Cephalopods – octopuses, squids, and nautiluses – “are an island of mental complexity in the sea of invertebrate animals” having developed on a different path from us, “an independent experiment in the evolution of large brains and complex behavior," says Godfrey-Smith, philosopher of science. “If we can make contact with cephalopods as sentient beings, it is not because of a shared history, not because of kinship, but because evolution built minds twice over,” adds Godfrey-Smith. “This is probably the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien.”

A group of 33 scientists from respected institutions around the world have suggested Octopuses descended from an organic alien material, reports Newsweek. Their research, published in the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, ties the “remarkable” rise of octopuses and their cephalopod cousins to the theory of panspermia. (Panspermia is not meant to address how life began, just the method that may cause its distribution in the Universe.)

Acknowledged experts are unconvinced by the findings. Avi Loeb, the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University told Newsweek the study raised "an interesting but controversial possibility, offering no "indisputable proof" that the Cambrian explosion is the result of panspermia.

Now I have to admit that I suggested the Cephalopods got here in flying saucers or some form of 'warp-drive' spaceship, but in the case of octopuses, the authors think cryopreserved eggs could have hitched a ride to Earth on icy bolides. “Indeed,” they wrote, “This principle applies to the sudden appearance in the fossil record of pretty well all major life forms.” Tiny multicellular critters in the form of “eggs, embryos and seeds” might have sprung to life on Earth after a voyage through space.

(OK so they got here by hitching a ride on a comet, not a starship, but just the same those damned thing are ALIENS folks!)

The way I see it anyway!

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