英展览科学家描绘外星生物

Over the years Hollywood has portrayed extraterrestrials in many guises, from the cuddly, childlike ET to the ferocious monster that is Alien%26#46;

Now scientists have decided to inject a little reality into science fiction by coming up with their version of what species from other worlds might look like%26#46;

The Science of Aliens exhibition is their best educated guess at how an alien might look, taking into consideration their likely environments and the laws of physics, chemistry and biology%26#46; 　

Scientists, including the Cambridge palaeontologist Simon Conway-Morris, have come up with a number of species including the stinger fan, a plant-like animal, the gulphog, a dinosaur-type predator, and the skywhale, a flying sea monster%26#46;

Stephen Foulger, the manager of the exhibition, which opens at the Science Museum on Oct 14, said: "It is true that some scientists believe complex life forms are rare or possibly nonexistent%26#46; But the majority still believe they exist%26#46; The problem is that they are so distant, we simply cannot detect them%26#46;

"This should not stop us speculating about what kind of worlds they might live on or what they might look like, however%26#46; And that is what we have done%26#46;"

The team has chosen two very different alien environments in which to place their extraterrestrials, Aurelia and Blue Moon%26#46;

Aurelia is the planet of a red dwarf, a star much cooler than our own sun%26#46; It is locked in such a tight orbit that it is unable to spin, so one side continually faces its sun and the other into the depths of space%26#46; There would be no seasons, days or nights%26#46;

This would be the world of the 15ft-tall gulphog, the scientists speculate%26#46; They have powerful legs, long necks and small heads and can run at up to 40mph%26#46; Other inhabitants include the stinger fans, which resemble plants but are flesh and blood and use flower-like tentacles to trap sunlight%26#46;

The Blue Moon is a Jupiter-sized planet with an atmosphere so dense that animals of immense size are capable of flight, including skywhales, with 30ft wingspans%26#46; Their only predators are caped stalkers, eagle-like carnivores that can cut into skywhales' flesh, while huge trees that grow 9,000ft high provide eco-systems to a fantastic array of other creatures%26#46;

Scientists stress that although such creatures may seem strange, they are only obeying the laws of natural selection that gave rise to life on our planet%26#46;

　　近些年来，人们对外星生物的了解大多来自于好莱坞电影。电影中描绘的这些“天外来客”可谓形态各异，从招人喜欢的像小孩子一样的外星人到凶恶残忍的大怪物，几乎无所不包。然而即将到来的一个展览将向人们揭示出科学家关于外星生物的种种预言，或许某一天，人们就可能和它们零距离接触。

　　据《每日电讯报》网站8月29日报道，这个名为“外星生物的科学”的展览即将于10月14日在英国伦敦科学博物馆拉开帷幕。科学家们在考虑到了外星生物可能面对的生存环境以及物理学、化学和生物学法则的基础上，向人们描绘出了这些生物可能具有的模样。

　　英国剑桥大学的古生物学家西蒙·康韦·莫里斯等科学家已经提出了一些外星物种，其中包括“刺激扇”（stinger fan，一种像植物一样的动物）、“gulphog”（一种恐龙类的食肉动物）和“飞鲸”（skywhale，一种飞行的海洋怪兽）等。

　　此次展览的负责人斯蒂芬·福尔杰表示：“可以肯定的是，一些科学家相信，在其它星球上，复杂的生命形式非常罕见或者根本就不存在。但是，大多数科学家仍然相信它们是存在的。问题是它们距离我们非常遥远，我们只不过无法发现它们而已。然而，这无法阻止我们对这些生物的生存环境以及它们的具体模样进行推测。”

　　报道说，这个展览旨在向人们揭示，外星生物并不像一些科幻影片中所描绘的那样。这些影片往往将外星生物描绘得非常类似于人类。 　

　　为此，研究小组选择了两个完全不同的环境作为外星生物的“家”。它们分别是“奥里里亚”（Aurelia）和“蓝月亮”（Blue Moon）——由计算机模拟出的两个可能在银河系中存在，并可能孕育生命的外星天体。

　　“奥里里亚”是一颗红矮星的行星。它被锁定在一个非常紧密的轨道中所以无法旋转，它的一面永远面对着它的太阳———红矮星，而另一面则永远处于黑暗之中。“奥里里亚”上面没有季节和昼夜之分。

　　科学家们推测，这里可能是由15英尺高的gulphog主宰的世界。gulphog长着两只强有力的腿、长长的脖子和小脑袋，它们能以时速40英里的速度奔跑。在这个星球上，其它一些“居民”还包括样子类似于植物，却长着血肉之躯，靠像花一样的触角来捕捉阳光的“刺激扇”。

　　“蓝月亮”是一颗木星大小的行星。“蓝月亮”上的大气非常密集，这就使得一些体态很大的动物也可以飞行，这其中就包括“飞鲸”（skywhale），飞鲸的翼展能够达到30英尺。这里还有一种像鹰一样的名为caped stalkers的食肉动物，它们可以分食飞鲸的肉。另外，这里长到9000英尺高的巨大树木也为其它奇特的生物提供着赖以生存的生态系统。

　　科学家们强调说，尽管这些生物看起来似乎很奇怪，但是它们也遵循着和我们星球上一样的自然选择规律。