argues that popular culture fails miserably to give
us anything approaching a scientifically sound idea of what an alien
could look like.
Many authors and film-makers simply rely on making their aliens in our
humanoid image such as Star Trek's Mr Spock or Klingons. Even when a
bit more imagination is used science is ignored in favour of simply
reproducing the cosyily familiar such as the teddy bear like Ewoks in
the film Return of the Jedi, or the remarkable resemblance of ET to the
size and behavior patterns of a human toddler.
for the rest of the story
http://www.physorg.com/news7949.html
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 2 of 6: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Nov 11, 2005 (19:21) * 1 lines
ok, so you're taking the scientific approach to this--we have an alien topic in paraspring as well....
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 3 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Nov 12, 2005 (15:43) * 1 lines
Ooops, should done it with linkage.
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 4 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 13, 2005 (17:38) * 1 lines
There was a great program of some lenth on Discovery Channel dealing more with science fiction writers than scientists but the discussion was lively. No, they will not look like us at all, is their opinion. More than likely they will be tiny.
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 5 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Nov 17, 2005 (17:50) * 1 lines
I saw that, wasn't it a great program.
Topic 96 of 99 [Geo]: Aliens
Response 6 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 17, 2005 (20:54) * 1 lines
It really was great. They will more than likely show it again. Watch for it.
Geo conference 
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