Aliens would struggle to find food on Earth
A scientist has claimed that aliens would struggle to find a decent meal if they landed on Earth.
José Miguel Soriano del Castillo, Professor of Nutrition and Bromatology [food science] A doctor from the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Valencia in Spain wrote a paper discussing what aliens might snack on if they landed here, and speculated that they might not have much to eat for dinner.
In his piece for The Conversation, Professor del Castillo began by insisting that “there is no scientific evidence that extraterrestrials have ever visited Earth, let alone information about what they eat,” but went on to speculate about what they might be snacking on.
He wrote: “If an extraterrestrial visitor relies on carbon, water, and chemistry similar to those found on Earth, our planet offers them a somewhat risky buffet. Besides liquid water, there are salts, organic carbon, sugars, fats, amino acids, and minerals; but also potential toxins, pathogens, allergens, and other incompatible molecules.”
“Food on Earth might not necessarily be edible to them. Terrestrial proteins might be of no use if their digestive systems used different amino acids. Our sugars might become useless if their metabolism couldn’t handle them. Our bacteria might devastate alien life, or perhaps not infect it at all.”
He claimed that reports of cows being abducted by aliens could be reinterpreted as extraterrestrials trying the food offered on our planet, and insisted that aliens may actually have a preference for Earth’s mineral resources.
Professor del Castillo wrote: “So if aliens were to come, they might not be looking for human ‘food’ but raw materials: water, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, salts, lipids, microbial biomass or simple organic molecules.”
“The classic image of aliens abducting cattle could be speculatively reinterpreted not as a cosmic evil but as food sampling. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make any difference to the cows.”
He continued: “If aliens reach our planet, they may not come to steal things, conquer us, or uncover cosmic secrets. Maybe they’ll just come to eat better, but if they really want to understand our diet, they’ll need one last Earth lesson.”
“Eating here isn’t just about consuming energy; it’s about spending time together.”
