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Hollywood films and science fiction literature fuel the belief that aliens are monster-like beings, who are very different to humans. But new research suggests that we could have more in common with our extra-terrestrial neighbours, than initially thought.
In a new study published in the International Journal of Astrobiology scientists from the University of Oxford show for the first time how evolutionary theory can be used to support alien predictions and better understand their behaviour. They show that aliens are potentially shaped by the same processes and mechanisms that shaped humans, such as natural selection.
The theory supports the argument that foreign life forms undergo natural selection, and are like us, evolving to be fitter and stronger over time.
[...] The paper also makes specific predictions about the biological make-up of complex aliens, and offers a degree of insight as to what they might look like.
[...] 'There are potentially hundreds of thousands of habitable planets in our galaxy alone. We can't say whether or not we're alone on Earth, but we have taken a small step forward in answering, if we're not alone, what our neighbours are like.'
http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-10-31-aliens-may-be-more-us-we-think
[Also Covered By]: phys.org
Darwin's aliens (open, DOI: 10.1017/S1473550417000362) (DX)
Evolutionary exobiology: towards the qualitative assessment of biological potential on exoplanets (DOI: 10.1017/S1473550417000349) (DX)
(Score: 1) by JustNiz on Friday November 03 2017, @01:19AM
>> like us, evolving to be fitter and stronger over time.
Not at all. I think that this has already stopped, and looking around, is even in full reverse now.
It's an inevitable consequence of the way that modern society has a bizarre drive to totally eliminate absolutely anything that could even be perceived to be a slight risk to humans safety,
and also views even the most unsuitable people reproducing as something to be loudly celebrated, as if they've achieved something difficult.
Together especially, that's a recipe for total disaster and is inevitably taking a giant dump in our genetic soup.
Simply put we've already almost totally eradicated natural selection in humans, but it's a fundamentally necessary mechanism for the process of evolution.