Why Extraterrestrial Life Might Not Be So Alien

On the website for the department of zoology of the University of Cambridge, the page for Arik Kershenbaum lists his three main areas of research, one of which stands out from the others. Kershenbaum studies “Wolves and other canids,” “Dolphins and cetaceans” - and “Aliens.” Granted, science hasn’t yet found any aliens to study, but Kershenbaum says that there are certain things we can still say about them with reasonable certainty. Topping the list: They evolved. Read the full article at Quanta Magazine: www.quantamaga...

[@onennon3942]

Incredible. This was really interesting to learn. Thanks for another amazing video.

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

Convergent evolution between different planets is sure to happen. Sure there might be organisms that move with "legs" on some other planet. However, more specific things like our vertebrate spines should not exist on any other planet, because it is too specific. No non-vertebrate has ever evolved a vertebrate spine, and that's even though they are otherwise related to vertebrates! So if you are not in any way related to animals ("metazoa"), then we should not expect you to ever evolve something like a spine. But some general structures or "ideas" are objectively good and simple solutions that are nearly always a benefit. To be able to move is a great thing if you're a heterotroph, which is why some kinds of legs will likely evolve, but also only because "legs" is a vague concept, so it can include such extremely different structures. Intelligence -- the ability to predict things in order to make better choices -- is probably always going to play a part, though our kind of intelligence might end up being rare because it requires that you have some fundamental way of processing information at high speeds, which requires that you have something like nerves, which is why plants can't be intelligent in this way. Communication as well, as noted by this video. Even plants communicate a little.

[@kuku505]

Non vertebrate such as the ancient halluciginea (worm) does have spine and legs. Weird enough it is classified as worm

[@biggnesss7192]

@@kuku505 interesting

[@stevenlitvintchouk3131]

Indeed. Anywhere in the Galaxy, an intelligent tool-making species is going to have some kind of eyes. Electromagnetic radiation is the best way to carry a lot of information quickly.

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

@@stevenlitvintchouk3131 Yes, at least it's fair to consider that likely. Surely, there may be possibilities that we aren't aware of, something that's equal or better than "vision". But base down hat we know, yes, vision is great as long as it's not obscured. Smell and sound have their value because they allow you to detect things that are occluded by objects, for example. I mean, I can hear when someone walks into the other room, but I can't see them.

[@SC-zq6cu]

I think fast information processing is going to be common as well since motion is going to be very common and any moving heterotroph needs fast info processing.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

If alien life exists, they will have developed the cheeseburger.

[@TIMEtoRIDE900]

You want fries with that ??

[@treytrey9321]

Nah but a large coke tho

[@Cosmicmorales]

Yes

[@baphomettheluciferstemple9995]

*And really they have* what we call food in this time does really need a Transformation for better results in our body* Processed food ready is needed for better Body System Performance* greetings Thank you !

[@yonkel0]

But the cheeseburger will be made of Packer fans.

[@Neo-ui8we]

Raised my hairs to listen to the dolphin and wolf sounds! Definitely buying this book.And thanks again for this wonderful video.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Aspirin + Nurofen

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

I always remember the alien race in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that discovered the aerosol can before the wheel. As an anthropologist, it’s fun to speculate how an alien culture may diverge in strange( to us) ways from human culture.

[@Member_zero]

I speculate their culture will be based on wiping out the human pest and colonize the Earth as their own.... The first thing I'd do if I see an alien is shot at it! Probably won't work, but you have to try something before you go down ...

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

My anthropology teacher was part of a NASA working group focused on what to do if an alien civilization showed up on earth. It was made up of Anthropologist, scientists, military personnel, and other. She said when they brought up what to do if an alien spaceship showed up, the first response from the NASA was to preemptively nuke the shop. The military group strongly disagreed. The military group reminded everyone that if they could make it to earth, their technology was far superior to ours, and their weaponry also was more superior, so a preemptive war was a bad idea.

[@Member_zero]

@@thepostapocalyptictrio4762 Well yeah ... nuking is not the solution - you destroy everything. The correct response is to kill inhabitants only, and reverse engineer the technology so we are preapared for when the next ship arrives! Set them a trap ... like lure them to the surface or realease a toxic gas inside the ship ... On a serious note ... I think if aliens do arrive they are not stupid - part of visiting alien world is to take safety measures - so I suspect, if there will be a contact, it will be almost certainly the AI drone or something similar. And who knows what that will look like? It could be the size of a quantum particle, designed to travell near light speed, and perhaps ... already amongst us witouth us knowing ... can't nuke that, that's for sure.

[@NiToNi2002]

Let’s just hope they don’t find out we taste like chicken.

[@Erik-pu4mj]

Strong first half, and Kershenbaum is a good speaker. I had hoped to go a bit more in depth, rather than just a book plug for the second half. The music fit well and its popup was very tasteful, drawing just the right amount of attention to it. Hopefully this is welcome. I've just been enjoying QM's recent content, and have high hopes for its future.

[@sudoku3830]

That is a very sophisticated way to say something fairly obvious. Still, very interesting, especially the wolves and dophins sounds.

[@autosneak1618]

@Michael Lochlann damn bro, u know, if life other than us is out there, they might use energy! Like us! Someone needs to make a video about it! Who knew lifeforms needs energy to be, u know, lifeful

[@TeaSquiffy2]

@@autosneak1618 It sounds obvious, but to a lot of people, the idea of alien life is _too_ alien. To the point where they are beings beyond comprehension, who float weightlessly or never have to eat, or can exist beyond time and space. The imagination has done wonders for creating interesting fictional aliens, but to a lot people, a reminder that alien life will have to work somewhat like life on earth is absolutely necessary.

[@XOPOIIIO]

Earth probably already have most of the diversity possible. The number of species and adaptations is insane. You don't need to go on other planet to see aliens, look on the sea floor.

[@mitchdg5303]

you have no idea whats out there

[@neotim5]

Good point, but I believe the diversity is limited to a certain point. We are the best earth nature has to offer right now, but who knows whats possible with even more developed life? Especially if you consider that progress is self-accelerating

[@SlimShady-gs8pl]

I have two comments on this: 1) Totally agree that we need to fund more deep-sea exhibitions. Lot of crazy evolutionary developments occurred for creatures to withstand the insane pressure down there. 2) It's also easy to imagine life taking drastically different forms to withstand a harsher planet. Maybe not as diverse as Earth's, but still would be mind-blowing to discover.

[@masbaiy4858]

The point of seeking extra terrestrial life is not about finding new species. We can do earth exploration if that is the goal. The point is to know whether we're really alone. A question which either answer "would be equally terrifying."

[@Member_zero]

Nah it used to have even more diverse life in the past ... last few decades we kinda ...reduced that diversity a bit. Culled the herd, so to speak... Now we have only our planet to work with, aliens probably have whole galaxy under their belt ... only matter of time before we are on the chopping block, I say!

[@Jake-pn7wr]

I watched this yesterday on 4/20, and I can't say enough how much this blew my mind.

[@kohterg3713]

Truly fascinating! Your work is inspiring profesor!

[@russbogardusrussbogardus9911]

Simply amazing observations. I wonder if the same logic applies to robots and artificial intelligence? The AIs in both the Matrix and Terminator series were born out of singularity events rather than evolution.

[@autosneak1618]

Ur comment literally has zero sense

[@autosneak1618]

@President Obama convergent evolution in machines intelligence? And he said that the matrix and terminator are born from singularity therefore they are the same?

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video.

[@autosneak1618]

Nice sarcasm

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

I think there would be a similarity with us and alien life because we are all based on the same physics, but there would also be great variety as we have here on Earth.

[@ccahua]

Came for the dog/wolf thumbnail, stayed for the excellent shared evolution talk

[@megabites8592]

So earth basically has every form of locomotion? If we find alien life its going to have something incommon with a lifeform from earth. It's either going to fly, swim, walk or slither. That blows my mind

[@dhanushkatennakoon156]

Why have I never paid attention to the comments? There is a whole community of exciting people who watch these kinda videos other than me!!! It's incredible to feel we live in a world like this, so we can find that niche of like-minded people just because of the internet.

[@autosneak1618]

The video sucks, he talks about an extremely simple concept (for 4 mins AND plugs his book) that was on the table for as long as we had aliens on our mind

[@WorthlessWinner]

It seems like complexity is very easy to build up (Daniel McShae has done work on this), It is turning that complexity into something useful for the organism that takes time

[@ichankomo8767]

Animals communication. What are they saying, how much are they saying and why.... Well, same here. I remembered this black colour creature which only able to pronounce "Ore wa ochinchin ga daisuki nandayo" kinda got me curious.

[@exbcn]

b0ss

[@autosneak1618]

gold

[@kotor1357]

Subscribed to this channel a few months ago and I have no regrets

[@yash1152]

2:10 any details on why those (dolphin sounds and wolf howls) are found out to be similar???

[@charlescarabott7692]

Here is my (unprofessional and unqualified) theory. Dolphins like the video said live much like wolves. It could be that dolphins where once dogs. So even after millions of years living in the ocean they still exhibit dog like behavior

[@yash1152]

@@charlescarabott7692 or maybe the vice verse as water animals came first iirc, but yeah, maybbbe :)

[@autosneak1618]

@@charlescarabott7692 how the f did u entangle dolphins/whales with dogs, what do u smoke? Tumbleweed and chlorine?

[@charlescarabott7692]

@@autosneak1618 hahaha what happened you knocked your head on something and some screws fell off.

[@TeaSquiffy2]

@@charlescarabott7692 I think the most common understanding is that dolphins did evolve from land animals that returned to the sea. Pakicetus is the candidate I see the most, which I don't think has anything to do with wolves/dogs but is heavily connected to the hippo. Now the hippo and the dolphin are very closely related and hippos will make social noise in the same way dolphins and wolves will - calling out quite far along a river, for example. So what I think is most likely is, as Arik says in the video, convergent evolution; different organisms evolving with similar traits. In the same way that birds, bats and insects have all evolved with wings, despite not being on the same evolutionary tree, the dolphin/hippo line and wolf line just happened to come up with the same solution to a problem, despite not being on the same line.

[@Thonderal]

Basically evolution is ruled by mathematics and evolution will come up with the same solutions that we have on earth according to the laws of physics, this is another and super logic way to see the universe as a whole

[@A3Kr0n]

If you slow down a dolphin call and play it backwards it says "Ringo is dead".

[@onqproductions]

3:30 did “Star Trek” jump out at you too?

[@MyStarPeopleExperiences]

Thank you

[@ProjectDarkWolf]

Author Vernor Vinge created a race of sapient wolves, covergently evolved from whales in his '90's novel 'A Fire Upon the Deep'. Despite his 'Tines' being such a seemingly unlikely species, perhaps he wasn't too far aff the mark after all! I think we would have some explaining to do in a first contact situation with them, though...

[@isaiahgdavis871]

Dolphins go “bark” , that is all…

[@colin8696908]

I think we can infer more general ideas of what technologically advanced life would look like, in order for a species to develop technology it has to have the ability to collect data transmit data between individuals and act on that data. Therefore a civilization with technology must have sensory organs such as sight sound and smell since it likely evolved within an atmosphere/liquid solution. It also must be able to transmit that data likely through similar methods such as noise because again it's likely within some type of atmosphere or liquid solution capable of transmitting sound, finally it must be able to create something based on the data which likely means that it must have some type of external appendage with fingers although it doesn't necessarily need to be a hand as long as it's able to manipulate matter with some sort of small precision.

[@autosneak1618]

U just described the guy in the video entire gemick

[@morkovija]

The information density could have been higher. Otherwise the main message of the video can be compressed even further. Wish there was a bait of some more intricate specific detail other than 'features develop independently if there is use for it'

[@ltamazingstoriestv8919]

INTERESTING REALLY..

[@thedragonofthewest5789]

he speaks super generally. geography plays a huge role in evolution and speciation. cause creatures are being forced by it to adapt in a way that their possibility of passing their genes to the next generation improves. namely there are so many variables and we have so many things we dont know. making predictions based on the evolution on earth about extraterrestrial life is kinda vague and pointless

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

Simon Conway Morris has been saying the same thing for many years, in fact he has gone as far as the molecular level and found evidence of convergent evolution across many different species.

[@MrBeklager]

The only obvious factors that affect life on other planets is the gravity on that planet, its magnetic field, seasons, water and gas concentration. Based on this I belive you cant realy draw the conclussions he drew early on, for instance that wings are convergent. But ofc there will be similarities

[@herohamza1196]

I love your title

[@chinmaydeshpande8969]

Can someone please define what it means to be alive?

[@velvetrest4566]

If its made of the periodic table and needs energy to do “work” then its alive

[@LuigiSimoncini]

it means being autocatalytic

[@YagamiKou]

not everything needs a definition, thats a human concept an obvious example is the word "game" google defines it as something fun, new or challenging but there is boring, old and easy games game is just something u know when u see it the linguistic word for this is "homeostatic property cluster" each item in the cluster relates to at least 1 item in the cluster its better to look at life on a scale, its not some binary yes/no u can be totally dead, like a rock sort of not really living like a virus half and half like some of the smallest micro-organisms mostly living --> where I would put plants totally living like mammals usually if u can argue about the definition of a thing, it shows the definition is poor the fact u can argue about what is alive or dead for me, is a good indicator that the truth is probably a scale not everything in life can have definite boundaries but thats ok and sometimes even more interesting if u use a scale like this, then humans have already created life in the lab *its just really low on that scale*

[@robbieguerrero3351]

It could be interesting to research Whale Sharks and their metabolism. Perhaps, they have symbiotic algae in their skin that allows them to collect energy and live. Like Kershenbaum mentioned, "Life can not exist without energy." It is too simple to think that Whale Sharks are just filter feeders and what if the Incredible Hulk is the future of man, symbiosis.

[@autosneak1618]

Whale sharks eat, u know

[@autosneak1618]

And there s a reason why plants don't walk, photosynthesis provides little energy

[@allansh828]

no wonder why we haven’t met them: they are just as clueless as we are

[@joeymelfa3321]

what if theyre more evolved humans though? what if it goes past Homosapien ?

[@Kingumaru]

@@joeymelfa3321 I personally don't think that there would be another 'Homo Sapiens' species out there. The evolution on other planets is probably gonna expire completely different than here on earth.

[@ericswain4177]

Very good point if their environment is not too drastically different and their perception of that reality not to fare off. Evolution and complexity of life forms will be our undoing.

[@zebonautsmith1541]

I can imagine an alien structured like a plant; where instead of eating; it simply stands under it's "Sun" for energy and starves if there is too much darkness.

[@kiq654]

Intellect might require some complex requirements besides there being need of hiding, or they might develop very narrowly and lack complex solution for handling different species. Meaning at least gathering to make sure brain have some sensual requirement to be developed and nurtured by nature. Not in religious way. I dont think plant like beasts would have need for tools or possibly develop even singing.

[@Dana-pv2is]

Every single species of all creatures are like nations who have habits, functions and feelings similar to humans and every species communicate through specific language known among them such as particular sounds or smells...etc.

[@baphomettheluciferstemple9995]

*I remember Alf's television series and I think that this program, although you may not believe it, has a lot of information about what an alien can be in our world.* ....and that ist weird !

[@davidwilkie9551]

The inside-outside presence of a superimposed cyclical, Universal Event, and probabilistic correlations with convergences must eventually re-evolve in metastable self sufficient complex conformal organisation identified as "life". Culture is infinitely variable within cyclical environments.

[@wjrasmussen666]

The humans are on to us...

[@Xx_Eric_was_Here_xX]

wings might just be convergent on a planet like ours with our atmospheric conditions - i won't be surprised by space crabs though

[@quadstack4562]

Love it. This can be scaled up to intelligent species as well. And not just physical attributes, but cultural ones. I'd bet there is a similar technological evolution most planets go through. They'd likely have their own Stone Age, Bronze Age and so on. They also would have likely had Percussion, String and Brass instruments as well. The small details in their culture and civilizations may differ, but overall development should be close to ours.

[@autosneak1618]

If intelligent life is common, our upbringing as humans would be extremely common, unless we find gestalt consciousness, that would be different

[@dirkbruere]

Ever wonder why representatives of the top three predator species on Earth, Humans, Canines and Felines like each other so much they often live together in the same house?

[@lonestarr1490]

And don't forget about mice and spiders, bed bugs, and house dust mites, who also like to live in our houses. All those top tier predators. Wait ...

[@dirkbruere]

@@lonestarr1490 But we don't like living with them. We kill them

[@lonestarr1490]

@@dirkbruere Almost the same can be said about many of the felines: they kill us.

[@wildboy3937]

domestic cats and dogs are not top predator, they don't prey for food, cats only prey small animals because of intinct mostly they hunt to play, they live with us because they are one of few carnivores who are less harmfull to us humans, unlike Lions / Wolves, if a bear was smaller and less dangerous maybe they will be as common pets. the only real predator you mention are humans .

[@dirkbruere]

@@wildboy3937 Canines and Felines

[@sethaldrich7375]

Could wings just be glorified fins?

[@abbbb5625]

Group and social behavior requires quantities of both energy source and energy takers. To have an energy abundant environment requires some geographical requirements and the quantity of 'predators' require a healthy group. When we start the notion of group, it requires a higher level of antibodies and hygiene which are not original behaviors - ameoba do not clean themselves and their surroundings. So yes sama sama but different.

[@ignaziopenna9234]

I always thought that to be really intelligent you need abilty to move and ability to manipulate the matter

[@brianmontgomery9744]

All plants and animals feel and express pain!

[@supremereader7614]

It is amazing wolf howl and dolphin 🐬

[@Anidem9]

So chances are if there was intelligent life on Earth before us it may very well have spoken a language like we do. Interesting.

[@Member_zero]

Oh no! We've been discovered my brothers!! .... Quick to the flying saucer! We must return to planet Naratrax at once!

[@laskey2175]

Then an alien might know what a snake is.

[@Neroox05]

The problem that evolution is solving is surviving earth. I would be presumptuous to assume that extraterrestrial life face the same challenges that life has on earth (different gravity, geology , atmosphere, etc). Basically alien evolution would be solving for a different set of problems which would likely give different solutions, i.e., evolution.

[@YagamiKou]

those are the same problems faced here *at different intensities* and different locations on earth have different intensities as well I dont think its far fetched to make some claims about life on other planets

[@autosneak1618]

@@YagamiKou what if the planet is tiddly locked with its sun, only allowing a small strip of land in between the freezing dark side and the hellish bright side to harbors life? What kind of convergent evolution does that utilize that is similar to our own?

[@YagamiKou]

@@autosneak1618 Im not a biologist but honestly, I dont think that makes a huge difference earth has places so cold life cant exist but as far as we know, there is life in the hottest places we have things like thermal vents can be hotter then 460 C one could, at the very least, assume mammal like life survives better in colder climates (that is creatures with warm blood who give birth to live young) but in extreme colds, is not viable enough to survive it means evolution would be in a really tough spot to move past there but if it could, warm blooded is still probably the best bet where as in heats, cold blooded animals regulate temp better with some crustaceans surviving in the most extreme temps I think such a planet, would be *more* likely to force similar traits, this guy isnt saying like "oh they will be identical"... he is just saying some traits will be similar (like warm/cold blood) or that even thoe its a different planet there will always be a evolutionary position available for an aggressive scavenger species (e.g wolf or velociraptor) and such ideas, should mean we can make *very basic* predictions about their biology but u still have to be careful about the predictions it might seem like warm blood and having 4 limbs are a correlation but our 4 limbs come from the fact our fish ancestors had 4 fins so even if evolution converged to say, a wolf *it could be a 6 limbed wolf*

[@borgyporgy2873]

Howling dolphins! That's not scary at all

[@skinnymoonbob]

So this could mean that the many earthlike exoplanets we find today could have similar forms of life by following the universal laws of evolution. We might not be the only humanoids.

[@davidlucey1311]

They all need hands or the equivalent and they will have to be terrestrial and not aquatic. Don’t believe me, try making fire under water.

[@Member_zero]

Who says they will need fire? Dolphins and fish do just fine witouth fire ...

[@User-kjxklyntrw]

Because we also alien lol

[@dogfromthepurplezoneoffici5182]

What if pets and animals were aliens all along

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

But wolves and dolphins were already both ferungulates! That makes them reasonably closely related, and the reason that they found similar ways of acting is that they were fundamentally similar in their capabilities and structures, already. So, I do not find this example of convergent evolution to be very meaningful. If you want to understand possible convergent evolution between planets, it is more meaningful to look at the convergence between plants and animals, for example. Their last common ancestor was a single-celled eukaryote, as far as I know, which means that they independently evolve multi-cellularity, sexual reproduction, and so on. And any structures that end up similar should heavily depend on Earth's environment, which will in large part be shared between other planets, as well, mainly because all planets with life will have gravity, some atmosphere, an uneven surface, and most of them will probably be rocky and have a star near them, for example.

[@abhiroopreddy1948]

First!! to watch such an exceptional video!!

[@abhiroopreddy1948]

@Dym Sohin Haha!! yeah tru!!

[@aminam9201]

the irrationals

[@thegovtdoesntcareaboutyou]

I was w feline humanoid

[@thegovtdoesntcareaboutyou]

In my past life

[@flyingface]

Seems highly speculative

[@annebuijs6810]

Yeah, duh. We haven't even met any aliens yet, we can't observe them so we take the knowledge we do have and apply it to get a general sense of the situation. Did you expect to be shown a full alien society?

[@flyingface]

@@annebuijs6810 of course not haha. But I guess I expected a little more than what a bunch of undergrads would come up with, if they were asked, what features of life should we expect to be common between us and aliens

[@annebuijs6810]

@@flyingface I can understand that, but I'd argue there is not much we can assume since life on earth is so specificly evolved to this place. See to know kind of thing, y'know?

[@jayachandranthampi4807]

Rolling & thus evolution seems to be a fundamental fact creating Fiction & vice Versa (it's rolling!!!). So velocity / speed is an essential event & thus can influence the dimensions expelled out other than Gravity, time & Senses. Even here in Earth, our current knowledge itself could be Limited - AI might evolve large pattern recognition (not Cognising) and thus change the topography of space time understanding - prediction & even causation!!! AI being unbiased, without an acting past, can be perfect Observer, standing as Zero - who knows we may thus thus know what's "Waving" in a wave or what's particularising to a particle!!! It might even tell us You are a hallucination, a non event, conceptualised, on way in the Consequences in Nature!!!

[@badmanners7274]

Could you explain the first two sentences? Not sure I follow.

[@jayachandranthampi4807]

@@badmanners7274 Sir, it's bit different now, as it's not possible (atleast for me) to be in that mental frame exactly to reproduce / explain, as it was, while in that frame. However, allow, me to give a try again. I understand, life as a process of input (3 way in), inner acts & out put - all 3 ways (food, breath, senses - in, within & out).. Rolling is living - like life rolling out daily as per input & internal act. What we receive as input is indirectly, atleast, is what is Gravitated to us (which means, we have at some point send it out of us - like Gravity bringing back what's thrown out). Inner act is sponsoring / by energizing the received stuff. This is primarily by Heart. Thus it's Time (which is actually a measurement done by energy used or given). Finally, brain make an image using senses, to make sense of it & this also creates an Identity of Actor from Experience (when we expel what was sponsored within). We have only flexibility in these processes, not absolute Control (atleast till we enlarge the Self to a high degree). Fiction is the mental images that we create (using senses) of Life. Reality, is the process happening independent to a great extent. Like moon (our brain, a satellite) influencing Earth (our Heart which rotates / circulates). This circulation is around intestine (Sun, the energy giver). All these go as per Pelvis (the galaxy centre - black hole). 🙏

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Well, it's obvious, innit? The wolf and the dolphin are both moaning the same way because they haven't been saved by the blood of Jesus.

[@kamel3d]

I always tought the same, math is the only costent thing in the universe and it should be the driver of evolution elsewere as it does here on earth

[@TheArjulaad]

🤷🏻‍♂️🕉 my dog(or?)......🤭........’’make’’it 🐝.....🤦🏻‍♂️🙄......✌🏻

[@n1mbusmusic606]

nice grift. hell sell some books for sure.

[@MavHunter20XX]

We have commonalities with other species, not because we have a common ancestor, because we have a common creator.

[@harrybaulz666]

Goofball

[@tacofodder5313]

Another human, so confidently wrong