Skip to main content

Alien Life II

On a lighter note today, let's look at fictional alien life forms, and how the principles of evolution apply, as far as their physical appearance and behaviours are concerned. For those of you who have watched the films "Alien" and "Predator", you will be familiar with these characters, but if you haven't, don't worry; their pics are below. The first one to look at is the alien.

This might look odd, but in fact this is the young form of the alien. It spawns from a plant-like creature, and it has evolved to jump on people's faces, insert themselves into their digestive tract, where they grow and then escape through the chest, killing them. The only explanation for this adaptation is that at some point in the past the aliens used some other host for their development, which was similar to humans. Otherwise, they have adapted very quickly to humans' advancement into outer space. (The film is set in the distant future when humans are colonising the universe)

The aliens are filled with a very strong acid which destroys every material known to man, suggesting that the chemistry of the place these aliens evolved from was very different to that on Earth. Research so far does indeed suggest that there may be silicon-based life forms, rather than carbon-based. All life on Earth is carbon-based.

The mature alien looks like this, and in the film is a vicious fighter with two mouths.

As you can see the outer shell of the alien is very rigid, as well as the teeth, as the alien harbours its acidic blood. The inner mouth can "jump" out of the outer mouth in order to increase the distance over which the alien can attack. Although the alien is a fast learner, its strengths lie mainly in its fast reactions and strong body filled with deadly acid.

On the other hand, the Predator is an intelligent humanoid who uses advanced technology to defeat its prey. The predator's body, however shows certain features that may surprise.


One of these is the predator's dreadlocks. They don't seem to serve any particular function, so they may be purely aesthetic. Not to us humans, but to them, predators. Another weird thing is their mouth surrounded by two teeth on the outside which can move to trap a victim. Presumably, the predators were great chasers and killers a long time before their intelligence provided them with their guns and spaceships. Presumably, as predators use their fangs less and less, they will diminish and fade, just like humans' bigger sharper teeth have evolved into simple, smaller teeth, the ones we all have today. The predator's body is less resilient than the alien's, due to the aliens being more physically aggressive, while the predators use their technology more. Similarly, humans are the weakest of primates, simply because we no longer make use of strength.

That is why, perhaps, the film makers decided to make a joint film, "Aliens versus Predators" where the two species are faced with each other in battle.

This is it for now, come back for the next post on the human body and evolution, where we'll look at the human, the same way we have looked at these aliens, in more detail!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

4 Reasons Google's Calico Won't "Solve Death"

The on-line world has been taken ablaze by Calico's bid to end ageing, and thus death itself, but is this what they will actually focus on, and will they achieve it? The fact is ageing will be reversed, and death by "natural causes" will go with it. The questions are "When?" and "By whom?". Until recently, not a lot was known about the approach Calico would take in this venture dubbed "moonshot thinking" - a term touted by Google as the source of all considerable human progress throughout history. This we don't doubt, but is this what Calico is all about? CNN's Dan Primack has revealed details about Calico's plan , which hint at a less-than-moonshot thinking approach, and cast a serious question mark on its ability to deliver the punchy TIME headline. Here is why: 1. The man with the idea, Bill Maris, arrived at the conclusion that the root of all death-causing disease is simply ageing itself. Not only is this widely

First Blog, Ever.

Before we start to explore evolution, let me outline what this blog is about, and what approaches it will take. Most people are aware of the theory of evolution. However, the predominant context of it has been restricted to the animal kingdom, and the most obvious animal of all has been ommitted: you, the human. Us, Homo sapiens. Articles of so-called "evolutionary psychology" may jump up in your head right now. Something about the colours women wear, or the jobs men want. Something about sex, something about money. Something silly. This blog aims to explore the fundamental principles of life and evolution, and apply them to the surrounding world, with an emphasis on humans. This blog aims to challenge evolutionary psychology with evolutionary biology. This blog aims to cast light on many dark areas such as: What is the cause, course and effect of life? Are there principles which apply to all forms of life, on Earth and other places in the Universe? Can we predict life fo

The evolution of the human body

In order to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and be able to answer the question "Why do I look like this?", we must look back to our ancestry and their lifestyle, over a very long period of time. For the purpose of this analysis, let's look at the human versus the neanderthal. Recently there have been found neanderthal genes within the human gene pool, but the two species are different enough to compare, yet not too different (human versus fly would be too different). As you can see, the construction of the human pelvis and toes is different, and the human has less hair. This results in humans being able to run easily for long distances, in the detriment of short-distance running which we are worse at. We sweat better, so we can do more long-term effort. This feat is essential to better settlements, as we can discover a larger area with potentially better resources. It might seem counterproductive to not be able to run quickly for a short period, when it come