Tag Archives: Space Exploration

Common refrains I hear from sci-fi fans are both “I want the aliens to be more alien” (often when referring to certain film or TV aliens) and “You have to check this out: the aliens were really alien” (often when referring to certain books). The latter sentiment makes sense, because when you start considering how evolution might have taken place on other words, the bilaterally symmetrical humanoids that dominate much of cinematic science fiction seem less likely. In fact, there might be a whole host of unstated assumptions about anatomy and body chemistry that are very Earth-centric.

These are some of the trains of thought astrobiologists are busily boarding, as detailed in an article by Sarah Scoles for Scientific American.

This is the sort of thought experiment that I’ll always find exciting, because one day, we’ll find out just how right or wrong we are. In the meantime, I might try and find a copy of the entirely fictional, but enormously enjoyable Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials.

When I watched the recent film Don’t Look Up — as a great deal of other Netflix subscribers appeared to– they mentioned the very real Planetary Defense Coordination Office which made me think instantly of Spaceguard, which isn’t an official overall terms, but dangit, I’m not alone in thinking of it. In fact, overall efforts appear to be inspired by that vision of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, visions that have born fruit over the past few decades.

Knowing that, it is perhaps not surprising –but still reassuring– to know that NASA and others take their planetary defense duties seriously as Brian Resnick details in this recent article in Vox.

And speaking of Clarke, if you’d like to read a hard SF novel of his that deals directly with an asteroid headed towards Earth, The Hammer of God is a fun read, and one I don’t hear mentioned as much as the novel where he first mentions Spaceguard, Rendevous with Rama.