Ladies, gentlemen and invited transgendered species - welcome to the Alien Plausibility Review. A new mini-format for the Trekspertise channel that examines the scientific possibilities of fictional aliens. First up - the Xenomorph from the Alien Franchise. Enjoy #trekspertise #startrek #aliens #alienfranchise #exobiology #sciencefiction #NASA
Walter Phippeny Thank you! A hearty endorsement =) We are undecided on the next alien APR. I'm itching to take Superman down a peg or two. Others want to head into Star Wars territory. Got any suggestions?
Trekspertise Hey there! Awesome video, absolutely loving your channel. However I must argue that the xenomorph should get the full point for biology. True the Aliens didn't evolve with humans, but that's not really a problem. The Aliens have demonstrated that the embryo inside an impregnated host copies some of the genetic makeup from said host, thereby changing the appearance and characteristics of the mutated adult. You mentioned the dog-alien, but also think of the xenomorph hatched from a Predator, bearing the widened crown, as well as the signature mandibles, even down to the way it roared like a Predator. This ability allows the xenomorphs to infect virtually any host they can grab onto, adding to their parasitic nature, and making the threat they pose all the more terrifying.
I am almost ready to concede to your reasoning except for one thing...DNA. The only reason parasites and hosts are able to interact with each other is through co-evolution. And the fancy "Horizontal Gene Transfer" mentioned in the video would be impossible without that co-evolutionary relationship. You know how only your friends can make the best enemies? It works very much the same way in biology. Aliens will not likely have the same DNA system we have (say, for example, a silicon-based system?). So, without that level of familiarity, what kind of interactions can be possible? Nevertheless, thank you for watching. The whole reason we made this video is to stimulate some conversation, talk about some real-world biological stuff and to get people thinking about biology and science. We are super appreciative that you are watching. Looking forward to seeing you around the comments section of future videos =)
What do the xenomorphs eat? As we see, human hosts are only useful for larval incubation, not adult nutrition. What accounts for their extremely rapid metabolism? As exoskeletal creatures, how do they breathe the same atmosphere as humans, assuming that they absorb oxygen through breathing tubes? How do they absorb enough silica to build their exoskeletons in a spacecraft environment? I think there are a lot more questions that need answering.
+OrchestrationOnline Xenomorphs are omnivores, able to subsist and gain nutrients through water and the air alone if need be...at least in most canons. However the movies were never meant/designed to give a Star Trek Sci-fi style explanation for them; they were the unknowable alien menace and that was it. If you want a further stretch, at least the one in Alien had a few days (estimate) to grow, the ones in AvP went full size in less than 10 minutes (the moving walls gives us a time scale to work with).
OrchestrationOnline It is far fetched yes, and Dark Horse comics had a hell of a time and came up with some odd stuff...including trying to explain even "where" in the body the chest burster is (it comes out the chest...so either it is lodged in the Bronchial tubes, a lung, or halfway down the esophagus), they came up with it making a pseudo-placenta cancer growth...but that doesn't match up with any movie x-rays or surgical removals. in AvP it is squirming around where the diaphragm and a few smaller organs should be. But like I said, neither Ridley Scott or Giger designed this thing to make sense, it was like a Lovecraft horror, some unknowable *thing*. but yeah, AvP is its own continuity two part series and shouldn't be considered part of any other, just as Dark Horse is its own thing as well. You can pretty much imagine what-ever for them...heck originally they were going to require the deaths of two people just to make one Xenomorph (egg transformation and then facehugger implanted). Glad that was dropped from the theatrical cut of Alien and Cameron gave us a Queen.
Anything. Planet full of grains? NOMNOMNOM Cargoship full of MRE's and clothing for a batallion of space marines? OMNOMNOM Clay? OMNOMNOM used up hosts? OMNOMNOM pets? OMNOMNOM etc. They're omnivorous with a biochemistry that can break down pretty much whatever.
As someone else pointed out. The complex biology and chemistry has been alluded to genetic engineering, while this wouldn't necessitate a change in their score, the movie Prometheus as a prequel to the Alien saga, indicates that prior to seeking out humans, the Xenomorphs were associated with the "Engineers" who were a biologically similar species which were responsible for "creating" humans, and could thus have caused the compatibility between the Xenomorphs and life from Earth. Just a thought.
As far as I know Prometheus is not so much a prequel to Alien and more of a reboot/parallel universe. So I'd be caoutios applying stuff from that film to the original xenomorph.
Scott Burton as I've said before, it is more likely the engineers made a VARIANT of xenomorph, and that the predators hunt the naturally occurring breed
Would you being willing to do one on graboids, from the tremors series or the martians from H.G wells's war of the world(not the film remakes which don't resemble the original aliens at all)?
What could feed on something with "acid for blood"? Yes you have certain mammals that are resistant to poisons, but blood acid? It would have to be something massive and strong that could essentially grab a xenomorph, crack its shell and safely drain it of blood.
This video is truly awesome. I watched it a while back but had to come back and tell you that I've got _that one question_ turning in my mind ever since : What kind of animals regularly feed on the Xenomorph species ? That's just simply the scariest shit ever.
Mathew Haight We know that they are genetically engineered. But, that's not the point of the video. We want to bring exobiology into a more public light. How do we study and predict for life on other worlds? How can we possibly know what to expect? Turns out we have just the tool to do that, and its called science. Since we have no aliens to actually study, in a way the point is moot. And any alien we run through the Alien Plausibility Review can be negated based on the fact that they are all fictional, including the Xenomorph. But, that's not the spirit of science.
Trekspertise That's all well and good, but throughout the video you refer to the Xenomorph's evolutionary path, which is something the creature does not have. True, in order to survive outside strictly controlled environments it needs to possess the same properties, but it's been framed like those developed naturally instead of being developed in a lab (presumably, since the strain in Prometheus is different from the one in Alien/s), which is ingenuine to the source material
Trekspertise When he says artificially created, he means that in-universe, they were engineered. I know we all want to ignore the homesick cinematic abortion was was Prometheus, but in this context we cannot ignore it (we can dismiss Prometheus, but we cannot ignore Prometheus, if you get the distinction). They were engineered pre-programmed to be compatible with our (earthling) biology if we go with that canon. Alternatively, horizontal gene transfer does not need to take place between co-evolved or closely related species. Bacteria can, for example, pick up random bits of DNA that are floating around in whatever environment they happen to be living in. Viral particles, dead bacteria, dead fungi etc. They dont have to have co-evolved with it, or be closely related to the source organism. This is a random process and it can sometimes kill the bacteria, but it also allows it to pick up new genetic material that may help it survive. The xenomorphs might do something similar. Though even if DNA tends to be pretty common in the universe the code will differ. So they would have to have some capacity to reverse-translate a protein. To "read" an amino acid sequence and translate it into a genetic sequence for insertion into their own genome. The face hugger might not lay one egg. But possibly millions in a single capsule (kind of like the intermediate stage of liver flukes, the young burrow into an intermediate host and start pumping out millions of clonal larvae of their own that leave that host--usually a snail--that then swim through the water column until they find a mammal to burrow into and become adults). The xenomorph eggs (or tiny larvae, whatever the facehugger implants) get shoved down into the gut of the host, burrow through the epithelium and migrate through the body until they find something nice and vascularized, implant, and start genetic uptake by way of protein translation. The ones that survive to complete development eat their siblings (there can be only one. Like shark pups inside mom's womb) and because of organ placement in all the organisms we have seen them infect, will eventually chest-burst. They can do this with pretty much any carbon-based life form with more than two base tissue types (ectoderm, mesoderm etc) a gut, and that uses proteins for structure and system regulation. Which will likely cover a large portion of the organisms they might try to use as a host.
I am a biologist. I kinda dork out on speculative biology in my free time because. You have to be obsessed and a little bit crazy to go to graduate school to study insect behavior.
My impression of the acid blood is that it's not a straight chemical compound, but a kind of active enzyme mixture that would be far more efficient in breaking apart chemical bounds and dissolving almost anything it touches than mere acid.
You ignore how a creature that pops out of a person's chest at the size of a house cat can suddenly become larger than a human in a matter of minutes. That should get some points knocked off in the biology category.
1. Some animals here on Earth grow rather rapidly. 2. Insects and other creatures with exoskeletons can expand their size rapidly by shedding their skin. 3. It was not a matter of minutes. It took time for them to clean up, make shock prods, plan what to do, and form up hunting parties. That would have taken a few hours.
postshift19 I'd say more important here is not the speed of growth itself, but this process apparently happening on it's own - without food source. Games of "Alien vs Predator" series at least partially tried to address this - playing as a chestburster you need to find a small game, a cat, for example.
You also have to understand that movies do not address every aspect of what is happening in the environment which creates such gaps in knowledge. The book "Alien" also addressed this issue by fleshing in the story with information about the cat being on board to reduce the vermin population (a food source for a hungry baby Xenomorph). The book also included a story line where the Xenomorph sub-adult was ransacking the Nostromo's supply room and breaking into the concentrated food stuffs. This indicates that there were sources of nourishment for the alien to acquire. The book may not be the best source since it is after the fact and since writers always rewrite the story, however; from my understanding of the writing of "Alien" the writer took the screenplay and closely meshed it with his rendition in the book. There were several parts of the actual screenplay that were cut from (the extended cocoon scene with Dallas for example) the movie yet were added in the book. In addition, remember that animals with exoskeletons "grow" by expanding their exoskeleton with air. Not to increase mass, but to make way for additional internal space to add more mass. A newly shed Xenomorph sub-adult would weigh virtually the same as a Chestburster, yet be several times as large.
Yep, basic violation of thermodynamics law over there. Not only the growth of the chest buster but also the tissue overgrowth at walls that is really never quite explained. What does it do, besides trapping people in goo and camouflaging the aliens? Isn't it a waste of energy and nutrients?
Still, you cant just make something out of nothing. The alien ran off and really didn't eat or consume anything to grow to that size, unless it was just breathing in air and inflating itself. He didn't even really eat an entire human. Where did all that mass come from?
Well done Mr. Trekspert. Your channel is a great pallet cleanser to the "Everything Wrong With... ." channel. Don't get me wrong, I like that channel too. But I really enjoy the thoughtful and well informed analysis of the truly great ideas that come come out of science fiction writers' minds. You clearly do as well. I hope you are making some money off of your hard work on these productions. Cheers!
+Shawn Eady Thank you very much! And welcome to the crew =) I really feel like science fiction is the best mechanism we have to understand ourselves in this time and place. So, as a filmmaker, I dedicate myself to understanding its form and function, as well as to producing sci-fi of my own ;)
love the thought of horizontal gene transfer. that's also how mitochondria and chlorophyll is transferred and is from phagocytosis from single cell and endosymbiosis heritage.
in the first movie, the alien became huge in no time without any reason. should have been eating a lot to become big enough for a threat, but what in a spaceship with only stored food and all anorganic environment could that have been ? not the cat, and a facehugger plus random food left overs arent enough.. it just makes no sense. and prometheus did exactly the same. minus 0.25 biology imo.
i assume thats just part of the biology, like bees and ants, they all tend to be the same size no matter how much they eat, also like a lot of animals, they can last months without food, the rabbit hutch spider can last about a year with no food. the xenomorphs are drones, like ants in a colony, probably disposable, they don't need to eat much to reach their full size because they'd probably die in their natural habitat quite quickly. i know some people will say they were grown for war and yes they were, but they were also left abandoned for god knows how many centuries and considering how quickly they adapt that seems like enough time for them to evolve independently based on outside forces
Arianne W bees and ants have both quite sophisticated methods for growing food, some ants even cultivate mushrooms. so even on the little scale, theres an infrastructure there to provide the young enough biomass to grow. a lot because there are lots of them. the alien is quite big, it needs to grow to be that big. and it needs biomass to grow. there just isnt an explanation for its biomass. so there is no explanation for its growth. it should have grown after each dead human, not instantly been that big.
orlendatube Yeah, I was thinking about good old fella Anubis as well :D huge fan of Stargate, but the Goa'uld are some "interesting" creatures :) I dont know, which species is more unlikely and unlogic. Parasitic snakes, that are only intelligent when they are in a host, that they can fully control, or a mutated blend of an insect and a human, that can sustain it's own indefinitely by sucking another being's life essence :D
One theory as to why the xenomorph has acid for blood - besides the obvious "defense mechanism" idea - is that it works like a sort of living, biological battery. I'm far from an expert on how batteries work, but that idea made sense when I heard if a while ago. Further evidence of this is that not once in any of the films, books, comic books, or video games (that I've seen, read, or played) do we ever see the xenomorph actually consuming anything to survive. Humans and animals are killed and discarded if they aren't going to be used in the creation of more xenomorphs. As far as subtracting score for the xenomorphs showing such an intense ability to transfer genes from humans horizontally, I think that's more a product of writing. The xenomorph life cycle is particularly scary to think about because of how easily any person can become its host, and movies are largely centered around human characters. If a creature had evolved - or been designed - to genetically steal from almost any possible host, being able to easily do so from humanity - as well as canines (or bovines in the director's cut of Alien 3) - isn't so implausible. One last thing: the communication between the xenomorph queen and the drones in Aliens might also be vocal and visual, given the way they react to the way she faces and hisses those approaching to try and protect her.
3:33 Fascinating, there's a flower like this one in one of the trailers for Alien Covenant, one of the crew memebers stepped on a flower and released spores into the air, which also happened to travel in the air and into the same guys ear, causing him to mutate.
Good channel, subbed.Prometheus was on Film 4 several days ago, damn some scenes in that film are disgusting D:I remember some lore stating that The Predator's bio-engineered The Aliens as thee ultimate prey. You hear of it in AvP and the expansion pack to the second video game on the PC, Primal Hunt.Though its obviously not 'canon'.
For a great (and, sadly, rare) example of form actually following function in extraterrestrial species, check out the aliens from "Pitch Black". Whoever designed those critters never got the credit they deserved. 🙂
How about doing the Thing? I'm thinking the two versions could be compared: the 1951 plant/animal man, and the 1982 version. I'm not considering the recent remake. I do think though that the 1951 creature would get a higher rating than the 1981 version simply because '81 edged into the superpower realm. Also from older movies: the Pod People, War of the Worlds aliens (different versions but the all seem to have the same features as described in the novel), lastly, the parasite alien from "The Hidden" (the hairy slug looking one and not the energy one).
I like these videos. Its interesting when you compare things from other fiction or reality with Star Trek. The A.I. video was great and this one too. You should do one comparing concepts like Star Trek's government and what it would take for our, modern day world to become something like that. Awesome video. Cheers.
KillerPotato7 Oh, definitely yes! Will add this to the list...government structure and perhaps economy. Oh yes! Thank you for watching =) Looking forward to seeing you in the comments sections of future videos.
Oh, hell. I forgot Tywin Lannister was in Aliens^3. I'll edit this later with an opinion of the episode itself, but so far it's looking really interesting. I really like the format of the new show and I think the scoring was fair, but I think the Xenomorph is going to be hard to top in the future. One of the strangest facts of serial entertainment is that your "best/worst" examples should be a few episodes in, so that people have a sense of what the baseline is before giving them something beautiful to awe at or terrible to mock. Example: Mystery Science Theatre 3000 didn't play "Manos: The Hands of Fate" as their first episode, so when they and the viewer got to it, they could fully appreciate just how terrible it was. It even became their measuring stick, the standard for awfulness by which other films were judged. When another movie came along later and was bad, they'd often take stock and restore their perspective with the simple observation "Yeah, but it's still no Manos." Just a meta observation. The video itself is really good though. I feel like my patreon donation is well deserved.
gnet kuji Thank you very much! You are right, on several levels, involving the "putting your best stuff up front" thing. But, rest assured, there are a few really good aliens to sprinkle throughout. I wanted to start with the Xenomorph because, I feel, it typifies the scoring process very well. Going forward, fictional aliens will get crazier, so the scoring process will get wild. I would have hated to start on a horrific alien, like Superman, and confuse everyone on how the scoring can work. Thank you again for donating. It means a lot =)
I remember reading a novel about the Xenomorphs a long time ago; they might have made their way back to their home planet (remember, this is maybe a year or so after Aliens), where someone wondered aloud something like "for all we know, they are just the rats of their world. Imagine what the bears would be like,". Even now, the idea that the monster you know is at the bottom of a food chain is kinda scary.
IIRC, The biochemistry of the xenomorph was purportedly silicone based, creating what Geiger designed as like blown glass exosceletons and as a solvent, using hydroflouric acid/molecular acid.
The amazing thing, from a Earthian viewpoint, is that the xenomorph is not only logical, plausible, and horrifying, but based on multitudes of parasites. and insects, that are quite real, and quite terrifying. Damned vulcans.
Hmm...I actually really dig this twist on the channel. I for one will surely tune into APR when it comes out here on TH-cam. A very fair analysis of the Xenomorph creature too. Other aliens I think could do with an APR score might include: Predator (Predator series) Klingons (Star Trek) Romulans/Vulcans (Star Trek) Asari (Mass Effect) Grunts (Halo) But those are just a few on my wish list. Anyway, I'm enjoying this and really look forward to more APR and Trekspertise. This is The Shade, signing off.
A liittle opinion =) 1) The biology can be debatable. It looks like Xenomorphs were a kind of bioweapon made by Space Jockeys. And, in Prometheus, we see how life on earth was created by them. Considering these facts, I would say, there is no evolutionary need to be connected to humans or dogs, if jockeys used some kind of universal DNA. 2) In the third part Xenomorph survived liquid lead bath. It looks like a little strange for me if they are protein form of life. This is interesting choice of an alien for the first video like this. Aliens from the first movie seems like something irrational, artificial. But, I love this video and hope to see more of it soon!
+0.25. The question of the acid blood has been discussed, if indirectly, on various science themed TH-cam channels. The Strongest Acid known is Fluoroantimonic (FA) acid. It is so powerful it will dissolve the glass container it is in and keep breaking down any substance it gets in contact with until its total reactive mass is consumed. This would explain the Xenomorph's blood being able to burn through seemingly anything. It is further hypothesized than the blood is a multi part reaction that occurs when the Xeomorph's body is violated. Chemicals combine to create the FA acid. +0.25. Horizontal Gene transfer is exaggerated by this points to an explanation provided in the movie Prometheus. The Xenomorphs are essentially biological weapons who take the traits of indigenous lifeforms to increase their effectiveness in a given environment. There is no real limit to this as long as they lifeform in question uses DNA. More or less, Horizontal Gene Transfer is weaponized by a race of beings whose technological revolves around the biological and genetic, not the mechanical. The Xenomorph is a biological weapon system. As such it takes many things the natural would never take so far and cranks well over "11". Revised final score 6.00
By accident, your piece on The Borg was in my recommendation section. I'm a Star Trek fan so after I saw that I checked out the rest of your channel. I really like it! And will be checking out the rest of your content. And subscribing as well.
It was your episode on AI that popped up on my feed. After a few more episodes, boom subscribed. Really looking forward to some of the other race APRs. Feel like dropping a hint about what's to come so I can come up with my own scores?
It would be interesting to see a plausibility review of Doctor Who's Galifreyians, especially in the star trek multi-verse. Crossovers in comic and story has done so multiple times but I'd love to see Trekspertise view on it.
Fluoroantimonic acid, which is, to my understanding, the strongest acid we are aware of, eats through any and all materials we are aware of, excluding teflon. The potency of the xenomorph's blood in the face of how it does not eat through the alien may be explained either by the animal's blood being contained by some biological equivalent of teflon, or by some process similar to clotting in how it is initiated by certain chemical stimulus like damaged tissue or atmosphere or pressures outside a threshold.
Nice idea! This could be a nice series. I think that you missed a penalty on the physics analysis. A Xenomorph exoskeleton is probably too large to support itself under Earth-like gravity. It's one of the reasons we don't typically see many bugs bigger than large coins.
I feel like that it's important to mention a note about the alien xenomorph from the first movie in that the creature is a silicon-based life form. There has been much contention in the scientific community if silicon-based life is possible and I feel as though it should have been mentioned in the video, whether that's a point for or against such creatures but it's important because it already says a lot about the biology and chemistry of the creature.
Interesting analysis. I think that the rate of growth that the xenomorph shows subtracts from its physics probability score. Also the Xenomorph seems to have a relationship outside of the films with humanoid life, and is implied to be a genetically engineered being. A bit myopic, but: I recently read that a parasite does not directly cause the death of its host. If they do, like the xenomorph, they're a parasitoid.
Then you did not watch the movie correctly. It is heavily implied the Xenomorphs existed before the events of the movie. There are statues of them and everything. The only thing we got to see was an accidental, rough, bad replication of how they created Xenomorphs in the first place. The Deacon (that thing at the end) however, was not a proto-Xeno or anything alike. It did not evolve or develope into the species seen in the other movies.
Hey man, gotta say i really liked your video, tho i disagreed with some factors. Just minor, in the matter of physics, aliens have been mentioned to spontaneosly malt out of the chestburster form into its later adolscent/adult form, without any apparent intake of mass. This is the only beef i have and isnt in the way why i make this message. I'm uncertain if you take ideas or requests but i would recommend the Martians from war of the worlds or the Prawns from District 9. The former would defineity hit the classical bone of xenobiology amd touches a deal about xeno-forming enviorments (alien terraforming practically). The Prawns are more of a mystery overall, in terms of sociology, biology and other factors that were touched upom with the xenomorph. Anyways! Pleasent day!
If you do an episode on Kryptonians (crossing my fingers) I highly recommend consulting the book "The Science of Superman" by Mark Wolverton. Wolverton makes a very compelling argument for the kind of environment that would produce Superman's abilities and provides scientific explanation for each of his powers.
I would point out it's mimicry is not dependent upon human or canine hosts. Or bovine if you have seen the alternate scenes. It seems to be a adaptation mechanism that borrows genes from any host it is able to take in the larval form. We simply see this most in a human form because the films revolve around the xeno as a threat to humanity. At least from what we have seen I would have to say it can at least do this with mammals, beyond that it's hard to say what other forms it might be able to gene steal from. You could almost see this is a form of forced evolutionary mutation. Any hive would take on characteristics of animals already living in a new environment. Making it better suited to survive there.
That is what made Jaws and Alien such terrific horror movies as conceivably you could have a great white shark that large out there that preys on humans, the Alien maybe sci-fi but you can imagine that out there in space they could be such a dangerous, clever animal with power of a T-Rex.
Actually, the "acid blood" concept was more a plot tool to make the creature extremely difficult to kill in an environment where the vacuum of space was only a few meters away. And of course to make it dangerous to kill with conventional weapons at close range. Overall, I'd say this video is spot-on about the plausibility of this creature.
I dug it but two things: 1. it scampers on walls like a itty bitty bug, yet weighs hundreds of pounds, most likely. That can't be a perfect physics score. 2. It goes from the size of a face hugger to full size, depending on version that can be--I'm guessing--12 feet long, maybe closer to 15 with the tail fully stretched, in a few minutes. That has to be more than a quarter point for biology.
Thank you. I do videos of women who are hundreds of feet if not miles tall, so I know a thing or two about messing with physics and physiology. I love your channel. I don't totally agree with everything, but you're always provocative.
Loved the video and the format hope to see more of it,. But I was disapoited that one of the flaw of the franchise wasn't mentioned: The superfast growth. From egg to reproducing adult in a matter of hours.
There is a species of Bark Beetle referenced in the "Selfish Gene". It once carried a bacterial parasite, whose genome now is fused with the male Bark Beetle of that species. The Bacterium has ceased to exist as an independent organism. There are also several sea slugs who steal genes or cells of the plants and animals they feed of. I would, however, argue that the Xenomorph violates the law of energy conservation. This thing grows in a matter of hours to a two meter large dragon in the first movie, without it being apparent that it has a food source.
it is possible for the alien to have that acid for blood, if their veins are lined with a similar substance as the linking of our stomachs. as for the parasite/Co evolving thing, you have to take into consideration that we don't know where these things come from or how they evolved, so it's still highly possible and most likely that they don't need to co evolve with a species to take DNA from it, and the prometheus theory states that the xenos were created, and may have been bio-engineered to be so adaptable
My headcanon puts the Species movies as a form of prequel to the Alien/Predator/Promethius movies. First contact was made, the government told nobody about it... and it was a two part message. One was an endless energy supply that would result in a federation style utopia. The other was a bioweapon--that was based upon some extremely advanced biotechnology that would still look indistinguishable from magic for several thousand years later. The bioweapon was meant to be a form of punishment for civilisations that chose incorrectly. A temptation that would ultimately annihilate them. Essentially, the Humans and Predators made the wrong choice, and were denied entrance into that universe's style of Federation... as well did the hundreds of species that turned into Xenomorphs. The reason the company is trying to find the Xenomorphs is simply that like the Species movies depicts--they lost the formula long ago, and are attempting to recover it. This also would suggest that somewhere, somebody is sitting on an "infinite energy" type solution in the Alien/Predator/Promethius movie series--and just not using it, because society functions better in this current status. Not certain how Species (as a movie series) is recognised by others in relation to Aliens... but it does suggest why there doesn't seem to be a clear origin of the Aliens. As those are likely hundreds or thousands of species who all chose incorrectly.
Gibby Gibson We are thinking of reviewing all humanoid aliens in one go, actually. Predator, while an interesting variation, counts as humanoid. In fact, Predator = Hirogen + Jem'Hadar, except, of course, Predator predates those fictional species.
The fact that the Xenomorph can grow full size in a matter of few hours since it's born, even in the complete absence of food, makes it fairly implausible over all, regardless of being artificially engineered.
I probably wouldve given a chemistry score of .50, because not only is the "acid blood" thing vague, but there arent many acids that could do what it does in the movies, and it would probably behoove the xenomorph not to get too exotic or powerful with the acid to avoid burning itself
in Alien (the first one), Ash remarks that it seems to replace much of its skin cells with polarized silicone which is highly resistant to many forms of acid - like the livers of most animals on Earth's ability to produce vitamin C (unlike humans), there may be a biological mechanism that allows the xenomorph to engineer silicone, or at least a similar variant that gives the alien the ability to produce a caustic acid that is activated by oxygen even as it oxidizes and starts to neutralize.
Krag Hak I would include the Sayians in the same group as all humanoid-based lifeforms. We plan on doing an episode addresses the humanoid form as an alien one.
I would personally take a quarter point on the physics aspect because of its exoskeleton. Land based creatures on Earth with an exoskeleton has had issues growing to the point of reaching the scale required for an actual Xenomorph that walks around on two or four appendages. The largest land creatures with an exoskeleton in Earth's history had several appendages as well as walked with their bodies close to the ground. There have also been indications that these types of creatures failed to become as massive as animals with endoskeletons and a backbone because of lack of oxygen as well as gravity being too taxing to have a shell protecting their inner organs. While I don't expect the Xenomorph home world to have the exact same conditions as Earth itself, it does make these creatures' sizes to be a bit questionable. Xenomorphs as a whole also seem to be fairly unaffected by changes to gravity and have been able to adapt to Earth's gravity and oxygen levels in the air (assuming they breath oxygen) and other planets while retaining about the same type of body structure and size. This too begs the question; how are they capable of surviving things like the vacuum of space and other hazardous environments while still being very active during its adult lifespan?
I believe that your score on the physics section is flawed. In the films, the xenomorph grows from a small 'chestburster' to a seven foot adult BEFORE eating anything. Matter cannot be created or destroyed.
I saw this clip and clicked it thinking that it would try to plausibly explain a possible crossover story between Alien and Star Trek...after watching it I get the impression that a Xenomorph would not last long on a Federation colony world...too many powerful weapons could be brought to bear against it. Plus a chestburster could be safely removed from a host without killing it and likewise a facehugger could be safely detached prior to embryo implantation.
Point were deducted for the implausibility of the "Alien" franchise xenomorph evolving the biology and chemistry to allow it interact with multiple species. But there are numerous hints and suggestions throughout the franchise that this was not a naturally evolved species, but a biological weapon specifically engineered for the traits and properties displayed. That such a species would be able to infect, adapt and propagate itself through numerous disparate alien biologies would be a necessary starting point for making such a weapon widely applicable. I suggest this alien has earned a perfect score.
I'd say they should take off points to account for the xenomorph's ridiculously fast rate of growth. Such growth would require an extraordinary amount of food and a hyper-charged digestive system; I can't imagine such a system functioning for more than a few seconds before it would massively overheat and melt the creature. Similarly, if it possessed such characteristics, it would quickly die of starvation if deprived of food for more than an hour or so.
I think alien xenomorph definitely violates laws of physics big time. In the first Alien movie after bursting out through someone's chest the alien grows up from being small enough to fit inside a man's stomach to over 2m tall within a day without even eating anything. It just seems to create over 99% of its body mass out of thin air in one day. This alone makes it the most implausible creature in all fiction.
tktt Yes. This and idea of it surviving the vacuum and cold of outer space were my two main points that the video missed, and it took a while to read through the comments to see whether others also noticed these. Both points have been covered already in the comments, and both are deal-breakers in an otherwise scientifically excellent alien creature. Mr. tktt: no, the infant alien easily can find food, and it did in the book version, but it obviously cannot convert food to body tissues 100 times its birth size in a day or so.
while not technically alien, the replicants in Blade Runner would be worthy of discussion since they have enhanced strength and were intended to live in sometimes hostile conditions where normal human biology would be a liability... also the Puppet Masters from the Ringworld series would be very interesting to discuss...
Actually the whole point of Prometheus is that, before humans there were engineers. These engineers had something in earth that resembled human life. From what I understood (and some theory of my own) they first created a biological weapon that exposes earth's engineerlike humans to the roughness of evolution, making the dna weaker to changes, hence sped up evolution and caused differences between humans and engineers.(My own theory ends here) But engineers quickly realized that they didn't manage to kill human race and developed a new more brutal biological weapon, dark gluey fluid. The sole purpose of this was to force genetic manipulation happen to any and all organic life. (Hence the weird worm things in the monument) But it all went wrong and caused outbreak and one ship left the (planet in Prometheus) and crashed into (planet in 8th passenger). This ship now has the widely known eggs. The story for (planet in Prometheus) takes a turn when Prometheus ship lands on it and people get infected, causing zombies, parasitic life forms to come up. But in the end one xenomorph like creature. Why is that creature so different compared to original Alien saga. Because the xenomophs in that movie set were derived from Engineers, who were way different(at this point) compared to current people. Thus giving the biological weapon an another way of evolution. Holy shit I went crazy with my theorizing. Well, back to the point. Xenomophs were no created to take down humans, it was derivative from biological weapon(which was created to target humans) that attacked engineers.
As much as I love the Alien franchise, if one argues that Prometheus is part of the franchise, then the Physics Score should be lower considering that the "proto-facehugger" left in the lifeboat at the end of the movie grew to an incredible size without any source of food or nutrients. It sort of disobeys the fundamental law of preservation of matter. Otherwise, great vid!
I think the acid actually is blood and it's so acidic because it has to be to permit certain high level chemical interactions. You should read the comics and novels. Also deeply check out Prometheus. The xenomorphs did not naturally evolve. Though the comics conflict on this point in some of the crappier issues. Great video man. Your stuff is often awesome :)
Something I rember reading was that the blood was more like a battery acid and they would recharge when part of the nest but more to the point they still can scare the sh#t out of me
This is great! I like this. Analyzing the science in science fiction. What self respecting sci-fi fan wouldn't like this? It's opinionated but I'm OK with that. At least someone is hold up something to scruples. Good job Trekspertise.
Hey Trekspertise, I always wondered what the plausibility of the Bolian species from Star Trek is, It's my favourite species from star trek, could you please do a episode on it? Many thanks, Josh.
I always assumed that the xenomorph reproduced asexually and that the facehugger was like a wasp or fly that lays eggs in a host body to incubate, but horizontal gene transfer makes sense too. Nice vid, liked this one a lot.
For clarification on the biology/chemistry side of things the xenos are supposed to be silicon based organisms(it's mentioned in the first movie in the biolab pre-birth by Ash), which might explain why they can have an acid based blood. If the creature is composed of silicon/carbon at the molecular level then maybe it's tissues have an innate ability to house blood that is highly acidic in nature. If it's blood plasma is acid then it might act as an oxidizing agent/oxygen delivery system to it's tissues and organs. Not a chemistry expert, so no idea of how plausible that may be, I just know that highly corrosive acids are able to be stored in glass which is composed of silicon as far as I know. Entertaining evaluation 👍
Hmm, the xenomorph grows quickly but it doesn't eat. In the first movie it grows from the small chest-burster to more than mansized in the environment of the spaceship where there is no food, before it starts killing the crew. Where does its biomass come from? I would deduct significant points for that.
I know I'm super late to the game, but I've always been really interested in anybodies take on the ST Tholians. Think of the world they developed on and the day to day of their extreme environment.
I always rather liked the fan theory that the Xenomorphs were created using the DNA of another (HR Giger classic) species by the Engineers who worshipped/adored the other species *possibly their own equivalent of the Ancient First Ones race* and were trying to re-create them.
@trekspertise Big fan of the channel, just discovered it after the new star trek show started. I would love to see an APR score for some of the alien species in the HALO universe or, from the warhammer 40k universe(which seems to have heavily influenced the Halo creatures.
Keep in mind, in Prometheus it was revealed that the Xenomorphs were an engineered biological weapon, that was designed specifically target humanity. But it can be deduced that at some point the progenitors went to war with the Predator race, and the Xenomorph program was adapted to target them as well. Also, when the Predator race discovered humanity, despite that Humans were engineered by the progenitors that they were at war with and that had unleashed the Xenomorph bio-weapon on them, they decided to give primitive man some guidance and protection, as revealed in the AvP backstory scenes. It's possible that this was BECAUSE of their desire for the hunt of the ultimate prey, and while the progenitors were a worthy hunt, humans were as well, and when you let the Xenomorph breed with life from earth, the ultimate hunt became possible. Though they seem to shun the idea of one of their own becoming a Xenomorph host, they also find the hunt that follows to be one of the most sought after. Basically, the Xenomorph biology isn't so much "evolved" along side of the host life forms, as "engineered" to be compatible with any life from Earth, OR the Predator home world. And since they engineered life on Earth from their own biology, they are susceptible to it as well.
Two points on the penalty for Biology, which admittedly come from outside of the Aliens quadrilogy. 1- They where engineered with humans in mind, so they would easily be able to blend with their DNA (The Dog point is still reasonable), as per Prometheus 2- The Predators brought the Aliens to Earth as part of their hunting practices, in a city that predated the Pyramids of Egypt, showing the possibility of intentional Horizontal Gene Transfer. This could also explain the Dog Alien cross over as humans domesticated dogs over tens of thousands of years ago. So I guess it depends on whether you include content from other film sources.
One egregious error is in the idea that the xenomorphs have a native environment and possible predators. The xenomorphs are an engineered species. The acid may very well be some blood and not just defense mechanism as it is THE apex predator in every environment to which it is introduced. A version was engineered to eradicate humans(Prometheus) and so the notion that it should lose points based on 'evolution' is mute. A created species cannot be judged by any of the criteria or measured using the false assumptions claimed in this video.
At least in the first Alien film the Xenomorph does break a pretty fundamental law of physics. How did it go from the larval chestbuster phase to a six foot tall monster without (apparently) taking on any nutrition or energy? Whilst it's possible for an internalised energy store to provide some additional growth, to increase it's size and mass by a proportion of several thousand?
As we see in lifeforms with exoskeletons, the exoskeleton expands by taking in air while it is still soft. The creature did not weigh more, it just expanded it's exoskeleton so that additional mass could be taken in. Another problem with movies is that they cut out all kinds of information that simply keeps the audience in the dark about what is going on in other parts of the story. Time passes, but that is sometimes hard to determine in some movies. There were several hours unaccounted for in the movie in which the creature could shed it's skin and hunt for vermin (the cat was there to keep vermin levels down after all) or find food stuffs aboard the Nostromo's storage rooms. This time was utilized by Parker to construct shock prods and a hunt for the chest burster was initiated after that. This provided several hours for the Alien to find something to eat and shed it's skin. Very fast growth, but some critters on Earth have life cycles that are exceedingly fast as well.
Ladies, gentlemen and invited transgendered species - welcome to the Alien Plausibility Review. A new mini-format for the Trekspertise channel that examines the scientific possibilities of fictional aliens.
First up - the Xenomorph from the Alien Franchise. Enjoy
#trekspertise #startrek #aliens #alienfranchise #exobiology #sciencefiction #NASA
Walter Phippeny Thank you! A hearty endorsement =)
We are undecided on the next alien APR. I'm itching to take Superman down a peg or two. Others want to head into Star Wars territory.
Got any suggestions?
That is an interesting question, actually. One I've wondered about more than once.
Let's add it to the list =)
Trekspertise Hey there! Awesome video, absolutely loving your channel. However I must argue that the xenomorph should get the full point for biology. True the Aliens didn't evolve with humans, but that's not really a problem. The Aliens have demonstrated that the embryo inside an impregnated host copies some of the genetic makeup from said host, thereby changing the appearance and characteristics of the mutated adult. You mentioned the dog-alien, but also think of the xenomorph hatched from a Predator, bearing the widened crown, as well as the signature mandibles, even down to the way it roared like a Predator. This ability allows the xenomorphs to infect virtually any host they can grab onto, adding to their parasitic nature, and making the threat they pose all the more terrifying.
I am almost ready to concede to your reasoning except for one thing...DNA.
The only reason parasites and hosts are able to interact with each other is through co-evolution. And the fancy "Horizontal Gene Transfer" mentioned in the video would be impossible without that co-evolutionary relationship. You know how only your friends can make the best enemies? It works very much the same way in biology.
Aliens will not likely have the same DNA system we have (say, for example, a silicon-based system?). So, without that level of familiarity, what kind of interactions can be possible?
Nevertheless, thank you for watching. The whole reason we made this video is to stimulate some conversation, talk about some real-world biological stuff and to get people thinking about biology and science.
We are super appreciative that you are watching. Looking forward to seeing you around the comments section of future videos =)
Walter Phippeny YES. Could not have typed it better myself.
Oh man! Was that really Windows 98?!?
What do the xenomorphs eat? As we see, human hosts are only useful for larval incubation, not adult nutrition. What accounts for their extremely rapid metabolism? As exoskeletal creatures, how do they breathe the same atmosphere as humans, assuming that they absorb oxygen through breathing tubes? How do they absorb enough silica to build their exoskeletons in a spacecraft environment? I think there are a lot more questions that need answering.
+OrchestrationOnline Xenomorphs are omnivores, able to subsist and gain nutrients through water and the air alone if need be...at least in most canons. However the movies were never meant/designed to give a Star Trek Sci-fi style explanation for them; they were the unknowable alien menace and that was it. If you want a further stretch, at least the one in Alien had a few days (estimate) to grow, the ones in AvP went full size in less than 10 minutes (the moving walls gives us a time scale to work with).
+TheRhuen Yeah, I don't buy any of that.
OrchestrationOnline It is far fetched yes, and Dark Horse comics had a hell of a time and came up with some odd stuff...including trying to explain even "where" in the body the chest burster is (it comes out the chest...so either it is lodged in the Bronchial tubes, a lung, or halfway down the esophagus), they came up with it making a pseudo-placenta cancer growth...but that doesn't match up with any movie x-rays or surgical removals. in AvP it is squirming around where the diaphragm and a few smaller organs should be.
But like I said, neither Ridley Scott or Giger designed this thing to make sense, it was like a Lovecraft horror, some unknowable *thing*.
but yeah, AvP is its own continuity two part series and shouldn't be considered part of any other, just as Dark Horse is its own thing as well. You can pretty much imagine what-ever for them...heck originally they were going to require the deaths of two people just to make one Xenomorph (egg transformation and then facehugger implanted). Glad that was dropped from the theatrical cut of Alien and Cameron gave us a Queen.
Anything. Planet full of grains? NOMNOMNOM
Cargoship full of MRE's and clothing for a batallion of space marines? OMNOMNOM
Clay? OMNOMNOM
used up hosts? OMNOMNOM
pets? OMNOMNOM
etc. They're omnivorous with a biochemistry that can break down pretty much whatever.
Eat the hosts once they've been used
It's complex biology and chemistry is often suggested as a signature of genetic engineering
As someone else pointed out. The complex biology and chemistry has been alluded to genetic engineering, while this wouldn't necessitate a change in their score, the movie Prometheus as a prequel to the Alien saga, indicates that prior to seeking out humans, the Xenomorphs were associated with the "Engineers" who were a biologically similar species which were responsible for "creating" humans, and could thus have caused the compatibility between the Xenomorphs and life from Earth.
Just a thought.
Makes sense to me.
As far as I know Prometheus is not so much a prequel to Alien and more of a reboot/parallel universe. So I'd be caoutios applying stuff from that film to the original xenomorph.
mergele1000 Well said. Similar to when Alien 5 comes out, Alien 3 and Resurrection technically wont exist.
Scott Burton as I've said before, it is more likely the engineers made a VARIANT of xenomorph, and that the predators hunt the naturally occurring breed
XerxiesLv426 they will exist, but they are being explained as Ripley dreams while in cryo
"Feed on the xenomorphs" that thought is pretty frightening.
That's where they should take the next film, IMO.
Would you being willing to do one on graboids, from the tremors series or the martians from H.G wells's war of the world(not the film remakes which don't resemble the original aliens at all)?
Well they are routinely hunted for sport by the Predators.
What could feed on something with "acid for blood"? Yes you have certain mammals that are resistant to poisons, but blood acid? It would have to be something massive and strong that could essentially grab a xenomorph, crack its shell and safely drain it of blood.
Thinking Out Loud It would need to have some sort extremely alkaline saliva, or some other method of neutralizing acid.
I would love to see the breakdown of The Thing alien from the 1982 and 2011 films in this manner.
This video is truly awesome. I watched it a while back but had to come back and tell you that I've got _that one question_ turning in my mind ever since : What kind of animals regularly feed on the Xenomorph species ?
That's just simply the scariest shit ever.
Little disapointed that they failed to mention that the Xenomorphs are artificially created.
Mathew Haight We know that they are genetically engineered. But, that's not the point of the video. We want to bring exobiology into a more public light. How do we study and predict for life on other worlds? How can we possibly know what to expect? Turns out we have just the tool to do that, and its called science.
Since we have no aliens to actually study, in a way the point is moot. And any alien we run through the Alien Plausibility Review can be negated based on the fact that they are all fictional, including the Xenomorph. But, that's not the spirit of science.
Trekspertise That's all well and good, but throughout the video you refer to the Xenomorph's evolutionary path, which is something the creature does not have. True, in order to survive outside strictly controlled environments it needs to possess the same properties, but it's been framed like those developed naturally instead of being developed in a lab (presumably, since the strain in Prometheus is different from the one in Alien/s), which is ingenuine to the source material
Trekspertise When he says artificially created, he means that in-universe, they were engineered. I know we all want to ignore the homesick cinematic abortion was was Prometheus, but in this context we cannot ignore it (we can dismiss Prometheus, but we cannot ignore Prometheus, if you get the distinction). They were engineered pre-programmed to be compatible with our (earthling) biology if we go with that canon.
Alternatively, horizontal gene transfer does not need to take place between co-evolved or closely related species. Bacteria can, for example, pick up random bits of DNA that are floating around in whatever environment they happen to be living in. Viral particles, dead bacteria, dead fungi etc. They dont have to have co-evolved with it, or be closely related to the source organism. This is a random process and it can sometimes kill the bacteria, but it also allows it to pick up new genetic material that may help it survive. The xenomorphs might do something similar.
Though even if DNA tends to be pretty common in the universe the code will differ. So they would have to have some capacity to reverse-translate a protein. To "read" an amino acid sequence and translate it into a genetic sequence for insertion into their own genome.
The face hugger might not lay one egg. But possibly millions in a single capsule (kind of like the intermediate stage of liver flukes, the young burrow into an intermediate host and start pumping out millions of clonal larvae of their own that leave that host--usually a snail--that then swim through the water column until they find a mammal to burrow into and become adults). The xenomorph eggs (or tiny larvae, whatever the facehugger implants) get shoved down into the gut of the host, burrow through the epithelium and migrate through the body until they find something nice and vascularized, implant, and start genetic uptake by way of protein translation. The ones that survive to complete development eat their siblings (there can be only one. Like shark pups inside mom's womb) and because of organ placement in all the organisms we have seen them infect, will eventually chest-burst. They can do this with pretty much any carbon-based life form with more than two base tissue types (ectoderm, mesoderm etc) a gut, and that uses proteins for structure and system regulation. Which will likely cover a large portion of the organisms they might try to use as a host.
comradetortoise That is very interesting about the face huggers. Is that from the books or comic, or is that just a theory.
I am a biologist. I kinda dork out on speculative biology in my free time because. You have to be obsessed and a little bit crazy to go to graduate school to study insect behavior.
My impression of the acid blood is that it's not a straight chemical compound, but a kind of active enzyme mixture that would be far more efficient in breaking apart chemical bounds and dissolving almost anything it touches than mere acid.
You ignore how a creature that pops out of a person's chest at the size of a house cat can suddenly become larger than a human in a matter of minutes. That should get some points knocked off in the biology category.
1. Some animals here on Earth grow rather rapidly.
2. Insects and other creatures with exoskeletons can expand their size rapidly by shedding their skin.
3. It was not a matter of minutes. It took time for them to clean up, make shock prods, plan what to do, and form up hunting parties. That would have taken a few hours.
postshift19
I'd say more important here is not the speed of growth itself, but this process apparently happening on it's own - without food source.
Games of "Alien vs Predator" series at least partially tried to address this - playing as a chestburster you need to find a small game, a cat, for example.
You also have to understand that movies do not address every aspect of what is happening in the environment which creates such gaps in knowledge. The book "Alien" also addressed this issue by fleshing in the story with information about the cat being on board to reduce the vermin population (a food source for a hungry baby Xenomorph). The book also included a story line where the Xenomorph sub-adult was ransacking the Nostromo's supply room and breaking into the concentrated food stuffs. This indicates that there were sources of nourishment for the alien to acquire. The book may not be the best source since it is after the fact and since writers always rewrite the story, however; from my understanding of the writing of "Alien" the writer took the screenplay and closely meshed it with his rendition in the book. There were several parts of the actual screenplay that were cut from (the extended cocoon scene with Dallas for example) the movie yet were added in the book. In addition, remember that animals with exoskeletons "grow" by expanding their exoskeleton with air. Not to increase mass, but to make way for additional internal space to add more mass. A newly shed Xenomorph sub-adult would weigh virtually the same as a Chestburster, yet be several times as large.
Yep, basic violation of thermodynamics law over there. Not only the growth of the chest buster but also the tissue overgrowth at walls that is really never quite explained. What does it do, besides trapping people in goo and camouflaging the aliens? Isn't it a waste of energy and nutrients?
Still, you cant just make something out of nothing. The alien ran off and really didn't eat or consume anything to grow to that size, unless it was just breathing in air and inflating itself. He didn't even really eat an entire human. Where did all that mass come from?
id like to see predators. Maybe the engineers from Prometheus? they are directly tied to the xenomorphs i believe
+trekspertise Okay, time for an analysis of "The Thing" and "The Fly.
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This channel is absolutely brilliant.
Thanks =) And welcome aboard. Few weeks away from the next installment.
Well done Mr. Trekspert. Your channel is a great pallet cleanser to the "Everything Wrong With... ." channel. Don't get me wrong, I like that channel too. But I really enjoy the thoughtful and well informed analysis of the truly great ideas that come come out of science fiction writers' minds. You clearly do as well. I hope you are making some money off of your hard work on these productions. Cheers!
+Shawn Eady Thank you very much! And welcome to the crew =)
I really feel like science fiction is the best mechanism we have to understand ourselves in this time and place. So, as a filmmaker, I dedicate myself to understanding its form and function, as well as to producing sci-fi of my own ;)
love the thought of horizontal gene transfer. that's also how mitochondria and chlorophyll is transferred and is from phagocytosis from single cell and endosymbiosis heritage.
in the first movie, the alien became huge in no time without any reason. should have been eating a lot to become big enough for a threat, but what in a spaceship with only stored food and all anorganic environment could that have been ? not the cat, and a facehugger plus random food left overs arent enough.. it just makes no sense.
and prometheus did exactly the same. minus 0.25 biology imo.
+Syrales My apologies, I just posted the same objection before I read yours.
Fred Collins
np .-)
i assume thats just part of the biology, like bees and ants, they all tend to be the same size no matter how much they eat, also like a lot of animals, they can last months without food, the rabbit hutch spider can last about a year with no food.
the xenomorphs are drones, like ants in a colony, probably disposable, they don't need to eat much to reach their full size because they'd probably die in their natural habitat quite quickly.
i know some people will say they were grown for war and yes they were, but they were also left abandoned for god knows how many centuries and considering how quickly they adapt that seems like enough time for them to evolve independently based on outside forces
Arianne W
bees and ants have both quite sophisticated methods for growing food, some ants even cultivate mushrooms. so even on the little scale, theres an infrastructure there to provide the young enough biomass to grow. a lot because there are lots of them.
the alien is quite big, it needs to grow to be that big. and it needs biomass to grow. there just isnt an explanation for its biomass. so there is no explanation for its growth. it should have grown after each dead human, not instantly been that big.
I know how sophisticated ants are, I looked into that for a while, I suppose, as an alien fan I was grasping at straws, humour me
hahaha
Nice! I like the consideration given to each category and can't wait for more of this series, Subbed!
Awesome episode format! I'd love to see you do The Wraith from stargate!
orlendatube Yeah, I was thinking about good old fella Anubis as well :D huge fan of Stargate, but the Goa'uld are some "interesting" creatures :)
I dont know, which species is more unlikely and unlogic. Parasitic snakes, that are only intelligent when they are in a host, that they can fully control, or a mutated blend of an insect and a human, that can sustain it's own indefinitely by sucking another being's life essence :D
Florian Ju well......I am gonna say the wraith are less plausible...
Yes! I want the wraith too! Ooh, maybe the Asgards aswell.
One theory as to why the xenomorph has acid for blood - besides the obvious "defense mechanism" idea - is that it works like a sort of living, biological battery. I'm far from an expert on how batteries work, but that idea made sense when I heard if a while ago. Further evidence of this is that not once in any of the films, books, comic books, or video games (that I've seen, read, or played) do we ever see the xenomorph actually consuming anything to survive. Humans and animals are killed and discarded if they aren't going to be used in the creation of more xenomorphs.
As far as subtracting score for the xenomorphs showing such an intense ability to transfer genes from humans horizontally, I think that's more a product of writing. The xenomorph life cycle is particularly scary to think about because of how easily any person can become its host, and movies are largely centered around human characters. If a creature had evolved - or been designed - to genetically steal from almost any possible host, being able to easily do so from humanity - as well as canines (or bovines in the director's cut of Alien 3) - isn't so implausible.
One last thing: the communication between the xenomorph queen and the drones in Aliens might also be vocal and visual, given the way they react to the way she faces and hisses those approaching to try and protect her.
3:33 Fascinating, there's a flower like this one in one of the trailers for Alien Covenant, one of the crew memebers stepped on a flower and released spores into the air, which also happened to travel in the air and into the same guys ear, causing him to mutate.
Good channel, subbed.Prometheus was on Film 4 several days ago, damn some scenes in that film are disgusting D:I remember some lore stating that The Predator's bio-engineered The Aliens as thee ultimate prey. You hear of it in AvP and the expansion pack to the second video game on the PC, Primal Hunt.Though its obviously not 'canon'.
For a great (and, sadly, rare) example of form actually following function in extraterrestrial species, check out the aliens from "Pitch Black". Whoever designed those critters never got the credit they deserved. 🙂
Excellent idea. I hope to see a lot more of these! Subscribed
How about doing the Thing? I'm thinking the two versions could be compared: the 1951 plant/animal man, and the 1982 version. I'm not considering the recent remake. I do think though that the 1951 creature would get a higher rating than the 1981 version simply because '81 edged into the superpower realm.
Also from older movies: the Pod People, War of the Worlds aliens (different versions but the all seem to have the same features as described in the novel), lastly, the parasite alien from "The Hidden" (the hairy slug looking one and not the energy one).
do eeeeeet!!!!
+Thane36425 why ignore the remake?
sithalo
Because is was a CGI sucktacular.
Thane36425 so what?
I like these videos. Its interesting when you compare things from other fiction or reality with Star Trek. The A.I. video was great and this one too. You should do one comparing concepts like Star Trek's government and what it would take for our, modern day world to become something like that.
Awesome video. Cheers.
KillerPotato7 Oh, definitely yes! Will add this to the list...government structure and perhaps economy. Oh yes!
Thank you for watching =) Looking forward to seeing you in the comments sections of future videos.
Oh, hell. I forgot Tywin Lannister was in Aliens^3. I'll edit this later with an opinion of the episode itself, but so far it's looking really interesting.
I really like the format of the new show and I think the scoring was fair, but I think the Xenomorph is going to be hard to top in the future. One of the strangest facts of serial entertainment is that your "best/worst" examples should be a few episodes in, so that people have a sense of what the baseline is before giving them something beautiful to awe at or terrible to mock.
Example: Mystery Science Theatre 3000 didn't play "Manos: The Hands of Fate" as their first episode, so when they and the viewer got to it, they could fully appreciate just how terrible it was. It even became their measuring stick, the standard for awfulness by which other films were judged. When another movie came along later and was bad, they'd often take stock and restore their perspective with the simple observation "Yeah, but it's still no Manos."
Just a meta observation. The video itself is really good though. I feel like my patreon donation is well deserved.
gnet kuji Thank you very much!
You are right, on several levels, involving the "putting your best stuff up front" thing. But, rest assured, there are a few really good aliens to sprinkle throughout. I wanted to start with the Xenomorph because, I feel, it typifies the scoring process very well. Going forward, fictional aliens will get crazier, so the scoring process will get wild. I would have hated to start on a horrific alien, like Superman, and confuse everyone on how the scoring can work.
Thank you again for donating. It means a lot =)
Trekspertise I liked your choice of the xenomorph first!
I remember reading a novel about the Xenomorphs a long time ago; they might have made their way back to their home planet (remember, this is maybe a year or so after Aliens), where someone wondered aloud something like "for all we know, they are just the rats of their world. Imagine what the bears would be like,". Even now, the idea that the monster you know is at the bottom of a food chain is kinda scary.
You really need to do another one of these. I enjoyed this way to much.
+New Age Gam3rs Writing one right now, actually :)
IIRC, The biochemistry of the xenomorph was purportedly silicone based, creating what Geiger designed as like blown glass exosceletons and as a solvent, using hydroflouric acid/molecular acid.
Love this! More species' APRs please! How about the Borg? Could that be humanity's fate if we mess up our relationship with tech-augmented biology?
The amazing thing, from a Earthian viewpoint, is that the xenomorph is not only logical, plausible, and horrifying, but based on multitudes of parasites. and insects, that are quite real, and quite terrifying. Damned vulcans.
Hmm...I actually really dig this twist on the channel. I for one will surely tune into APR when it comes out here on TH-cam. A very fair analysis of the Xenomorph creature too. Other aliens I think could do with an APR score might include:
Predator (Predator series)
Klingons (Star Trek)
Romulans/Vulcans (Star Trek)
Asari (Mass Effect)
Grunts (Halo)
But those are just a few on my wish list. Anyway, I'm enjoying this and really look forward to more APR and Trekspertise. This is The Shade, signing off.
Powershade117 Putting them on the list.
We definitely want to do a humanoid alien episode.
A liittle opinion =)
1) The biology can be debatable. It looks like Xenomorphs were a kind of bioweapon made by Space Jockeys. And, in Prometheus, we see how life on earth was created by them. Considering these facts, I would say, there is no evolutionary need to be connected to humans or dogs, if jockeys used some kind of universal DNA.
2) In the third part Xenomorph survived liquid lead bath. It looks like a little strange for me if they are protein form of life.
This is interesting choice of an alien for the first video like this. Aliens from the first movie seems like something irrational, artificial.
But, I love this video and hope to see more of it soon!
+0.25. The question of the acid blood has been discussed, if indirectly, on various science themed TH-cam channels. The Strongest Acid known is Fluoroantimonic (FA) acid. It is so powerful it will dissolve the glass container it is in and keep breaking down any substance it gets in contact with until its total reactive mass is consumed. This would explain the Xenomorph's blood being able to burn through seemingly anything. It is further hypothesized than the blood is a multi part reaction that occurs when the Xeomorph's body is violated. Chemicals combine to create the FA acid.
+0.25. Horizontal Gene transfer is exaggerated by this points to an explanation provided in the movie Prometheus. The Xenomorphs are essentially biological weapons who take the traits of indigenous lifeforms to increase their effectiveness in a given environment. There is no real limit to this as long as they lifeform in question uses DNA. More or less, Horizontal Gene Transfer is weaponized by a race of beings whose technological revolves around the biological and genetic, not the mechanical.
The Xenomorph is a biological weapon system. As such it takes many things the natural would never take so far and cranks well over "11".
Revised final score 6.00
Very well done, looking forward to more.
Jonathan Kasten Thank you, sir! The highest praise =)
This was really put together well! Why haven't there been more of these?
There are more coming.
By chance, how did you find us here?
By accident, your piece on The Borg was in my recommendation section. I'm a Star Trek fan so after I saw that I checked out the rest of your channel. I really like it! And will be checking out the rest of your content. And subscribing as well.
Same with me. There was a suggested video that I clicked on and down the TH-cam rabbit hole I went.
It was your episode on AI that popped up on my feed. After a few more episodes, boom subscribed. Really looking forward to some of the other race APRs. Feel like dropping a hint about what's to come so I can come up with my own scores?
Really well done as always.
Mark Tuchinsky Thank you! Super glad that you appreciate it. Makes it all worth the while.
Trekspertise I'd love to see you do this sort of video for the Aliens from "Mars Attacks"
Mark Tuchinsky "Don't run. We are your friends".
It would be interesting to see a plausibility review of Doctor Who's Galifreyians, especially in the star trek multi-verse. Crossovers in comic and story has done so multiple times but I'd love to see Trekspertise view on it.
+BoredBoyMedia There is an APR in the works that covers all humanoid aliens. Gallifreyians would likely be included.
Great video. Liked it very much. Could you do some Farscape races? Namely:
1) Pilots
2) Delvians
3) Leviathans
and to the lesser extend.
4) Scarren
Do one for the Dune Worms!
+Zenpaper Not a bad idea =)
+Trekspertise you should do a video on Q
Besides having a good geek moment, this was a fun vid to watch for its good explanation according to its (self chosen) criteria. Well done!
Fluoroantimonic acid, which is, to my understanding, the strongest acid we are aware of, eats through any and all materials we are aware of, excluding teflon. The potency of the xenomorph's blood in the face of how it does not eat through the alien may be explained either by the animal's blood being contained by some biological equivalent of teflon, or by some process similar to clotting in how it is initiated by certain chemical stimulus like damaged tissue or atmosphere or pressures outside a threshold.
Nice idea! This could be a nice series.
I think that you missed a penalty on the physics analysis. A Xenomorph exoskeleton is probably too large to support itself under Earth-like gravity. It's one of the reasons we don't typically see many bugs bigger than large coins.
Well Done. As A Fellow Scientist, I Really Enjoyed This!
I feel like that it's important to mention a note about the alien xenomorph from the first movie in that the creature is a silicon-based life form. There has been much contention in the scientific community if silicon-based life is possible and I feel as though it should have been mentioned in the video, whether that's a point for or against such creatures but it's important because it already says a lot about the biology and chemistry of the creature.
how about exploring the Predator aliens?
the Yoch'ja are one of my favorite sci-fi aliens out there
Yeah this!
Love your videos, and this was a really good.
Commander X47 Thank you very much. The highest praise =)
Keep tabs on us. Our mission is to continually improve.
My favorite creature. Period.
Please continue the APR with more creatures and characters!
Interesting analysis. I think that the rate of growth that the xenomorph shows subtracts from its physics probability score. Also the Xenomorph seems to have a relationship outside of the films with humanoid life, and is implied to be a genetically engineered being.
A bit myopic, but: I recently read that a parasite does not directly cause the death of its host. If they do, like the xenomorph, they're a parasitoid.
Narrator knows his stuff cool
as stated in Prometheus the Alien was developed for the sole reason of wiping out humanity
I thought it was stated that they were a mistake creation in that movie.
Then you did not watch the movie correctly.
It is heavily implied the Xenomorphs existed before the events of the movie. There are statues of them and everything. The only thing we got to see was an accidental, rough, bad replication of how they created Xenomorphs in the first place.
The Deacon (that thing at the end) however, was not a proto-Xeno or anything alike. It did not evolve or develope into the species seen in the other movies.
Hey man, gotta say i really liked your video, tho i disagreed with some factors. Just minor, in the matter of physics, aliens have been mentioned to spontaneosly malt out of the chestburster form into its later adolscent/adult form, without any apparent intake of mass. This is the only beef i have and isnt in the way why i make this message.
I'm uncertain if you take ideas or requests but i would recommend the Martians from war of the worlds or the Prawns from District 9. The former would defineity hit the classical bone of xenobiology amd touches a deal about xeno-forming enviorments (alien terraforming practically).
The Prawns are more of a mystery overall, in terms of sociology, biology and other factors that were touched upom with the xenomorph.
Anyways! Pleasent day!
My god this insane. Great work!
If you do an episode on Kryptonians (crossing my fingers) I highly recommend consulting the book "The Science of Superman" by Mark Wolverton. Wolverton makes a very compelling argument for the kind of environment that would produce Superman's abilities and provides scientific explanation for each of his powers.
I would point out it's mimicry is not dependent upon human or canine hosts. Or bovine if you have seen the alternate scenes. It seems to be a adaptation mechanism that borrows genes from any host it is able to take in the larval form. We simply see this most in a human form because the films revolve around the xeno as a threat to humanity. At least from what we have seen I would have to say it can at least do this with mammals, beyond that it's hard to say what other forms it might be able to gene steal from. You could almost see this is a form of forced evolutionary mutation. Any hive would take on characteristics of animals already living in a new environment. Making it better suited to survive there.
That is what made Jaws and Alien such terrific horror movies as conceivably you could have a great white shark that large out there that preys on humans, the Alien maybe sci-fi but you can imagine that out there in space they could be such a dangerous, clever animal with power of a T-Rex.
Actually, the "acid blood" concept was more a plot tool to make the creature extremely difficult to kill in an environment where the vacuum of space was only a few meters away. And of course to make it dangerous to kill with conventional weapons at close range. Overall, I'd say this video is spot-on about the plausibility of this creature.
I dug it but two things:
1. it scampers on walls like a itty bitty bug, yet weighs hundreds of pounds, most likely. That can't be a perfect physics score.
2. It goes from the size of a face hugger to full size, depending on version that can be--I'm guessing--12 feet long, maybe closer to 15 with the tail fully stretched, in a few minutes. That has to be more than a quarter point for biology.
+Giantess Tales These are great observations.
Thank you. I do videos of women who are hundreds of feet if not miles tall, so I know a thing or two about messing with physics and physiology.
I love your channel. I don't totally agree with everything, but you're always provocative.
Loved the video and the format hope to see more of it,. But I was disapoited that one of the flaw of the franchise wasn't mentioned: The superfast growth. From egg to reproducing adult in a matter of hours.
There is a species of Bark Beetle referenced in the "Selfish Gene". It once carried a bacterial parasite, whose genome now is fused with the male Bark Beetle of that species. The Bacterium has ceased to exist as an independent organism.
There are also several sea slugs who steal genes or cells of the plants and animals they feed of.
I would, however, argue that the Xenomorph violates the law of energy conservation. This thing grows in a matter of hours to a two meter large dragon in the first movie, without it being apparent that it has a food source.
it is possible for the alien to have that acid for blood, if their veins are lined with a similar substance as the linking of our stomachs. as for the parasite/Co evolving thing, you have to take into consideration that we don't know where these things come from or how they evolved, so it's still highly possible and most likely that they don't need to co evolve with a species to take DNA from it, and the prometheus theory states that the xenos were created, and may have been bio-engineered to be so adaptable
My headcanon puts the Species movies as a form of prequel to the Alien/Predator/Promethius movies.
First contact was made, the government told nobody about it... and it was a two part message. One was an endless energy supply that would result in a federation style utopia. The other was a bioweapon--that was based upon some extremely advanced biotechnology that would still look indistinguishable from magic for several thousand years later. The bioweapon was meant to be a form of punishment for civilisations that chose incorrectly. A temptation that would ultimately annihilate them.
Essentially, the Humans and Predators made the wrong choice, and were denied entrance into that universe's style of Federation... as well did the hundreds of species that turned into Xenomorphs. The reason the company is trying to find the Xenomorphs is simply that like the Species movies depicts--they lost the formula long ago, and are attempting to recover it.
This also would suggest that somewhere, somebody is sitting on an "infinite energy" type solution in the Alien/Predator/Promethius movie series--and just not using it, because society functions better in this current status.
Not certain how Species (as a movie series) is recognised by others in relation to Aliens... but it does suggest why there doesn't seem to be a clear origin of the Aliens. As those are likely hundreds or thousands of species who all chose incorrectly.
Xindi Insectoid and the Blue Grills Parasite do remeinds me of alien, especially the latter fucking on. That episode was like Alien meet Star Trek. D:
The next one you should review are the Predator for they do coexist in that universe with the Alien and would be interesting to see your take on them.
Gibby Gibson We are thinking of reviewing all humanoid aliens in one go, actually. Predator, while an interesting variation, counts as humanoid. In fact, Predator = Hirogen + Jem'Hadar, except, of course, Predator predates those fictional species.
The fact that the Xenomorph can grow full size in a matter of few hours since it's born, even in the complete absence of food, makes it fairly implausible over all, regardless of being artificially engineered.
I probably wouldve given a chemistry score of .50, because not only is the "acid blood" thing vague, but there arent many acids that could do what it does in the movies, and it would probably behoove the xenomorph not to get too exotic or powerful with the acid to avoid burning itself
in Alien (the first one), Ash remarks that it seems to replace much of its skin cells with polarized silicone which is highly resistant to many forms of acid - like the livers of most animals on Earth's ability to produce vitamin C (unlike humans), there may be a biological mechanism that allows the xenomorph to engineer silicone, or at least a similar variant that gives the alien the ability to produce a caustic acid that is activated by oxygen even as it oxidizes and starts to neutralize.
Horizontal Gene Transfer is my new favorite euphemism for sex
Also do one on Sayians and you will get the lowest score possible
Krag Hak I would include the Sayians in the same group as all humanoid-based lifeforms. We plan on doing an episode addresses the humanoid form as an alien one.
I would personally take a quarter point on the physics aspect because of its exoskeleton. Land based creatures on Earth with an exoskeleton has had issues growing to the point of reaching the scale required for an actual Xenomorph that walks around on two or four appendages. The largest land creatures with an exoskeleton in Earth's history had several appendages as well as walked with their bodies close to the ground. There have also been indications that these types of creatures failed to become as massive as animals with endoskeletons and a backbone because of lack of oxygen as well as gravity being too taxing to have a shell protecting their inner organs. While I don't expect the Xenomorph home world to have the exact same conditions as Earth itself, it does make these creatures' sizes to be a bit questionable.
Xenomorphs as a whole also seem to be fairly unaffected by changes to gravity and have been able to adapt to Earth's gravity and oxygen levels in the air (assuming they breath oxygen) and other planets while retaining about the same type of body structure and size. This too begs the question; how are they capable of surviving things like the vacuum of space and other hazardous environments while still being very active during its adult lifespan?
I believe that your score on the physics section is flawed. In the films, the xenomorph grows from a small 'chestburster' to a seven foot adult BEFORE eating anything. Matter cannot be created or destroyed.
I saw this clip and clicked it thinking that it would try to plausibly explain a possible crossover story between Alien and Star Trek...after watching it I get the impression that a Xenomorph would not last long on a Federation colony world...too many powerful weapons could be brought to bear against it. Plus a chestburster could be safely removed from a host without killing it and likewise a facehugger could be safely detached prior to embryo implantation.
Point were deducted for the implausibility of the "Alien" franchise xenomorph evolving the biology and chemistry to allow it interact with multiple species. But there are numerous hints and suggestions throughout the franchise that this was not a naturally evolved species, but a biological weapon specifically engineered for the traits and properties displayed. That such a species would be able to infect, adapt and propagate itself through numerous disparate alien biologies would be a necessary starting point for making such a weapon widely applicable. I suggest this alien has earned a perfect score.
I'd say they should take off points to account for the xenomorph's ridiculously fast rate of growth. Such growth would require an extraordinary amount of food and a hyper-charged digestive system; I can't imagine such a system functioning for more than a few seconds before it would massively overheat and melt the creature. Similarly, if it possessed such characteristics, it would quickly die of starvation if deprived of food for more than an hour or so.
IMHO you should also ad the alternation of generations to the list as regarding the facehugger/chestbuster cycle.
I think alien xenomorph definitely violates laws of physics big time. In the first Alien movie after bursting out through someone's chest the alien grows up from being small enough to fit inside a man's stomach to over 2m tall within a day without even eating anything. It just seems to create over 99% of its body mass out of thin air in one day.
This alone makes it the most implausible creature in all fiction.
tktt Yes. This and idea of it surviving the vacuum and cold of outer space were my two main points that the video missed, and it took a while to read through the comments to see whether others also noticed these. Both points have been covered already in the comments, and both are deal-breakers in an otherwise scientifically excellent alien creature.
Mr. tktt: no, the infant alien easily can find food, and it did in the book version, but it obviously cannot convert food to body tissues 100 times its birth size in a day or so.
while not technically alien, the replicants in Blade Runner would be worthy of discussion since they have enhanced strength and were intended to live in sometimes hostile conditions where normal human biology would be a liability... also the Puppet Masters from the Ringworld series would be very interesting to discuss...
in prometheus it is suggested that the xenomorph was made to destroy humans. this could explain why they would so easily use us as hosts.
Actually the whole point of Prometheus is that, before humans there were engineers. These engineers had something in earth that resembled human life. From what I understood (and some theory of my own) they first created a biological weapon that exposes earth's engineerlike humans to the roughness of evolution, making the dna weaker to changes, hence sped up evolution and caused differences between humans and engineers.(My own theory ends here) But engineers quickly realized that they didn't manage to kill human race and developed a new more brutal biological weapon, dark gluey fluid. The sole purpose of this was to force genetic manipulation happen to any and all organic life. (Hence the weird worm things in the monument) But it all went wrong and caused outbreak and one ship left the (planet in Prometheus) and crashed into (planet in 8th passenger). This ship now has the widely known eggs.
The story for (planet in Prometheus) takes a turn when Prometheus ship lands on it and people get infected, causing zombies, parasitic life forms to come up. But in the end one xenomorph like creature.
Why is that creature so different compared to original Alien saga. Because the xenomophs in that movie set were derived from Engineers, who were way different(at this point) compared to current people. Thus giving the biological weapon an another way of evolution.
Holy shit I went crazy with my theorizing. Well, back to the point. Xenomophs were no created to take down humans, it was derivative from biological weapon(which was created to target humans) that attacked engineers.
As much as I love the Alien franchise, if one argues that Prometheus is part of the franchise, then the Physics Score should be lower considering that the "proto-facehugger" left in the lifeboat at the end of the movie grew to an incredible size without any source of food or nutrients. It sort of disobeys the fundamental law of preservation of matter.
Otherwise, great vid!
I think the acid actually is blood and it's so acidic because it has to be to permit certain high level chemical interactions. You should read the comics and novels. Also deeply check out Prometheus. The xenomorphs did not naturally evolve. Though the comics conflict on this point in some of the crappier issues.
Great video man. Your stuff is often awesome :)
Something I rember reading was that the blood was more like a battery acid and they would recharge when part of the nest
but more to the point they still can scare the sh#t out of me
This is great! I like this. Analyzing the science in science fiction. What self respecting sci-fi fan wouldn't like this?
It's opinionated but I'm OK with that. At least someone is hold up something to scruples.
Good job Trekspertise.
Hey Trekspertise, I always wondered what the plausibility of the Bolian species from Star Trek is, It's my favourite species from star trek, could you please do a episode on it? Many thanks, Josh.
Joshua Edson Absolutely. In fact, I'm sure we will do an APR focusing on humanoid aliens as a group.
Thank you so much. :D
I always assumed that the xenomorph reproduced asexually and that the facehugger was like a wasp or fly that lays eggs in a host body to incubate, but horizontal gene transfer makes sense too. Nice vid, liked this one a lot.
For clarification on the biology/chemistry side of things the xenos are supposed to be silicon based organisms(it's mentioned in the first movie in the biolab pre-birth by Ash), which might explain why they can have an acid based blood. If the creature is composed of silicon/carbon at the molecular level then maybe it's tissues have an innate ability to house blood that is highly acidic in nature. If it's blood plasma is acid then it might act as an oxidizing agent/oxygen delivery system to it's tissues and organs. Not a chemistry expert, so no idea of how plausible that may be, I just know that highly corrosive acids are able to be stored in glass which is composed of silicon as far as I know.
Entertaining evaluation 👍
It has probably been mentioned, but in the novelization of the franchise, it is established that they are telepathic.
Hmm, the xenomorph grows quickly but it doesn't eat. In the first movie it grows from the small chest-burster to more than mansized in the environment of the spaceship where there is no food, before it starts killing the crew. Where does its biomass come from? I would deduct significant points for that.
That is, indeed, a major violation of the laws of physics.
I know I'm super late to the game, but I've always been really interested in anybodies take on the ST Tholians. Think of the world they developed on and the day to day of their extreme environment.
I hope to see more of these videos.
Hello Trekspertise, may I request that you do an APR on the Tholians, or even perhaps Species 8472? I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
I may be wrong but weren't Xenomorphs designed to be alien bio-weapons made by the 7 foot tall engeneirs?
Don't forget the horizontal gene transfers with the Predator species.
I always rather liked the fan theory that the Xenomorphs were created using the DNA of another (HR Giger classic) species by the Engineers who worshipped/adored the other species *possibly their own equivalent of the Ancient First Ones race* and were trying to re-create them.
@trekspertise Big fan of the channel, just discovered it after the new star trek show started.
I would love to see an APR score for some of the alien species in the HALO universe or, from the warhammer 40k universe(which seems to have heavily influenced the Halo creatures.
Keep in mind, in Prometheus it was revealed that the Xenomorphs were an engineered biological weapon, that was designed specifically target humanity. But it can be deduced that at some point the progenitors went to war with the Predator race, and the Xenomorph program was adapted to target them as well.
Also, when the Predator race discovered humanity, despite that Humans were engineered by the progenitors that they were at war with and that had unleashed the Xenomorph bio-weapon on them, they decided to give primitive man some guidance and protection, as revealed in the AvP backstory scenes. It's possible that this was BECAUSE of their desire for the hunt of the ultimate prey, and while the progenitors were a worthy hunt, humans were as well, and when you let the Xenomorph breed with life from earth, the ultimate hunt became possible. Though they seem to shun the idea of one of their own becoming a Xenomorph host, they also find the hunt that follows to be one of the most sought after.
Basically, the Xenomorph biology isn't so much "evolved" along side of the host life forms, as "engineered" to be compatible with any life from Earth, OR the Predator home world. And since they engineered life on Earth from their own biology, they are susceptible to it as well.
Two points on the penalty for Biology, which admittedly come from outside of the Aliens quadrilogy.
1- They where engineered with humans in mind, so they would easily be able to blend with their DNA (The Dog point is still reasonable), as per Prometheus
2- The Predators brought the Aliens to Earth as part of their hunting practices, in a city that predated the Pyramids of Egypt, showing the possibility of intentional Horizontal Gene Transfer. This could also explain the Dog Alien cross over as humans domesticated dogs over tens of thousands of years ago.
So I guess it depends on whether you include content from other film sources.
good work on this one
One egregious error is in the idea that the xenomorphs have a native environment and possible predators. The xenomorphs are an engineered species. The acid may very well be some blood and not just defense mechanism as it is THE apex predator in every environment to which it is introduced. A version was engineered to eradicate humans(Prometheus) and so the notion that it should lose points based on 'evolution' is mute. A created species cannot be judged by any of the criteria or measured using the false assumptions claimed in this video.
At least in the first Alien film the Xenomorph does break a pretty fundamental law of physics. How did it go from the larval chestbuster phase to a six foot tall monster without (apparently) taking on any nutrition or energy? Whilst it's possible for an internalised energy store to provide some additional growth, to increase it's size and mass by a proportion of several thousand?
its tail could have stored a lot of energy gained from its host, or the filmmakers just did not think about it.
As we see in lifeforms with exoskeletons, the exoskeleton expands by taking in air while it is still soft. The creature did not weigh more, it just expanded it's exoskeleton so that additional mass could be taken in. Another problem with movies is that they cut out all kinds of information that simply keeps the audience in the dark about what is going on in other parts of the story. Time passes, but that is sometimes hard to determine in some movies. There were several hours unaccounted for in the movie in which the creature could shed it's skin and hunt for vermin (the cat was there to keep vermin levels down after all) or find food stuffs aboard the Nostromo's storage rooms. This time was utilized by Parker to construct shock prods and a hunt for the chest burster was initiated after that. This provided several hours for the Alien to find something to eat and shed it's skin. Very fast growth, but some critters on Earth have life cycles that are exceedingly fast as well.