/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.1090727]

ITT: We discuss the possible evolution of fictional extraterrestrials like ET, the xenomorph, the prawns, na'vi, mars attacks! martians, WotW martians (any version) etc etc etc.

[Anonymous No.1090735]

ETs live in areas with tall grass. They are short so they can hide in the tall grass. Their glowing chests were once a signal for each other to escape from a predator.

[Anonymous No.1090739]

OP is a faggot.

[Anonymous No.1090743]

Maybe, no, no, no, no, dunno that last one.

[Anonymous No.1090768]

Weren't the xenomoprhs created as a bioweapon by the spacejockey?

[Anonymous No.1090812]

They're going to develop in entirely different environments and look vastly different from anything we expect.

They'll have 3 eyes, 2.5 legs and reproduce by spinning in circles until the .5 leg falls off and grows into a new member of the species. Their music will be a organized rhythm of stomps with their non-erogenous feet, because dragging the .5 foot is masturbation and illegal in public. They eat by consuming large quantities of dirt and digesting anything in it, pooping out the remains. They spend much of their life tunneling to get food, so they have huge underground cities that frequently collapse because they suck at engineering as they have no hands.

[Anonymous No.1090922]

Fiction!

[Anonymous No.1091025]

>>1090727
Out of that list the Xenomorph is the only cool alien.

How about we discuss battles between similar types of aliens?

Let's compare their strength and who would win in a fight!

Let's compare:

Zerg vs Xenomorph vs Bugs

[Anonymous No.1091046]

>>1090812
Wrong. Evolution is a selective process. The simplest adaptation that is most effective is always the best. Once a creature evolves a working eye, it won't need another until it becomes more advantageous. We have binocular vision to judge distance. No creature would need a third eye. We have fingers to grip branches, we have noses to detect the chemical composition of the air, and we taste to detect the chemical composition of food mater so as to determine if it is poisonous(incidentally this is why we see colour as well). Every part of us(including our brains) is the result of a random mutation that proved more effective in our environment. Every endo-skeletal animal on the planet has four limbs because they didn't need more. The specific parts our brains are larger than the the lesser beast on our planet, because they needed to be. To judge colour we needed advanced visual centers, when we left the trees, we developed enlarged sections of the brain to support language because because we need extra eyes to watch for predators.(With binocular visions we loose the ability to watch behind us and our sides like slower beast. I.E. cows)

Aliens(if they are capable of space flight) will be startlingly similar to us, because they would have to have evolved along similar lines to posses the manual dexterity to craft tools, and the increased mental capacity to understand the abstract. They will likely breath air similar to ours and eat food similar to ours.(have you ever tried to design advanced computer systems in a completely submerge environment?)

[Anonymous No.1091063]

>>1091046
So, completely by accident Star Trek is accurate.

[Anonymous No.1091116]

>>1091046
I agree there would probably be some similarities in evolutionary paths, although it's hard to know what niches could-but-have-not been on Earth which would select for certain features; or how alternative ingenuities, like different organ systems, might have altered later evolution.

A hunter-gatherer, competitive-cooperative society seems to be exactly the niche that would select for reciprocal altruism, language, and advanced cognitive & emotional machinery (to navigate social relationships mainly). Can anyone think of another niche that would produce intelligence?

[Anonymous No.1091135]

>>1091116
None that I can think of. Don't forget that the evolution of sea-life was relatively untouched throughout the vast majority of life's evolutionary history on earth. In this time, no discovered life has evolved an order of useful intelligence(useful in terms of scientific and philosophical advancement) to match man's.

It seems that life will need to evolve similarly to ours to be space-faring.

[Anonymous No.1091142]

http://www.nemoramjet.com/snduterus.html

[Anonymous No.1091162]

>>1091116
It IS possible that sentient alien life could be coldblooded(like an evolutionary desendent of the dinosaurs) but, socially and physically(Number of limbs/basic internal systems/chemical composition) they would be very much like us.

[Anonymous No.1091186]

>>1091142
That's a "designed" alien. It is possible, BUT incredibly unlikely that a Snaiadi creature could evolve along natural evolutionary lines. Our physiology is just similar, and thus more likely to occur first. And once it does, there is no place for Snaiadi physiology to fit in.

[Anonymous No.1091194]

>>1091186
our physiology is MORE SIMPLE

[Anonymous No.1091270]

>>1091046
I appreciate this post for spelling out some reasons -- the opposite of "by accident" (unless we mean Star Trek is the accident).

[Anonymous No.1091280]

>>1091270
Anthropomorphizing aliens is an accident. But there's probably some truth to it.

[Anonymous No.1091319]

>>1091280
That's actually funny as hell. Especially since for a long time Star Trek got shit for it.

[Anonymous No.1091352]

>>1091280

I've always thought about this, but see, evolution will have the same things to work with everywhere. Variations will obviously occur but isn't it reasonable to expect lifeforms being universally "similar".

The upright walking position with two limbs reserved for manipulating the environment and two others (base minimum) for walking, with the head (main sensory input) being elevated and safe from harm as possible, is it reasonable to speculate that this just might be fairly common?

As a sidenote it would be fairly moronic to expect earth being the only inhabited planet.

[Anonymous No.1091384]

>>1091352
You're not thinking evolutionarily. Don't think about what the anatomy is used for now. Think, instead, of the environmental conditions that would have made the adaptation more advantageous.
see
>>1091046

But, yes, Life would likely follow similar evolutionary paths.

[Anonymous No.1091439]

>>1091384

But the environments themselves will be mostly quite similar and that's what shapes species right?

[Anonymous No.1091514]

so... carbon based or silicon based?

[Anonymous No.1091546]

>>1091046
>No creature would need a third eye

[Anonymous No.1091580]

>>1091546
>didn't read the full post

We're talking intelligent, space-faring creatures. A great many insects have multiple eyes, but I've yet to see a higher creature with them. Find a single end-skeletal creature with more than 2 and I'll concede that you've bested me.

[Anonymous No.1091613]

>>1091546
Iguanas have third eyes to identify objects that are above them outside of their normal field of vision.

[Anonymous No.1091685]

Some aliens archetypes 'should' come back because they will be most effective to live and develop technology or intelligence in the universe, but it doesn't mean that different types of aliens won't show up and be perfectly functional, albeit a bit less fit or better in their environement, as they only need to be able to make their species survive and not be the best archetype.

But we'll probably be real butthurt because most of the races will be real fit races that look like each other because they are what work best, and thus logically would be the most present.

[Anonymous No.1091733]

indeed, tuataras have a third eye. They used to be the dominant reptile group.

[Anonymous No.1091748]

>>1090727
Aliens outside of the window and he doesn't give a fuck!

[Anonymous No.1091751]

>>1091046
na man im pretty sure God just did it one day lolz

[Anonymous No.1091759]

>>1091580
>Find a single end-skeletal creature with more than 2 and I'll concede that you've bested me.
>Find a single end-skeletal creature
>end-skeletal creature

you win this round...

[Anonymous No.1091777]

>>1091046
We evolved to run down animals on the savannah. We used our minds to track animals long since out of sight. Intelligent species need not hunt in the exact same way we did thus they will look very different. Look at the octopus. Very smart, very dexterours, all it really lacks is the ability to communicate or work in social groups. If a species of octopus did survive in groups and had a complex form of communication it would likely develop a human level intelligence but look nothing like us.

[Anonymous No.1091795]

Claiming that it's more likely that they'll evolve four limbs rather than three or five is pure conjecture. We evolved four because one of our ancestors with four survived. There's no evidentiary argument against multiple limbs. Some mollusks are extraordinarily intelligent for animals, and their limbs don't reduce their efficacy.

We don't know the environment, so we can't know the advantages.

[Anonymous No.1091872]

>>1091777

bitches don't know bout illithids

[Anonymous No.1091998]

>>1091872

LoL

[Anonymous No.1092074]

You are all looking at this from the wrong angle. Selection of multicellular organisms is one thing. But there is a billion year ancestry of life on this Earth before cells worked together. The evolution of unicellular life would be just as unique and different as your perceived differences at the macro level.

Most cellular processes utilize the same fundamental signaling methods. Who knows what bizarre and fascinating products of a slight variation a billion years prior will make?

This doesn't even include differences in day/night cycle from planet rotation, or light from the moons, or atmospheric concentrations, or abundance of water.

There are simply too many variables to consider. We have to maintain everything but a few as a control to even grasp how different life may be elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.1092154]

>>1092074
>This doesn't even include differences in day/night cycle from planet rotation, or light from the moons, or atmospheric concentrations, or abundance of water.

I don't think these changes wold be so drastic. In the long run, there are similar challenges to face and adapt to. The visible light range would probably similar for terrestrial organisms on other planets to what we have here. Diffusion, molecules and atoms, the properties of light, the general facts about ecosystems, and so on would draw organisms on an analogous path. Minor details do not make the path.

I would agree there might be a problem for certain large steps, such as the step to multicellularity or a start with a different genetic code, that might engrave differences. Still, natural selection is surprisingly pervasive, and there is much in common between worlds favorable to life.

[Anonymous No.1092167]

>>1092154
similar proportions of atoms and molecules*

[Anonymous No.1092189]

>>1092154

Our facts about ecosystems apply exclusively to our planet. Even a minor shift in gravitational pull, atmospheric density, or exposure to sunlight drastically changes the kind of evolutionary pressures on organisms.

Look at the difference between land animals and animals on the Abyssal Planes. We think THOSE look "alien."

The bottom line is, we have nothing in the way of evidence, not one shred. We have conjecture, and assuming that one biologist's opinion is more valid than another on the subject is an absolute waste of effort until even a hint of evidence arises.

[Anonymous No.1092219]

>>1092167
>>1092154
>>1092074
>>1092167

New topic: What would the evolution be like without these fags?

[Anonymous No.1092259]

>>1092189
I was referring to disturbances, interactions between communities, and the idea of equilibrium, when I said the facts about ecosystems. I wasn't clear.

The abyssal plains are deep underwater. I'm not claiming all parts of a planet are the same, but terrestrial life requires similar adaptations, like water conservation, and exploitables, like the ability to see more frequencies of light (which are probably similar in other hospitable planets).

What we can see of convergent evolution is surprising. Deep underwater ecosystems would have similar adaptive problems on different planets, and require many similar adaptations. Terrestrial ecosystems also have similar adaptive problems.

[Anonymous No.1092291]

>>1092167
The first two rows of elements would be very common, as would molecules such as H2O. O2 does not have to be so similar it is 20%+/-5% of the atmosphere for my statement to apply.

[Anonymous No.1092308]

xenomorphs are amphibians
They come from a very hostile enviroment and have larger predators that feed on them (hence the acidic blood and spikes)
The place where they come from probably has a lot of oxygen, makign the animals who inhabit the planet very large(like dinasaurs)
They probably have compund eyes underneath their skin, to protect them from risking losing their sight.

[Anonymous No.1092330]

>>1092259
Interactions between POPULATIONS*

[Anonymous No.1092382]

>>1092074
But the question we're asking is what niche would produce intelligent life? What requirements and selection pressures would it have or would lead up to it? The lack of a moon would not alter the fundamental aspects of a niche that would encourage great intelligence.

[Anonymous No.1092584]

>>1091777
>>1091795
On the intelligence of octopi and other sea-life, they've been on this planet longer than man, and their descendants have yet to evolve to our mental capacity. This is because they don't need to. They are more than capable of surviving on their own. You will never see octopi form complex packs or social groups because they will never need to. If left on it's own for millions of years(and mind you most sea-life was left largely untouched until the 20th Century) octopi would not evolve our intelligence because the conditions that lead to it simply do not exist for them. They would remain unchanged. Read>>1091046 again. It is not a question of simple intelligence, but adaptability.

Evolution is NOT magic, and life does not simply "level up". Life adapts.

[Anonymous No.1092593]

>>1092308
xenomorphs are another example of a "designed" species. It is highly unlikely that we will ever encounter an alien species like them.

[Anonymous No.1092648]

>>1092074
That is a very valid point, however, I would have to agree with >>1092154 in saying that, in the long run, the out come would likely follow the same paths of simplicity.

I.E. We have 4 limbs, because having five limbs offers no greater advantage. Life will generally only keep what is useful, following adaptation. So it follows that, even if the life we meet is fundamentally different on a cellular level, on the macro level it will follow a strikingly similar evolutionary path, and so, it will likely appear strikingly familiar to us.

So we have four-limbed, intelligent, social creatures.

[Anonymous No.1092692]

>>1092648
>>1091046
But will aliens have tits?! That's the MOST important question.

[Anonymous No.1092708]

>>1092692
Only if they are mammals... and even then they would more likely than not be called udders.

[Anonymous No.1092710]

>>1092648

What is the benefit of four limbs over three? Symmetry? That seems "convenient." We technically have five limbs. The idea that our neck isn't a limb is almost absurd.

[Anonymous No.1092714]

>>1092692
That's a shitty boob job. Her nipples look like googly eyes.

[Anonymous No.1092736]

>>1092710
Stability. Walking/running is possible with four. Wobbling/hopping is possible with three. Don't forget that the first land creatures were amphibious, and not the most graceful out of water. There likely were three legged amphibians, but their relatively slow speed left them at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous No.1092743]

How much time was it between having life and having intelligent life on this planet? How close were we to blowing ourselves up? If our nuclear technology was ahead of our communication technology, then we could have easily blown each other up. We are lucky that the phone and fast flight and shit were invented so that we could come together and tell each other to calm the fuck down before you launch the bombs. So who knows how alien species would handle the power to destroy themselves.

[Anonymous No.1092744]

>>1092710
Fuck yeah...I love walking around on my neck. People are always asking me to open doors and shit with my neck...man, shit is so not absurd.

[Anonymous No.1092756]

Explain quarian evolution to me. I dare you.

[Anonymous No.1092761]

>>1092743
Billions of years. But when primates evolved, things began to move much quicker. It would seem that binocular vision, colour vision, depth perception, increased auditory comprehension and social awareness are the fast-track to a bigass brain.

[Anonymous No.1092770]

>>1092756
What's wrong with it?

[Anonymous No.1092776]

>>1092761
The point is that intelligent life has a much smaller window of opportunity than life in general.

[Anonymous No.1092785]

>>1092756
see
>>1092593
>>1091186
The Quarian is a "designed" species. They're evolved backward to explain the concept drawing.(Which is to say that the designers start with the concept and then work backward to explain why it's possible that it could have evolved, NOT why it would be likely to).

[Anonymous !wM5G0xiB/Q No.1092788]

>>1092776
But it will happen anyway.
If life is already thriving, its only matter of time for inteligent life to emerge.

[Anonymous No.1092796]

>>1092788
And it is inevitable that they will destroy themselves.

[Anonymous No.1092801]

>>1092776
I absolutely agree with you. Intelligence(and by that I mean the capability for abstract thought processes) will only evolve under very specific evolutionary circumstances.

[Anonymous No.1092811]

>>1092788
Maybe. But it is incredibly rare. See>>1091046 evolution is about adaptation. It requires NEED. That's why the cockroach doesn't know maths.

[Anonymous No.1092812]

>>1092770
I don't know where to begin but I'll do my best.

They have to wear suits all the time because they have really weak immune systems. Any foreign material getting in their body and they'll get violently ill and die. Only they don't have a weak immune system they actually have a really strong one. Their immune system overreacts to any contaniments, even just dust or skin flakes. This allergic reaction is what kills them.

This happened because on their homeworld there were no insects of any kind. Instead planets reproduced by relying on mammals to spread pollen. On their homeworld viruses were usually benefifical in some ways so quarians evolved a weak immune system as there was no need to resist viral infections.

Does that make any sense?

[Anonymous No.1092833]

>>1092812
What? Where did you hear that? They have a weak immune system because they lost their homeworld and now live in sterile space ships.

[Anonymous No.1092837]

>>1092812
Hey! Sasha Grey is annoying as hell, but I still want to put my dick in her. Same thing.

[Anonymous No.1092839]

>>1092812
Oh and also they've lived their entire lives in the sterile environment of their space-ships so their immune systems have atrophied. So of-course their immune systems still overreact to any foreign contaminents and kill them.

[Anonymous No.1092846]

>>1092833
It's cannon. It's from both the books, and Mass Effect 2. Tali tells Shepard this.

[Anonymous No.1092850]

>>1092833
I played both games, did you?

Everything I just said is told to you in ME1 and ME2 by Tali.

Make it make sense, please.

[Anonymous No.1092867]

>>1092850
It doesn't. That's the point.
See
>>1092785

[Anonymous No.1092883]

>>1092839
>>1092812
Leave my beautiful Tali alone!...I just want to snuggle in peace...can't you let me have this one fantasy...I'm so lonely...please?

[Anonymous No.1092884]

>>1092867
...but MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

[Anonymous No.1092891]

>>1092785
How did they fuck that up so bad? It would have been better if they'd just made the quarians actual cyborgs without any need for this immune system crap.

First two on the left, middle row, are awesome.

[Anonymous No.1092900]

>>1092891
I really could not see myself fucking anything on the first row, that's why.

[Anonymous No.1092929]

>>1092891
The quarians would be a little more sinister that way. I think it'd make for an interest game. It would also blurr the line between quarian and geth and that would be really cool. In ME2 instead of their divide being about war, peace, or a new home it would be,

War, ASSIMILATION, or a new home.

[Anonymous No.1092932]

>>1092929
STOP IT! I would never have sexual relations with a machine!...it's so...cold.

[Anonymous No.1092934]

[Anonymous No.1092952]

Starcraft Protoss Examination: By Dr. John (that's me)

Protoss evolved thru selective breeding by a higher race, and were selectively bred for certain things, not thru their environment. We know Aiur is a jungle filled, tropical planet. They require light to survive physically, and must have some sort of photosynthetic-type of reactions going on, seeing as they have no mouths for food. They have the human-esque bipedal build, though being reptilian in origin, they have double-knees. Their brains are very large, like ours to accomodate advanced sensory input AND to use psionic power (though their latent power alone isn't enough).

[Anonymous No.1092959]

>>1092932
Cyborg, not machine. Plus you could then have a breakaway faction of quarians influenced by the Borg from Star Trek. They ambush ships in the Terminus and assimilate their crews. In fact, you could replace the Collectors with them.

Perhaps in the end we'd be left wondering if Tali was a sleeper agent for them or something.

[Anonymous No.1092967]

>>1092959
Hmmm....W-Would Seven of Nine be there? I mean I could get behind that...>If you know what I mean

[Anonymous No.1092969]

>>1092952
They don't have double knees they just walk on their tip-toes.

You fail science.

[Anonymous No.1092979]

>>1092952
SciFi mumbojumbo, also designed species crap.

[Anonymous No.1092984]

>>1092967
We'd have a quarian character based on her, certainly.

[Anonymous No.1092998]

>>1092979
You mad.

[Anonymous No.1093002]

>>1091046

I must respectfully disagree. I believe if we were to ever come across aliens we likely would not recognize them as they will have nothing in common with us whatsoever. Who is to say they their vision involves constructing a mental image through the use of sonar? Or they see an entirely different part of the radio spectrum? Who is to say they won't communicate via electromagnetism? Binary? Something similar to Morse? There is no guarantee they will have evolved vocal chords, much less a method of transfer for information that is anything like ours. Their intelligence is likely to be nothing like we've ever known, and so foreign we might not even recognize them as intelligent, instead skimming over them due to our own naive preconceptions. They could be completely abstract to our very notions of what constitutes intelligence life, or even life in itself. They won't necessarily have to be carbon based either, they could be silicon based. Who is to say we've mapped every element in the universe? Or every part of the universe follows the same laws of physics? The possibility exists, however narrow, for other elements such as carbon or silicon to facilitate the means to compose organic chains. What if they don't even exist fully in this dimension? Instead existing marginally over multiple dimensions? The possibilities are far too numerous to narrow down in any manner.

I guess what I'm really trying to get at here, the root of my rambling tangent is; mudkipz.

[Anonymous No.1093004]

>>1092839
their immune systems are just weak, not nonexistent
kal'reegar had his suit punctured and didn't die
hell, tali took her whole suit off and had sex, and just got a cough

[Anonymous No.1093012]

>>1092952
Even through selective breeding(excluding gene-manipulation) it is unlikely that their mouths would vanish entirely. It would first require a child born with out a mouth(which would surely seem to them like a defect). His descendants would then have to be chosen to breed over the others. This also does not explain the presence of a jaw bone and mandible which, following the loss of the mouth, would no longer be needed.

[Anonymous No.1093025]

>>1093004
...but they're not weak. Their immune systems are actually really strong. That is why they overreact to any contaminant. You didn't read my fucking post, you fucking moron.

[Anonymous No.1093029]

>>1092952
digitigrade legs. And they have 2 thumbs per hand.

[THE FUCKING SCIENTIST No.1093038]

I have my own personal views about extraterresterrals.

Mar 2020 a spaceship the size of North America begins orbit around earth, Citizens around the world cheer and clap their hands expecting first contact and intergalactic acceptance in the near future. The Spaceship absorbs the Earth Whole and compacts all it's resources into it's fuel bay. I finally uses this energy to power it's fuel bay and head right on it's way across the galaxy.

Earth may be seen as nothing more then a lump of coalfloating in space...

[Anonymous No.1093043]

>>1093002
Read the thread.

Life under those circumstances would be very unlikely, and intelligent life forming under those circumstance would be even more unlikely. EVOLUTION ISN'T RANDOM, not in the way we think of the term "random". It will follow paths based on environmental factors. While Life can be found in almost any environment, it is far more likely to occur in environments like those found on Earth, and so it will evolve similarly. Just because something CAN happen does not mean it is likely to happen. There is a far greater chance of encountering life that is familiar to us than not.

[Anonymous No.1093048]

>>1093025
butthatswrongyoufuckingretard.jpg
if they have experienced barely any bacterial "invasion" in their life, they wouldn't have a strong immune system, because there would be no reason

[Anonymous No.1093049]

>>1093043
Aliens can be basically similar to us but still extremely exotic and weird.

[Anonymous No.1093051]

It all depends on how evolution compares to artificial creation.

I expect most civilisations to have had accelerated mental evolution which interfered with physical evolution and for civilisations to have been built and start tinkering with it's own genes long before the amount of time needed for superior intelligence to evolve.

So there should be plenty of improvements genetic engineers could administer to the next generation of their species, and I'm expecting that their method of reproduction is similiar which it probably is unless their species is composed of helium filled membranes in gas giants or electric currents in stars or something.

We could be looking at many different kinds of species, machine and cyborgs engineered for various tasks, what the executive entity of the civilisation will be is unknown but we can imagine that through the process of natural selection it will value survival and gaining power. At a long shot it may be a sapient being like us except limited in intelligence and increasingly reliant on supercomputers which eventually become sapient themselves yet preserve the sapient being in some sort of state because it's what gives them a purpose.

[Anonymous No.1093055]

>>1093048
I agree, so why then does their immune system have such a severe allergic reaction to any contaminents? That implies a strong immune system.

[Anonymous No.1093057]

>>1093002
At a certain point, the Positive charges overcomes the Nuclear forces holding atoms together, and the universal forces are universal for a reason.

[Anonymous No.1093067]

>>1092812
>This happened because on their homeworld there were no insects of any kind.
Most definitely not impossible.

>Instead plants reproduced by relying on mammals to spread pollen.
Again, no problem

>On their homeworld viruses were usually benefifical in some ways so quarians evolved a weak immune system as there was no need to resist viral infections.
Mutualism. A species that evolved on a planet without pollination would likely think it absurd that plants would rely on animals and vice versa in such a way.

[Anonymous No.1093071]

>>1093055
it doesn't
scenario time:
tali bangs shepard (brofist to him)
tali gets some space-cold viruses
so she gets sick
theres no reason to believe it's an allergic reaction

[Anonymous No.1093074]

>>1093071
Tali tells you it is an allergic reaction when you ask her about suit punctures and why she gets sick.

[Anonymous No.1093079]

>>1093067
>Most definitely not impossible.

Considering the proliferation of insects and other similar... (what is the term I'm looking for?) 'groups' on Earth I find that unlikely.

[Anonymous No.1093085]

>>1093002
...I like the way you think. But, Put. the scifi. down.
This is why Stephen Hawking is beginning to get on my nerves. Logically, there is a much greater chance that life would evolve along similar lines found on earth. Seeing radio would only occur if it were more advantageous to survival and reproduction than perceiving light in the visible spectrum and from what I know of how the first eyes evolved(modified scales that could sense the sun) it doesn't seem likely. We're talking about worlds so alien as to be almost unimaginable, and worlds like that would make the evolution of life(not just intelligent life which would be several orders of magnitude more difficult) very difficult indeed.

I could see primitive, non-sentient aliens like this, but not an intelligent space-faring species.

[Anonymous No.1093089]

>>1093049
I agree.

[Anonymous No.1093095]

>>1093074
oh my bad
i dunno then
maybe it was just an expression? or a slight science-slip up like happens in most things?

[Anonymous No.1093099]

>>1093043

Nigga, I have read the thread. I agree, evolution is random in the sense random mutations will be kept if it proves to be effective/helpful in one's environment, this is basic fact and cannot be argued. However, writing these possibilities off is rather naive considering how large the universe is. I doubt we'll find intelligent life that is anything similar to us. The only thing close to resembling us on our planet are apes and monkeys. The common denominator we all share; perception of the radio spectrum, breathing oxygen, sleeping, etc etc is a result of our position from the sun, the type of sun, etc, etc. Our external environmental setting plays just as much of a factor in our evolution as how we've adapted to our environment. To quote a previous poster; evolution will find a way.

Motherfucking mudkipz.

[Anonymous No.1093114]

>>1093079
And what if anthropods went damn near extinct 200 million years ago? That wouldn't be unheard of. What if the atmosphere was too thin to support anthropods?

[Anonymous No.1093116]

>>1093085
I agree that aliens won't be completely unrecoganizable but they also won't be rubber-foreheads.

[Anonymous No.1093123]

>>1093114
If it was that thin we wouldn't get any large life-forms.

[Anonymous No.1093142]

>>1093114
Arthropods are the single most successful group of terrestrial multi-cellular life-forms on Earth. They die, it means everyone is dead.

[Anonymous No.1093144]

>>1093099
It's not really random in the larger scale of things, evolution takes billions of years, if it's possible it will happen eventually, usually several times over and in different species.

[Anonymous No.1093155]

>>1093123
The Himalayas. Too cold, and not enough air.

Big animals have lungs, which are needed for thin atmospheres. Now quit bitching. Worlds don't need insects to exist. Species die out randomly in mass extinctions. A world non-conducive to anthropods hit by a mass extinction event could easily produce and insectless world... if they had evolved at all.

[Anonymous No.1093164]

>>1093144

Couldn't this be used as an argument to support intelligent design?

[Anonymous No.1093173]

>>1093142
There is no way you could kill ever vertebrate on Earth. There are too many species. You couldn't kill every vertebrate without killing off most of everything else... oh wait, vertebrates have a common ancestor, like insects.

[Anonymous No.1093175]

>>1093085

Point taken, LOL. I'm a huge fan of pulp sci-fi; mainly works done by CL Moore/Henry Kuttner.

[Anonymous No.1093180]

>>1093099
With respect, you're wrong. This is a thread about the evolution of INTELLIGENT life, not merely life. Our position to sun and our planet's resources(including the electromagnetic field) provide for a near perfect environment for the evolution of intelligent life. Evolution isn't random in that it is a process of small adaptions over a very long time. If an adaption isn't useful it isn't carried on. The enlarging of our brains was the direct result of your environment, and it would take a similar environment to produce similar results. Life is FAR more likely to exist on a planet like ours and so intelligent life is far more likely to evolve in an environment like ours. And to produce intelligence it will have to advantageous for the lifeforms to have increased cognitive functions, which requires a similar evolutionary path as our own.

[Anonymous No.1093193]

>>1093180
If our environment is so perfect for intelligent life then how come the Earth isn't overflowing with it?

[Anonymous No.1093204]

>>1093180

I get what you're saying, make no mistake. I can't bring myself to narrow down the possibilities so drastically though. After all, the Earth and the factors that contributed to our evolution is all we really know. We have no actual records of organisms evolving in different environments, even slightly different environments with say 4 poles, lower/higher gravity, and a slightly dimmer/brighter atmosphere. Again, I get what you're saying, I must retain my creative freedom though ;p Its one of the only things I have going for me LOL

[Anonymous No.1093217]

>>1093193
It was. Then we happened. Or rather, a few different species of Homo were intelligent, then Sapiens came along and killed or fucked all the rest.

The Cetaceans may be sentient, or I may need to put my sci-fi down.

[Anonymous No.1093227]

>>1093193
Earth is overflowing with it....

[Anonymous No.1093230]

>>1093193
This should tell you how incredibly rare the evolution of intelligent life is.

>>1093204
I do agree with you, and I'm not saying that it is impossible, just less likely. Intelligent Life could have any form imaginable. I'm only arguing for the most likely form.

[Anonymous No.1093236]

>>1093217
One group of species becomes intelligent and all of a sudden Earth is the perfect environment for producing intelligence?

[Anonymous No.1093245]

>>1093217
That's right, I believe there were several other species of Homo sapiens before Homo sapien sapiens showed up and murdered everyone else.

[Anonymous No.1093262]

>>1093245
Well, they wouldn't be a different "species," but maybe you mean a different species of Homo?

[Anonymous No.1093263]

>>1093217

Nah dude, I agree on cetaceans. They're too vocal, complex vocals at that. I think deep sea cephalopods probably have a higher level of sentience as well, relative to the rest of the animal kingdom. Do you remember the unknown cephalopod that made it on youtube about 2 years back? With the "elbowed" tentacles and focused gaze? The way he was staring at the camera, I'm quite sure there was something going through his head that was a bit deeper than a basic survival instinct.

Sauce on elbow squid, quite freaky if you ask me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS0ywe5DUCU

[Anonymous No.1093270]

>>1093230

We can agree on those terms ;p good evening to you sir!

[Anonymous No.1093272]

>>1093227
Why did it take so long for it to arise? Why wasn't it present 65 million years ago? Or a 150 millions years ago? Why did it arise suddenly only recently, in only one... genus? (is that the term? Family? What's it called)

[Anonymous No.1093280]

>>1093236
That's what I'd like to know.

[Anonymous No.1093289]

>>1093270
WTF is this? Since when is the internet so damned civil? Shouldn't somebody be questioning someone's sexual orientation? Or threatening disproportionate violence? I'm going back to /b/ you gay assholes.

[Anonymous No.1093303]

>>1090727
Christian fag here aliens don't exist btw.

[Anonymous No.1093314]

>>1093303
inb4 trolling

[Anonymous No.1093317]

[Anonymous No.1093328]

>>1093317
Someone explain fashion to me.

[Anonymous No.1093334]

[Anonymous No.1093349]

>>1093289
shut up faggot

[Anonymous No.1093355]

[Anonymous No.1093376]

>>1093328
attract mates. nigger.

[Anonymous No.1093392]

>>1093349
Ah....there we go. Feels good man.

[Anonymous No.1094829]

>>1093272
Are you retarded?
It arose in several groups. You must've heard of Neanderthals.
And that's how evolution works. Slow, gradual change.

[Anonymous No.1094928]

Can I mention the possibility of intelligence having arisen in the past (as in before dinosaurs), but not left any obvious traces without seeming like a troll?

What kind of environment would be more conducive to intelligence, one with plenty of food, or one where food is scarce, and therefore there is more competition?

[Anonymous No.1095416]

>>1094928
See
>>1091046
Itelligence only arises as a side effect of increased brain size.

[Anonymous No.1095422]

>>1094829
>And that's how evolution works. Slow, gradual change.
Punctuated equilibrium, motherfucker, have you heard about it?

[Anonymous No.1095738]

>>1095416
I guess elephants suffer from intelligence then

[Anonymous No.1097554]

>>1095738
Brain size as in specific areas of the brain. The visual cortex for example.

[Anonymous No.1098106]

Dis thread iz dildos.

[Anonymous No.1098137]

>>1093263
"Fascination" is nothing new in the animal kingdom. I've seen birds fascinated by their own reflection, but I don't expect to hold a conversation with one. Even if they're smarter than a tuna, your precious cephalopods are still relatively unintelligent.

inb4 if they're so smart let the octopi stop the gulf oil leak

[Anonymous No.1098166]

>>1090727
Xenomorphs, a multicellular extremophilic organism, or is a eukaryotic organism in a mutualistic relationship with an extremophile that makes up the circulatory system. This is of course to compensate for the acidic blood which could be a defence mechanism for any possible predators not to eat them or else they get fucked up big time.