Are Sci Fi monsters and aliens too hard to kill?

[Orionblamblam]

I do not agree, some species of underground insects will always survive, in my opinion, the only sure way to kill them is the impact of a Chicxulub because the shock wave that propagates several kilometers deep surrounds the entire planet and creates a second focus of destruction by converging in the hemisphere opposite the impact creating eruptions of magma for thousands of years.

Insufficient. No cometary impact since Theia has wiped out the surface life, much less subsurface. You need to liquefy the entire crust, which is no mean feat.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Id monster from Forbidden Planet. Quite tough indeed:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0n1nsTAzJ4

Best line in that is the big energy weapons are firing and the Captain says they hit them with "six-million electron volts..." (less than one watt...) But it sounded good in the 1950's...

 

[Justo Miranda]

Insufficient. No cometary impart since Theia has wiped out the surface life, much less subsurface. You need to liquefy the entire crust, which is no mean feat.

If one Chicxulub is not enough, a single ship specialized in asteroid mining can deflect several hundred asteroids into an inner orbit of the System. Asteroids are cheap.

 

[Orionblamblam]

If one Chicxulub is not enough, a single ship specialized in asteroid mining can deflect several hundred asteroids into an inner orbit of the System. Asteroids are cheap.

I doubt hundreds of asteroids are enough to sterilize the planet. However, a few asteroids converted into giant solar mirror, or a near-sun laser conversion array, might be enough to melt the surface over time.

 

[sferrin]

I see what you did there.

 

[muttbutt]

Neither is much of anyone else. Go to a big book store (B&N, say) and check out what's bigger: the sci-fi section or the "teen girl supernatural romance" section. *Especially* when you weed the clear fantasy out of the sci-fi.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1781490900880838949

View: https://x.com/UnwantedBlog/status/1781490900880838949

Right next to Ursula Le Guin.....

 

[Justo Miranda]

I doubt hundreds of asteroids are enough to sterilize the planet. However, a few asteroids converted into giant solar mirror, or a near-sun laser conversion array, might be enough to melt the surface over time.

Asteroids may not achieve total annihilation, at least that's what happened during the Motie Wars. A more expensive and slower solution: the mirrors should orbit the planet in the opposite direction of its rotation and should be placed in many orbits with different inclinations in order to illuminate the entire surface. A cheaper solution would be to turn some asteroids into clouds of dust that would cover the planet orbiting above the atmosphere, eventually turning that world into a cryosphere. Anyway, I think using Mega-Lasers is more spectacular. Which ships do you propose to use...the battleship Lenin or the cruiser MacArthur?

 

[Orionblamblam]

Which ships do you propose to use...the battleship Lenin or the cruiser MacArthur?

Yes.

If a biosphere is worth killing, it's worth over-killing.

 

[sferrin]

Best line in that is the big energy weapons are firing and the Captain says they hit them with "six-million electron volts..." (less than one watt...) But it sounded good in the 1950's...

Like the Terminator asking for a pulsed plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Hi

Ah yes, that attack was serious and nobody was called Shirley.

 

[riggerrob]

May I suggest that the main problem is that most human weapons are designed to kill mammals, but chances are that the first aleins we encounter will not be mammals.
When you consider the huge amounts of time and space until we reach the next habitable planet, chances are that aliens will be nowhere near the same stage of evolution as current humans.
Humans may not even recognize many species of lichens or sea creatures.
My favorite analogy is sky whales. Just for a moment, consider the sort of creatures that might inhabit the atmosphere of a gas giant planet. They would look more like blimps, bouyed aloft by the hydrogen gas that ferments in their intestines. Hydrogen gas is very flammable when mixed with earth's atmosphere.
Now consider how difficult is was for early airplanes to shoot down the static-balloons that were manned by artillery spotters during World War 1. These balloons were very unpopular with ground troops, so they were constantly asking the fledgling air forces to shoot them down. Early attempts with solid bullets only produced slow leaks. Eventually they needed to develop incendiary bullets for .30 caliber machine guns. .30 caliber was the dominant size for WW1 machine guns.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Floating balloon aliens would make interesting adversaries. Earth seems an unlikely place for them to hang out at, though.

If they're naturally floating in oxygen atmosphere using hydrogen lift gas, it's a safe bet that taking them out with lasers will be damn near trivial.

 

[Hood]

Arthur C. Clarke had floating aliens on Jupiter in one of his early short stories.

 

[Arjen]

A Meeting with Medusa, with a sequel written by Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds: The Medusa Chronicles

The Medusa Chronicles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Justo Miranda]

If coexistence with birds already causes problems, attempts to integrate flying whales into our existence will undoubtedly generate the first interstellar war.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Asteroids may not achieve total annihilation, at least that's what happened during the Motie Wars. A more expensive and slower solution: the mirrors should orbit the planet in the opposite direction of its rotation and should be placed in many orbits with different inclinations in order to illuminate the entire surface. A cheaper solution would be to turn some asteroids into clouds of dust that would cover the planet orbiting above the atmosphere, eventually turning that world into a cryosphere. Anyway, I think using Mega-Lasers is more spectacular. Which ships do you propose to use...the battleship Lenin or the cruiser MacArthur?

Boaty McBoatface. Far better suited by having won a public competition and then rejected by so called smart people in favour of the Sir Richard Attenborough. After all, why ask if you are not prepared to comply with the winning entry?

Suitably demonstrating the fitness of just aboput any name for just about any purpose.

Or possibly the Mary Poppins?

 

[Justo Miranda]

A Meeting with Medusa, with a sequel written by Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds: The Medusa Chronicles

The Medusa Chronicles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Hi

 

[Justo Miranda]

Boaty McBoatface. Far better suited by having won a public competition and then rejected by so called smart people in favour of the Sir Richard Attenborough. After all, why ask if you are not prepared to comply with the winning entry?

Suitably demonstrating the fitness of just aboput any name for just about any purpose.

Or possibly the Mary Poppins?

I hate musical movies and I'm a fan of Attenborough

 

[Foo Fighter]

I hate musical movies and I'm a fan of Attenborough

I am very much a fan of the global asset known as Sir David Attenborough. Much richer for his being around for a while yet, I hope.

I also think the name is appropriate. There was a competition among the public with names voted for and the winner supposedly used. In this instance, boaty McBoat face won and was rejected by the board. Live by the vote etc......

 

[Rhinocrates]

Hi

Various other blimp-like creatures too. One species in Fredrick Pohl's Jem and another in Harlan Ellison's collective world building exercise, Medea. Frank Herbert spun off from his participation in this for his Pandora stories. John Varley had the blimps in his Gaia trilogy, illustrated by Connor Freff Cochran here, in the first book, Titan.

 

[Rhinocrates]

If you want a menu of aliens and want to select worthy opponents.

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rhinocrates]

Hoyle's Black Cloud would look at a Ramscoop like Jaws.

On the other hand, the crew of the starship might look at it as if it were a brick wall.

That might explain the fate of the Leonora Christine. In Poul Anderson's Tau Zero, a ramscoop starship hit a mini-nebula or 'nebulina' and was damaged so that it couldn't turn of its drive without risking destruction as its speed continually increased.

It's a pretty gripping story - I wouldn't mind seeing a film or miniseries made from it.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Another blimp, from Barlowe.

First he came up with a floating species in the illustrated book Expedition. A TV special was made based on this, Alien Planet.

Illustrations from the book and the special's website.

The gas bladder is impossibly small, but it's a nice idea - refreshingly non-humanoid. If the creature was almost entirely like a balloon animal, with variable gas pressure substituting for musculature, perhaps it might work (spiders use hydraulic pressure to extend their limbs and their musculature is only used to retract them). The large bulb at the top would simply ensure stability and provide a reserve. Anything with spikes would scare the sh*t out of it.

 

[Foo Fighter]

I saw a study on how prolonged exposure to zero g affects the human body which, was based on the effects noted by crews in the environment as opposed to so called scientists working from ideology. Cannot find the bleeping thing though.