Space Whales (Narration Only)

Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur

Isaac Arthur

Science, Futurism, Sci Fi, Future, Scifi, Technology, Space, Engineering

4.8 • 739 Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2019

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The idea of spaceships or other machines that were essentially alive and able to repair and operate themselves has long been a popular one in science fiction. We'll take a look today at how that might be possible in the future, what advantages it would have for interplanetary or interstellar colonization, and how it might lead to entire artificial ecosystems dwelling in the void of space. Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/YYEUKRHGgAg Visit our sponsor, Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/IsaacArthur/ Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IsaacArthur SFIA Merchandise available: https://www.signil.com/sfia/ Social Media: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583992725237264/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Isaac_A_Arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: https://discord.gg/53GAShE Credits: Space Whales & Bioships Episode 195, Season 5 E30 Written by: Isaac Arthur Jerry Guern https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TPBJSXF/ Editors: Darius Said Keith Blockus Cover Art: Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier Graphics by: Bryan Versteeg http://spacehabs.com Fishy Tree https://www.deviantart.com/fishytree/ Jarred Eagley Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_losdiajana Ken York https://www.facebook.com/YDVisual/ Sergio Botero https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Music: Michael Wark, "Embryonic Universe" https://www.amazon.com/Embryonic-Universe-Michael-Wark/dp/B079PNX1B9 Miguel Johnson, "So Many Stars" https://soundcloud.com/migueljohnsonmjmusic Aerium, "Fifth Star of Aldebaran" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnUJY3l5vIJFGsY3XvW4dQhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnUJY3l5vIJFGsY3XvW4dQ Sergey Cheremisinov, "Laybrinth" https://www.s-cheremisinov.com Chris Zabriskie, "Cylinder Nine" http://chriszabriskie.com Phase Shift, "Forest Night" https://www.last.fm/music/Phase+Shift/_/Enigmatic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, SFIA audio listeners.
0:02.5	In this month's Nebula exclusive, big alien theory,
0:05.2	we're asking the reason alien civilizations might be rare is because most aliens are huge.
0:10.5	To hear it and every episode early and ad-free, plus hours of bonus content,
0:15.1	check out go.nebola.tv slash Isaac Arthur and use my code, Isaac Arthur.
0:20.4	This episode is sponsored by Brilliant.
0:24.0	The most exotic and varied ecosystems we may encounter in the far future, may be those
0:30.4	designed by our descendants.
0:35.1	So today we will be looking at the concept of living spaceships or bioships, something
0:41.1	we see a lot of in science fiction, though in various different ways.
0:46.1	Sometimes it's merely a self-reparing spaceship with an AI, like we see with the ship Liberator
0:51.7	and its computer Zen in the classic dystopian sci-fi
0:55.0	show Blake Seven.
0:57.3	Other times it's a sentient, living, but totally engineered spaceship like the Volon
1:02.4	and Shadow Vessels in Babylon 5.
1:06.1	Other times it's far more organic, like the Leviathons of Falscape, being more like a space whale that
1:12.8	even breeds and reproduces, as we see with Moya and her son Talon.
1:18.3	From a science fiction perspective, this is a really neat idea, and so too is the idea that
1:23.8	huge space monsters might evolve to live in space, and we played with that notion in
1:28.9	the bonus episode Void Ecology that came out Sunday, but the idea that life might evolve
1:34.9	in space and be used by us might be rather backwards. What's interesting about living
1:40.8	ships is that they could form the basis for machines turning
	...

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