Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time. Today, we continue our Alien Monster Fact series leading up to the August sixteenth release of Alien Romulus, with a trip back to the very beginning the xenomorph egg. In the original nineteen seventy nine film Alien, the crew of the Nostromo discovered thousands of strange rubbery eggs, each between two and three feet in hide or point six two point nine meters in height, aboard a derelict Engineer spacecraft. As I originally discussed in the article how the Alien Xenomorph Works back in twenty twelve for the website How Stuff Works, the first stop in interpreting the strange stage of the alien life cycle is to approach it as an egg. That is to say, we have to compare it to the amniotic eggs of birds, reptiles, and amphibians, which protect and nourish the organism inside during its early development. The xenomorph egg certainly contains and protects an organism the face hugger stage of the xenomorphic life cycle. No matter what the external environmental conditions might be, the egg seems to keep the face hugger moist alive and possibly at the appropriate temperature, within a vat of fleshy pulpy material that we might compare to the yolk or dudoplasm that serves this purpose in terrestrial eggs. But the xeno egg seemingly evolved to not only protect a developing organism, but to preserve it in a state of readiness. As we'll discuss in the next episode, the face hugger absolutely depends on host availability, and the egg patiently awaits delivery to or discovery by suitable hosts. And this is where we consider another possibility, one explored by the Alien RPG from Free League Publishing. Perhaps it's not merely an egg, but a full blown stage of the alien life cycle, an ovomorph and an organism in and of itself. Consider the face hugger doesn't hatch or burst from the egg like a natural world hatchling. Instead, it's the ovomorph that opens its four dorsal petals or lips and allows the face hugger to spring forth. Perhaps indeed, it is the egg that initially senses nearby prey and not the face hugger. We might also look to the ropey tendrils that seem to protrude from the bases of these eggs. Are these merely secreted resin strands to bind the eggs in place against environmental stress or gravitational changes, or are they tentacles that may help sense interlopers. Are they, in fact roots that seek nourishment to sustain their hidden organic payloads? Mainly in the phantasmagorical concept art of dark surrealist hr Giger, the egg's dorsal openings are sometimes manifested as a single slit, implying not hatching but live birth.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time. Today, we continue our Alien Monster Fact series leading up to the August sixteenth release of Alien Romulus, with a trip back to the very beginning the xenomorph egg. In the original nineteen seventy nine film Alien, the crew of the Nostromo discovered thousands of strange rubbery eggs, each between two and three feet in hide or point six two point nine meters in height, aboard a derelict Engineer spacecraft. As I originally discussed in the article how the Alien Xenomorph Works back in twenty twelve for the website How Stuff Works, the first stop in interpreting the strange stage of the alien life cycle is to approach it as an egg. That is to say, we have to compare it to the amniotic eggs of birds, reptiles, and amphibians, which protect and nourish the organism inside during its early development. The xenomorph egg certainly contains and protects an organism the face hugger stage of the xenomorphic life cycle. No matter what the external environmental conditions might be, the egg seems to keep the face hugger moist alive and possibly at the appropriate temperature, within a vat of fleshy pulpy material that we might compare to the yolk or dudoplasm that serves this purpose in terrestrial eggs. But the xeno egg seemingly evolved to not only protect a developing organism, but to preserve it in a state of readiness. As we'll discuss in the next episode, the face hugger absolutely depends on host availability, and the egg patiently awaits delivery to or discovery by suitable hosts. And this is where we consider another possibility, one explored by the Alien RPG from Free League Publishing. Perhaps it's not merely an egg, but a full blown stage of the alien life cycle, an ovomorph and an organism in and of itself. Consider the face hugger doesn't hatch or burst from the egg like a natural world hatchling. Instead, it's the ovomorph that opens its four dorsal petals or lips and allows the face hugger to spring forth. Perhaps indeed, it is the egg that initially senses nearby prey and not the face hugger. We might also look to the ropey tendrils that seem to protrude from the bases of these eggs. Are these merely secreted resin strands to bind the eggs in place against environmental stress or gravitational changes, or are they tentacles that may help sense interlopers. Are they, in fact roots that seek nourishment to sustain their hidden organic payloads? Mainly in the phantasmagorical concept art of dark surrealist hr Giger, the egg's dorsal openings are sometimes manifested as a single slit, implying not hatching but live birth.

Ah.

Ah.

But there is more mystery to consider here concerning the ovomorph, as seen in alternate cuts of Ridley Scott's Alien and is embraced in the Alien RPG source book. There are two known ways to wind up with the XENOMORPHAG. A hive queen may deposit the eggs in great number, as we see in James Cameron's Aliens, or a living host may develop into a XENOMORPHAE. Here's how it allegedly works. A lone xenomorph drone such as the titular creature in the original Alien, collects hosts, incapacitates them, cocoons their bodies with resin secretions, and then uses a barb on its tail, perhaps a form of ovipositor, to inject them with enzymes, hormones, and perhaps some derivative of the black Goo. The unfortunate host then slowly transforms into a swollen overmorph themselves, complete with a face hugger, drifting dreaming in its semi translucent depths. With enough time and enough available hosts, the new egg may birth a whole new hive of xenomorphic world consuming horror. Tune in for additional episodes of the Monster Fact each week. Our Alien series will continue here, but afterwards episodes of The Artifact and Anamalia Stupendium shall return. Thanks to the excellent Jjpossway for producing this episode, and as always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

But there is more mystery to consider here concerning the ovomorph, as seen in alternate cuts of Ridley Scott's Alien and is embraced in the Alien RPG source book. There are two known ways to wind up with the XENOMORPHAG. A hive queen may deposit the eggs in great number, as we see in James Cameron's Aliens, or a living host may develop into a XENOMORPHAE. Here's how it allegedly works. A lone xenomorph drone such as the titular creature in the original Alien, collects hosts, incapacitates them, cocoons their bodies with resin secretions, and then uses a barb on its tail, perhaps a form of ovipositor, to inject them with enzymes, hormones, and perhaps some derivative of the black Goo. The unfortunate host then slowly transforms into a swollen overmorph themselves, complete with a face hugger, drifting dreaming in its semi translucent depths. With enough time and enough available hosts, the new egg may birth a whole new hive of xenomorphic world consuming horror. Tune in for additional episodes of the Monster Fact each week. Our Alien series will continue here, but afterwards episodes of The Artifact and Anamalia Stupendium shall return. Thanks to the excellent Jjpossway for producing this episode, and as always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.