The act of sexual reproduction, on a genetic level, involves the combination of DNA from two individuals. Likewise, the idea of an alien species needing humans for breeding doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny. So let’s run through a thought experiment on what reasons aliens might possibly have to visit the Earth, not because I reckon we need to ready our defenses or assemble a welcoming party, but because I think considering these possibilities is a great way of exploring many of the core themes of the science of astrobiology.Īliens come to Earth to ensla v e humanity or f or breeding partners These scenarios make great films, but don’t really stand up to rational scrutiny. We’re all familiar with Hollywood’s darker depictions of what aliens might do when they come to the Earth: zapping the White House, harvesting humanity for food like a herd of cattle, or sucking our oceans dry. So far, though, we’ve seen no convincing evidence of other civilizations among the stars in our skies.īut let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that there are one or more star-faring alien civilizations in the Milky Way. Don’t get me wrong-if the Earth received an alien tweet tomorrow, or some other text message beamed at us by radio or laser pulse, then I’d be absolutely thrilled.
To be honest, my own point of view is pretty pessimistic.
If there is biology beyond the Earth, the vast majority of life in the Galaxy will be microbial-hardy single-celled life forms that tolerate a much greater range of conditions than more complex organisms can. As an astrobiologist I spend a lot of my time working in the lab with samples from some of the most extreme places on Earth, investigating how life might survive on other worlds in our solar system and what signs of their existence we could detect.
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