• Question: Do you think if there are aliens do you think they will be taller than humans because Earth is smaller than other planets?

    Asked by anon-177346 to Andrew, Becky, Daniel, Helen, Nicola, Urslaan on 9 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Daniel Marsh

      Daniel Marsh answered on 9 Jun 2018:

      I’m not sure that aliens exist but if they did it’s highly unlikely that they would have the same shape as humans or any other species on our planet as everything has evolved in a unique way to survive in its own environment…. they could be much taller but just a single strand of cells or maybe so small that they are just the size of an atom

    • Photo: Urslaan Chohan

      Urslaan Chohan answered on 9 Jun 2018:

      Fascinating question! The universe is very big, and there are many solar systems out there! Who knows, maybe there is life beyond our planet. If there are aliens, they don’t need to resemble what we are like – they may not even have physical form in the way we understand it! Though in science, we tend to apply knowledge as we have it, which means we assume they would be built from water and solid matter as we know it. They’d probably look very different as they evolved in different conditions…and that’s assuming they follow the same rules of biology that we follow! When it comes to aliens, we can let our imaginations truly run wild. And as for tallness or shortness, nobody knows. They could be big, they could be small, they could be round…who knows!

    • Photo: Andrew Singer

      Andrew Singer answered on 9 Jun 2018:

      I think the height of an alien is likely to be determined by the gravitational force of the plant from which they came. In large part, we are the hight we are because we evolved on a planet the size of Earth. If we were on a planet the size of the moon, we’d likely be much taller than we are, as the gravitational force on us would be much lower and it wouldn’t be such a slog walking around with our much bigger and probably taller bodies. The weight of our large bodies wouldn’t be a problem for our tiny legs either–as we won’t weigh as much on the moon as we would on Earth.

      So, your first question when you see a short alien should be: “Was your home planet larger than Earth?” or “Was your home planet smaller than Earth” if they are tall! If their planet was much smaller than Earth, you mind find them crawling as their weak legs might not be strong enough to keep them standing under Earth’s relatively high gravity.

    • Photo: Becky Thomas

      Becky Thomas answered on 11 Jun 2018:

      Awesome question! I don’t have an answer, but was fascinated to read the replies.

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