New idea: Their blood is a highly alakine concentration, right? Sort of like battery acid. What if they are essentially biological generators? They could sustain themselves using their own blood to make the equivalent of a charged battery. They wouldn't require an outside source to sustain them, but need a "spark plug" to get them going or keep them running. Maybe the electronic waves from the human brain(and perhaps other animals) have that spark or are some form of fuel supplement. It can also be how they hunt, if they can sense the brain of a creature then they can attack it's most vulnerable spot. Any questions?
[This message has been edited by TLE (edited January 19, 2001).]
posted
Congrats! That's what my topic-name's about.
I hypothesized the blood not being a simple transport-vessel for energy to the muscles, but a critical chemical component inherent in a silicon-based system.
As we know, the aliens don't show up on infra-red, but in "AvP" the predator can view aliens in the electro-magnetic spectrum of vision. It's a non-canon game, but made by Fox nonetheless.
------------------ Here lies a toppled god, His fall was not a small one. We did but build his pedestal, A narrow and a tall one.
posted
It's something I came up with at work while running with the machine I operate. It made sense that the highly concentrated blood, and their vastly different biological make up meant they could be walking batteries.
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
I've never seen any kind of chemical eat through metal like the xeno's blood. This alone seems to suggest that the alien is a synthetic being created for combat.
It could be argued that the vitriolic blood is some sort of incredible defensive adaptation, a protection against even stronger predators...This has been dancing in my head for awhile, but I have to say that I doubt it. The alien is obviously a socially organized creature. Social animals don't tend to have the powerful defensive adaptations that the loners do. Society takes care of things. Any being strong enough to take on a pack (hmmm...what's the plural form for the aliens? I guess pack will do, but it could be something else) of xenos is one hell of a tough bastard whether they have the demon blood or not. I don't think the blood would be so potent in such a scenario, although i could easily be wrong.
perhaps the alien was once a more solitary creature, and then after some sort of genetic tinkering it learned society and organization.
The battery idea is interesting. The amount of electrical power necessary to animate something that size is pretty staggering biologically, but we are talking about THEM. Everything is staggering. If it weren't, we wouldn't be talking about it, right?
Do you think that the feedings we've been shown in the movie would be adequate to fuel such an electrical beast? This might explain the blood...perhaps it's not blood at all, but a body wide digestive (or both). The digestive would be capable of breaking down damn near anything for energy conversion. Probably doesn't use anything akin to ATP for cellular energy, no way that would hold up in such caustic environs. Maybe some kind of molecular acid (heh), or even nano technology? Breaks down nutrients to raw chemical strength and then shuttles it around the body?
Interesting to calculate how much calories you could get from a few pounds of human meat. See if it would be enough to feasibly support the intense locomotion we've seen from the xeno.
God, i am such a nerd, suggesting that. Oddly enough, You really could write a serious paper on this, because it presents several interesting problems in various fields of study. I keep stopping as I write to mull things over, rejecting theories before I type them. I see a flaw in some aspect of it, or an advantage to another...intriguing prospect. The website mentioned above though...now THAT guy has some time on his hands. wonderful site, regardless. amongst the best sci-fi sites i've seen.
------------------ Between the idea and the reality, comes the Shadow
"Hive" seems to be the established word for their groups.
Quote: "I've never seen any kind of chemical eat through metal like the xeno's blood. This alone seems to suggest that the alien is a synthetic being created for combat."
Well, ants have very sour fluids in their bodies, as do a few other insects, so it's not that uncommon. It could just be that the nature on their planet of origin had an extremely high ph level, thus creating sour critters... Actually the xeno's have very much in common with ants.
------------------ Here lies a toppled god, His fall was not a small one. We did but build his pedestal, A narrow and a tall one.
posted
The ant/bee theory is my assumption. The supposed homeworld they come from has a very high ph atmosphere so it's possible, and they have natural enemies that are just as dangerous or more so which pick off single or small groups of the Xenos.
The true origin will likely remain a mystery, which is good. It'd ruin the fun of speculating whether they're natural, genetically grown or natural but enhanced.
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