I have before opined that the universe is likely sprawling with intelligences that are utterly disinterested in us because we are still biological, and therefore mortal, and therefore think and act on a timescale that must seem ridiculously hasty to them. To stretch the as-flies-to-wanton-boys metaphor a bit, consider the two-week lifespan of the fruit fly. How seriously could we take them as a peer society? Even if we did somehow figure out they were trying to communicate with us?

Bre Pettis showed me this video, which dates from at least four years ago and is derived from a short story by Terry Bisson, at Bay Area Maker Faire 2011 last weekend, and I can’t stop giggling over it. The video shows more than a smidge of Twin Peaks styling, plus a nod to aliens Kang and Kodos from The Simpsons (“We are merely exchanging long protein strings…”) at the end.