re: Alien megastructures? SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array targets weird star.

quote:

---

Can you imagine the difference between a Type II civilization and ours?

---

quote:

---

It's fun to think about how aliens might reproduce. Evolution on earth led to sexual dimorphism for its preeminent species, humans.

While this method of reproducing is also dominant amongst animals, especially the bigger species, it isn't universal. One species of lizards can reproduce asexually, for example, and the great majority of tunicates, pulmonate snails, opisthobranch snails and slugs are hermaphrodites.

Hermaphroditism is common amongst plant species and some fish employ that reproduction strategy. One species, in fact, can switch genders at will if there is an imbalance in the number of males and females in a group.

So, asexuality (cloning), hermaphroditism (essentially bisexuality), and sex with its distinct male and female roles are the three ways an organism can reproduce. All three are in use on earth with sex being the dominant form in the animal kingdom and hermaphroditism in plants.

Would this have happened on a planet harboring life in the Tabby's Star system? Sex in animal species predominated because it's an efficient method of exchanging genes.

Genetic diversity promotes a species because viruses and other microbes can't keep up with the pace of genetic change. Therefore, a stronger genetic species will produce more offspring and proliferate.

However, the same can be said for hermaphroditism. The same genetic diversity is achieved by plants and they have come to dominant the planet, providing an oxygen-rich environment for animals.

Asexuality is not an efficient way to achieve genetic diversity, depending upon mutations for change with a hit-or-miss likelihood that the mutation won't be lethal. We see few species that depend upon this method of reproduction and they are usually primitive.

So there are only two methods of reproduction that could produce an intelligent species, which is the end result of genetic mixing. Does the fact that sex led to humans imply that this is the only way a sentient species can arise on a planet?

No. In our example, sex produced a species that sees warring amongst its own members. Also, half of the species is subordinate to the other half (feminism notwithstanding in western societies).

I think hermaphroditism might be superior to sex in that a more peaceful species would likely evolve. If every member of a species is charged exactly equally with contributing to the group, there would be far less pressure to "spread one's genes" by killing rivals and raping his harem.

I won't be surprised at all if our first alien contact is with a species that is hermaphroditic.

---

quote:

---

Hermaphroditic or regular

---

quote:

---

Pussy

---