I've been thinking about creating "realistic" or "plausible" aliens in my writing. I can't stand that whole Star Trek/Star Wars "everybody is a human but they're a different color" shtick. But I mean something that would actually be plausible given a different environment and intelligence-level. I was thinking about the most efficient form for an intelligent being, whether it be some form of A.I or some kind of biological super monster. I wonder what that might look like? Sure, we have no frame of reference for aliens other than what we've got here on Earth, such as cephalopods and mammals in general. There is one intelligent biological alien species that I've come up with that I think might be a very plausible and efficient being that has evolved to the peak of biology. They are made of several strands of fleshy tentacle muscles that can form any shape they please in order to move or manipulate their environment in any way they need to. That means that they can expand or contract their tentacles if needed. Picture a hotdog but made with several tentacles lined up together vertically that can individually move. Their war machines are filled with a type of yellow liquid that has nutrients in it, the pores that run across their flesh that allow them to absorb the nutrients that grants them a steady supply of energy. They live in this liquid and they can exist outside of it as well although the tremendous supply of energy needed for them to function is what keeps them in this liquid of theirs. They have no such thing as organs with the exception of a brain that essentially runs throughout the entire body. That allows them full control of every part of their body and enables them to regenerate lost limbs simply by thinking it, they can renew the cells in their bodies just by thinking it too by using the nutrients in their liquid for energy to duck decay and live indefinitely. They do not have eyes, ears or any sensory instruments in their bodies. Pain can not be felt, they are only notified through their technology. Their technology has taken over that role aspect for them as they use their war machines as a sensory replacement after trillions of years of evolution. And similar to District 9, they interact with their technology through blocks of goo they can use their tentacles to manipulate every part of the war machine they control as they please by moving their tentacles around in the goo. What do you guys think of this species? Is it plausible according to what we know about biology? What do you think a perfectly evolved intelligent being might look like? Biological-wise and A.I-wise?
What about an alien species so evolved that its members are all different in shape, size or even number of limbs? That's not as crazy as it might sound. Actually, it would be the perfect biological lifeform since it evolves during lifespan not generation after generation. Plausible Alien lifeforms design has been my nemesis since many years and I have a lot ideas about it. This is just one of them, since you cleverly abandon the bilateral simetry concept for a lifeform. I'll gather some of my notes and I'll post it tomorrow (they need to be translated into English). This is a great topic.
This is an awesome topic! I, also, imagine a formless basis of creature, with symbiosis possible in more immediate capacity. Integration with technology is requisite, but AI is simply patterns in processing, so these entities would have the biological equivalent. Don't forget telepathy as a possibility for communication. You mentioned echinoderm-like detachment of limbs, so what would prevent them from separating parts of their consciousness as well, to collect it later, or await others? I envision them bonding, like a collective. I also strongly advocate non-planetary species - colonies or ships that exist in free space indefinitely. I would love to hear more ideas about this! Yay Sci-fi! Yippee!
That's a really cool idea, perhaps that would allow an alien to technically be omnipresent in the universe? If parts of it's consciousness can be separated and placed in different parts of the universe, then it could have access to tons of possibilities that wouldn't be possible like a normal single bodied organism. There could also be life in black holes. Possibly something that thrives on radiation and heat. Perhaps aliens that live in dark matter, or IS made out of dark matter?
I'm also trying to work out what to do with dark matter and energy. I had notions of mining black holes for anti matter. I think dark matter is just the nuclei and solar winds in the depths of space, which means it could be collected during travel, eliminating the need for carrying fuel. Dark energy could be the 'tidal' force of gravity waves colliding, allowing for some kind of passive 'radar'.
You're pretty much on the right path.Any being who can maximize themselves in every way is biologically perfect.However,i feel like if brought out of their enviroment,they would try to latch onto anything living,using their pores to absorb the biomass.Of course,the easiest thing for them to absorb would be human mass,since it has a relatively flat surface and we really don't have any particularly strong defense mechanisms on our own. So yeah,they would become straight up leeches pretty much. This topic is amazing just because of how much you can work with it,and i can't believe we're being constantly fed "human but weird skin colour" aliens all the time.
Hmmm. I don't see sound, or eyeballs, as useful in the void. Lots of other energy to perceive out there.
In my view, this being would be post-biological (i.e. artificial) and would have self-evolved beyond the instincts and biological imperatives that once governed its forebears. It would probably be extremely long-lived and would be some type of hive-mind mentality so instances of it could travel around independently of the main organism with experiences from those individuals being selectively absorbed at the end of its journey back into the hive-mind. Alternatively, it could be omniscient and could even be post-physical (energy or exotic matter).
It’s probably be whatever is most efficient. A perfect creature wouldn’t have evolved though, it would have at some point had to take control of its own evolution (genetic engineering or cybernetic augmentation.) It’s probably be a floating sphere.
