If aliens are real-what do you think they are like?

Question

human-like or...something else?

Answer 1

I think, generally speaking, that yeah, they'd be smart enough to stay away from the "crazy people" around here. But that doesn't answer the question. ;)

I would just start out by saying, "I don't know." I mean, there's not enough info in the question. If you have read any Astronomy and/or Space magazines out there lately, you'd know that modern science has either directly spotted or mathematically inferred the existence of some 200-plus planets orbiting stars not our own...and they are really, really *diverse* worlds. Many would be far too hot or too cold or too dry to support life like ours, but some might not be...

And yet some of those worlds that *could* support life are very *very* different from earth. As in, still much warmer than earth, or colder, or wetter or drier, or they have much more or much less gravity, or they orbit a star completely different from our yellow, main-sequence sun.

Still....if we are talking about "aliens" who could conceivably get here, and communicate something of worth to us....that narrows things down some. I don't *think* we will be running into intelligent, civilized amoebas or bacteria anytime soon...

So....I'll make some half-educated guesses.

--They will likely be bilateral. Meaning, not like starfish or octopus, in that they won't have round or radial bodies. Their bodies will have a front and a back side, and a right and a left side.

--They will likely have limbs of some sort so they can move around, and maybe even mainpulate things, in the sense of using tools.

--They will likely have senses similar in nature to ours: something like sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, balance and kinesthetics (bodily awareness).

--I'll even go as far as to say that they will most likely have *something* resembling a vertebrate anatomy: a skull with a brain in it, a spine with a spinal cord in it. This also implies that they have something resembling *bones* at least, and something resembling *nerves*.

--And if they have a brain on a par with or surpassing ours, then one of two scenarios is likely. Either they are warm-blooded like we are, and generate their own body heat in a self-correcting and self-stabilizing manner, or....

they live in a climate so much more constant and predictable than ours, that they'd likely find large *chunks* of our planet "uninhabitable" by their standards, likely too cold or too dry (think of tree frogs in a rain forest, they can't really live or function *anywhere else* on the planet).

And yeah, I am being a bit of a smart-aleck for a reason.

I've seen a bit of _Star Trek_ in my life, and disagree with one of its basic premises (done because it needed to keep its special effects budget down, I understand): that aliens are going to by and large look "just like us, only with odd lumps and bumps".

No. I don't think so. We already know that the overwhelming majority of our neighbor planets orbiting other stars, besides the Hot Jupiter clones, are large, high-gravity terrestrial worlds orbiting M-Class Red Dwarfs...that in other words, most of our neighbors within oh, 30 light-years from us, have more in common with the comic-book world of *Krypton* than they do with Earth.

Point is, it is an error and it is naive to assume that people from other worlds *so different from ours* in gravity, climate, and conditions, are going to be "just like us."

And we will be lucky, *lucky indeed* if we encounter anyone that is both a) a bilateral, bipedal (upright walking) vertebrate like us, and b) NOT evolved from a predator species and/or c) hostile towards us for being so *criminally stupid* towards our world and each other.

I'm just saying....be careful what you wish for, for all we know, our nearest alien neighbors might be *intelligent Tyrannosaurs*.

Thanks for your time! :) Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Bi-pedal usually.I have heard that they are immortals and have both artificial and biological life forms that they use. Artificial ones would last longer without feeding and the need to rest.They would also have the ability to take over temporary bodies for communication with other species or any of their other agendas. Some people always seem to think that they are weak and vulnerable. They improvise because they are survivors and space travelers. It seems that some are categorized as being as one form or species but they have the ability to mask their true identities.They all may have originally been the same species but most likely colonized certain planets with a compatible life form or body and than apparently became a new species. It also appears the ability to clone themselves in entirety as in personality and memories. In this way the best and the brightest are as one mind. Too many sci-fi shows I guess.

Answer 3

An alien species would require some sort of DNA to specify what they would look like and what they are.
If you look at life on earth from grubs to elephants you can see that life can take on many forms.
Your imagination is the limits of alien life forms!!

Answer 4

Well that's something to find out if we ever meet one.
There's been lots of different stories to say what they look like
if they do exist I hope that we can learn from them, may-be there
mistakes are our hope and survival, for the human race here on
earth.

Answer 5

I am sure the're intellictial level can't be as high as ours , maybe study and technology wise yes but , not any other way ! If your alive you need love for survival male and female love that creates life and mothers love when your young and fathers guidance. Mother Earth God the Father. I believe they have same needs .

Answer 6

i believe that if aliens look like the stereotypical alien big head little mouth, it is much more likely its future space travelers. what are the odds in either directions, aliens that have evolved to closely resemble our anatomy, or time travelers from 7000ad that have evolved to like the typical alien ppl describe. my guess would be that the would somewhat resemble us , bipedal, big brain, dexterity in appendages

Answer 7

This gentleman seems to know. Check this out. The show was aired last night. He gave a lot more info than is in this recap.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2006/12/09.html#recap

Answer 8

Considering the shortage of planets that we have found to be Earth-like, I would say that they would be very little like humans.

Answer 9

I'd have to agree with the anime chick response, only they will have spikes in their genitals. This ensures genetic diversity as no male will provide genes for two children.

Answer 10

I think that if aliens are real, that they are things like worms or bacteria. I partially think that they are humanoid. But not likely.