Hello, SFIA audio listeners, in this month's Nebula exclusive, Big Alien Theory,

we're asking the reason alien civilizations might be rare is because most aliens are huge.

To hear it and every episode early and add-free, plus hours of bonus content,

check out go.nebola.tv slash Isaac Arthur and use my code, Isaac Arthur.

For a human mind, the exploration of alien ruins could be almost as much a psychological

labyrinth as a literal one, driving mini-mad.

One of the most common tropes in science fiction, back to the dawn of science fiction,

is that of the intrepid adventure

uncovering a mysterious artifact, or exploring an alien ruin. It's another sci-fi Sunday

here on the channel, where we let our hair down and explore more common sci-fi concepts

to ask how realistic they might be. On today's episode, we'll be looking at how you might

explore an alien relic or ruin, and

if and where you might encounter one.

Now, from a storytelling perspective, these objects are often irrelevant beyond being the

inciting cause of the plot or the initial character interactions, or it's commonly called

a mcuffin, but that's hardly limited to science fiction as a trope.

Whether it's the titular Maltese falcon or the suitcase from pulp fiction, its purpose

in the story is to drive events simply by mysteriously existing.

Somewhat parallel is the one ring in the Lord of the Rings, it's not actually a MacGuffin,

but we mostly see its fairly mundane power of invisibility, while hearing about its earth-shedering

past and vast powers in the right or wrong hands, which as it turns out, is nearly everyone's.

We never see it do much else besides provide temptation of power and control, and of course

...