April 04, 2022

If Darwin Had A Spaceship | Arik Kershenbaum: The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy (#222)

1 hour 36 minutes

What would a modern-day 'Voyage of the Beagle ' be like? Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum evokes Charles Darwin's travels in a trip not confined to the earth's confines. Come along with us on a journey of discovery through the entire galaxy where we encounter aliens and their planets with supersonic creatures, a moon where aliens have a language composed of smells, and aliens who scream with fear, act honestly and have technology. The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.

This is a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like, using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space.

But short of aliens landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like? Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution - which applies throughout the universe - Cambridge zoologist Dr. Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move, socialize, and communicate. For example, by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status, we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity. As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a seafloor, Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry; on planets where creatures evolved in midair or in soupy tar, they might be lacking any symmetry at all.

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Topics discussed:

Why natural selection is both a universal and predictable process, the existence and results of which are likely to be present on alien planets.

What are Animals and What are Aliens?

Examines the definition of animals, from the historical definitions derived from observation (e.g. Aristotle), to modern phylogenetic relationships. The book argues that a purely phylogenetic definition of what is an animal cannot be sufficient for classifying alien life.

Movement – Scuttling and Gliding Across Space

How the constraints of physics and mechanics combined with evolutionary laws to produce the movement strategies we see on Earth, and why many of these strategies (e.g. legs) are likely to exist on other planets too.

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