Astrobiologists Say That Aliens From Outer Space Are Probably Very Much Like Us
- 6 years ago
A team of astrobiologists from the University of Oxford used evolutionary theory to determine that extraterrestrials are probably a lot like us.
Between science and fiction, aliens from outer space have been portrayed as everything from simplistic blobs to highly developed killing machines with insatiable appetites for mass destruction.
Astrobiologists from the University of Oxford have developed a different take on the matter.
According to a university release, the team used evolutionary theory to determine that extraterrestrials are probably a lot like us.
That approach assumes that life elsewhere likely underwent the same development process, which includes transitioning from simpler life forms to more complex ones.
It also suggests that natural selection would have worked elsewhere as it has here, making the beings that survive stronger and fitter for the effort.
"Like humans, we predict that they are made-up of a hierarchy of entities, which all cooperate to produce an alien," Sam Levin, one of the scientists involved, noted. "At each level of the organism there will be mechanisms in place to eliminate conflict, maintain cooperation, and keep the organism functioning."
"By predicting that aliens undergone major transitions - which is how complexity has arisen in species on earth, we can say that there is a level of predictability to evolution that would cause them to look like us," Levin further commented.
Between science and fiction, aliens from outer space have been portrayed as everything from simplistic blobs to highly developed killing machines with insatiable appetites for mass destruction.
Astrobiologists from the University of Oxford have developed a different take on the matter.
According to a university release, the team used evolutionary theory to determine that extraterrestrials are probably a lot like us.
That approach assumes that life elsewhere likely underwent the same development process, which includes transitioning from simpler life forms to more complex ones.
It also suggests that natural selection would have worked elsewhere as it has here, making the beings that survive stronger and fitter for the effort.
"Like humans, we predict that they are made-up of a hierarchy of entities, which all cooperate to produce an alien," Sam Levin, one of the scientists involved, noted. "At each level of the organism there will be mechanisms in place to eliminate conflict, maintain cooperation, and keep the organism functioning."
"By predicting that aliens undergone major transitions - which is how complexity has arisen in species on earth, we can say that there is a level of predictability to evolution that would cause them to look like us," Levin further commented.