What Does a Martian Look Like?
The Science of Extraterrestrial Life
Chapter One
Astrobiology and Xenoscience
Cain and Abel have walked and drifted in many strange places - 'walked'
was not appropriate for many of them. Cain is a millipede
four feet long, or alternatively one hundred and twenty-two feet along; Abel
is - well, more of a gas cloud with a few solid bits, really. Our translator
can give some flavour of their reactions to various Earth ecosystems, as they
prepare a booklet for alien tourists. (The translator is necessarily imperfect;
all alien concepts are replaced by the nearest human equivalent, however
inappropriate.)
They start, as they usually do, in a desert; it is a simple ecosystem with
about species. Abel sinks into the sand, while Cain turns over a flat rock.
Under the rock is a small yellow scorpion, whose sting tries to penetrate
Cain's armour and fails. Cain notes that the scorpion is nearly at the top of
the ecosystem; he picks up a piece of its excreta and chews it thoughtfully.
'We should warn them about stings ... and about this stuff,' he says. 'It is
delicious, and could be addictive. This little chap ate two beetles last week.
One was a fungus- ... read full excerpt from What Does a Martian Look Like?: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life ebook
