The thing we would like to explain to the aliens is how humans ride a bicycle. We mainly use two forms which are pictures and videos to help them comprehend.

For the picture part

First, we would like to draw the bicycle image. We first want to draw the separated parts of a bicycle. The brick, the saddle, the front wheel, the back wheel, and the pedals are the five parts we draw separately which are also the most important compositions of a bike. Then, we draw a complete bicycle shape to show how these compositions connect to be a vehicle. Since the image is a plane, we will then draw bicycles from several different angles to let them better understand what a three-dimensional bicycle looks like.

Second, we draw a human body to let them know what humans look like.

Third, after we use images to explain the structures and appearances of both a bicycle and a human body, we draw steps of how a person gets on the bike and starts riding. We use different images to draw different steps. The first step is the person holds the handlebars of the bicycle, and the second, the person straddled the bicycle seat. Then, the person puts his/her feet on the pedals. The three steps are something a person needs to do before bike riding.

Then we draw an overall picture of a person riding a bike, we use some signals to show the movement.

The picture can show the detailed compositions of a bicycle and a human body, and how they connect and cooperate to move from one place to another. But to better and vividly understand how the time flows and the bicycle moves, we would like to then provide a video.

For the video part

We plan to provide a bike riding tutorial video that we found on the internet. In this video, a person is first showing the different compositions of the bicycle; then he gets on the bike and starts to ride. He rode slowly for some distance so that the aliens can better comprehend how the whole process of riding a bike is. With the form of a video, where each step has its own strict order, and time shows in a linear way, aliens can better understand the movement of time.

By combining the images with the video, the aliens could understand the structure of the bicycle and its effect on people well, as well as the movement of time implied in it.

• How do aliens in the story language and communication style different from the human language (oral, pictographic, phonetic, etc.)?

First, in regard to their oral and written language. Their (the aliens’) oral language sounds like a staggered current sound, and because they need to use sound to express the meaning, so using oral language takes much longer time than the written one. They prefer to use written language which is much more effective to them. 

This is totally different from human language habits. It’s convenient for us to speak, and writing usually takes us more time.

Second, their written language is a kind of non-linear arrangement of text. They know what will happen in the future, so they don’t use the letters to form words and sentences. They make the whole “text” into a picture and output the “text” at the same time. 

Our human language all consists of different letters, words, and sentences. We use different small parts to form the whole meaning, while they just use an entire visual text.

To sum up, the aliens’ written language is spatial which transcends the concept of time, and ours’ is linear language which is limited compared to theirs.

• How does the physical structure of our body inform the way we communicate? How about the aliens?

The structure of the human body gives us the ability to speak which is the main way we communicate, and also we apply a more formal way to communicate which is writing. Speaking can give quick and direct information to others and writing can keep the information for a longer time which makes remote communication possible for us. Mainly, for the written language, we write on the paper or type due to the physical structure of our body.

For the aliens, because it looks like a barrel suspended at the intersection of seven limbs, which is radially symmetric, and any of its limbs could serve as an arm or a leg. They use four legs to walk and there are three non-adjacent arms at their sides. They have more body parts than us, and this equips them to use more ways to communicate. And that also could be a reason for why they use written language more frequently.

Welcome to Web Publishing @ NYU. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start creating your site!

Online help is available via the Web Publishing Knowledge Site (wp.nyu.edu/knowledge) and the ServiceLink knowledge base (www.nyu.edu/servicelink). Through ServiceLink, you can find step-by-step instructions, as well as tutorials.

Digital Accessibility

As content creators who create and publish text, images, video, and audio, you must adhere to the NYU Website Accessibility Policy (https://www.nyu.edu/digitalaccessibility/policy) when creating and publishing digital content.

Web Publishing-specific Digital Accessibility Best Practices and examples of how to ensure your content are compliant are available at https://wp.nyu.edu/digitalaccessibility

If you have additional questions, contact the IT Service Desk for assistance. Support is available 24/7/365. For more details, visit www.nyu.edu/it/servicedesk.