WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Omnibus: Star Trek

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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 Lambin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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

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<v Speaker 2>And this is going to be yet another omnibus episode,

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<v Speaker 2>collecting four previous related Monster Fact entries. These are going

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<v Speaker 2>to cover my recent journey into the Star Trek universe,

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<v Speaker 2>so I hope you enjoy these. Let's go ahead and

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<v Speaker 2>kick things off with the Andrians. In this episode, I'd

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<v Speaker 2>like to begin a series on various aliens and creatures

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<v Speaker 2>from the Star Trek universe. Now, first of all, I

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<v Speaker 2>will be the first to admit that I am not

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<v Speaker 2>an expert in Trek lore, but I very fondly remember

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<v Speaker 2>as a kid in the nineties watching reruns of Star

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<v Speaker 2>Trek the Next Generation every weeknight at nine PM. So

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<v Speaker 2>fondly remember a book that I had to special order

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<v Speaker 2>from the local bookstore, Star Trek The Worlds of the Federation,

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<v Speaker 2>written and illustrated by Laura Johnson writing as Shane Johnson.

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<v Speaker 2>This was an encyclopedic collection of alien profiles. Think of

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<v Speaker 2>it as a monster manual. If you will, covering thirty

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<v Speaker 2>two different Federation member alien species, as well as a

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<v Speaker 2>number of neutral and hostile aliens. This was a nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty nine publication, so it's far from current and is

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<v Speaker 2>not considered part of current Trek canon, and I'm to

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<v Speaker 2>understand some Trek writers took issue with some of the entries. Still,

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<v Speaker 2>it's a book that meant a lot to me as

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<v Speaker 2>a young Treky, and I suspect it meant a lot

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<v Speaker 2>to others from this time period as well, So I'm

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<v Speaker 2>going to go ahead and cite it along with some

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<v Speaker 2>other sources, with the caveat that again, it's not canon

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<v Speaker 2>much in the same way I cited the Dune Encyclopedia

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<v Speaker 2>in some of my Dune related entries. With all of

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<v Speaker 2>that in mind, let's turn to the Andrians. These blueskin,

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<v Speaker 2>white haired, antinny equipped aliens are iconic original series aliens,

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<v Speaker 2>but they were rather exotic for me, as they're virtually

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<v Speaker 2>absent from both Star Trek the Next Generation and Star

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<v Speaker 2>Trek Deep Space nine, which constituted my prime Trek viewing.

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<v Speaker 2>The reasoning for their absence, according to the excellent Memory Alpha,

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<v Speaker 2>was largely twofold. First of all, Trek creator Gene Roddenberry

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<v Speaker 2>preferred that many original series aliens be avoided in favor

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<v Speaker 2>of new ones on the next generation. Secondly, the makeup

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<v Speaker 2>was allegedly difficult to get right and avoid looking silly.

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<v Speaker 2>They overcame these hurdles and subsequent shows, and in the

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<v Speaker 2>current Star Trek Strange New World series, which I'm enjoying

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<v Speaker 2>quite a bit, we encounter an albinos subspecies of Andrians

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<v Speaker 2>known as the Nar, as well as an Andrian Special

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<v Speaker 2>Forces officer, and neither of these aliens looks remotely silly.

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<v Speaker 2>But let's come back to the biology of the Andorians.

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<v Speaker 2>The worlds the Federation describes them as a mix of

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<v Speaker 2>mammalian and reptilian features, with both an endoskeleton and a

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<v Speaker 2>limited exoskeleton, and the antennae are described as enhancing otherwise

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<v Speaker 2>colorblind vision with a quote complex matrix of light sensitive

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<v Speaker 2>cones in addition to auditory functions. All of this together

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<v Speaker 2>would amount to an enhanced sense of sight and smell.

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<v Speaker 2>Fair enough obvious sense organs do sense organ things. Antenna

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<v Speaker 2>in terrestrial organisms remember very greatly, and depending on the species,

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<v Speaker 2>may utilize senses of touch, air, motion, heat, vibration, smell

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<v Speaker 2>or taste. But again, the Worlds of the Federation came

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<v Speaker 2>out in nineteen eighty nine before A particular nineteen ninety

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<v Speaker 2>three episode of the Next Generation shed a great deal

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<v Speaker 2>of canonical light on the biology of Star Trek. The

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<v Speaker 2>episode titled The Chase, which I specifically remember from my childhood,

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<v Speaker 2>revealed the reason so many Star Trek alien species are

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<v Speaker 2>humanoid and resemble each other, often with minor alters to

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<v Speaker 2>facial and cranial features. All of this via a revelation

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<v Speaker 2>of ancient intentional pan spermia via a single advanced progenitor

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<v Speaker 2>humanoid species. In other words, all of these Trek species

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<v Speaker 2>look similar not because they're all humans in makeup, but

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<v Speaker 2>rather because a single ancestor species spread their own DNA

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<v Speaker 2>among the various worlds to seed them. I've always found

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<v Speaker 2>this to be a clever way of addressing the seeming

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<v Speaker 2>lack of biological diversity in many of the core Tract civilizations.

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<v Speaker 2>Now you might reasonably wonder, okay, fine, but realistically, would

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<v Speaker 2>these distantly related species still look so similar to each other? Well?

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<v Speaker 2>Susan and Robert Jenkins explore this question in their book

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<v Speaker 2>The Biology of Star Trek, published in nineteen ninety eight.

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<v Speaker 2>They point out that based on what we know about evolution,

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<v Speaker 2>it's not at all unreasonable. The evolutionary clock runs slowly,

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<v Speaker 2>they write, and it has a built in bias against

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<v Speaker 2>major overhauls. Because speciation is brought about by multiple random

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<v Speaker 2>changes in DNA, and the changes must allow the organism

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<v Speaker 2>to survive and reproduce, small changes are favored over large ones.

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<v Speaker 2>Small changes are less likely to compromise the tested survivability

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<v Speaker 2>of the original. Given this constraint, two species that start

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<v Speaker 2>out alike remain similar over a rather long time, even

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<v Speaker 2>under different sets of environmental pressures. They add that particular

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<v Speaker 2>environmental pressures would of course have their impact, and a

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<v Speaker 2>trend towards facial symmetry would likely stay in place. They

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<v Speaker 2>go into greater detail in this great book about not

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<v Speaker 2>only the speculative biology of all of this, but also

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<v Speaker 2>the connections between human facial cues and the way we

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<v Speaker 2>imagine the facial features of treks aliens, and they do

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<v Speaker 2>get around to considering the Andrians. They point out that

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<v Speaker 2>while nothing resembling a human with antennae exists in the

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<v Speaker 2>natural world, we of course do have mammalion species with

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<v Speaker 2>enhanced whiskers, and I would point out that we have

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<v Speaker 2>other things like the unique robosis of the star No's

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<v Speaker 2>mole and the twin feelers of the tentacled snake to

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<v Speaker 2>get into the reptile world. For the Andrians, however, they

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<v Speaker 2>propose an interesting notion. Perhaps the Andorian home world contains

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<v Speaker 2>multiple atmospheric variations, and this results in various microclimates, requiring

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<v Speaker 2>enhanced sensation of atmospheric content, temperature, and pressure for any

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<v Speaker 2>species that regularly travels outside of a narrow region or microclimate.

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<v Speaker 2>They even go so far as to discuss how tissues

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<v Speaker 2>in human embryos might develop into antennae under the right

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<v Speaker 2>survival pressures. Quote. Human embryos have several segments called embryonic

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<v Speaker 2>pharyngeal arches in what will become the head and the neck.

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<v Speaker 2>They supply the developing tissue for jaws and some neck organs.

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<v Speaker 2>In fish, However, the pharyngeal arches develop into gills because

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<v Speaker 2>these structures have been adapted for very different purposes. They

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<v Speaker 2>might evolve to provide the organ substrate for the nervous

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<v Speaker 2>tissue in an antenna like organ. More broadly, they point

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<v Speaker 2>out that added sense organs could potentially detect any number

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<v Speaker 2>of factors in a given environment, provided there was an

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<v Speaker 2>evolutionary incentive to do so. Memory Alpha provides little canonical

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<v Speaker 2>data on all of this, as far as I could tell,

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<v Speaker 2>but it does point out that we know that Andrian

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<v Speaker 2>antenna can be moved independently via voluntary muscle control, that

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<v Speaker 2>they regenerate if they are injured or blasted off, and

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<v Speaker 2>they also seem to play a role in balance and

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<v Speaker 2>gesticulation and of course therefore communication. I think all this

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<v Speaker 2>is quite reasonable. Now, coming back to Star Trek's Strange

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<v Speaker 2>New Worlds, the Enar character Himmer in that show is

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<v Speaker 2>depicted as having been born sightless, but is more than

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<v Speaker 2>able to make up for his lack of sight in

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<v Speaker 2>part due to his other senses as a member of

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<v Speaker 2>an antennae equipped and Dorian subspecies. All right, Next up

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<v Speaker 2>the Trouble with Triples, we discuss the various creatures of

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<v Speaker 2>the Star Trek universe, without of course considering the tribles

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<v Speaker 2>of Iota geminorum for a world home to an abundance

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<v Speaker 2>of carnivorous reptiles in addition to the vaguely mammalian Trible

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<v Speaker 2>which seems to serve as a basic prey species for

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<v Speaker 2>all the space lizards. The Triple is, of course, a small,

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<v Speaker 2>furry creature with no discernible limbs or features. Really, its

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<v Speaker 2>only means of defending itself, at least against humanoids, is

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<v Speaker 2>to basically tranquilize the humanoid with a gentle cooing effect.

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<v Speaker 2>The trouble with Tribles, of course, is their incredible rate

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<v Speaker 2>of reproduction. They are even reportedly born already pregnant, and

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<v Speaker 2>can quickly overrun any given ecosystem or starship that they

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<v Speaker 2>are introduced into. In their natural habitat, they eat and

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<v Speaker 2>reproduce as quickly as possible, but their numbers are kept

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<v Speaker 2>in check, presumably by their many voracious predators. But on

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<v Speaker 2>a Federation star ship, yes, this is where the trouble occurs.

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<v Speaker 2>With no predators, plentiful food, and a crew overcome by

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<v Speaker 2>their adorable cuteness, their population very quickly spirals out of control.

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<v Speaker 2>The creatures debuted in a nineteen sixty seven episode of

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<v Speaker 2>the original Star Trek series, but the Grimlins franchise of

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<v Speaker 2>the eighties and nineties treads on similar ground. Adorable fur

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<v Speaker 2>babies that get entirely out of hand, due to a

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<v Speaker 2>mix of ineptitude, human vulnerability to cuteness, and a reproductive

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<v Speaker 2>system clearly evolved for different parameters. I've speculated elsewhere that

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<v Speaker 2>maguai might depend on a desert, if not an extraterrestrial

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<v Speaker 2>environment for their biology to make sense and likewise unsuftible

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<v Speaker 2>your mind. We've talked about the role of cuteness both

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<v Speaker 2>among humans and cuteness between humans and non human animals.

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<v Speaker 2>It is a potent force that manipulates this. For the Triple,

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<v Speaker 2>the stabilizing factor is the severity of its ecosystem. On

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<v Speaker 2>the Triple home world, triples presumably die in vast numbers,

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<v Speaker 2>and their prolific reproduction rate merely allows them to keep up.

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<v Speaker 2>We see variations of this in the natural world here

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<v Speaker 2>on Earth as well. In general, we see the basic

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<v Speaker 2>quality quantity tradeoff. In practice, some organisms err on the

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<v Speaker 2>side of producing few high quality offspring, while others simply

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<v Speaker 2>produce offspring in vast numbers. The predators can't eat all

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<v Speaker 2>of them, and a select few survive to reproduce as adults.

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<v Speaker 2>In sea turtles, for example, somewhere on the order of

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<v Speaker 2>two out of a thousand eggs actually makes it to adulthood,

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<v Speaker 2>surviving the gamut of consumers along the way. We can

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<v Speaker 2>also think of the triple in terms of predator satiation,

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<v Speaker 2>by which prey briefly and periodically occur at such high

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<v Speaker 2>population densities that the predators can't possibly eat them all.

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<v Speaker 2>Periodical cicadas, which many of you will be experiencing yet

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<v Speaker 2>again this year, are an example of this. So it

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<v Speaker 2>would seem possible that tripe might work in a similar manner,

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<v Speaker 2>periodically reproducing in such numbers that they simply overwhelm their

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<v Speaker 2>many reptilian predators. Now, given that tribles are vaguely mammals,

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<v Speaker 2>we might also compare them to such prolific terrestrial warm

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<v Speaker 2>bloods as the European rabbit, infamous for its own rapid

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<v Speaker 2>reproduction rate. According to the Texas Invasive Species Institute, an

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen fifty nine introduction of a mere twenty four European

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<v Speaker 2>rabbits into Australia led to a population of more than

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<v Speaker 2>six hundred million in less than a century. The tribles

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<v Speaker 2>ultimately are a fantastic commentary on what can happen when

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<v Speaker 2>a species is artificially transplanted from one ecosystem into another. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>how long would it take tribles to overrun the starship Enterprise. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>that is a question that you have to throw some

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<v Speaker 2>math at. And in twenty twenty student researchers at the

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<v Speaker 2>University of Leicester made science headlines with a paper in

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<v Speaker 2>the journal Physics Special Topics. Their answer four point z

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<v Speaker 2>five days. All right, Next up the Seti Eels. In

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<v Speaker 2>a rare case of synchronicity with the news cycle, which

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<v Speaker 2>is all about brain worms of late, I decided to

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<v Speaker 2>devote this Trek themed episode to the dreaded Seti eels

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<v Speaker 2>of SETI Alpha five. You will, of course remember them

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<v Speaker 2>from the nineteen eighty two film Star Trek two, The

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<v Speaker 2>Wrath of Khan, in which thowd twentieth century eugenics war

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<v Speaker 2>tyrant Khan Noonan Singh, played by the superb Ricardo Montaban,

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<v Speaker 2>uses larval Seti eels to torture and control two Enterprise

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<v Speaker 2>crew members in his quest for vengeance. We also learned

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<v Speaker 2>that Seti eels, native to the harsh world Singh was

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<v Speaker 2>exiled to by Starfleet, killed many of Khan's people, including

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<v Speaker 2>his wife. The setiworm is a burrowing desert creature, but

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<v Speaker 2>its larva we're told by Singh, crawl in through the

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<v Speaker 2>ear canals of host creatures to wrap themselves around the

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<v Speaker 2>cerebral cortex, rendering the host organism highly susceptible to suggestion.

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<v Speaker 2>Madness and death follow as the eel grows, unless the

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<v Speaker 2>eel is removed or leaves of its own accord. The

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<v Speaker 2>latter occurs with first Officer to Chekhov, though the reason

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<v Speaker 2>is uncertain. Was it responding to danger, had it lost

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<v Speaker 2>control of its host? Was it in fact leaving the

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<v Speaker 2>host in order to continue its life cycle. We don't

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<v Speaker 2>know any of these answers, in part because Captain Kirk

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<v Speaker 2>instantly vaporizes the escaping eel, turning once more to the

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<v Speaker 2>non canonical Star Trek. The Worlds of the Federation, written

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<v Speaker 2>and illustrated by Laura Johnson, written as Shane Johnson back

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<v Speaker 2>in nineteen eighty nine, the author largely shares what we

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<v Speaker 2>already know from the movie. Adult SETI, one of the

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<v Speaker 2>few native species to survive on the planet, grow to

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<v Speaker 2>lengths of fourteen inches and carry their young in tissue

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<v Speaker 2>or armor folds on their backs until such time as

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<v Speaker 2>they leave the parent for a host organism in life

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<v Speaker 2>signs the biology of Star Trek. Susan and Robert Jenkins

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<v Speaker 2>briefly discuss the Seti eel in context with other neural

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<v Speaker 2>parasites and symbians of the Trek universe, and there are

0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:28.240
<v Speaker 2>several classifying The possession we see with the Seti eel

0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.480
<v Speaker 2>is a kind of quote co conscious mind control, with

0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:38.400
<v Speaker 2>the hosts made helpless by the superseding power of the parasite. Presumably,

0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.200
<v Speaker 2>the whole reason for subduing the host organism is to

0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:46.040
<v Speaker 2>keep it from interfering with the larva's occupation of set organism,

0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.600
<v Speaker 2>and we might assume that the Seti eel also eats

0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:52.320
<v Speaker 2>the tissue that it presumably burrows through to reach the

0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.760
<v Speaker 2>cerebral cortex. The mind control aspect of this fictional parasitic

0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.120
<v Speaker 2>scenario is, of course vary, in keeping with numerous examples

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:06.200
<v Speaker 2>from the natural terrestrial world, including various parasitoid wasps, flatworms,

0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:11.000
<v Speaker 2>hair worms, protozoans, fungi, and more. In broad strokes, we

0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:15.200
<v Speaker 2>see parasites that alter host behavior to help complete their

0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:19.840
<v Speaker 2>own life cycle. This may mean mere survival or positioning

0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.480
<v Speaker 2>of the host in such a way that a desirable

0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:27.080
<v Speaker 2>new host will consume the current host Now with the

0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.480
<v Speaker 2>SETI eel, we certainly see the former survival, but not

0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:34.280
<v Speaker 2>so much the latter eel controlled humans don't seem to

0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:38.200
<v Speaker 2>do anything other than obey fellow humans, though one could

0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.120
<v Speaker 2>make a case that this alone might lead to say,

0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:45.760
<v Speaker 2>uninfected human being either being expelled, which would at least

0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.760
<v Speaker 2>be a choice. You can imagine scenarios in which this

0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:52.840
<v Speaker 2>would put the current host organism in a position to, say,

0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.680
<v Speaker 2>be near water, or near another organism that it needs

0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:01.120
<v Speaker 2>to enter, perhaps some sort of a predator. Or you

0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.520
<v Speaker 2>could also make the argument that well, okay, a human

0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.520
<v Speaker 2>that is so easily controlled by fellow humans is going

0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.560
<v Speaker 2>to remain in close proximity with humans, and perhaps it

0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.880
<v Speaker 2>just needs to enter a new host organism once it's

0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:18.840
<v Speaker 2>done munching and constricting inside that individual skull. Either way,

0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.000
<v Speaker 2>we also have to acknowledge that humanoids, and remember in

0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:26.360
<v Speaker 2>the Trek universe, most or all humanoid species are very

0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.840
<v Speaker 2>distantly related to each other. Humanoids might not be the

0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.400
<v Speaker 2>desired vector for the parasite, and in the world of

0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:39.200
<v Speaker 2>actual terrestrial parasite studies, we do see dangerous results from

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.880
<v Speaker 2>parasites winding up either in the wrong host or the

0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.600
<v Speaker 2>wrong part of the right host. Now. I've long found

0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.600
<v Speaker 2>this one of the more horrifying aspects of sci fi

0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.800
<v Speaker 2>space horror, and particularly sci fi space related body horror,

0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:59.720
<v Speaker 2>human interactions with hostile biology that simply didn't evolve to

0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.560
<v Speaker 2>deal with human beings. The xenomorphic threats of the Alien

0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.239
<v Speaker 2>film franchise are great examples of this. Of course, on

0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:09.280
<v Speaker 2>one hand, the creatures we see in the films are

0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.080
<v Speaker 2>highly adaptive and make use of host DNA in the

0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:16.240
<v Speaker 2>acquisition of their adult forms. They have evolved and or

0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:20.440
<v Speaker 2>been engineered to make quick study and use of new bodies.

0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.600
<v Speaker 2>But the other horrifying way to think about it is

0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.200
<v Speaker 2>that here is a creature that is truly an alien

0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.520
<v Speaker 2>within the host body. It doesn't know what it's doing

0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.200
<v Speaker 2>in there, and much like the scene in twenty twelve's

0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.440
<v Speaker 2>Prometheus with the robotic surgery pod, this combination of high

0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.520
<v Speaker 2>skill and lower context for the target body runs the

0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:46.520
<v Speaker 2>risk of heading into very grizzly territory. Still, we don't

0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:50.520
<v Speaker 2>have to invoke Alien to make the SETI eel terrifying.

0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.159
<v Speaker 2>The implantation scene in Wrath of Khan remains one of

0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.679
<v Speaker 2>the greatest moments of space horror in a franchise we

0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:03.119
<v Speaker 2>don't generally associate with it. And finally, we're going to

0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:08.520
<v Speaker 2>learn about the Horta. In today's episode. I'm going to

0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.119
<v Speaker 2>round out this initial batch of Star Trek selections, and

0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:14.840
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to go with a listener suggestion from one

0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:19.160
<v Speaker 2>of our mini gems, the Horta of Janus six. As

0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 2>we learn in the original Trek episode The Devil in

0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:26.040
<v Speaker 2>the Dark, the horta is a large, subterranean heap shaped

0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:31.080
<v Speaker 2>organism entirely silicone based rather than carbon based. It tunnels

0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:35.000
<v Speaker 2>through the rock via powerful acidic secretions, which it can

0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:40.480
<v Speaker 2>also use defensively. Exceedingly long lived, the entire population of

0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.200
<v Speaker 2>horta dies out every sixty thousand years, with the exception

0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.480
<v Speaker 2>of a single mother horta, which tends to the spherical

0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:52.439
<v Speaker 2>eggs that will produce the next generation of this amazing species.

0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.440
<v Speaker 2>While the Horta are reclusive and ultimately peaceful, they can

0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.480
<v Speaker 2>prove lethal in confrontations, such as the one with a

0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.920
<v Speaker 2>federation mining colony in the Devil in the Dark, which

0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:08.119
<v Speaker 2>ultimately required the intervention of a Vulcan mind meld. In

0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:11.000
<v Speaker 2>the non canonical Star Trek, the Worlds of the Federation

0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.439
<v Speaker 2>by Laura Johnson written as Shane Johnson from nineteen eighty nine.

0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:17.880
<v Speaker 2>We learned that the miners and Horta would eventually work

0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:23.320
<v Speaker 2>together on Janus six following this reconciliation. Now, I distinctly

0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.000
<v Speaker 2>remember watching this episode of the classic Star Trek as

0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:30.120
<v Speaker 2>a kid, and I remember enjoying the alien monster based

0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:35.160
<v Speaker 2>suspense and its thought provoking treatment of interaction between intelligent

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:39.640
<v Speaker 2>but radically different alien species, and looking back on it now,

0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.840
<v Speaker 2>it certainly has that Star Trek optimism that is often

0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.280
<v Speaker 2>lacking in our modern sci fi. It's no surprise that

0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.280
<v Speaker 2>this one is often held up as one of the

0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.320
<v Speaker 2>best original Star Trek episodes. In Life Signs the Biology

0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:57.000
<v Speaker 2>of Star Trek Susan and Robert Jenkins, the authors here

0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.639
<v Speaker 2>discuss the singular nature of the whole in Trek. The

0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.920
<v Speaker 2>Federation was apparently not accustomed to the presence of silicon

0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.720
<v Speaker 2>based life, and had therefore missed the Horta's presence on

0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:13.480
<v Speaker 2>Genus six in their scans. Entirely later on in tracks,

0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:18.200
<v Speaker 2>similar mistakes were made with the microbrains of Valara three

0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:23.439
<v Speaker 2>and the space born crystalline entity. This all underlies a

0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:28.520
<v Speaker 2>known challenge in astrobiology, we ultimately have only one model

0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.800
<v Speaker 2>of life upon which to base our observations, and it

0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.480
<v Speaker 2>happens to be earthlife. We're told that Janus six never

0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.320
<v Speaker 2>developed carbon based life beyond a few spore producing plants

0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:43.920
<v Speaker 2>as well as some algae, but it did boast minerals

0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.840
<v Speaker 2>and heavy metals, and the authors stress that while silicon

0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.640
<v Speaker 2>based reactions occur much more slowly compared to carbon based reactions,

0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.439
<v Speaker 2>a planet like Janus six might in theory have the

0:20:55.480 --> 0:21:00.000
<v Speaker 2>minerals to catalyze the chemical reactions needed for a silicon

0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.920
<v Speaker 2>based life. Now, in the larger realm of science fiction,

0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:08.480
<v Speaker 2>silicon based organisms are not uncommon. The alien xenomorph is

0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:12.480
<v Speaker 2>sometimes described as silicone based, or at least partially silicone based,

0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.000
<v Speaker 2>and there are numerous ways this is explained to factor

0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:20.119
<v Speaker 2>in with their carbon based bodies. Other examples include the

0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:24.040
<v Speaker 2>Kaiju of Pacific Rim, the Exogoths of Star Wars, and

0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:30.360
<v Speaker 2>the Eastern island headed Lithodia Rexians of Marvel Comics. However,

0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:34.200
<v Speaker 2>as outlined by Charles Q. Choi in the space dot

0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.080
<v Speaker 2>Com article, silicon based life may be more than just

0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:41.440
<v Speaker 2>science fiction from twenty seventeen various experts speculate that silicon

0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:45.879
<v Speaker 2>based or silicone encompassing life is very possible. Silicone and

0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.720
<v Speaker 2>carbon are similar in many ways. Silicon is one of

0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:51.679
<v Speaker 2>the most common elements in the universe, and chemists have

0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:57.920
<v Speaker 2>artificially synthesized organosilicone molecules composed of both silicone and carbon.

0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:02.320
<v Speaker 2>So by some estimations, silicon based life of some sort

0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:06.120
<v Speaker 2>may be out there somewhere, whether we know of it

0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:10.000
<v Speaker 2>or not. Back to Trek, the Jinkins stress that the

0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:14.080
<v Speaker 2>Horta might actually reproduce and reason too much like a

0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:18.000
<v Speaker 2>carbon based organism in this episode of Anything, But then again,

0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:22.000
<v Speaker 2>this is where science and philosophy butt heads. Star Trek

0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:26.439
<v Speaker 2>is ultimately about the hope, if not the reality, of

0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:31.560
<v Speaker 2>making contact, settling differences, and figuring out how to move forward,

0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:35.800
<v Speaker 2>both as an interstellar community within the fiction and as

0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.840
<v Speaker 2>a terrestrial species here on Earth in reality. As much

0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:43.800
<v Speaker 2>as I love my various nihilistic sci fi visions and

0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.520
<v Speaker 2>various examples of space horror, I feel more and more

0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:50.360
<v Speaker 2>like I need the Star Trek vision in my life.

0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:54.000
<v Speaker 2>As in aside, I'll mention that there's actually an underground

0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:58.160
<v Speaker 2>geographic positioning technology here on Earth, named after the Star

0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:01.600
<v Speaker 2>Trek Horta. It is of course a backronym which stands

0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:07.080
<v Speaker 2>for Honeywell or Retrieval and Tunneling AID. All right, there

0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:09.000
<v Speaker 2>you have it. I hope you enjoyed this. So I

0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:12.840
<v Speaker 2>keep doing these omnibus episodes because it's a better way

0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:16.359
<v Speaker 2>to do like a rerun essentially on a Wednesday. And

0:23:16.520 --> 0:23:19.119
<v Speaker 2>I've also heard from some listeners that they prefer to

0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:22.639
<v Speaker 2>listen to these short form episodes batched together into a

0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.960
<v Speaker 2>longer omnibus series. So I'm going to keep doing this

0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:27.840
<v Speaker 2>as long as it remains popular. As long as the

0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:31.000
<v Speaker 2>folks seem to enjoy them, I enjoy putting them together.

0:23:31.400 --> 0:23:34.720
<v Speaker 2>If you have recommendations for other Star Trek creatures you'd

0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:36.840
<v Speaker 2>like for me to cover in a future series of

0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:40.040
<v Speaker 2>Star Trek episodes, or if you have suggestions related to

0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:47.679
<v Speaker 2>other you know franchises, comic books, movies, literary settings of

0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:51.840
<v Speaker 2>folkloric traditions, mythologies, and more, write in I would love

0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.400
<v Speaker 2>to hear from you. As always, you can email us

0:23:54.480 --> 0:24:05.400
<v Speaker 2>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

0:24:05.960 --> 0:24:09.160
<v Speaker 1>Stuffed Blow your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For more

0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:12.960
<v Speaker 1>podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or

0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:14.719
<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.