what would alien life actually look like?

[chuck]

Some invertebrate specialists have started to theorize that the higher ordered mollusks may be as close as we can get to "alien" life on earth. They have learned that nautilus and octopi have highly developed brains and are capable of performing complex reasoning tasks.

[webenda]

There have been several rather good sci-fi stories that have aliens that are not humanoid in any way.

Those are science fiction creations. Real aliens look like variations on the human form....

What would they?
There are 6,000 species of mammals on our planet, and most of them do not look like humans, not to mention the other species, on land, in the air, and in the seas. I don't see why lifeforms from other worlds would follow our physical example, necessarily. What's so special?

Aside from egotism and self-centeredness, I don't see why we would think that.

Because the aliens hired for movie parts usually have the human form.

[webenda]

Some invertebrate specialists have started to theorize that the higher ordered mollusks may be as close as we can get to "alien" life on earth. They have learned that nautilus and octopi have highly developed brains and are capable of performing complex reasoning tasks.

They probably looked up the solutions to the problems on Google.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...
Aside from egotism and self-centeredness, I don't see why we would think that.

Because the aliens hired for movie parts usually have the human form.

Well, there ya are.

[healey36]

A visitor from NGC 5189 seen a couple years back at ComicCon:



Only 1.8 light-years from earth, appears to be worth visiting - we're wasting time/resources on Mars missions.

Healey

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...obviously proud of her mind. Brava!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...obviously proud of her mind. Brava!

Bianca? If you had her money, you'd be proud too,

BTW, a Canadian, too,

[E7]

They probably looked up the solutions to the problems on Google.

Nope, their electrnics kept shorting out underwater!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...obviously proud of her mind. Brava!

Bianca? If you had her money, you'd be proud too,

BTW, a Canadian, too,

God Bless her, she appears healthy and happy and full of hope for her future. Add to that successful and copious connections to others throughout her life, and it's no wonder she is well-off and proud.

Oh, and...P.S. She fills-out vinyl pretty well, too (!)

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...obviously proud of her mind. Brava!

Bianca? If you had her money, you'd be proud too,

BTW, a Canadian, too,

God Bless her, she appears healthy and happy and full of hope for her future. Add to that successful and copious connections to others throughout her life, and it's no wonder she is well-off and proud.

Oh, and...P.S. She fills-out vinyl pretty well, too (!)

You need to go to her web site and visit the latex lounge,

[webenda]

...obviously proud of her mind. Brava!

Regarding her breast implants, Bianca, who once was a teaching intern at the Université du Québec à Montréal, dismisses such criticism, deeming it hypocritical to applaud people for improving their intellects while condemning them for improving their bodies.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca_Beauchamp

[chuck]

On PBS, about 4 weeks ago:

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/octopus-making-contact-preview-a98u9n/19851/

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Exciting information and resource, there, Chuck. I'll be pouring over the entirety of the site for the next several days.
Cephalopods. I hadn't thought much about them, given the amount of really odd creatures in the very deep oceans. Of course, those eyes have had our attention for millennia, haven't they. I've heard their eyes are very close to being like our own.
Thanks!
Murph

[chuck]

Their eyes have a lot of structural similarities to ours (and I mean vertebrates in general). They also have strategic differences, e.g. which tissue the eye develops from. They are fascinating creatures.

[chuck]

BTW, I just remembered that the Thermians in Galaxy Quest were cephalopods when not cloaked in human form:



Bad guys were insect based, at least the leader seemed to be?