Alien biology

[Guest Jo Locke]

Hello - I'm researching a science series for Discovery International, and I'm working on a programme about the science behind the film Men in Black. I'm wondering if any of you know of an expert who can talk about alien biology, and whether the aliens in MIB are biologically possible. Any thoughts would also be welcome.

 

Thanks, Jo

p.s why am I a lepton - I'm not especially small or thin, and I don't know how stromg my nuclear force is?

[Kleptin]

Experts on alien biology x.X? wouldn't we need to find an alien and cut it open to figure out what junk goes on in there? Or by "expert" do you mean a guy who runs only on theories?

[Chatha]

There is actually a discipline of such nature. Its actually the study of the extraterrestrial ecology of other planets. Look it up on the internet

[-Demosthenes-]

Where is this extraterestrial ecology??

[AzurePhoenix]

Study of alien life is xenobiology, so alien ecology should be xenoecology, which is purely theoretical at this point. Lepton refers to the number of posts you've made. I'm a molecule. Demosthenes is a full blown organism, and you'll see primates, even scientists, when you get around to the senior members.

[DrTom]

Up yer arse.

[DrTom]

Seriously, folks any in depth study of human colonic florae will reveal a greater number of alien species than ever populated Star Trek.

[Sayonara]

Seriously, folks any in depth study of human colonic florae will reveal a greater number of alien species than ever populated Star Trek.

...which has nothing to do with exobiology or its various merits.

 

(Although if you managed to plumb new biological depths you would in fact be engaged in xenobiological study. Irony.)

[AzurePhoenix]

wait, could someone remind me, which is exo and which is xeno? I couldn't decide and edited my post like three times interchanging them.

[Sayonara]

Exobiology is for anything off-Earth ("the study of life outside", e.g. life on Mars).

 

Xenobiology is for anything unknown ("the study of foreign life", e.g. weird newly-discovered bacterium made from iron that eats batteries).

 

So exobiology is a more precise form of xenobiology. They're largely interchangeable, except that if it's on Earth, it's not exo-.

[AzurePhoenix]

thanx

[Kleptin]

eh...heh. I wonder how many breakthroughs have been made in that area of study

[Hellbender]

There is going to be a "walking with dinosaurs" style show in discovery called "Alien Planet" soon, about just this topic. Might be interesting.

[hyebeh]

Hello - I'm researching a science series for Discovery International' date=' and I'm working on a programme about the science behind the film Men in Black. I'm wondering if any of you know of an expert who can talk about alien biology, and whether the aliens in MIB are biologically possible. Any thoughts would also be welcome.

 

Thanks, Jo

p.s why am I a lepton - I'm not especially small or thin, and I don't know how stromg my nuclear force is?[/quote']

 

what comes to mind about science in MIB is... absolutely nothing. The mere idea that all aliens are humanoid (or at least bipedal) is preposterous. The entire movie is completely bunk. I think you need to find a more scientific movie (e.g. one without will smith)

 

furthermore, there are no experts on alien biology because we have not yet discovered alien life. any alien biologist would be a friggin' quack.

[Hellbender]

furthermore, there are no experts on alien biology because we have not yet discovered alien life. any alien biologist would be a friggin' quack.

I agree, but I think he means a biologist that is qualified to at least speculate as to what life on another planet may be like.

[Kleptin]

I don't think biologists are qualified enough to speculate without any information, i mean, we don't even have an exampe of a planet that could support life by OUR standards, how would any respectable person make ANY assumption without looking like a quack?

[Ophiolite]

Well, you can make a series of carefully stated and understood assumptions, and see what consequences flow from those. Then change one or more of those assumptions and examine the changed conclusions. Repeat until patterns emerge that define possible and probable limits for the character, ecology and environment of alien life. [Then stand back and expect to be surprised.]

[Kleptin]

But there are so many assumptions to be made! even if someone comes up with a "pattern" after 5 thousand assumptions, someone else who has been thinking 5 thousand different ones could still be just as correct!

[Sayonara]

Don't forget that you might not necessarily be trying to come to definitive conclusions.

 

Like Ophiolite suggests, it's more about ranges of probability and patterns of practicability.

[Kleptin]

It's hard for me to imagine how technical that field of work is when it is just about as restricted as the birth of a comic book character...

[DirteeRice]

Study of alien life is xenobiology, so alien ecology should be xenoecology, which is purely theoretical at this point. Lepton refers to the number of posts you've made. I'm a molecule. Demosthenes is a full blown organism, and you'll see primates, even scientists, when you get around to the senior members.

 

Have you read any of the books by Orson Scott Card? Such as Xenocide, Speaker for the Dead, or Genocide perhaps? They all deal with xenobiology as if it were actually in practice in the future. Very interesting.

[fuhrerkeebs]

Have you read any of the books by Orson Scott Card? Such as Xenocide, Speaker for the Dead, or Genocide perhaps?

 

Orson Scott Card never wrote a book called Genocide...

[Mag]

I agree, but I think he means a biologist that is qualified to at least speculate as to what life on another planet may be like.

 

Yeah, and the field is called: Astrobiology.

 

(which is the same as xenobiology or exobiology)

[AzurePhoenix]

Have you read any of the books by Orson Scott Card? Such as Xenocide, Speaker for the Dead, or Genocide perhaps? They all deal with xenobiology as if it were actually in practice in the future. Very interesting.

Actually yes. Brilliant author. The catholic theme gets a little irritating at times, but Ender's Game was pure gold. The books do well to show the kind of suprising forms intelligence might take without us even recognizing its existance. They really make you think.

[AzurePhoenix]

And yeah, the book was Xenocide