Though I'd like to think Biblaridion's "Alien Biospheres" really jump started the recent rise of spec evolution. Like, it was there before, but that series kicked it into high gear.
@Marshal Marrs Good thing that it takes a lot of knowledge to be properly recodnized in the community at large, it has quite high entry level which is nice since any trivial passerby will just get bored and leave, so that only the trully fascinated people will stay and eventually contribute.
I love how hopeful this is. The Yaetuans met and fell at every hurdle we have faced, but they pushed on. It’s that same human(oid) spirit that has driven us forward as far as we’ve gotten, coupled with the promise that we can always make things better, no matter how bad it gets. As long as we cling to life, we can still come back.
Imagine if the Yetuan's met Birrins and together they began to gradually find other Intelligent Beings from other Planets and gradually began to create an Intergalactic Union
I really like the fact that the design of the yaetuan and their expression is very relatable, it may be not really scientifically accurate that "smiling" is a commun trait for express happiness but I think it's no big deal.
@@dang-x3n0t1ct Yes I know, sorry if my English isn't great but that was I was trying to say, the truly alien aspect was sacrificed to make them more relatable. It's hard for a lot of people to worry about being too insectoid for example (but don't get me wrong, some do just fine, like Alex Ries and his Birrins). My thinking was precisely to know if it was a good thing or not.
@@dang-x3n0t1ct but I do not agree for the "uncreative" aspect, there are a lot of original idea, like the body plan, the beak-like structure, the four eyes very far from each other, the big neck and the little body etc.
@@dang-x3n0t1ct Not really. If they have four feet and a beak, then they obviously aren't human at all. It's better than a lot of "alien" designs in stuff like Star Wars or Star Trek where they are basically bipedal humanoids with slightly different skin textures or minor traits. Being both bird-like AND quadrupedal clearly marks the Yaetuans as obviously distinct from us.
Smiling is so not commonly an expression of joy that in our closest relative's the chimp's case it means being uneasy. And you defenetly don't wanna be near an uneasy chimp
This. This right here. This is the level of world-building that I, as an aspiring science fiction / alternate history writer, hope to one day achieve. Christian Cline's books, as well as the work of Alex Ries and (I don't remember his name) the guy who writes Serina, have all been huge inspirations to me and doubtless many others. The artwork in of itself is breathtaking but the ideas behind them are even more so. And the fact that most of it is based around real scientific laws and principles only makes it even more interesting. Anyone can create a fantasy creature or monster, but creating something that could realistically exist; that's just way more incredible to me. It just helps to show people how wondrous and amazing biology and evolution can get. Edit: Also, does that fat Yaetuan at 14:30 have a missing back leg? That makes me sad 😢.
It's literally our history, but viewed through a lense of an alien species (with minor differences to our own history), and it contains a prophecy of a possible future for us, starting with the terraforming of "Not Mars"/Exomars. That's why it's so good, and I love it!
These works have also inspired me with my own speculative biology projects. It's so awesome to see people out there becoming successful off of a topic you're interested in. Their works are so amazing not just because of the artwork, but also the incredible imagination and detail behind everything. By the way, Dylan Bajda wrote Serina (I think)
@@ArachisNPO this was kind of my realization. The creatures themselves are very elaborate and amazing, but this is just kind of human history. *I do not mean this in a bad way and i love the video
They were non-humanoid and it looked so interesting, but I'm very disappointed by the story, it's just human history no unique alien traits are explored
I think this is almost more speculative extraterrestrial anthropology or history rather than biology. Which I don't mean to be criticism but an appreciation of variety this kind of art is being able to create.
I mean, yes but also no. Speculative biology isn't just about the physical changes of the fictional organisms, but also how they interact with each other and their environment. Real life cetaceans, elephants and apes have tool-using skills and defined "cultures" of community ways of life, yet they are just as much classified in biology as any other "wild" animal. There is no issue with applying this same standard to the Yaetuans and their ways of life, given that they are even further removed from humans than any of those real-life animals.
@@mrreyes5004 Correct me if I'm wrong (Also I apologize seeing as your comment is a month old) but wouldn't you define that as speculative anthropology? Biology would be based entirely on their physical design which appears to be pretty heavily compromised in the sense that these just wouldn't evolve naturally because a lot of their features which are so heavily defining just don't make sense.
Glad to see Cline publishing again :D Despite how relatively recent a work it is, _The Teeming Universe_ has forever secured a place in my all time one-hundred favourite books. An essential addition to any speculative biology library.
I used to create spec evo worlds so much as a child. You've recently rekindled that passion in me and have caused me to start back up with a project I started back in high school nearly twelve years ago! I absolutely love all of your videos, keep up the great work
I think they were in an earlier episode, were they? Still, I really appreaciate how incredible the Yaetuan saga is, Cline really manages to bridge speculative biology with speculative anthropology and history and imagine a future in which after much effort is taken to a better world
This makes me think a lot to Bibliaridion's "Alien biospheres" on youtube. A playlist of about 8h30 of evolving all that lives on one planet until it soon reaches self-conscious lifeforms !
@@gi1dor Give me your idea of a realistic alien civilization, then. And no, I will not accept a species of energy-based geometric shapes, both culture and evolution often converge, as crabs, wings, dragons (As in the myths of things that can be called dragons) and pottery, famously show.
@@HOLDENPOPE So, to support my argument that I don't like this story because it's not interesting, repurposes human history and doesn't use any unique alien biological differences I should I write my own book about a fictional alien civilization using limitations put on my by someone from YT comments? I think I'm fine as it is
@@gi1dor Yes, because right now you have not backed up what you've said. What differences do you even *want*? Intelligent lifeforms are going to have different nations, wars, levels of progress and regression, names, and so on. Intelligent lifeforms need manipulation appendages and large, complex brains. The Yaetuan are already six-limbed, four-eyed birds, how alien do you want them to be, interconnected geometric shapes as impossible to add this level of detail to as the aliens from Arrival.?
Will you one day considered to do a video about the Pikmin franchise universe or one about the 2005 Skull Island version, with the help of the extended book "The World of Kong : A Natural History of Skull Island" ? Because that would be really interesting subject to speak and explore about !
@@theguywhoasked6858 That just sad that they end up making the 1935 island sinking into the sea, making extinct all the creatures we see both in the movie and the book. That truly a middle finger to all the people that made the illustration and this worbuilding (since most of what we see are just concepts arts and cut content created for the movie they end up reusing them for the book) and their work. That wasn't necessary to made the ultimate fate of the island identical to the original 1935 one from the original King Kong. (which in itself is already made in such dumb ways. When taking a treasure from its hidden place provoke the sinking of an entire island ? That jumping the shark).
@@dalekrenegade2596 Yeah, Unnatural History Channel is a great TH-cam Channel. I already see some of his videos. Not all because they easily reach the 40 min to more than an hour long for most. But yeah, great stuff otherwise. Still, it's still interesting to see the take of different persons about the same subject.
This is so cool! It's literally our, humanity's story, but viewed through the eyes of an alien species (and we are the aliens in this context). In other words, this lets us feel how an alien species would view us, if they would learn about our history. With really minor differences (the Roman Empire split and fell, but not because of a super volcano; we didn't have a nuclear war, but almost, and two Japanese cities were nuked down; etc.) 13:16 And from this point forward, it's a prophecy of a possible future for humanity.
that's a good interpretation, I guess, mine was that it was not really original and just human history with slight change and we have beaks. Not endearing to me at all...
@@PabloYaos Well, if we imagine realistic aliens, is very likely that they would follow how path of civilization. So it's pretty normal that this book is similar to our History
@@fabriziobiancucci7702 I feel like that's impossible to know though. sure, they could follow our route, but what if they don't feel emotions? what if they're big worms that are super smart? I feel like real aliens would be completely foreign to us, they are alien in nature, not just in name
@@oktalley99 A creature without emotions would also have no reason of improving. Their society would be stagnant, that means that they never go on after the Stone Age. Humans were able to develop because of their curiosity, desire, and a lot of other emotions. Also, basically all intelligent animals on Earth has complex emotions and relationships, that means that probably the evolution of intelligence is connected to the one of the emotions. So no, there will be no big intelligent worms without emotions. Aliens "truly aliens" cannot exist for our current understanding of how life and civilization work. It's true, we cannot say it for sure (just like we cannot say if we are alone in this universe or not), but we can make theories based on science, and our current science thinks that aliens, even if they could be very different in culture, language and aspects, they all go through our similar stage of civilization
Hey Curious Archives!! You need to cover the series “Tales of Kaimere” by Keenan Taylor! He has a super detailed world based around earth-based life being brought to another planet to evolve independently and it’s author is an awesome guy who collaborates with his fans to add different facets to his world!
Christian Cline's works are constistently some of the most impressive world building I've seen. I love the design and history the Yaetuans, and their culture reminds of a blend of Chinese, Japanese, with splashes of modern North American and European in their technological apex. Cline is a fantastic artist and his writing and drawings really show it.
I'm glad Christian mentioned religion through the second wave of settlers on Agda, I feel like religion is never used in speculative alien races (most likely because atheism and scientific knowledge go hand in hand), so seeing a religion, though minor, be mentioned is very nice.
There are a lot of things i disagree with in your comment Religions could be derived from science, and science was originally motivated by religion and philosophy in our own world. Plus, a lot of fiction including aliens has some kind of religion for them.
@@accidiaet Atheism is simply the position held by those whom are not convinced that gods exist. That's the gist of it. Also, your second statement is simply dishonest. Atheism does not contrast with scientific principles at all. Being an atheist is a scientific position, as both atheists and scientists don't make predetermined assumptions without evidence.
I bought the Teeming Universe book because of this channel! This looks amazing! The Yaetuan’s history is so incredible! I’d definitely watch a Yaetuan mocumentary series
I really love the idea of showing how cultural differences appear naturally in the Yatuans (It makes them feel so much more alive in the way their enviroment and experiences shape their culture and identity, much like with humans in our own history.)
Something I love about this saga is how fleshed out everything is. Too often in sci-fi a lot of key details, such as the history of an alien species or their culture, or even the planet they live on, aren't explored much. Seriously this would be an amazing documentary series.
I hope someday someone will do a project on what the Aliens in the movies would look like in terms of Science and Speculative Biology how they would realistically evolve on their Earth-like planets what their cultures and worldviews would have been like how they would have made it to the Cosmic Era and how difficult it would have been for humans to make contact with them
I’d love more stories like this. It’s common for humans to write human stories. I think we can learn just as much from non human stories such as this. Great video.
I count at least 3 Bronze Age Collapse like event, 1 Fallout-esque fate, at least 3 Cyberpunk era and it ends with Star Trek/War-esque utopia. Stellar works
Nice world building, but it shares the problem I have with many of those alien evolution fantasies; the aliens are basically just weird looking humans, in this case with a couple of extra limbs and a beak.
You might be interested in Jay Eaton's Runaway to the Stars then - she has aliens that are akin to bugs and moles, but yet have created their own civilizations and interacts with humans.
I think slime molds would be a fun thought experiment. No bones, no central brain, yet they can manipulate their environment, learn, grow and reproduce.
That space elevator is like 10x larger than it really needs to be. It's not uncommon for artists to not realize just how gargantuan our planets really are. Also, "megalithic" refers specifically to structures like stonehenge or big stone structures, and not "megastructures"
To be fair, I think the reason why the Yaetuans are so well described is because it's just human evolution and history applied to some "Aliens". Take any of the pictures in the video and replace them with humans and you just have a regular sci-fi story. I think it would be a lot more interesting if the "Aliens" would be more than just humans with additional 4 feet and a beak. They have hands, use the same huts as humans did, did farming with something that very much looks like wheat, have the same tools as we, they also use skyscrapers and they even have their version of the golden gate bridge and roman architecture. Detailed? Maybe yes. Original and interesting? Not at all. Whoever invented them could have given them a completely different biology, other senses, different history, but didn't.
Was thinking the same thing. I feel like Adrian Tchaikovsky did a better job with speculative sci-fi in Children of time ; his aliens are deliberately non anthropomorphic.
Kinda depends on how much stock you place in convergent evolution. It could easily be the case that due to finding similar solutions to similar problems that most alien species are not too different from us with the more "alien" ones being outliers.
Biological evolution is limited to the laws of physics. We already established that carbon-based life generally can only emerge and prosper on an Earth-like planet with similar properties(proximity to star, climate and atmosphere, size and gravity etc). Physics are (mostly) constant and consistent around the universe with the exception of certain phenomenon and quantum physics, and biology is restricted to these physics so it's safe to say that an intelligent life on an Terran planet would evolve and develop similarly to humans. They would solve the same issues as humans as their brains expand and potentially come into conflict with each other also similarly to humans. Aliens are not gonna look alien for the sake of being alien. Humans evolved large brains and great intelligence in order to keep up with our complex social groups and environment. We've always been a social species, and we may have developed our intelligence in part to maintain those relationships and function successfully in these environments. This to me seems more plausible for an alien civilization than the alien aliens(speaking of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations not alian lifeforms).
I loved this video and it reminded me of The Children of Time book. The plot has humanity trying to spred out into the Galaxy, but thing go awry and they up lift spiders. It's a fascinating read.
Would I be too harsh to say that it's a little too human? Even within our own cultures, things could have gone way different than things have gone, so to imply that what we've gone through is emergent... I don't know, that seems too far fetched to me. It seems more like he wanted to tell a story about space aliens, but didn't want to spend too much time with the beginnings. But like I said, am I being unreasonable here, because he usually posts pretty interesting stuff.
@@jonahulichny9874 but isn’t that the point? The history is almost the same as ours. I mean it’s still pretty cool but looking at All tomorrows or dinotopia, they’re totally unique and different even though it’s basically human history, not aliens. I’m not trying to bash Christian Cline, as I said I think it’s still an interesting concept.
@@jonahulichny9874 I agree with hot boi here, I don't see the point in having made them aliens, if their psychology and prehistoric history is, from what I can tell, identical. Had this just been an alternative human history book, would the story have been any different?
it is always a joy in my day when i see a new video from Curious Archive pop up. These videos are always so interesting and always leave me wanting more
In my opinion a hexapod with an internal skeleton (as opposed to arthropods) would soon lose one of the pairs of limbs. They just get in the way more than they are useful. May be that pair takes on a vestigial, supplemental role for manipulation or grasping, but even for strong gripping making one of two pairs bimodal (locomotion/gripping) is more efficient because otherwise you end up with another pair of beefy limbs getting in the way all the time. It's probably worse once you try climbing and swinging through trees...
I don know i mean if you look at all of insects, i cant really find a single one that lost a pair of limbs (excluding those that just lose all of them as a result of what tends to happen when being a hyperspecilised parasite). If a pair of limbs are in the way, then just move them farther apart from one another, spiders even use them in order to do delicate maneuvers with their webs while having 8 legs (corse they don't really have traditional fingers, but the legs do not ever get in the way with one another)
Well you’re in luck since these animals appear to have joint structures more like that of arthropods with backwards facing hindlimbs shaped like those of crickets and forelimbs pointing forwards
@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 That's not what arthropod or exosceleton means. The way they are drawn it looks indeed as if their hindlegs are on the way out. Imagine them trying to run fast. They'd probably balance on their middle leg pair and become bipedal. They already have that awkward slant to balance their weight over the middle.
@@yjlom standing on two legs is plenty stable due to the computational power in the brain. Dinosaurs evolved it, maybe multiple times, including eventually birds. Some reptile species show bipedal motion occasionally. Mammals evolved it multiple times (marsupials, primates, gerbils...).
i have a formation in classical latin and was like "why is their name yaetuan, it's not like we're human because we come from the planet Hum" then remembered the hum in human does, in fact, mean Earth, as in humus.
I like the art and how it's based in reality and science. However I was kinda disappointed it's so strongly based off of human history and I feel like some creative opportunities were missed. But I've seen some other comments here that are happy with this and I can see where they're coming from.
its funny how even as a speculative intelligent species impossibly far away from humans biologically, the yaetuans seem to have a very similar history, society, and technological capabilities to that of us.
I want you to make a completely original biosphere with a complete system with mass, radius, volume, surface area, temperature, etc. And then make completely alien aliens, after one then make 249 more all with their own descriptions and size and all that info, then make a complete history of the planet. And then after all that THEN make the intelligent species with no connection with humanity in any way, no connections to our religion, our technology, or dreams, our history, our machinery, our society, etc. Do all of that to find out it's impossible BECAUSE YOUR A HUMAN WHO WILL THINK LIKE A HUMAN! I know it isn't the most original, but what about the navi who are just blue cat people.
@@TheSkookat I agree that it would be difficult, but it is certainly tiring seeing these supposed "alien worlds," when they're not willing to go through the work of making them with the different parameters you mentioned and more. Simply showing them as humans in another timeline would eliminate these issues. P.S. I did not appreciate the Navi either.
As cool as all this lore is, I feel like the Yaetuan could easily be replaced with humans without suspending disbelief of the cultures, technology and evolution...
I honestly don't care about "civilized" aliens and their technologies to travel and colonize galaxies. I much prefer the "bestial" aliens (alien faunas), if I had written this saga it would have been concreted in the "Prehistoric" periods.
@@C-Farsene_5, your planet has no ecological problem. It’ll heal itself given time, that’s how tenacious life is once it establishes itself. The problems are yours, your kind does not want to go extinct, your kind does not want to live without the biological diversity its used to. Niches will be filled when vacated by the extinct, don’t worry. Everything is a source of energy, even the pollution you despise will one day be food for the creature who take advantage of the free energy no other lineage can breakdown.
I like the world building here. So many sci-fi writers make their aliens either utopians with no problems or despotic empires that make you question how they even survived long enough to go into space. Yaetuans are like us, they have our problems (nuclear annihilation, war, and climate change) but made it through the fires of Hell to make things better.
I love the antique artwork in the early sections. I want to imagine that the adage “people have always been people” can cross the lines of deep space and even species as well as time and culture, and I found myself wondering, if a human and a Yaetuan were to meet, how would they communicate? How would I, a 21st century human, establish a baseline of understanding with a coastal Yaetuan artist? People have undoubtably put more thought into the general idea than I have , but I like to think she and I could make some headway understanding each other through showing the other our art.
Mr Archive, do you have any speculative biology, sci-fi, creature, worldbuilding ideas? I'd be interested in hearing about any and all thoughts you may have. Also would you consider doing an video with smaller sets of designs from many artists or does that stray a little far from the point of the channel? Like a compilation of smaller ideas that aren't (yet) fully fleshed out worlds
Few questions i have since the sagas say it: what kind of gods do the yaetuans have, what do they call their gods, and how do they worship them? Asking as a curious shintoist.🤔
One day, Yaetuan communications equipment on a world at the edge of colonized space detects a faint signal, highly degraded. Dated to be nearly 100 thousand years old. Further research reveals it to be a deliberate signal made by other intelligent beings searching for life like them. It contains pictures of what the beings are presumed to look like, with two less limbs, and more digits on each hand. The information of possible confirmation of other intelligent life spreads fast and soon every member of the species knows something. Despite the age, scientists are hopeful that the beings are not extinct, and efforts begin to establish contact... Love spec biology. Itd be super cool to have something like this that ends with them discovering an ancient signal from humans. At least I think itd be. Nothing more than a few sentences or a paragraph, right at the end...
Humanity must learn from The Yaetuan's History And Examples, We MUST LEARN From They're Mistakes and Accomplishments In Order for They're Mistakes Doesn't Happen To Us
It would be interesting if, in the next book, the Yatuean made first contact with future humans. It would be extremely fascinating to see how the societies would react & what would happen next.
I'mma guess: Biblaridion's Alien Biospheres series is gonna feature these aliens, his last episode talking about how the alien spiders on his fictional planet evolve sentience in the form of these aliens featured here.
The yaetuans are pretty thought out but does anyone else hate it when aliens species are just the adjective for their homeworld I mean our species is not call earthlings or terrestrials or terrans or whatever adjective for our planet
Some of this art doesn't make sense. The alien golden gate bridge was drawn by someone who doesn't know how bridges work, the alien pyramids are too tall, the aliens smile and use human tools... It's a nice project and sure there was a lot of work put into it, but it's not incredibly creative.
Speculative biology is growing as a result of your channel and I’m so happy because of it! The communities growth is beautiful to see
Man I remember when the video on all tomorrow's came out and the community just exploded ever since and its so great I love it
@Marshal Marrs schizo biology
Though I'd like to think Biblaridion's "Alien Biospheres" really jump started the recent rise of spec evolution. Like, it was there before, but that series kicked it into high gear.
I just love the spec bio community, it’s so chill and supportive in general. Truly a wonderful community!
@Marshal Marrs Good thing that it takes a lot of knowledge to be properly recodnized in the community at large, it has quite high entry level which is nice since any trivial passerby will just get bored and leave, so that only the trully fascinated people will stay and eventually contribute.
I love how hopeful this is. The Yaetuans met and fell at every hurdle we have faced, but they pushed on. It’s that same human(oid) spirit that has driven us forward as far as we’ve gotten, coupled with the promise that we can always make things better, no matter how bad it gets. As long as we cling to life, we can still come back.
Imagine if the Yetuan's met
Birrins and together they began to gradually find other Intelligent Beings from other Planets and gradually began to create an Intergalactic Union
@@bipicrevec1238 Just imagine if all the space species he's covered on this channel unite.
@@GuywithaTrexskullonhishead not sure if they would be fond of the All Mother's little children
Imagine the Galactic Republic but with the species that were covered by CA
The indomitable Yaetuan spirit
I really like the fact that the design of the yaetuan and their expression is very relatable, it may be not really scientifically accurate that "smiling" is a commun trait for express happiness but I think it's no big deal.
That was kind of uncreative imo, they're just humans with 4 feet and a beak
@@dang-x3n0t1ct Yes I know, sorry if my English isn't great but that was I was trying to say, the truly alien aspect was sacrificed to make them more relatable. It's hard for a lot of people to worry about being too insectoid for example (but don't get me wrong, some do just fine, like Alex Ries and his Birrins).
My thinking was precisely to know if it was a good thing or not.
@@dang-x3n0t1ct but I do not agree for the "uncreative" aspect, there are a lot of original idea, like the body plan, the beak-like structure, the four eyes very far from each other, the big neck and the little body etc.
@@dang-x3n0t1ct Not really. If they have four feet and a beak, then they obviously aren't human at all. It's better than a lot of "alien" designs in stuff like Star Wars or Star Trek where they are basically bipedal humanoids with slightly different skin textures or minor traits. Being both bird-like AND quadrupedal clearly marks the Yaetuans as obviously distinct from us.
Smiling is so not commonly an expression of joy that in our closest relative's the chimp's case it means being uneasy. And you defenetly don't wanna be near an uneasy chimp
This. This right here. This is the level of world-building that I, as an aspiring science fiction / alternate history writer, hope to one day achieve. Christian Cline's books, as well as the work of Alex Ries and (I don't remember his name) the guy who writes Serina, have all been huge inspirations to me and doubtless many others. The artwork in of itself is breathtaking but the ideas behind them are even more so. And the fact that most of it is based around real scientific laws and principles only makes it even more interesting. Anyone can create a fantasy creature or monster, but creating something that could realistically exist; that's just way more incredible to me. It just helps to show people how wondrous and amazing biology and evolution can get.
Edit: Also, does that fat Yaetuan at 14:30 have a missing back leg? That makes me sad 😢.
Brilliant comment. I completely agree with you.
It's literally our history, but viewed through a lense of an alien species (with minor differences to our own history), and it contains a prophecy of a possible future for us, starting with the terraforming of "Not Mars"/Exomars. That's why it's so good, and I love it!
These works have also inspired me with my own speculative biology projects. It's so awesome to see people out there becoming successful off of a topic you're interested in. Their works are so amazing not just because of the artwork, but also the incredible imagination and detail behind everything. By the way, Dylan Bajda wrote Serina (I think)
@@ArachisNPO this was kind of my realization. The creatures themselves are very elaborate and amazing, but this is just kind of human history.
*I do not mean this in a bad way and i love the video
Why would seeing a disabled character make you sad? /gen
I hope I'm not that much of a disappointment 😂
these non humanoid aliens is why I love science fiction, an animated mini series of the story would be cool
They were non-humanoid and it looked so interesting, but I'm very disappointed by the story, it's just human history no unique alien traits are explored
@@gi1dor Yes idk why everyone is so hyped about this worldbuilding I mean it's detailed but it is clearly based off a template
@@gi1dorYeah didn’t want to be rude because there’s a lot of effort put in but I feel like this is just alternate human history, not /alien/ history.
EXACTLY BRUH@@nikolirikoli5966
They could’ve done so much more with this, and make them different from humans
I think this is almost more speculative extraterrestrial anthropology or history rather than biology. Which I don't mean to be criticism but an appreciation of variety this kind of art is being able to create.
critical*
I mean, yes but also no. Speculative biology isn't just about the physical changes of the fictional organisms, but also how they interact with each other and their environment. Real life cetaceans, elephants and apes have tool-using skills and defined "cultures" of community ways of life, yet they are just as much classified in biology as any other "wild" animal. There is no issue with applying this same standard to the Yaetuans and their ways of life, given that they are even further removed from humans than any of those real-life animals.
@@mrreyes5004 Correct me if I'm wrong (Also I apologize seeing as your comment is a month old) but wouldn't you define that as speculative anthropology? Biology would be based entirely on their physical design which appears to be pretty heavily compromised in the sense that these just wouldn't evolve naturally because a lot of their features which are so heavily defining just don't make sense.
@@CrabcakeAR Anthropology focuses exclusively on the study of humanity.
@@ominous-omnipresent-they Which is what this video is doing. It's copy paste of the history of humanity.
The beakpaste ad made me chuckle, it's so charming seeing something so alien and yet so familiar at the same time
Glad to see Cline publishing again :D Despite how relatively recent a work it is, _The Teeming Universe_ has forever secured a place in my all time one-hundred favourite books. An essential addition to any speculative biology library.
I used to create spec evo worlds so much as a child. You've recently rekindled that passion in me and have caused me to start back up with a project I started back in high school nearly twelve years ago! I absolutely love all of your videos, keep up the great work
Christian casually dropping the most awsome book about evolution ever is the best
and make my life more than 60 percent better
I think they were in an earlier episode, were they? Still, I really appreaciate how incredible the Yaetuan saga is, Cline really manages to bridge speculative biology with speculative anthropology and history and imagine a future in which after much effort is taken to a better world
You're thinking of the teeming universe episode
That was a different species but they look similar because they're both from the same creator
@@odanedmcdonald No, those were Yaetuans
In that they have colonised an area of like 20 worlds
This makes me think a lot to Bibliaridion's "Alien biospheres" on youtube. A playlist of about 8h30 of evolving all that lives on one planet until it soon reaches self-conscious lifeforms !
P.s. it is Bibliaridion's videos which brought me to enjoy speculative evolution as I do now
I have a feeling he’ll cover Alien Biospheres soon if the most recent video is the last one of the series.
@@thegodofsoapkekcario1970 there is one more planned
@@burningbronze7555 I should’ve finished watching the video :niggablue:.
Hope he does alien biospheres, I just made a similar comment before seeing this
I love how realistic the yaetuan saga is. It isnt a straight line but it has its ups and downs
Yeah, realistic it's just slightly changed human history
@@gi1dor only Earth will never unite as one
@@gi1dor Give me your idea of a realistic alien civilization, then. And no, I will not accept a species of energy-based geometric shapes, both culture and evolution often converge, as crabs, wings, dragons (As in the myths of things that can be called dragons) and pottery, famously show.
@@HOLDENPOPE So, to support my argument that I don't like this story because it's not interesting, repurposes human history and doesn't use any unique alien biological differences I should I write my own book about a fictional alien civilization using limitations put on my by someone from YT comments? I think I'm fine as it is
@@gi1dor Yes, because right now you have not backed up what you've said. What differences do you even *want*? Intelligent lifeforms are going to have different nations, wars, levels of progress and regression, names, and so on. Intelligent lifeforms need manipulation appendages and large, complex brains. The Yaetuan are already six-limbed, four-eyed birds, how alien do you want them to be, interconnected geometric shapes as impossible to add this level of detail to as the aliens from Arrival.?
Your the reason i love speculative biology keep it up always excited to see what's next
you're*
@@mrtoothless lol thanks
Imagine if they met the Birrin?
Will you one day considered to do a video about the Pikmin franchise universe or one about the 2005 Skull Island version, with the help of the extended book "The World of Kong : A Natural History of Skull Island" ?
Because that would be really interesting subject to speak and explore about !
I agree, skull island is a topic woven in mystery. And the early concepts are even more interesting!
@@theguywhoasked6858 That just sad that they end up making the 1935 island sinking into the sea, making extinct all the creatures we see both in the movie and the book.
That truly a middle finger to all the people that made the illustration and this worbuilding (since most of what we see are just concepts arts and cut content created for the movie they end up reusing them for the book) and their work.
That wasn't necessary to made the ultimate fate of the island identical to the original 1935 one from the original King Kong. (which in itself is already made in such dumb ways. When taking a treasure from its hidden place provoke the sinking of an entire island ?
That jumping the shark).
Agree, though it would be tough to make a video to that Island justice which the Unnatural History Channel does brilliantly.
@@dalekrenegade2596 Yeah, Unnatural History Channel is a great TH-cam Channel. I already see some of his videos.
Not all because they easily reach the 40 min to more than an hour long for most.
But yeah, great stuff otherwise.
Still, it's still interesting to see the take of different persons about the same subject.
This is so cool! It's literally our, humanity's story, but viewed through the eyes of an alien species (and we are the aliens in this context). In other words, this lets us feel how an alien species would view us, if they would learn about our history. With really minor differences (the Roman Empire split and fell, but not because of a super volcano; we didn't have a nuclear war, but almost, and two Japanese cities were nuked down; etc.)
13:16 And from this point forward, it's a prophecy of a possible future for humanity.
that's a good interpretation, I guess, mine was that it was not really original and just human history with slight change and we have beaks. Not endearing to me at all...
@@PabloYaos Well, if we imagine realistic aliens, is very likely that they would follow how path of civilization. So it's pretty normal that this book is similar to our History
@@fabriziobiancucci7702 I feel like that's impossible to know though. sure, they could follow our route, but what if they don't feel emotions? what if they're big worms that are super smart? I feel like real aliens would be completely foreign to us, they are alien in nature, not just in name
@@oktalley99 A creature without emotions would also have no reason of improving. Their society would be stagnant, that means that they never go on after the Stone Age. Humans were able to develop because of their curiosity, desire, and a lot of other emotions. Also, basically all intelligent animals on Earth has complex emotions and relationships, that means that probably the evolution of intelligence is connected to the one of the emotions. So no, there will be no big intelligent worms without emotions. Aliens "truly aliens" cannot exist for our current understanding of how life and civilization work. It's true, we cannot say it for sure (just like we cannot say if we are alone in this universe or not), but we can make theories based on science, and our current science thinks that aliens, even if they could be very different in culture, language and aspects, they all go through our similar stage of civilization
no nuclear war... yet.
Hey Curious Archives!! You need to cover the series “Tales of Kaimere” by Keenan Taylor! He has a super detailed world based around earth-based life being brought to another planet to evolve independently and it’s author is an awesome guy who collaborates with his fans to add different facets to his world!
that sound quite similar to serina
@Winter There is a difference. There is magic, and the animals are harvested over across the history of earth.
@@shingtiong9425 that sounds really interesting. I might check it out
@Winter ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
This right here. I've been following the series since I was sixteen. Pretty good.
Christian Cline's works are constistently some of the most impressive world building I've seen. I love the design and history the Yaetuans, and their culture reminds of a blend of Chinese, Japanese, with splashes of modern North American and European in their technological apex. Cline is a fantastic artist and his writing and drawings really show it.
I'm glad Christian mentioned religion through the second wave of settlers on Agda, I feel like religion is never used in speculative alien races (most likely because atheism and scientific knowledge go hand in hand), so seeing a religion, though minor, be mentioned is very nice.
"Christian mentioned religion" lol
Ever played Halo?
Agnostic beliefs go hand in hand with scientific knowledge. Atheism is in direct contrast to scientific principles
There are a lot of things i disagree with in your comment
Religions could be derived from science, and science was originally motivated by religion and philosophy in our own world.
Plus, a lot of fiction including aliens has some kind of religion for them.
@@accidiaet
Atheism is simply the position held by those whom are not convinced that gods exist. That's the gist of it.
Also, your second statement is simply dishonest. Atheism does not contrast with scientific principles at all. Being an atheist is a scientific position, as both atheists and scientists don't make predetermined assumptions without evidence.
I bought the Teeming Universe book because of this channel! This looks amazing! The Yaetuan’s history is so incredible! I’d definitely watch a Yaetuan mocumentary series
*Death battle: the Birrin empire vs. The Yaetuan empire*
WAIT! You forgot the dinosauroids.
I really love the idea of showing how cultural differences appear naturally in the Yatuans (It makes them feel so much more alive in the way their enviroment and experiences shape their culture and identity, much like with humans in our own history.)
Something I love about this saga is how fleshed out everything is.
Too often in sci-fi a lot of key details, such as the history of an alien species or their culture, or even the planet they live on, aren't explored much.
Seriously this would be an amazing documentary series.
Thank you for a new video CA! You are probably in my top 10 for favorite channels on this site!
Thank you for the reminder that I need to work on my Sci-Fi setting too and the aliens 💀
Love the video!
I hope some day we get more speculative biology documentaries
Meanwhile on Yaetuan youtube: The Human saga - Most detailed alien species in Sci-Fi?
You always love to see a speculative biology project that doesn't forget to add integument to its creatures
I hope someday
someone will do a project on what the Aliens in the movies would look like in terms of Science and Speculative Biology
how they would realistically evolve on their Earth-like planets
what their cultures and worldviews would have been like
how they would have made it to the Cosmic Era
and how difficult it would have been for humans to make contact with them
10:16 when your custom character appears in a cutscene
I love how much detail went into the art, definitely buying the book
I’d love more stories like this. It’s common for humans to write human stories. I think we can learn just as much from non human stories such as this. Great video.
I count at least 3 Bronze Age Collapse like event, 1 Fallout-esque fate, at least 3 Cyberpunk era and it ends with Star Trek/War-esque utopia. Stellar works
Nice world building, but it shares the problem I have with many of those alien evolution fantasies; the aliens are basically just weird looking humans, in this case with a couple of extra limbs and a beak.
You might be interested in Jay Eaton's Runaway to the Stars then - she has aliens that are akin to bugs and moles, but yet have created their own civilizations and interacts with humans.
@waitwot Thanks for the suggestion, Ididn't know that writer, I will look it up.
I think slime molds would be a fun thought experiment. No bones, no central brain, yet they can manipulate their environment, learn, grow and reproduce.
@@vickiephelps5169 I wonder if that could mean that an entire planet could be alive. A living sheath surrounding a core of rock.
That space elevator is like 10x larger than it really needs to be. It's not uncommon for artists to not realize just how gargantuan our planets really are. Also, "megalithic" refers specifically to structures like stonehenge or big stone structures, and not "megastructures"
yooo new upload
And a good one
I wanted this so badly. I absolutely loved "The Teeming Universe" and this is just perfect.
8:40 Looks like they're partially inspired by the Opabinia and the Ocean Flish respectively.
Videos like these give me hope that there might be life out there among the stars.
To be fair, I think the reason why the Yaetuans are so well described is because it's just human evolution and history applied to some "Aliens". Take any of the pictures in the video and replace them with humans and you just have a regular sci-fi story. I think it would be a lot more interesting if the "Aliens" would be more than just humans with additional 4 feet and a beak. They have hands, use the same huts as humans did, did farming with something that very much looks like wheat, have the same tools as we, they also use skyscrapers and they even have their version of the golden gate bridge and roman architecture.
Detailed? Maybe yes. Original and interesting? Not at all. Whoever invented them could have given them a completely different biology, other senses, different history, but didn't.
Was thinking the same thing. I feel like Adrian Tchaikovsky did a better job with speculative sci-fi in Children of time ; his aliens are deliberately non anthropomorphic.
I am reminded of spore: tribal stage
Kinda depends on how much stock you place in convergent evolution. It could easily be the case that due to finding similar solutions to similar problems that most alien species are not too different from us with the more "alien" ones being outliers.
Biological evolution is limited to the laws of physics. We already established that carbon-based life generally can only emerge and prosper on an Earth-like planet with similar properties(proximity to star, climate and atmosphere, size and gravity etc). Physics are (mostly) constant and consistent around the universe with the exception of certain phenomenon and quantum physics, and biology is restricted to these physics so it's safe to say that an intelligent life on an Terran planet would evolve and develop similarly to humans. They would solve the same issues as humans as their brains expand and potentially come into conflict with each other also similarly to humans. Aliens are not gonna look alien for the sake of being alien.
Humans evolved large brains and great intelligence in order to keep up with our complex social groups and environment. We've always been a social species, and we may have developed our intelligence in part to maintain those relationships and function successfully in these environments. This to me seems more plausible for an alien civilization than the alien aliens(speaking of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations not alian lifeforms).
humans wouldn't be able to understand something too different from earth history
but yes, it could be more different
You don't know how long I was waiting for you to upload a video. Finally thank you
I loved this video and it reminded me of The Children of Time book. The plot has humanity trying to spred out into the Galaxy, but thing go awry and they up lift spiders. It's a fascinating read.
I came here hoping to see this comment👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I've read that book twice.
I think there may be sequels but I'm hesitant to read them since I think they wrapped up everything in the best way possible.
Would I be too harsh to say that it's a little too human? Even within our own cultures, things could have gone way different than things have gone, so to imply that what we've gone through is emergent... I don't know, that seems too far fetched to me. It seems more like he wanted to tell a story about space aliens, but didn't want to spend too much time with the beginnings. But like I said, am I being unreasonable here, because he usually posts pretty interesting stuff.
Thought the same man. It was interesting learning about this lore in a short video but id be a bit disappointed if i bought the book i think
I think it’s more about the history/ culture of the yaetuans rather than their biology.
@@jonahulichny9874 but isn’t that the point? The history is almost the same as ours. I mean it’s still pretty cool but looking at All tomorrows or dinotopia, they’re totally unique and different even though it’s basically human history, not aliens. I’m not trying to bash Christian Cline, as I said I think it’s still an interesting concept.
@@jonahulichny9874 I agree with hot boi here, I don't see the point in having made them aliens, if their psychology and prehistoric history is, from what I can tell, identical. Had this just been an alternative human history book, would the story have been any different?
Honestly I think the Birrin are more interesting.
it is always a joy in my day when i see a new video from Curious Archive pop up. These videos are always so interesting and always leave me wanting more
In my opinion a hexapod with an internal skeleton (as opposed to arthropods) would soon lose one of the pairs of limbs. They just get in the way more than they are useful. May be that pair takes on a vestigial, supplemental role for manipulation or grasping, but even for strong gripping making one of two pairs bimodal (locomotion/gripping) is more efficient because otherwise you end up with another pair of beefy limbs getting in the way all the time. It's probably worse once you try climbing and swinging through trees...
more efficient but less stable
but yeah unless you're megafauna or suspensorial centaurism makes more sense
I don know i mean if you look at all of insects, i cant really find a single one that lost a pair of limbs (excluding those that just lose all of them as a result of what tends to happen when being a hyperspecilised parasite). If a pair of limbs are in the way, then just move them farther apart from one another, spiders even use them in order to do delicate maneuvers with their webs while having 8 legs (corse they don't really have traditional fingers, but the legs do not ever get in the way with one another)
Well you’re in luck since these animals appear to have joint structures more like that of arthropods with backwards facing hindlimbs shaped like those of crickets and forelimbs pointing forwards
@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 That's not what arthropod or exosceleton means. The way they are drawn it looks indeed as if their hindlegs are on the way out. Imagine them trying to run fast. They'd probably balance on their middle leg pair and become bipedal. They already have that awkward slant to balance their weight over the middle.
@@yjlom standing on two legs is plenty stable due to the computational power in the brain. Dinosaurs evolved it, maybe multiple times, including eventually birds. Some reptile species show bipedal motion occasionally. Mammals evolved it multiple times (marsupials, primates, gerbils...).
At 0:14 that extraterrestrial creature suspiciously looks like a starfish.
i have a formation in classical latin and was like "why is their name yaetuan, it's not like we're human because we come from the planet Hum" then remembered the hum in human does, in fact, mean Earth, as in humus.
Always happy when a new vid from u comes out
I am not going to lie, I legitimate fangirl-screamed internally when I saw the notification. Thank you for the upload.
Glad to see you again!! Missed me some Curious Archive!
You should narrate some speculative biology books. You've got a great voice!
Dang, this guy managed to do good on making an alien race as detailed as he did. Great work to Christian Cline.
Now I want someone to create the history of the flash wars and the powers that played part in them lol this is so awesome
Ah it’s good to see this franchise again
in your past few videos ive felt a change in content, and im all for it!
Every time I get a new video from you on my feed, makes me day better , love from UK ❤️❤️
This, Birdbugs, and Birrins are my favorites
Realy cool, and thanks for using the old intro music, It brings me a lot of nostalgia
I like the art and how it's based in reality and science.
However I was kinda disappointed it's so strongly based off of human history and I feel like some creative opportunities were missed.
But I've seen some other comments here that are happy with this and I can see where they're coming from.
thank you for making such a cool vid. I love speculative biology. and this just makes my fascination for the subject grow.
So much talent on this channel!
This is a great story, but it really sucks when you find something similar to what your creating that was made years before you started
Wait....what is this story similar to this story from years before?
@@Game_Hero the story is somewhat similar to what I’m creating
@@yorj2949 oh, well, better luck next time. Or remix it into something different.
@@Game_Herolol
@@Game_Hero I mean it’s different enough but with some vague similarities
i love the " one small step for a yaetuan" that made me laugh!
its funny how even as a speculative intelligent species impossibly far away from humans biologically, the yaetuans seem to have a very similar history, society, and technological capabilities to that of us.
I want you to make a completely original biosphere with a complete system with mass, radius, volume, surface area, temperature, etc. And then make completely alien aliens, after one then make 249 more all with their own descriptions and size and all that info, then make a complete history of the planet. And then after all that THEN make the intelligent species with no connection with humanity in any way, no connections to our religion, our technology, or dreams, our history, our machinery, our society, etc.
Do all of that to find out it's impossible BECAUSE YOUR A HUMAN WHO WILL THINK LIKE A HUMAN!
I know it isn't the most original, but what about the navi who are just blue cat people.
@@TheSkookat I agree that it would be difficult, but it is certainly tiring seeing these supposed "alien worlds," when they're not willing to go through the work of making them with the different parameters you mentioned and more. Simply showing them as humans in another timeline would eliminate these issues.
P.S. I did not appreciate the Navi either.
As cool as all this lore is, I feel like the Yaetuan could easily be replaced with humans without suspending disbelief of the cultures, technology and evolution...
100% agreed
It feels like their history isn’t theirs. Yknow?
12:23 It's basically alien Fallout.
I'm having a shitty day so definetly gonna watch this.
I honestly don't care about "civilized" aliens and their technologies to travel and colonize galaxies. I much prefer the "bestial" aliens (alien faunas), if I had written this saga it would have been concreted in the "Prehistoric" periods.
So you like Dumb Aliens animals more than intelligent aliens
@@astrognosisseen one alien civilization, seen all.
I've been playing Deep Rock Galactic and would love to see you do a video on Hoxxes IV.
Always good to see another vid!
Christian is so insanely talented
As someone who identifies as a Yaetuan, this is very accurate.
would you be willing to share some technological advancements to us? like perhaps a solution to my planet's ecological problems?
@@C-Farsene_5, your planet has no ecological problem. It’ll heal itself given time, that’s how tenacious life is once it establishes itself.
The problems are yours, your kind does not want to go extinct, your kind does not want to live without the biological diversity its used to. Niches will be filled when vacated by the extinct, don’t worry.
Everything is a source of energy, even the pollution you despise will one day be food for the creature who take advantage of the free energy no other lineage can breakdown.
i think humans are more technologically advanced in these worlds and older species
@@propandagaming66 your name checks out 👍
What’s your opinion on Daralot?
So cool to hear the authors voice!
The aliens look like a mix between the skeksis from the Dark Crystal and grasshoppers
"srub your beak with our brand new beak paste .now with 30% more paste!"
Curious Archive is the GOAT
this is the type of stuff i need to keep sane
you know what, i really want to try making a book on it now
I like the world building here. So many sci-fi writers make their aliens either utopians with no problems or despotic empires that make you question how they even survived long enough to go into space.
Yaetuans are like us, they have our problems (nuclear annihilation, war, and climate change) but made it through the fires of Hell to make things better.
Me too
Christian Cline is a really cool guy, even besides his spec bio art
I love the antique artwork in the early sections. I want to imagine that the adage “people have always been people” can cross the lines of deep space and even species as well as time and culture, and I found myself wondering, if a human and a Yaetuan were to meet, how would they communicate? How would I, a 21st century human, establish a baseline of understanding with a coastal Yaetuan artist? People have undoubtably put more thought into the general idea than I have , but I like to think she and I could make some headway understanding each other through showing the other our art.
I love the Speculative Anthropology of this project 😍 ❤️ 💕
Mr Archive, do you have any speculative biology, sci-fi, creature, worldbuilding ideas? I'd be interested in hearing about any and all thoughts you may have.
Also would you consider doing an video with smaller sets of designs from many artists or does that stray a little far from the point of the channel? Like a compilation of smaller ideas that aren't (yet) fully fleshed out worlds
Few questions i have since the sagas say it: what kind of gods do the yaetuans have, what do they call their gods, and how do they worship them?
Asking as a curious shintoist.🤔
The way their technology converges with ours in the ways that make sense really make me resonate with this story
One day, Yaetuan communications equipment on a world at the edge of colonized space detects a faint signal, highly degraded. Dated to be nearly 100 thousand years old. Further research reveals it to be a deliberate signal made by other intelligent beings searching for life like them. It contains pictures of what the beings are presumed to look like, with two less limbs, and more digits on each hand. The information of possible confirmation of other intelligent life spreads fast and soon every member of the species knows something. Despite the age, scientists are hopeful that the beings are not extinct, and efforts begin to establish contact...
Love spec biology. Itd be super cool to have something like this that ends with them discovering an ancient signal from humans. At least I think itd be. Nothing more than a few sentences or a paragraph, right at the end...
Humanity must learn from The Yaetuan's History And Examples, We MUST LEARN From They're Mistakes and Accomplishments In Order for They're Mistakes Doesn't Happen To Us
It would be interesting if, in the next book, the Yatuean made first contact with future humans. It would be extremely fascinating to see how the societies would react & what would happen next.
I'mma guess: Biblaridion's Alien Biospheres series is gonna feature these aliens, his last episode talking about how the alien spiders on his fictional planet evolve sentience in the form of these aliens featured here.
That "Postwar Poster" is the most amazing thing I've seen this year.
The yaetuans are pretty thought out but does anyone else hate it when aliens species are just the adjective for their homeworld I mean our species is not call earthlings or terrestrials or terrans or whatever adjective for our planet
Already bought this book, along side the teeming universe. Didn’t disappoint.
Some of this art doesn't make sense. The alien golden gate bridge was drawn by someone who doesn't know how bridges work, the alien pyramids are too tall, the aliens smile and use human tools...
It's a nice project and sure there was a lot of work put into it, but it's not incredibly creative.
Oh, yeah, finally! Good old speculative biology! Horror was a fresh air for a while but at that point I missed that vibe
It’s cool to see how much detail they have, it really does work well as alien but it also seems close to how humans evolved.
Man I wished curious archives could talk about half life aliens , It would be interesting
Another wonderful world within the SpecEvo community! Love seeing a species triumph after facing so many near extinction events.
I wanna talk to a Yaetuan.
They seem chill
Nice! Can't wait for part 2 where they meet the Qu.