The coolest tech of the 'Alien' universe, from medpods to X-ray torches
There are many things to love about the Alien series besides the drooling "perfect organism" at its center — the tenacious female heroines, the fascinating relationship between humans and the robots they create in their image, and the depiction of capitalism as its own bloodthirsty monster.
Also appreciated by many fans is the future tech cooked up by the franchise's many screenwriters — imagine living in a gravity-infused luxury space liner like the Prometheus or recovering from decades of hibernation in Aliens' floating space city. The creative inventions of the Alien universe are a small antidote to the relentless nihilism that seeps out of every pore of its imagined world like toxic black goo. Putting aside that existential dread for a moment, here is the Alien tech that makes us excited for the future — and what to expect in the upcoming TV series, Alien: Earth.
Alien (1979): Cryopods
One of the first images of Ridley Scott's seminal film, Alien, is Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley and her fellow USCSS Nostromo space truckers rubbing their eyes in their sleep cocoons. Used in nearly every film in the series, as well as in Alien: Earth, these cryopods allow humans to travel millions of miles by placing them in stasis and slowing down the aging process. Sleeping in suspended animation for decades like this is probably a long way off. NASA is actually studying torpor, which is like shorter-period hibernation. The space agency believes torpor may allow longer space travel for astronauts and cut down on needed supplies — so Scott and Alien screenwriter Dan O'Bannon weren't so far off when they imagined these sleepy-time machines.
Aliens (1986): Power loader
This giant mech suit is introduced in James Cameron's follow-up to Alien, with Ripley and others climbing inside to move heavy material while on the Gateway space station. The power loader is a wonder to behold at first sight, with Cameron deftly utilizing it in the movie's climax as Ripley dons the giant suit in a battle with the hulking Alien Queen, finally leveling the playing field. Forty years after Aliens, the practicality of a power loader now seems questionable. It looks cool, but wouldn't a cherry picker accomplish the same thing?
Prometheus (2012): Medpod
The spaceship that brings scientists to a distant moon to uncover the origins of humanity — and inadvertently exposes a pathogen key to the Xenomorphs' existence — is a top-of-the-line, trillion-dollar-plus vessel. Mission director Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) resides in a luxe, detachable apartment aboard the Prometheus, which comes equipped with a medpod, or an automated surgery room. Programmed to only be used by men, or more specifically by Vickers' father, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), the medpod is commandeered by archeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) to remove an alien embryo growing inside her. The AI-operated mini-hospital successfully excises a screeching squid-like creature from Shaw, stitching her up so quickly she's able to escape from the evil spawn.
While medpods cannot be found in hospitals of the 2020s, AI and machine learning are becoming more and more ingrained into healthcare, especially within diagnostics and drug development.
Prometheus (2012): Mapping drones
While exploring a mysterious structure on a moon known as LV-223, the Prometheus crew deploys floating orbs that scan the serpentine-like corridors and create a digital map via an eye-catching red light. The drones eventually reveal that the crew is not just spelunking in a cave or bunker, but wandering through an enormous warship built by ancient creatures known as "Engineers" — a ship that looks identical to the one that the crew of Nostromo stumbles upon in the first Alien film, set a few decades later.
Alien: Romulus (2024): X-ray torch
Set between the events of Alien (2122) and Aliens (2179), Alien: Romulus involves Weyland-Yutani contract workers (aka slaves) attempting to escape from their barren, sun-starved colony. Attempting to steal cryopods aboard a derelict space station, they instead encounter a research facility teaming with Facehuggers, Xenomorphs, and the horrific gooey pathogen introduced in Prometheus.
While scavenging the space station, the character of Navarro (Aileen Wu) finds an X-ray torch, marveling at its ability to illuminate the bones underneath her flesh. The torch will come in handy later, when Navarro uses it to expose the chestburster headbutting its way out of her ribcage. While you can't pick up an X-ray torch at your local Home Depot or medical supply store, NASA is helping develop a flashlight with X-ray capabilities for lunar exploration.
Alien: Earth (2025): Hybrids
The synthetics of the Alien series — like Ash (Ian Holm), Bishop (Lance Henriksen), Call (Winona Ryder), David (Michael Fassbender), and Andy (David Jonsson) — are definitely wonders of ingenuity and, sometimes, evil. But the idea of lifelike robots running daily life is, well, part of daily life. AI writes our emails, drives our cars, and human-sized versions dance for our amusement. So, it's the idea of hybrids — robots uploaded with human consciousness — from the new series Alien: Earth that feels so fresh.
On the show, Weyland-Yutani's corporate rival, Prodigy, furtively yanks the minds of dying children and implants them in super-strong synths. Is this a shortcut to immortality or a new way for humanity to play God (and suffer for it)? We shall see.
Honorable mention: MU/TH/UR 6000
The artificial intelligence that operates certain Weyland-Yutani vessels, like the Nostromo and the USCSS Covenant, is quite the operating system. Called "Mother" by the crew, the OS is seemingly protective of her "children," but is shown to be ultimately loyal to her corporation, willing to sacrifice people to preserve aliens. While Mother cannot be trusted, she is impressive in her abilities — automatically piloting city-sized ships and alerting her crew to threats, like when she warns Capt. Daniels (Katherine Waterston) there's an unknown life form, aka a Xenomorph, aboard the Covenant.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Film
Neal joined Mashable’s Social Good team in 2024, editing and writing stories about digital culture and its effects on the environment and marginalized communities. He is the former editorial director of The Advocate and Out magazines, has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Curbed, and Los Angeles magazine, and is a recipient of the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for LGBTQ Journalist of the Year Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA). He lives in Los Angeles with his family.
