Name: 外星人真實樣貌大解密！ (What Actual Aliens Might Look Like)
Uploaded: 2026-01-13T17:20:57.000Z
Duration: 15 min 53 s

We know that life on Earth is incredibly diverse and exists in the strangest and most extreme places.

我們知道地球上的生命非常多樣，存在於最奇特、最極端的環境裡。

From blue dragon sea slugs to aye ayes or chrysomalan snails with shells of iron or whatever this is supposed to be.

從 blue dragon sea slugs 到狐猴，或是身上有鐵殼的 chrysomalan snails，或是任何你想像得到的樣子。

Let's use our imagination and real science to travel to three possible worlds, each more alien than the next.

讓我們運用想像力和真實的科學，前往三個可能的世界，每個都比下一個更奇特。

Put on your future science suit and enter the portal to witness wonders never seen before.

穿上你的未來科學服，進入傳送門，見證前所未見的奇觀。

這是一顆名為 Oculus 的紅矮星。

Five times smaller than our sun and a lot less bright.

它比我們的太陽小五倍，亮度也暗得多。

A bit larger than Earth, but orbiting its star 20 times closer.

比地球稍大，但繞著它的恆星運行，距離近了 20 倍。

You see the ice hell of the planet Aiper.

你看到的是 Aiper 行星的冰之煉獄。

It's tidally locked, so one side experiences a never ending night and the other an eternal day lit by the star's dim glow.

它被潮汐鎖定，所以一邊是永恆的黑夜，另一邊則是恆星微弱光芒照耀下的永恆白晝。

In the region facing the dim star directly, temperatures are warm and pleasant.

在直接面對這顆昏暗恆星的區域，溫度溫暖宜人。

The hell of ice has melted into a shallow black ocean.

冰之煉獄已經融化成一片淺淺的黑色海洋。

Churned by a never ending storm where hot air meets the frigid winds from the icy outskirts.

被永無止境的風暴攪動，熱空氣與來自冰冷外圍的嚴寒的風在此交匯。

But below this inhospitable chaos, we find calm stability.

但在這險惡的混亂之下，我們找到了平靜的穩定。

An ecosystem in almost perfect balance lets dive in.

一個近乎完美平衡的生態系統，讓我們潛入其中。

Instead of meeting open water, we splash into a floating underwater jungle.

我們並非濺入開闊水域，而是進入一片漂浮的水下叢林。

我們在家裡也知道有這樣的地方。

Kelp forests made from seaweeds up to 65 meters long, sheltering countless smaller creatures.

由長達65公尺的海帶組成的海帶森林，庇護著無數小型生物。

On Earth, we get abundant white sunlight.

在地球上，我們有充足的白色陽光。

So our plants evolved to be green, absorbing the most useful red wavelengths for photosynthesis and reflecting away the rest.

所以我們的植物演化成綠色，吸收光合作用最有用的紅光波長，並反射掉其他光。

But Oculus shines not nearly as bright and its dim rays are even further dulled by the storm.

但Oculus的光芒遠不如太陽明亮，而且牠黯淡的光線還被風暴進一步削弱。

So here plants are a deep black to make use of the weak infrared leftovers, which also gives the eye of Aiper its striking black color.

所以這裡的植物是深黑色的，以利用微弱的紅外線殘餘，這也讓Aiper之眼呈現出醒目的黑色。

Over billions of years, the jungle has occupied all possible space in the eye.

數十億年來，這片叢林佔據了眼睛裡所有可能的空間。

Its roots extend deep into the seabed mud, anchoring them and providing access to nutrients.

牠們的根部深入海床的泥土，將牠們固定住並提供養分。

They drop their seed in the few free spaces in the mud.

牠們將種子撒在泥土中少數的空隙裡。

只有死亡才能為新生命騰出空間。

Big and streamlined, teardrop shaped creatures push through the dark water.

巨大且呈流線型、水滴狀的生物穿梭在黑暗的水中。

Just like many sea creatures on Earth, their shape is optimized for the lowest drag when traveling through water.

就像地球上的許多海洋生物一樣，牠們的形狀經過最佳化，在水中移動時能降低阻力。

Like underwater cattle, they lazily swim through the forest, grazing on leaves in peace.

牠們就像水下的牛一樣，悠閒地在森林裡遊動，平靜地啃食著葉子。

Suddenly, a patch of strange looking leaves begins to move and wraps around a distracted grazer, dragging it down into hungry jaws.

突然，一叢奇特的葉子開始移動，纏繞住一隻分心的食草動物，將牠拖入飢餓的巨口中。

A predator that's had eons to adapt its camouflage to f. But not only by imitating leaves.

一種掠食者，牠們的偽裝能力經過數億年的演化，以模仿葉子。但牠們的偽裝不只模仿葉子。

Both Hunter and prey never evolved eyes in this dark underwater murk.

在這片黑暗的水域中，獵人和獵物都沒有演化出眼睛。

Instead they do battle with sounds and textures.

相反地，牠們用聲音和觸感來戰鬥。

Countless species are singing to each other, sending warnings or invitations, forming a collective song.

無數的物種互相歌唱，發出警告或邀請，形成一首集體的歌。

Like the noisy jungles alert except howler monkeys and screaming PIs are replaced by chattering seed eaters poking at the mud with snapping pincers, squeaking spike bulbs loaded with poison.

就像喧鬧的叢林一樣，只是這裡的吼猴和尖叫的 PI 被喋喋不休的食種動物取代，牠們用帶有毒液的、會咬的尖刺，還有吱吱作響的尖球，在泥巴裡戳來戳去。

And the flailing fins of starfish shaped grabbers hunting small prey.

還有那些像海星一樣的抓捕者，揮舞著鰭，追捕小型獵物。

In this stable and never changing ecosystem, their music will never end.

在這個穩定且永恆不變的生態系統中，牠們的音樂永不停止。

For billions of years you seem to have been noticed and blind creepers are crawling towards you.

數十億年來，你似乎被注意到，而盲目的爬行者正朝你爬來。

You want to explore this world, not become part of it.

你想探索這個世界，而不是成為它的一部分。

So it's time to leave the clouds of Nimbus.

所以是時候離開 Nimbus 的雲層了。

You're immersed in the blinding light of the B type star Caeruleus.

你沉浸在 B 型恆星 Caeruleus 的耀眼光芒中。

Shining hot and blue, orbited by a dozen lava planets burned to a crisp.

它閃耀著熾熱的藍光，周圍環繞著十幾個被烤焦的熔岩行星。

但我們要去拜訪最後一顆行星，Nimbus。

A gas giant very much like Neptune in size and composition.

一顆在大小和組成上都非常像海王星的氣態巨行星。

Except there's a lot more water and seething hot.

只是這裡的水更多，而且熱氣騰騰。

Chaereuleus showers it with 900 times more light than Neptune, so its atmosphere is warm enough for gigantic white clouds the size of countries to be lofted upwards by titanic warm updrafts rising from the hazy depths.

Chaereuleus 照射給它的光是海王星的 900 倍，所以它的氣氛溫暖到足以讓像國家一樣大的巨大白色雲朵，被從朦朧深處升起的巨大暖氣流帶到空中。

Millions of years ago, and astonishingly quickly, life emerged and evolved inside tiny water droplets.

數百萬年前，生命以驚人的速度在微小的水滴中出現並演化。

Deeper down in the planet, like extremophile microbes on Earth, they found ways of breathing methane and using exotic enzymes to harvest sulfur and nitrogen compounds from the air.

在行星更深處，就像地球上的極端微生物一樣，牠們找到了呼吸甲烷並利用外來酵素從空氣中獲取硫和氮化合物的方法。

As Caeruleus grew hotter and brighter, the higher altitudes of Nimbus became habitable and and life spread.

隨著 Caeruleus 變得越來越熱、越來越亮，Nimbus 的高海拔地區變得宜居，生命也隨之擴散。

Let's dive into the gigantic white clouds to meet it.

讓我們潛入巨大的白色雲層去遇見牠吧。

Up here live quadrillions of tiny beings.

在這裡，生活著數千兆的小生物。

A kind of cloud plankton, so small they're carried on the gentlest air currents.

一種雲浮游生物，小到可以被最輕柔的氣流帶走。

The most common type resembles flat four legged spiders barely a millimeter wide, tinted yellow by the sulfur they consume.

最常見的種類像扁平的四足蜘蛛，寬度僅一毫米，因為牠們消耗的硫而呈現黃色。

They gain lift with wispy electrostatic threads thinner than spider silk, pulling on the charge differences between the top and bottom of the cloud oceans.

牠們利用比蜘蛛絲還細的靜電細絲獲得升力，藉由雲層上下方的電荷差異來移動。

A technique Zistica's crab spiders use to travel great distances.

這是 Zistica 的蟹蛛用來長途旅行的技巧。

On Earth, you're just in time for mating season.

在地球上，你正好趕上繁殖季節。

Billions of cloud plankton gather to join their threads into huge parachutes that ride updrafts for hundreds of kilometres.

數十億的雲浮游生物聚集在一起，將牠們的細絲連結成巨大的降落傘，乘著上升氣流飛行數百公里。

Here in the hot heights, they hatch their eggs.

在 Nimbus 炙熱的高處，牠們孵化牠們的蛋。

Before their life comes to an end, other tiny creatures latch on most of them predators looking to feast on fresh younglings.

在牠們生命結束之前，其他微小的生物會附著在牠們身上，大多是掠食者，牠們想大快朵頤新鮮的幼體。

但 Nimbus 上並非所有生命都很微小。

The other way to stay up in the sky forever is to become a living balloon, like the enormous sky whales.

永遠待在天空中的另一種方式是成為活生生的氣球，就像巨大的天空鯨魚。

Taller than a skyscraper, almost completely made of a wafer thin membrane.

牠們比摩天大樓還高，幾乎完全由薄如紙的薄膜構成。

They heat up trapped gases, making them less dense than the air around them, giving them buoyancy.

牠們加熱捕獲的氣體，使其密度比周圍的空氣低，從而產生浮力。

The bigger their gas envelope, the more lift it produces.

氣囊越大，產生的升力就越大。

So sky whales evolved to be as large as possible.

所以天空鯨魚演化到盡可能巨大。

Only a lumpy car sized spherical bag of organs hangs at its bott.

只有一個長滿瘤的、汽車大小的球狀器官袋掛在牠的底部。

Heating up all this gas requires a lot of energy, so it's time to feed.

加熱這麼多氣體需要很多能量，所以是時候進食了。

The spherical body opens up, unfolding and lowering a huge sticky net into the white clouds.

球狀身體張開，展開並將巨大的黏網降低到白雲中。

On Earth, the largest animals to ever exist, blue whales feed by filtering millions of tiny krill each day.

在地球上，有史以來最大的動物藍鯨，每天透過過濾數百萬隻微小的磷蝦來進食。

Similarly, the sky whales of Nimbus filter sky plankton out of the clouds.

同樣地，Nimbus 的天空鯨魚也會從雲中過濾天空浮游生物。

Most is consumed right away and burned in specialized glands to generate heat.

大部分會立即被消耗掉，並在特殊的腺體中燃燒以產生熱量。

The rest is converted into an orange and energy dense nectar for later.

其餘的則轉化為橙色且能量濃密的 التالية，供日後使用。

This nectar is the most valuable resource on Nimbus.

這種 التالية是 Nimbus 上最有價值的資源。

Numerous predators are looking for it, but

none so hungrily as the frog sized jet squids, evolutionary cousins of the whales.

沒有一種比這些像青蛙一樣大的噴射烏賊更飢渴的了，牠們是鯨魚的演化表親。

Several of them trail each sky whale, waiting for it to be distracted or sleepy after a succulent meal.

有幾隻會跟在每隻天空鯨魚後面，等牠們吃飽大餐後分心或睡著。

Jet squids are far less efficient floaters, but

噴射烏賊的漂浮效率差很多，但

they're able to superheat and expel gases in short bursts like a rocket.

牠們能夠在短時間內超加熱並噴出氣體，就像火箭一樣。

Like vampiric hummingbirds, their long and pointy beaks try to pierce their prey and lap up some of the nectar inside.

牠們的長而尖的喙，就像吸血蜂鳥一樣，試圖刺穿獵物並舔食裡面的花蜜。

Unlike in the stable eye aiper, life on Nimbus is doomed.

和在穩定的狐猴不同，Nimbus 上的生命註定要滅亡。

B type stars like Caeruleus live for a few hundred million years at most.

像 Caeruleus 這樣的 B 型恆星，壽命最多隻有幾億年。

Soon it will be burning through its fuel at an astounding rate and violently burn our gas giant.

很快牠就會以驚人的速度燃燒燃料，並猛烈地燒毀我們的氣體巨行星。

Life on Nimbus is only 600 million years old and has barely 10 million years left.

Nimbus 上的生命只有六億年歷史，也只剩下不到一千萬年壽命。

Is this tragic or is this unique ecosystem lucky to have existed in the first place?

這很悲慘，還是說這個獨特的生態系統能存在已經很幸運了呢？

Something to ponder as you move on before your jetpack runs out of fuel.

在你們噴射揹包燃料耗盡前，可以好好想想這個問題。

13 times more massive than Jupiter and with a magnetic field 60 times stronger.

牠的質量是木星的 13 倍，磁場強度更是木星的 60 倍。

It belongs to the yellow star Sturgeon, which is about to disappear behind Orsted's shadow.

牠屬於黃矮星 Sturgeon，而 Sturgeon 即將消失在 Orsted 的陰影之後。

But you're interested in Monnier, one of Oersted's many moons.

但你們感興趣的是 Monnier，Oersted 的眾多衛星之一。

It should get as much sunlight as our Earth.

它的日照應該跟我們的地球差不多。

But its three hour orbit around the brown dwarf means its days are extremely short.

但它繞著這顆褐矮星運行，三小時的軌道週期意味著它的白天非常短暫。