There may seem to be a glaring mistake in this, but things are not what they seem. Yes; think sci-fi and aliens and all that. Something else that might be interesting for a few of you.. ;-) Kudos for whoever figures it out first...
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"So, how bad is their gravity?"
"Four point six."
"Four point six? Are you sure?"
"Yes sir. I used the external ship to double-check."
"How in the world can they walk or even get off the ground?"
"They seem to have developed a fairly good form of biped movement. Some might consider it beautiful, if not amazing."
"Interesting. So, really... how do they gets things into orbit?"
"It takes a large amount of energy. For one of their standard ships, with six passengers and not much else, over 50 times each persons weight, individually, in fuel."
"Oh my. Just doing the numbers in my head, I don't think they couldn't get one hundredth of a percent of their population off the surface if there was an emergency."
"That is correct sir. Only a few thousand could leave, assuming they had a two year notice. If something hit without warning I doubt any of them would survive."
"Wow. That would be a shame. They have two eyes and breath oxygen, right?"
"Yes, that is true, but remember: they breath their oxygen thru the air not water."
"Oh yes, I did forget that. Not unique, but unusual. Lots of fighting too? Over religion, commerce, race, creed. All the typical?"
"Yes. They are just another carbon-based life from with a grudge against the universe. Also, sir, here are the pictures you requested."
"Wow. They are even uglier than I thought. The gravity must have had an affect on.. Oh my! What is wrong with their hands?!?"
"It is in the report sir. They have 12 fingers. I know; I had never seen anything like it. It doesn't seem..."
"Natural. I agree. Completely amazing. I have never seen a single hand with 5 digits. How can control them all? Are they all usable?
"Yes, even the short stubby one is important in grasping."
"Why did they develop beyond the normal eight fingers? That doesn't make any sense. It just isn't right."
"I agree sir. We have people working on it, but no answers yet."
"Ok. Taking into account what they are going to have to do to move their structures into space, have we revised the requirements for initial contact?"
"Yes sir. In either 8 or 10 of their years we may be having a conversation. That is our best guess."
"Very good. On to the next planet."
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