ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: What was the first depiction of an alien on film?

QUESTION What was the archetypal depiction of an alien connected film?

The archetypal aliens depicted connected movie were successful the 1902 French sci-fi abbreviated Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon), directed by George Melies.

Professor Barbenfouillis (Melies) convinces his technological colleagues to instrumentality a travel to the moon. 

Their spaceship lands but arsenic they research the aboveground they conscionable the hostile alien inhabitants, the Selenites. 

These aliens, named aft the Greek satellite goddess, were played by acrobats from the Folies Bergere, whose costumes were among the astir costly parts of the production.

Among the archetypal talkie movies that depicted an alien was Howard Hawks's sci-fi classical The Thing From Another World (1951), which was based connected the communicative Who Goes There? 

Hawks realised that this then-modern-day fearfulness communicative could service arsenic an effectual allegorical conveyance for the increasing Cold War paranoia and the Soviet atomic threat.

Following a magnetic disturbance astatine the North Pole, an expedition consisting of soldiers and scientists is dispatched to survey the source. 

There they find a large saucer-like entity buried beneath the ice. Inside they observe a frozen human-like subsister (the Thing), which they instrumentality backmost to their base. 

But arsenic the crystal melts, the deadly and hostile occupant goes connected the rampage and the squad indispensable excavation their cognition and expertise to survive.

Bob Jones, Plymouth, Devon.

QUESTION How communal is bipedalism successful the carnal world?

Bipedalism, oregon walking connected 2 legs, is not communal among animals arsenic a whole. 

Among invertebrates, lone the cockroach has been seen successful high-speed photography concisely scurrying connected hind legs, portion octopuses person been known to propel themselves crossed the oversea level by the usage of a mates of tentacles.

Several groups of dinosaurs were bipedal, particularly the carnivorous theropods, which included the Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

Birds, descendants of the therapods, are the 1 radical contiguous that are exclusively bipedal and, with much than 10 1000 species, they are by acold the astir galore one.

Some fossil mammals, specified arsenic crushed sloths, were bipedal.

There are nary bipedal amphibians but of the reptiles, immoderate lizards, including iguanas, tin power to bipedalism erstwhile running. 

The ­Basilisk lizard tin tally connected its hind legs crossed water, giving it its ­common sanction of Jesus lizard.

Most mammals are quadrupeds (walk connected 4 legs); humans are unsocial arsenic obligatory bipedal mammals erstwhile moving and walking. 

The closest to our mode of locomotion comes from gibbons, which usually brachiate, that is, plaything manus implicit hand, successful trees but alteration to hind-leg walking connected the ground.

Other primates person varying degrees of quality successful bipedal walking.

Various rodents, specified arsenic the kangaroo mouse, leap and hop, arsenic bash marsupials specified arsenic kangaroos and wallabies.

Interestingly, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was astatine archetypal depicted successful the kangaroo upright mode – with its process connected the crushed — until fossil people tracks showed an lack of a process track.

Other quadruped mammals person varying degrees of proficiency successful adopting bipedalism successful abbreviated bursts. 

Some dogs larn to locomotion connected their hind legs; and bears tin basal up and, cruelly, person been trained to 'dance'. 

Browsers specified arsenic goats volition basal to scope higher leaves. Other quadrupeds, specified arsenic squirrels, volition beryllium up with their forepaws successful the air. 

This tin escaped up hands and springiness them a amended presumption of their surroundings.

Why we became bipedal is not known. The much-parodied March of Progress representation is not right. 

It shows lone a linear improvement from ape to human. But bipedalism evolved agelong earlier humans did.

Bipedalism has galore disadvantages: giving commencement is acold much unsafe with a narrower pelvis; and adjacent tiny mammals tin outrun quality athletes. 

It takes a greyhound to drawback a hare. 

Freeing up the hands has astir apt played a large portion successful our survival, arsenic each quality taxon isolated from ours person became extinct. 

And it astir happened to us, too, astir 800,000-900,000 years ago, perchance due to the fact that of utmost cooling of the climate.

Phil Alexander, Farnborough, Hants.

QUESTION For which azygous conflict were the astir VCs awarded?

Further to the earlier answer, yes, Rorke's Drift did effect successful 11 VCs being awarded — for a azygous action. 

However, the top fig of Victoria Crosses for a ­single time was 24, during the Indian Mutiny connected November 16, 1857. 

Twenty-three were for acts of outstanding courageousness — 18 of them for the battle connected Sikandar Bagh — during the Second Relief of Lucknow. 

One was for Francis David Millet Brown's 'great gallantry' adjacent Delhi.

Michael Hunt, Beckenham, Kent.

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