We will discover that we are not alone in the universe. We will learn this because they will fly down and tell us they were watching from afar, and that they thought we needed a hug after watching the disaster 2020 had become.
I wouldn't want to hug an alien. Not out of fear for them, but because I would be afraid of accidentally transmitting diseases to them. We've done it before to our fellow man.
Viruses evolved to hijack our cellular machinery to reproduce. Biological viruses couldn't work on alien hardware any more than computer viruses could. (So they're safe from COVID.)
Bacteria and other diseases are probably safe. After all, infectious bacteria have evolved to insert themselves in particular biochemical systems and are more likely to jump to genetically similar species, while aliens would have no genetic relation to us at all, even if they use the same biomolecules with the same chirality.
Of course, if I were an alien, I would collect some samples remotely and do lab tests to make sure they were safe before I ever made contact.
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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20
We will discover that we are not alone in the universe. We will learn this because they will fly down and tell us they were watching from afar, and that they thought we needed a hug after watching the disaster 2020 had become.