Interesting question.  Star Trek and similar *usually* represent higher life
froms (they're more interesting for story lines), and of course the answer
must be totally speculative.  I'd say you're assuming far too much to say
reproduction would be similar.  Unless panspermia or other form of seeding
is correct, I'd say there's no way to speculate on either appearance or
mechanism except in the broadest terms for "general life".  For
"higher"
forms, with a civilization anaolgous to ours (articicial objects, like
dwellings, travel devices, etc.), I'd say they'd need:
- either a reasonably-sized cognititive centre (like our brain) or a
connected distributed function (as per neural networks) of lesser "brains",
plus
- a method of manipulating objects physically - including themselves - not
*necessarily* hands, legs, etc., but possibly even use of enslaved creatures
with these attributes or through something similar to telekinesis.

By definition, I *think* that'd be multi-cellular, though even the concept
of cells (or similar) might be assuming too much.  Any more than this and
you're assuming.  Non-carbon, non-DNA-based intelligent life (at least as
perceived by us as intelligent) could look like anything, especially with a
distributed "brain".  Reproduction would not necessarily involve more than
one creature (agree that >2 seems less likely), although I would *expect*
some form of integrated and physical manipulation (like hands).  My $.02
(and yeah, even that's a stretch).  Regards, Brett.

"Representative Trantis"  wrote in message
news:bneq6f$17da$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> A bit of an extension on my previous "Is Gender Inevitable" post.
> If life were discovered elsewhere in the universe it's highly unlikely
> they would look anything like humans. Many popular science fiction
> movies and television programmes show the aliens as human or human
> with one or two minor feature differences. Perhaps the most popular
> sci-fi of all time, Star Trek, has pointed ears, or wrinkled noses as the
> only visible difference between some alien races and humans.
>
> However, what would be the same or very similar? It's highly likely
> that would sexual reporoduction requiring the coupling of two or more
> organisms be the dominant method of reproduction, as it is on our planet,
> and two orgranisms seems the optimal for finding a mate and reproducing,
> three or four would just complicate matters, so therefore our methods of
> reproduction would be similar.  Perhaps, given two required for
> reproduction, geners would develop, (See other post).
>
> What else would be the same/ is almost as close as you can get speaking
> from an evolution point of view, to inevitable for sucessfull devleopment?
> Thoughts?
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