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Extraterrestrial

Could human-like aliens be commonplace ?

By T.K. Randall
July 2, 2015 · Comment icon 194 comments

Could the humanoid form be an evolutionary inevitability ? Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Raissa Ruschel
Some scientists believe that life is likely to develop elsewhere in much the same way as it has on Earth.
With our own planet being the only known habitable world in the universe it is difficult to predict what an intelligent extraterrestrial life form might look like, especially when taking in to account the sheer number of possible environments that must exist across the cosmos.

According to evolutionary biologist Simon Conway Morris however it seems that there is actually a pretty good chance that intelligent aliens will turn out to look rather a lot like ourselves.
"Given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us," he said.

His predictions are based on a theory known as convergence which suggests that evolution is a predictable process that follows a rigid set of rules no matter where it occurs.

"I would argue that in any habitable zone that doesn't boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge, because intelligence is convergent," he said. "One can say with reasonable confidence that the likelihood of something analogous to a human evolving is really pretty high."

Source: Sky News | Comments (194)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #185 Posted by DieChecker 9 years ago
So we are living in a star trek or star wars universe? I'm going to vote Star Wars, because I'd like to think that the anthropomorphic aliens will have more variety in their appearance then just a skull bump or pointed ears. That's just a personal preference... I don't have any science to back that up.
Comment icon #186 Posted by AZDZ 9 years ago
I'm going to vote Star Wars, because I'd like to think that the anthropomorphic aliens will have more variety in their appearance then just a skull bump or pointed ears. That's just a personal preference... I don't have any science to back that up. The new Star Trek Beyond movie seems to be aiming to [finally!] change that. http://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/star-trek-beyond-charity-campain-reveals-new-alien/
Comment icon #187 Posted by nimsjo 9 years ago
Since every creature and every human in this universe is a part of same higher entity, I do think that aliens will look like humans. They might slightly differ in their features and body structures so as to adapt to their own habitat. Apart from that their is no reason that why aliens look like machines or abnormal creatures.
Comment icon #188 Posted by psyche101 9 years ago
Since every creature and every human in this universe is a part of same higher entity, I do think that aliens will look like humans. They might slightly differ in their features and body structures so as to adapt to their own habitat. Apart from that their is no reason that why aliens look like machines or abnormal creatures. No higher entity is required. Life takes the easiest path, which convergent evolution has illustrated.
Comment icon #189 Posted by DONTEATUS 9 years ago
My guess is that E.T`s that have say , a few million years on us have evolved into a Horta form,just so smart that just chillin in a dark cave is all they need. No need to explore, eat,swim.Get the Idea ? That's why we cant Find them they all look like Rockstars ! And they don't need us !
Comment icon #190 Posted by nuclearwessel 9 years ago
If you take into consideration that the people of gallifrey can create and harness black holes. Then anything is possible. Gallifrey is a fictional planet... I don't know how we can infer that "anything is possible" from considering a planet that does not exist.
Comment icon #191 Posted by DONTEATUS 9 years ago
Maybe They will all look like Nicole Kiddman ?
Comment icon #192 Posted by Sir Wearer of Hats 9 years ago
So we are living in a star trek or star wars universe? How many women do you see slinking about in catsuits? Not that many, ergo it's not the Star Trek universe.
Comment icon #193 Posted by Hammerclaw 9 years ago
Since there's no way of really knowing, we can all pretty much rationalize and imagine the Universe any way we want. Divine intervention, some underlying universal principle leading to intelligent lifeforms, or just a celestial crapshoot, where we were dealt a winning hand. We could be far more common or rarer than we ever imagined. We could be lords of creation or some other entity's crickets,chirping in the dark. Like a child on a beach, it's hard to know what dwells in the deeps when we've only just begun wading in tidal pools close to shore.
Comment icon #194 Posted by DieChecker 9 years ago
Maybe They will all look like Nicole Kiddman ? Maybe... We can hope that many of them do.


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