If we were to encounter alien life, would we be able to recognize it as life at all?
If an organism lived and breathed like animals on earth, we’d certainly identify it as alive.
But what if some aliens don’t look like organic life as we know it, or aren’t organic in the
first place? A project that expands the horizons of what life on other planets might look like
is The Teeming Universe: an interstellar field guide by speculative author and artist Christian
Cline. This book, which I have a link to down below, is one I’ve covered a section of before
on this channel. On our previous expedition through this cosmos, we saw all manner of
incredible species — and learned about the science behind them. For this entry into the archive,
we’ll be journeying on a deep space vessel called ‘The Peregrine’ to even more extreme environments.
We’ll start with planets where the organisms are truly strange, and as we continue, we’ll reach
places where we might need a whole new definition of life… In a far-flung corner of the galaxy,
our first stop is a planet shrouded in a haze of dust. This is Aiyte, an extreme world with
continent-sized dust storms that keep the surface in a near-permanent twilight. Stepping out onto
the surface, we find a shadow world. Plants on Aiyte possess black leaves to absorb as
much of the sun’s energy as possible. And animals have gotten even more creative to
adapt to the low light. The first lifeform we encounter on our voyage is a Helerene — a
wolf-sized ambush-predator that stalks the dim grasslands in search of prey. But what’s most
unusual about the Helerene is that unlike almost all animals, they possess three eyes — two on the
side and a massive one in the middle. This might seem far-fetched, yet certain species
of real amphibians and reptiles possess tiny photoreceptive eyes called Parietal, or ‘Solar
Eyes’ in the center of their heads. These third eyes aren’t as complex as their primary ones,
but are excellent at detecting light. So, it’s likely that the Helerene’s third eyes
began as solar eyespots, but due to Aiyte’s dimness became their dominant visual organ.
And other animals on Aiyte have followed this trend. The Sconyx are moose-sized, galloping
herbivores that share the Aiyte’s three-eyed set up — with two eyes having moved to the side to
keep watch for predators. The Sconyx graze in large family herds, digging vegetation from the
ground with their wedge-shaped beaks and ready to dart at the first sign of trouble. In many
ways these majestic animals are the wild horses of these plains. A far less majestic lifeform is
the Sandpig. These round, near-sighted animals spend their time shuffling along the plains
foraging for the worm-like creatures they prefer to feed on. These burrowing animals spend much
of their time tunneling snugly underground, only surfacing in the low-light of dawn to shuffle over
and visit the burrows of other Sandpigs. I have to say, I’m a huge fan of these round creatures.
As we climb back aboard our spaceship, a trio of baby Helerenes watch our departure. These
infants are called pupples, and they’re far less menacing than their carnivorous parents. They show
us that although Aiyte is a planet of dust and dimness, the beauty of life can still take hold…
From orbit, our next planet — Selise — is a shimmering jewel of the cosmos — an earth-sized,
temperate paradise with a healthy atmosphere and glistening seas. Landing on the planet’s surface,
it’s a balmy summer day. Yet despite the seemingly ideal conditions, there’s not as much terrestrial
life on this planet as one might expect. Look to the sky, and the reason becomes clear.
Planet Selise has no moon. The lack of a moon might not seem important to a planet’s
habitability. But moons help stabilize a planet’s axial tilt, keeping the weather and temperature
more predictable. The push and pull of a moon’s gravity also help produce intertidal zones:
regions that are essential for life to transition from water to land. For this reason,
it is probable that most habitable planets in our universe have at least one orbiting moon. Yet some
organisms have hauled themselves onto the surface of Selise all the same. This is a Santhire,
one of the planet’s largest land animals and a testament to the stubbornness of evolution.
These odd, segmented creatures still live their lives tied to the ocean, as they have to lay their
eggs in the water like many species of Earth amphibians. Like frogs, they also have to keep
their skin wet to aid in respiration, as Santhires don’t have fully functional terrestrial lungs.
Their burrows are reflective of their dual lifestyle, with both aquatic and terrestrial
entrances. These nesting grounds show Santhires are surprisingly skillful homemakers, much like
beavers — the semi-aquatic home-building champions of our own planet. These nesting grounds are
vital when the weather shifts. Planet Selise’s unstable, moonless axial tilt means the climate
is highly variable, with some regions frequently buffeted by cyclones. But not all creatures fear
the storm. This small lifeform is called a Behari Flier, and as its name suggests, it’s one of the
rare lifeforms on Selise that has managed to leave the water for the air. Due to the intense weather,
these creatures have rather extreme patterns of migrations — moving to the equator in late
spring to escape the raging summer winds. To the south, it’s a beautiful, clear night. This planet
is an incredible testimony to life’s persistence, but it’s time we set off to our next destination…
The next stop on our journey promises to be an unforgettable one. From space, it is clear that
Planet Craelon is the site of massive, artificial engineering projects. It seems we have at last
found advanced alien life… Yet upon the surface, everything is quiet. Aside from sparse colonies
of bacteria on the poles, no biological life whatsoever is present on this planet. Instead,
these silent cities are ruled by what we might term artificial life. A great hivemind of machine
presides over this planet, which leaves one to wonder where their makers have gone?
Perhaps the creators of this AI left the planet for better prospects. Or perhaps they died at
the hands of their own artificial creations, and this desolate planet is the site of a mass grave.
…Or is it? These machines — called the Crael — might not fit our traditional standards of life,
but they are at such a level of advancement and interconnectivity, they could almost be considered
an ecosystem. And an ecosystem can be studied. At the base of this highly unusual environment
are Scouts. Small, two to three-foot drones, Scouts appear to be in charge of finding regions
in the system to mine for materials to make more Crael. These mining operations are massive, as
the machines have almost completely hollowed out a neighboring moon. The energy needed to complete
these operations is possible thanks to another important lifeform (so to speak). These Crael are
Solar Panels, 600-foot-long power collectors which orbit the sun and transmit vital energy to other
machines. This division of labor means the Crael function almost like a bee hive. And the queens
of this colony are the Archships — trapezoidal monoliths at the top of the Crael hierarcy. By
far the largest type of machine, Arcships are 20 miles, or 32 kilometers in length. Arcships seem
to function like neurons in a brain, constantly beaming untranslatable information to other
machines and to each other. Indeed, it’s possible the entire Crael society is better understood
as a single, solar-system planet lifeform, with a single goal… But what is this goal?
Are the Crael mining for their own purposes, or are they merely following a preset path
still active from countless years ago? Fears of evil robots aside, they don’t seem to be actively
malicious. Yet all the same, we might feel safer once we’ve left this system… But are cold machines
the only type of intelligence we’ll find on our journey? Our next stop is Tevati — and from space,
we can see lights shining on the surface. Is this the glow of a kindred civilization,
or something else? The only way to find out is to land… Making our descent, we find Tevati is much
like other habitable planets we’ve visited… save for one major difference. Tevati isn’t a planet
at all, but a moon orbiting a gas giant similar to Jupiter. And this moon is considerably smaller
than Earth, with a fraction of its gravity... And without the constraints of a strong gravitational
pull, life on this moon can become gigantic. This is a Tevet, a creature which at 30 feet,
or 9 meters tall, wouldn’t be able to stand up on earth. But they’re perfect for Tevati,
where they spend their time grazing on the tops of tall trees, meaning their lifestyle is similar
to a giraffe’s. Yet Tevets would tower over a giraffe of earth, which is why it’s lucky for us
these titans are gentle giants. With their vaguely humanoid body plan, is it possible
these are our light- makers? It doesn’t seem so, for while the Tevets aren’t unintelligent,
they’re a long way from civilization building… Here at last, on the horizon, we can glimpse
immense technological structures. These gleaming wonders are home to a sapient biological
species — the first ever encountered apart from ourselves. Meet the Yaetuans (Yay-tu-ons), a
hexapod species that don’t look much like us at a glance, but have all the necessary ingredients
for high intelligence. Possessing both a highly developed brain and manipulatory appendages with
two opposable-thumb like structures, Yaetuans are kindred spirits in the story of evolution.
Indeed, they’re quite a bit more advanced technologically than we are, and luckily for us,
quite friendly. Translating their messages, we learn their buildings on Tevati are just small
colonies. The Yaetuans’ planet of origin is far more awe-inspiring… With our new friends in tow,
we’ve arrived at the Yaetuan homeworld — the final destination of our interstellar expedition. This
is Yaetu, the gleaming center of a network of Yaetuan settlements that spans many star-systems.
Landing in the middle of a bustling metropolis, we can see Yaetuan citizens going about their lives.
Like a colony of ants, Yaetuans are more communal than humans, and seem to live
in remarkable harmony. But it wasn’t always this way. Like us, Yaetuans have a long and complicated
past — stretching from hunter-gatherers to an industrial era where the Yaetuans pushed their
planet to ecological collapse due to environmental neglect. It is for this reason that the Yaetuans
fled to build colonies on other planets in a mass exodus, scattering across a dozen solar systems.
Today, the billions of Yaetuans call different worlds home, and over thousands of years have
become subtly different from one another — both in language and appearance. Now, however,
their society is reconnecting, as they’ve restored their homeworld’s environment
using their advanced technology. While the modern ecosystem of planet Yaetu
is of course dominated by the Yaetus, there are other notable native lifeforms worth discussing.
The Wetim are a species of pack hunters, which have a close relationship to the Yaetuans.
Like humans and our own canine companions, the Wetim are the domestic dogs of planet Yaetu,
having been selected for thousands of years to be friendly and sociable. Another culturally
important animal are the Waltef, four winged fliers that play a vital role in pollinating
plant-life on Yaetu — including Yaetuan crops. As a result, Yaetuans encourage their presence,
constructing artificial nests on the sides of buildings to ensure the cities don’t disrupt their
habitat… The Yaetuan species in an incredible story of redemption. In many ways, the Yaetuan’s
journey from planetary collapse to restoration is one worth reflecting on. Will humanity repeat
their mistakes, or learn from their example? Only time will tell… Meeting and communing with
the Yaetuans has been a very special experience, but now the time has come for us to return home…
We’ve seen much on our epic voyage through the stars. Yet Christian Cline’s book The Teeming
Universe contains many more incredible speculative worlds and alien creatures,
and I encourage you to check out the link to it below, and part one of this series. And as always,
thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this entry, please lend your support and like, subscribe,
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