On the subject of taking people seriously

I just watched V tonight, and I gotta say I enjoyed it. But, should the unthinkable occur and aliens do actually arrive on Earth, I'd like to take this opportunity to list the warning signs for them being our oppressors, not benefactors.

1) They speak our languages perfectly. The US only becomes concerned about whether or not it has enough funny-language-speaking translators when it's engaged in a war of occupation somewhere. An entire civilization of people who are charming, attractive, and take the time to learn our native tongues? Clearly, they must be evil.

2) They claim to need water. Seriously, we'll let you have Pluto. We don't even call it a planet anymore. Just keep on movin', friend.

3) They claim to need metals or some other resource on Earth. Assuming our understanding of the physics of stellar formation are correct, there's no element on Earth that can't be procured from asteroids at far lower energy cost. And given that the Vs claim the desired element is "abundant" in Earth's crust, they could just get it from the moon (again, at much lower energy cost) because the moon really nothing more than a giant hunk of the Earth's crust, torn off and scabbed over 4 billion years ago.

Nice try, aliens, but you'll have to think up a different set of lies. Oh, and most civilized countries already have universal health care. Go eat the Americans, the rest of us don't need your help.

Comments

[minstrel hussain boy]

here's another part of most sci-fi stuff like this that eludes me...

so, figure that last year on earth, there were over 2million children who died from diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water.

these aliens, that plucky, resourceful humans will fight, and beat, have mastered insterstellar flight.

we, on the other hand, have not mastered safe drinking water.

shouldn't be much of a fight yo.

we're gonna outsmart them? yeah. right.

(i do admit to liking the show though. i'm old enough to remember the original)

[Sir Charles]

I think it's only fair to warn our readers that John is Canadian and speaks our language perfectly. Beware!

[joel hanes]

I know that engineers who respond analytically to humorously-intended hypotheticals are a stone drag in conversation (unless serving as the butt of the joke).

But in my engineering way, I'm moved to point out that Earth's moon actually seems to be relatively impoverished in metals compared to the Earth. Possibly the Earth was already well-differentiated when some enormous impactor splashed a blob of of lighter silicates and aluminum compounds from the crust into orbit to become the Moon -- at any rate, while the Earth's average density is 5.52 g/cubic centimeter, the Moon's is only 3.34 g/cubic centimeter. because Earth has this big core of iron and other heavy metals, and the Moon's relatively smaller.

It's also instructive to compare the reflectivity (albedo). Earth is quite reflective, at 0.37, with enormous variation over the surface. The moon reflects less than a third as much incident light, at 0.12, and more uniformly. For this reason, and because the moon has a 28-day solar period, it's perfectly accurate to state

"there is no dark side of the Moon really ... as a matter of fact it's all dark"

[C.S.]

Three comments in, and nobody has stated the obvious? Well then, I shall . . .

I for one welcome our hypothetical alien overlords.

[Adrock]

People man. Dead ones. My hunch is they are grave robbers. I have yet to watch it, but if I like it, I hope this doesn't turn into another "Invasion" show.