Random thoughts thread

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by echo419

I can get on board with that but I'm talking about the smart ones. sorta like the humans of their planets.

Not only same size but roughly same shape, same molecular make up and same sensory organs. Who says they have to even be something we could recognize as life?
Perhaps our whole universe is actually simply one cell in a massive life form.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Not only same size but roughly same shape, same molecular make up and same sensory organs. Who says they have to even be something we could recognize as life?
Perhaps our whole universe is actually simply one cell in a massive life form.

mind


blown

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Special_K

.

Gif of a tardigrade for reference.

Pretty sure I dated her once upon a time.

[Special_K]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Not only same size but roughly same shape, same molecular make up and same sensory organs. Who says they have to even be something we could recognize as life?
Perhaps our whole universe is actually simply one cell in a massive life form.

Tcoat, are you fondly reminiscing on your mind expanding days of the 60's?

[echo419]

Originally Posted by Special_K

Tcoat, are you fondly reminiscing on your mind expanding days of the 60's?

what's the word I'm looking for? it's what his name-o was.....

[elBarto]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

mind


blown

[soulreapersteve]

Friggin' UPS workers forgot my package at their hub. Not that difficult to load small packages onto a bin for the driver. I used to work there, so I would know. 2 day air'ed my SIM card. D<

yeah yeah yeah, 1st world issues.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by elBarto

This is really great. I have already spent way too much time watching it but I don't want to stop.

[Tcoat]

where the hell is everybody?

[jawn]

Trapped in bureaucratic office nonsense.

[RobertPaulson]

so i wonder, is my niece still technically my niece since its from my ex wifes side?

[babydriver]

Originally Posted by echo419

I was thinking. ever notice how in almost all movies/tv that aliens are basically our size. maybe a little bigger/smaller but more or less pretty proportional. yet when you look at out planet compared to others or other stars compared to ours it's pretty puny if not totally insignifigant. so wouldn't it stand to reason that if there are aliens(not getting into that debate) out there that they would be giants compared to us?

#deepthoughts :p

A couple (or more) reasons why giant aliens are probably not the norm:


1. Gravity. Bigger is definitely not better if you are on a planet with 3 times the gravitation of Earth. Blood is harder to pump uphill (towards the upper extremities), more food/nutrient/mineral resources must be devoted to muscles and skeletal structure, a fall is 3 times more deadly. In this situation, the aliens are likely to be relatively small and close to the ground.


2. Food resources in general. It costs more in terms of food to keep a big body going. More on this in a minute.


3. Unless you have a lot of natural enemies (i.e., other species that want to eat you) there is no evolutionary advantage in size. Now, when humans were prey to lions, etc., there was an advantage in being taller, because we could see over the grasslands and sometimes tell if something was coming with dinner on its mind. Chimps, bonobos and monkeys are tree dwellers so no need to get very big. Gorillas are ground dwellers so yes, they are bigger. Dinosaurs were big in an era of plenty (lots of plants and animals) and they got big to help avoid being eaten. Even there, if there is no real advantage in being big (think velociraptor) but you're really fast, then animals tend to stay smaller. Cheetahs are smaller than lions, but much faster.


In evolution, "it's all about the food."


I would not expect intelligent aliens to be a lot bigger or smaller than us. The biology just works out better for a creature our size to be large enough to avoid becoming Purina Lion Chow, while at the same time having a metabolism and body size appropriate to supporting our large brains; the brain uses up a lot of resources compared to pretty much anything else in the human body. (This last point is also why aliens won't be all head on an emaciated body. How could they have survived the period prior to their becoming thinking animals?)

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by RobertPaulson

so i wonder, is my niece still technically my niece since its from my ex wifes side?

Oh, that just hurts.

[RobertPaulson]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Oh, that just hurts.

its a thought i had, i still plan to get her christmas and birthday presents.