WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Kalisk

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb. And this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>Today we turn it last to the Predator franchise, but

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<v Speaker 2>not to discuss its central Yatjaw alien Hunters. Now. We

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<v Speaker 2>might come back to the titular Predators at some point

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<v Speaker 2>in the future, but for today, I just want to

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<v Speaker 2>talk about the latest installment in the series, twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 2>five's Predator bad Lands. Here's something I never thought I'd say, Hey,

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<v Speaker 2>the cute alien and odd couple humor in this latest

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<v Speaker 2>Predator movie. It really worked. But hey, here we are.

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<v Speaker 2>I have a lot of nostalgia for Predators one and two.

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<v Speaker 2>I enjoyed most of the sequels at least on some level,

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<v Speaker 2>and I thought twenty twenty two Prey was just a

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<v Speaker 2>great take on the original concept. Its director Dan Tracktenberg

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<v Speaker 2>apparently considered a slasher style follow up to Prey in

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<v Speaker 2>which we cheer the Predators on against Nazis, which would

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<v Speaker 2>have been something. But I'm ultimately glad they gave us

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<v Speaker 2>this fresh action adventure approach that we got with bad

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<v Speaker 2>Lands Again, just something different that is also a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of fun. The movie follows a young cast aside predator

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<v Speaker 2>runt named Deck as he seeks the ultimate prey on

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<v Speaker 2>an alien planet. At the same time as an all

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<v Speaker 2>android Wayland Utani research mission is also active on that

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<v Speaker 2>planet seeking the same target. Yes, the film is something

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<v Speaker 2>of a soft alien versus predator film, but without literal

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<v Speaker 2>AVP action, instead pitting the alien franchisees, corporate villains, and

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<v Speaker 2>multiple synths against our yacht jah protagonist and a damage

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<v Speaker 2>synth named Thea. Again, it's a lot of fun. I

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<v Speaker 2>had a lot of fun with this one. I'm still

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<v Speaker 2>not sure if I want to see another film in

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<v Speaker 2>which predators actually take on xenomorphs, at least not anytime soon.

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<v Speaker 2>But hey, Predators Versus Synths was still pretty great. But

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<v Speaker 2>let's come back to that crazy alien planet. It's presented

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<v Speaker 2>here as a hyper dangerous ecosystem in which just about

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<v Speaker 2>every form of fauna and flora is trying to kill you.

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<v Speaker 2>Even its grass is razor sharp, and as you might imagine,

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<v Speaker 2>the planet's apex predator is darned near unkillable. And this

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<v Speaker 2>is the callusk, prized by the Yatcha as the ultimate

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<v Speaker 2>prey and sought after by waylay Nutani for its incredible

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<v Speaker 2>regenerative abilities. I describe the callusk as roughly a cross

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<v Speaker 2>between a hippo, a lion, and Sonic the hedgehog. There

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<v Speaker 2>might be a little gorilla in there as well. This

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<v Speaker 2>towering creature, almost like a kaiju, is incredibly vicious and durable,

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<v Speaker 2>and it boasts powers of regeneration so intense that it

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<v Speaker 2>can bounce back in seconds from evisceration, dismemberment, decapitation, and

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<v Speaker 2>seemingly anything short of total body fragmentation. The natural world,

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<v Speaker 2>of course, features some regeneration star players of its own,

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<v Speaker 2>such as tiny hydras and flat worms, and even some

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<v Speaker 2>larger regenerators like the axolotel, but none of these organisms

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<v Speaker 2>are capable of the sort of stealth head reattachment while

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<v Speaker 2>Predator's back is turned action we see in the film.

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<v Speaker 2>Even with the hydro, we're talking eighteen to seventy two

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<v Speaker 2>hours to regrow header body. But the hydra is also

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<v Speaker 2>worth bringing up here. In some ways it also lines

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<v Speaker 2>up with the callous because some scientists have made the

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<v Speaker 2>case that it's biologically immortal, not unkillable, not invulnerable minds you,

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<v Speaker 2>but possibly immune to aging. The late sci fi author

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<v Speaker 2>Ian M. Banks touched on this topic in his nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty seven culture novel Consider Flebus, which features an alien

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<v Speaker 2>race called the Idherons, who are biologically immortal due to

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<v Speaker 2>the savage, hyper competitive environment of their home world. Here's

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<v Speaker 2>a quick quote from that novel, which is among one

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<v Speaker 2>of my favorites. Quote. The Durans themselves had evolved on

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<v Speaker 2>their planet Ideir as the top monster from a whole

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<v Speaker 2>planet full of monsters. The frenetic and savage ecology of

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<v Speaker 2>Adir in its early days had long since disappeared, and

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<v Speaker 2>so had all the other home world monsters except those

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<v Speaker 2>in zoos. But the Adherans had retained the intelligence that

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<v Speaker 2>made them winners, as well as the biological immortality, which,

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<v Speaker 2>due to the viciousness of the fight for survival back then.

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<v Speaker 2>Not to mention, Idir's high radiation levels had been an

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<v Speaker 2>evolutionary advantage rather than a recipe for stagnation. It's a

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<v Speaker 2>really cool idea, and I wouldn't be surprised if it

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<v Speaker 2>at least partially inspired the invention of the callus, but

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<v Speaker 2>it actually runs counter to one of our leading hypotheses

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<v Speaker 2>of aging, Thomas Kirkwood's disposable soma theory or DST. According

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<v Speaker 2>to DST, it would be low environmentally induced mortality, not

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<v Speaker 2>high that delays reproduction and aging. The evolutionary response to

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<v Speaker 2>a high risk world like this, hypothetically would be to

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<v Speaker 2>speed things up and waste few resources on long term maintenance. Plus,

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<v Speaker 2>on a biological level, everything about the fictional callusk is

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<v Speaker 2>just expensive. It's body size, its spines, it's tough hide,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course that high speed and nearly all inclusive regeneration.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like we need a lot more information on

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<v Speaker 2>their life cycle to understand just how all of this

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<v Speaker 2>would fit together. Perhaps, though the callusk isn't truly biologically

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<v Speaker 2>immortal at all, it is actually incredibly short lived, just

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<v Speaker 2>extremely impossibly durable in the short term, and this might

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<v Speaker 2>actually line up well with the rapid growth we see

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<v Speaker 2>in the cask juvenile named Bud. But hey, anyway you

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<v Speaker 2>slice it, the Callusk is still a super fun monster

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<v Speaker 2>and a fitting obsession for both sci fi biomedical labs

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<v Speaker 2>and alien hunters. Tune in for additional episodes of The

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact the artifact or Animalius to Pendium each week.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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