Welcome to this month's Science in Fiction feature! Science in Fiction is a meme I created to showcase the wonderful aspects of science in Young Adult fiction novels. For more information and previous feature, check out the "Science in Fiction" tag!
This month, I'm featuring United by Melissa Landers!
I actually have not read United yet, but I wanted to feature the book at some point. I've not read any science novel in the past month (boo!), so I'm featuring one that I will be reading in the future. This series deals with space colonization and other species similar to humans. Aelyx is from another planet called L’eihr; he and his kind look like humans, but are more advanced.
Today, my topic is alien human-like species!
I've talked extensively about terraforming, colonization of other planets, and life on other planets. I've probably touched upon aliens and whatnot, but I thought it'd be cool to explore the idea of human-like species that are not quite human.
Obviously there have been no discoveries of such species (yet?). There are no human-like creatures, or even little green aliens. So there isn't going to be a lot of concrete fact in this post.
But how neat would it be to encounter aliens, and other life forms that could communicate with us? Like, in Star Wars. There are a number of characters that aren't human but can communicate and live with humans.
You get the idea. Obviously there are a multitude of advantages and problems with encountering other life forms that could communicate with us. Competition, power, greed... honestly, humans are scary enough on our own. BUT, just like we strive to learn more about other cultures, learning more about other species and their cultures would be interesting... right?
How about more advanced human species? In the Alienated series, Aelyx comes from a species that is more advanced than humans. Think about the ways in which humans could advance. We could:
- Expand our intelligence and memory. (Like, to the point of us seeming like robots. If we're not already there yet?)
- Develop impossible abilities like telepathy or telekinesis. (Who even knows!)
- Learn to survive off things that don't seem like we could survive off them. (Meaning, our bodies would change. I could see humans developing food and pills and nutrients in different forms, and eventually, our body might not need certain types of sustenance anymore. I could see that happening.)
Like I said, not the most hardcore factual scientific post, but it definitely gives you something to think about. Would you like to interact with other species? Do you think it could happen? Could you see the human race advancing to the point of being "superhuman"?
Science in Fiction (#20): United by Melissa Landers
4/
5
Oleh
Unknown
