The way we imagine first contact with an alien species has evolved somewhat over the decades. Sci-fi usually still goes with the classic trope of a sh

If Aliens Visit Earth "They Won't Be Alive", Senior Astronomer For SETI Says

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2021-06-17 16:30:06

The way we imagine first contact with an alien species has evolved somewhat over the decades. Sci-fi usually still goes with the classic trope of a ship arriving one day out of the blue, without so much as a quick signal communicating via mathematics.

When they do show up to Earth, they are (by and large) portrayed as organic beings. But astronomers, physicists, and the good people at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are slowly turning away from the idea that when we meet extraterrestrial intelligence, it will be anything like us. 

In an opinion piece for the Guardian, senior astronomer for the SETI Institute Seth Shostak has argued that if E.T. were to show up on our planet, the laws of physics mean that we are likely to encounter alien intelligence unlike anything we have on Earth.

"Any aliens that trek to our planet are unlikely to be carbon-based life forms, either hirsute or hairless," Dr Shostak wrote. "Their cognitive abilities will probably not be powered by a spongy mass of cells we’d call a brain. They will probably have gone beyond biological smarts and, indeed, beyond biology itself.

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