Science isn’t particularly scientific, notes Daniel Whitmire by way of Becky Ferreira, and Dr. Whitmire argues, “My opinion is that what many scientists believe about life and intelligent life in the universe is almost political or psychological”. How did he come to make that point? A little thing called ‘peer review’. Until first contact, by us or them, if humanity is Looking For Life Beyond Our Solar System, Laughing Gas Could Be A Sign according to a new study reviewed by Wyatte Grantham-Philips. It seems sensible considering Earth’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, but Edward Schwieterman and pals expound upon the whys that detection of NO2 is a slam-dunk. When we do meet you-know-who, will they be more like us, embodied machines, or akin to octopodes? Either way we might be prepared as Alan Boyle draws upon Ray Nayler’s The Mountain In The Sea to demonstrate What Octopus Intelligence Can Teach Us About Artificial Intelligence — And Aliens. While Nayler’s octopodes are fictional, to the best of our knowledge, his portrayal of alien intelligence doesn’t seem that far-out in the context of cephalopods. (CS)
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