As spring eases into summer, the multiplexes are witnessing an all-out alien assault. Within the space of a month, silver screens have shown ships of the U.S. Navy belching ordnance at invading extraterrestrials in Battleship; portrayed black-garbed government agents keeping tabs on ornery aliens in Men in Black III; and are promising the long-awaited back-story of perhaps the most visceral space opera of all time (Alien) in Prometheus.
These fictional tales appeal to us with themes that are long established: The all-powerful enemy with some niche vulnerability that humankind can discover and exploit; the potentially malevolent neighbors who are not what they seem; and the odd strangers who lie in wait, keen to turn us into surrogate mothers thanks to unauthorized breeding experiments.
Extraterrestrial beings offer obvious benefits for the movies' creators. The filmmakers can exploit the possibilities of novel settings and situations, and can fashion their antagonists to be thoroughly repugnant and in possession of technology that would stun DARPA.
Obviously, there is no pretense that Hollywood aliens might accurately reflect actual inhabitants of the galaxy. But is it all just free-form imagination? Can contemporary science say much about whether these cinematic sentients might be ciphers for the real thing?
That may sound like an unanswerable question. After all, researchers haven't yet found any life -- dead or alive -- from beyond Earth. None; not even microscopic life. That fact seems to gives the moviemakers utterly free rein. But not entirely. We know a few things about both astronomy and biology that can help delineate what's plausible when it comes to extraterrestrials.
One thing that every school kid learns is that the distances between stars are vast. This, of course, is a challenge to rocketry -- our fastest spacecraft would take 100 thousand years to travel to even the nearest star. But it's no real impediment to filmic aliens, as they can be presumed to be far beyond our own technical level. After all, they've demonstrated their advanced technology by coming here, for good or otherwise (or, as in the case of Alien, have invaded someone else's world.) Clearly, this automatically implies that any weaponry these visitors wield will also be far beyond the capabilities of our own quaint arsenals. It's not likely that we could really take them on and win. However, if Hollywood were to bow to that fact, it would turn most alien invasion films into short subjects.
The large distances between the stars will also affect the motivation for any extraterrestrials to come to Earth. In some sci-fi, the visitors from afar have opted to visit because they are aggrieved by our nuclear weaponry or our poor treatment of the environment. But our cosmic confreres won't know about either, since the radio and television broadcasts (or for that matter, the reflected light from the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere) will not yet have reached their world, and alerted them to our bad behavior.
Often, invading aliens decide to drop by because we have some tempting natural resources. Water is a favorite, but so are heavy metals. However, one of the great triumphs of astronomy has been to show that the entire cosmos is composed of the same stuff everywhere. The aliens can find needed raw materials at home, and save the transportation costs.
Most movie aliens also share our body plan -- an upright stance with two arms, two legs, and a nose separating eyes and mouth. Their biochemistry is often similar enough to ours that they can either get some nourishment by eating us, or use us for breeding -- all of which would be remarkable, which is to say unexpected and unlikely. But the movie mavens know that if the aliens are too alien, audiences will have a difficult time reading their intentions, or accepting any interaction between them and us.
The bottom line is that Hollywood aliens are mostly reflections of ourselves, and hardly accurate ciphers for real extraterrestrials.
Even so, sci-fi movies are more than just entertainment: they are remarkably influential in getting young people interested in space and science in general. This is not because these pictures correctly reflect what we know about the universe, but because they are emotionally compelling. The facts might be wrong, but the story telling grabs young minds, and infuses the subject matter with romantic appeal.
The National Academy of Sciences has recognized the significant influence of cinema sci-fi on youth, and has inaugurated a program, known as the Science and Entertainment Exchange, that brings practicing scientists and filmmakers together. That way, not only will Tinsel Town script writers be able to sharpen the fidelity of their product, but they'll also hear of discoveries that might help in the development of novel story concepts.
And that could be beneficial to all concerned because, after all, the hero of a sci-fi story is not a character -- it's the idea.
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You can enjoy panel discussions on science and sci-fi at SETIcon, June 22-24.
When you consider the above in the light of how tight the parameters are that allow for advanced life. If the earth were a thousand or so miles further out it would be an ice ball. If it were a thousand or so miles closer to the sun, no water. Not to mention how all advanced life is pegged to the tidal forces of our sea and the weather the moon produces.
Our moon is far too large for our planet, and is clearly a rare aberration. How many planets do we think have captured a passing rogue planet, or suffered the perfect collision to create such a moon, and done so at the perfect moment in solar evolution to set off the evolution process. The odds are fantastically against such happenings. And on those fantastically rare occasions where this process happens, ZAP! Gamma ray burst! This is not a universe that smiles on organic life.
All of that aside, your comment makes me realize that I should have been more specific in my original comments. I meant to suggest that INTELLIGENT organic life is exceedingly rare. It is very possible that mold and algae might be frequent, but that still leaves the almost constant and uniform gamma ray bursts, and nova explosions.
Whether we are talking about intelligent life or simple mold, we can look out at the universe and see how hostile it is to organic life such as ours. All the facts point to that, and our current attitude toward the possibility of life in the universe does not reflect these facts.
I agree! Intergalactic civilizations have different evolutionary patterns
tech usually outlasts its creators. if the creators are even remotely competent, their creations will outlast them: from henry ford and the automobile down to a clam and it's shell, the creations outlast the creators.
any species that reaches Earth will probably be VERY high leftover tech with the morality of that species built in to it. besides the distances we are discussing, we must admit that all forms of organic life are finite by nature. if a species has been existing significantly longer the human species, long enough to master stellar travel, odds are that that species ceased to exist long ago.
but their computers will still work and possibly continue to represent the best or worst traits that that species found valuable to their existence long after they are gone.
so in short, ufos will end up being machines, albeit ones much more advanced then the sats we ourselves have thrown out into space. or even more interestingly, the species itself will have made the jump from organic to electronic.
Peace
Copyright: H.G. Wells.
"Can contemporary science say much about whether these cinematic sentients might be ciphers for the real thing?"
It they are, then we’re doomed, doomed. Yet they potentially possess something we belligerents as yet don’t. Real intelligence.
"what's plausible when it comes to extraterrestrials."
Well, given that they would have to traverse distances that we can’t currently contemplate. Practically anything. Not to mention the hypothesis, that they might actually be from a plane of existence immediately adjacent to our own. It would be like a chimp, trying to get its head around an inedible form of Blackberry.
"getting young people interested in space and science in general."
If we taught philosophy and critical thinking in our schools, we could set our young a preparatory conundrum. What would you do if, as an alien, you stumbled upon Earth?
"The facts might be wrong"
Better never stop testing them.
"the hero of a sci-fi story is not a character -- it's the idea."
Not merely a heroine replacement then?
Live Long and Prosper!
Hollywood aliens don't look that different from us in basic design because evolution on our planet is very likely similar to evolution on other planets, and things like binocular vision, bi-pedalism and opposable thumbs are what it takes to develop brains large enough to get to the top of the food chain and build space ships.