Aliens Thought Humans Were Soft Until the Deathworlder in Class Explained What a Shark Really Is|HFY

Maya Chen slouched in her seat at the back of the galactic University's Advanced xenobiology lecture hall trying her best not to roll her eyes as another classmate droned on about their home world's supposedly fearsome Predators the massive Amphitheater designed to accommodate species of all sizes and environmental needs hummed with a gentle wor of atmospheric processors maintaining different Comfort zones for each species the crystallin being currently presenting who looked like a walking chandelier with too many opinions was explaining how their world's most dangerous Hunter could dissolve its prey exoskeleton in exactly 3.4 seconds Maya stifled a

yawn back on Earth that would barely qualify as a decent C cucumber Professor zilk a towering mass of Shifting purple tentacles crowned with five eyes bobbed appreciatively at the presentation excellent analysis txa the chemical composition of your world's apex predator is truly remarkable the professor's tentacles rippled in what Maya had Learned was their species equivalent of scholarly excitement oh the irony of that student name if they only knew what a real T-rex was Maya thought fighting back a Snicker and so it went on she glanced around the lecture hall at her classmates three gaseous beings

contained in environmental suits a club cluster of insectoids that reminded her of praying mantises if praying mantises wore tiny glasses and carried data tablets and various other species that would have made headlines back on Earth here she was the Exotic one the only human in the entire Galactic University's current semester a mixture of morality and philosophy people really plummeted for magic now then Professor Ze zilk's melodic voice resonated through the Halls un I translator who can tell me why class 4 worlds tend to produce such efficiently lethal Predators their eyes swiveled independently scanning the room

but notably skipping over Maya's Corner a gelatinous blob near the front blorp Maya had never managed to pronounce their actual name rippled their surface in the Universal gesture for raising a hand because class 4 environments require specialized hunting mechanisms to overcome the inherent atmospheric and gravitational challenges Maya asked Maya Shrugged the problem is that it can be hard to get one's own specialized hunting mechanisms to overcome the inherent atmospheric and gravitational challenges precisely H the professor's tentacles performed what Maya had dubbed the academic wiggle which is why it's so fascinating to have students from such

diverse evolutionary backgrounds in our program each of your worlds has produced unique solutions to the challenge of survival Maya bit her lip as several of her classmates turned to give her what they probably thought were subtle glances she knew what they were thinking she'd heard it all before humans came from Earth a Class 12 death world yet they looked so soft no claws no natural armor no acid glands not even basic bioluminescence just smooth skin and dull teeth how had they ever survived the crystallin being trxa chimed melodiously their species version of clearing their throat

Professor I've been curious how did species from lower class worlds like Earth develop sophisticated space travel without the evolutionary advantages that come from a more challenging environment Maya's hand tightened around her stylus there it was the daily dose of condescension wrapped in academic curi iOS it Professor zel's tentacles rippled in what might have been discomfort well uh that's quite a complex topic perhaps we should focus on today's lesson about chemical-based predation strategies but surely it's relevant thexa persisted their crystalline structure refracting light in patterns that Maya had learned indicated smug satisfaction understanding how less advantaged

species compensate for their evolutionary deficit could provide valuable insights into adaptation mechanisms the stylus in Maya's hand creaked dangerously less advantaged evolutionary deficits oh if they only knew about the things that had shaped human evolution like sharks a smile crept across her face as she thought about Earth's perfect Predator still swimming the oceans after hundreds of millions of years Professor zig ZK must have noticed her expression because all five eyes suddenly focused on her student Chen you seem to have something to add to the discussion the entire class turned to look at her some using

ey stocks others rotating entire sections of their bodies Maya straightened in her seat her smile widening finally actually Professor I was just thinking about some of Earth's Predators you know from my soft low class world she kept her voice sweet but there was an edge to it that made a few of the more perceptive students shift uncomfortably in their seats the professor's tentacles Twisted in what might have been concern or curiosity oh would you care to share an example Maya's grin turned predatory well since we're on the topic of chemical predation and evolutionary advantages why

don't I tell you about something we call a shark she sniffed in disgust trix's crystalline structure vibrated in what Maya had come to recognize as their version of a patronizing laugh a shark is that some kind of primitive reptilian creature oh no Maya replied her voice dripping with honey sweet sarcasm sharks aren't primitive at all they're actually one of Earth's most successful evolutionary stories been around for about 450 million years the gaseous beings in their environmental suits exchanged glowes that Maya interpreted as skepticism one of them zes released a small puff of neon green gas

their species equivalent of a scoff surely any species that ancient must be extremely simple zes burbled through their translator on our world the most successful predators are the ones that evolved most recently utilizing complex molecular manipulation and psychic Warfare Maya couldn't help it she laughed not a polite chuckle but a full-bodied human laugh that echoed through the lecture hall several of her classmates recoiled at the unfamiliar sound and one of the praying mantis students nearly dropped their data tablet to gang gang students smiled and swept his fingers to help uproot curtains perhaps you could explain

what you find so amusing about evolutionary biology a singular shape of scarlet Maya wiped a tear from her eyes still grinning I'm sorry Professor it's just everyone here seems to think that newer means better or that complexity equals superiority but sharks they're perfect just the way they are they haven't needed to change much because they got it right the first time got what right Texa chimed dismissively how sophisticated could these sharks be do they manipulate gravitational fields deploy electromagnetic pulses compressed SpaceTime the praying mantis students were now frantically taking notes their tiny glasses glinting in

the artificial light Maya noticed one of them had drawn what they apparently thought a shark might look like it had tentacles and looked suspiciously like a space squid no Maya replied standing up they don't need any of that what they have is much better she walked down to the front of the lecture hall her footsteps echoing in the suddenly quiet space Professor would you mind if I gave a short presentation I think my classmates might benefit from learning about one of Earth's apex predators Professor ZB zilk's eyes swiveled into independently studying Maya with obvious curiosity

while this is somewhat off our planned curriculum four of their eyes turned to look at the clearly invested class while the fifth remained fixed on Maya I suppose a comparative xenobiology demonstration could be educational Maya pulled out her data pad and connected it to the holographic projector oh it will be educational all right she grinned showing her flat herbivore like teeth in what she knew her classmates considered a nonthreatening display If Only They knew that on Earth it was often the sight of human teeth that signaled the beginning of trouble before I start Maya said

turning to face the class I should probably warn you that some of this footage might be a bit intense we humans sometimes forget that other species aren't used to our world's Wildlife blorp quivered indignantly near the front row we are Advanced xenobiology students student Chen I hardly think anything from a Class 12 world could disturb us trix's crystallin form sparkled in agreement indeed we've studied the most lethal Predators from across the Galaxy how dangerous could these sharks of yours possibly be Maya's smile widened as she pulled up the first image a great white shark Brea

reaching the water's surface its massive Jaws wide open sunlight glinting off rows of serrated teeth the entire class fell silent well Maya said cheerfully why don't you judge for yourself ha the collective gasp that rippled through the lecture hall was almost comical blur's gelatinous form had lost some of its cohesion creating small puddles beneath their desk the praying mantis students were Fran Al erasing their previous drawings mandibles clicking in agitation this may have said gesturing to the Frozen image of the breaching great white is karatan carcharias what we call a great white shark and before

anyone asks yes those are all teeth you're seeing and yes they regrow them continuously throughout their lives brickz crystalline form had lost some of its previous luster how how large is this creature Mayas grin grew wider oh this one's actually pretty average about 6 M long the largest confirmed great white was around 8 m though we suspect they can grow bigger 8 m Professor zig's tentacles had gone slightly pale and these are current Earth creatures not extinct ones current Maya laughed there are probably thousands swimming in Earth's oceans right now but here's the really fun

part they're not even close to being the largest sharks we have the whale shark can grow up to 18 15 M long the gaseous beings environmental suits fogged up simultaneously one of them presumably Zach spoke up but surely these larger ones are less aggressive perhaps herbivorous the whale shark oh yeah they're gentle filter feeders Maya nodded then click to the next slide showing a Megalodon size comparison but their extinct cousin the Megalodon now that was something else imagine a shark the size of this lecture hall with a bite force strong enough to crush a small

spacecraft several students shifted uncomfortably in their seats the praying mantis group had huddled together their tiny glasses fogging up in distress but size isn't what makes sharks truly remarkable Maya continued clicking to the next slide it's their sensus everyone here talks about sophisticated hunting mechanisms well let me tell you about Electro reception she pulled up a diagram of the empol of lorenzini sharks can detect electrical impulses as faint as 51 billionths of a volt that's like sensing a battery from the other side of your home planet they can literally feel your heartbeat from meters away

impossible to rexic gam their crystal structure vibrating in disbelief no biological system could be that sensitive without massive electromagnetic shielding oh but it gets better Maya grinned they can also sense blood and water from up to a kilometer away their sense of smell is so acute that they can detect one drop of blood in an Olympic siiz swimming pool what's an Olympic siiz swimming pool one of the Mantis student squeak about 2.5 million liters of water Mayer replied casually Professor Zach's tentacles had tied themselves into what looked like a sailor's knot student chin are you

suggesting that these creatures combine extreme size with multi-spectrum sensory capabilities and regenerating weapon systems don't forget their skin Maya added cheerfully it's covered in tiny tooth-like scales called dermal denticles that reduce drag so effectively that we copy the pattern for our high-speed water vessels o and some species can swim at speeds of up to 56 km per hour blorf had now completely lost their shape and was slowly seeping between the floor tiles one of the Mantis students had pulled out what appeared to be a comfort BL but here's my favorite part Maya said pulling up

a new this is what humans do for the image showed a cage diving Expedition with tourists gleefully taking pictures of a great white swimming past their protective cage the entire class erupted in Chaos two of the gases beings fainted their environmental suits automatically engaging emergency stabilizers drex's crystal structure emitted a high pitched ringing sound that shattered a nearby drink the Mantis students had gone into a group meditation pose possibly trying to deny reality at student chin Professor zigul managed to say their voice trembling slightly are you telling us that humans voluntarily Place themselves in close

proximity to these creatures for entertainment Maya Shrugged well yeah we even have an entire week of Television dedicated to them we call it Shark Week it's pretty popular a week of sharks the professor's tentacles had begun to develop stressn oh yeah Maya said her voice filled with enthusiasm but that's nothing compared to what some researchers do what to see the footage of people free diving with great whites no protective cage just regular swimming the sound of ccs of fainting and hitting the floor with a crystalline tinkle was almost lost amid the collective screams of horror

once the medical drones had finished Reviving Turk SE and stabilizing the gashes students professor zixo managed to restore some semblance of order to the classroom though Maya noticed with Amusement they had retreated behind their desk as if it might offer protection from the holographic sharks perhaps the professor suggested weekly we should move on to a less intensive topic oh but I haven't even gotten to the cool part yet Maya protested bouncing slightly on her toes I haven't told them about the different species did you know we have over 500 known species of sharks the praying

mantis students who had just begun to lower their comfort blankets immediately pulled them back up one of them was writing what appeared to be a last will in Testament on their data pad 500 blurp bubbled weakly from their puddle on the floor yep and they all have different hunting Specialties Maya continued cheerfully like the thresher shark it uses its tail like a whip to stun prey or the goblin shark which can project its jaws out of its face to C she pull P up an image of a goblin shark feeding three more students fainted student

chin Professor zakic intervened their tentacles now so knotted they resembled a mckm project surely these creatures must be rare perhaps confined to specific regions Maya shooker head pulling up a holographic globe of Earth nope sharks live in all of Earth's oceans from the freezing poles to the tropical equator from the surface she paused for dramatic effect to the deepest trenches we're still discovering new species in the deep ocean who knows what's down there who knows what's down there texes are repeated faintly their crystalline structure vibrating with horror you mean you share a planet with these

beings and you don't even know all of them well we've only explored about five of our oceans thoroughly Maya explained the rest is let's say a work in progress Zack's environmental suit released a small puff of what smelled suspiciously like fear pheromones and your species achieved space flight while sharing a planet with these apex predators oh sharks aren't apex predators Maya said casually the entire class froze even the medical drones stopped their hovering to process this statement not apex predators Professor zook's voice had risen several octave NOP Maya grinned in fact there's only one known

Predator that regularly hunts great white sharks she paused enjoying the mounting mention orcas we call them killer whales though they're actually Dolphins they hunt great whites in groups flip them upside down to induce a state of paralysis and then well let's just say it's not the shark's best day she pulled up footage of an orcapod hunting the Mantis students had begun praying in Earnest now their antenna twitching in perfect synchronization but here's what I find really interesting Maya continued warming to her subject despite all this sharks aren't even close to being the most dangerous predators

on Earth they're actually quite predictable once you understand their behavior that's why we can swim with them you keep saying that Texa managed to chime weekly but surely only specially trained individuals would attempt such a Maya pulled up images of tourist operations around the world nope anyone can do it you just need a basic safety briefing and some common sense look here's a popular spot in Australia where you can dive with great whites and here's one in South Africa where they practically guarantee shark sightings guarantee sightings blorp had begun to evaporate slightly from stress oh

yeah sometimes the tour operators even use special Chum mixtures to attract them closer to the boats you know for better photos the collective gasp of horror was so strong it set off the lecture Hall's atmospheric pressure alarm you deliberately attract them Professor zook's voice was barely a whisper sure how else would you get good footage for Shark Week Maya pulled up some clips from recent documentaries see here's a researcher touching a great white's nose to demonstrate tonic immobility and here's someone free diving with a tiger shark to study Its Behavior oh and this is my

favorite it's a sanctuary where people can Wade In The Water with nurse sharks kids love it the medical drones were now working over time a student after students succumb to species specific versions of fainting even Professor Zak o had gone an interesting Shade of Pale lavender but brix's his voice was shaking so hard their crystal structure was creating a light show how can your species be so so brave Maya suggested innocently insane the entire conscious portion of the class shouted in unison Maya just smiled would it help if I told you that sharks aren't even

in the top 10 most dangerous animals on Earth the sound of KS of fainting again echoed through the lecture hall like Windchimes in a hurricane after a brief recess to allow the medical drones to distribute calming supplements to the class Professor zigul had managed to convince most students to return to their seats though Maya noticed that everyone had somehow migrated to the back rows leaving her alone at the front with her holographic presentation now Maya said her voice taking on a more serious tone I should probably tell you about one of the most famous shark

incidents in human history it might help you understand why we respect these creatures but don't necessarily fear them there's a difference squeaked one of the man students still clutching their comfort blanket oh yes Maya nodded let me tell you about the Us Indianapolis the Hologram shifted to show an old Earth military vessel in 1945 this ship was torpedoed in the Pacific Ocean around 900 Sailors went into the water and yes there a shark even Professor zix's tentacles had gone still all five eyes fixed on M for 4 days these Sailors floated an open ocean in

what became one of the worst shark incidents in recorded history the Sharks were mostly oceanic white tips drawn to the disturbance in the water Maya's voice was solemn now of the 900 Sailors who went into the water only 36 survive the class was dead silent even the atmospheric processor seemed to have quieted however Maya continued and this is the important part most of those deaths weren't from shark attacks the majority of sailors died from exposure dehydration and drowning the Sharks were opportunistic not malicious that's supposed to be comforting TX aay chimed quietly their crystal structure

still slightly dim from their earlier fainting spell actually yes Maya nodded because it taught us something important about sharks they're not mindless killing machines they're Predators doing what predators do once we understood that we could learn to coexist with them she clicked to the next slide showing a massive prehistoric jaw now if you want to talk about Mindless killing machines let me tell you about megaladon the shark that actually went extinct because it was too good at killing things who had just managed to regain their proper gelatinous form began to lose cohesion again megalodons were

basically great white skin scaled up to the size of a small spacecraft Maya explained enthusiastically their teeth were the size of human hands and they hunted whales not modern whales ancient whales that were themselves apex predators we found fossil whal skeletons with Megalodon teeth marks in them and these existed on your world Professor zic asked faintly while your species was oh no Maya laughed they went extinct long before humans came along but you know what's really interesting some of our ancestors might have seen the confused silence prompted her to continue see some scientists think megaladon

might have survived until about 3.6 million years ago by then some of our early hominid ancestors were already around imagine being an early human just figuring out how to use tools and seeing a shadow the size of a spacecraft pass under your fishing raft fishing Raft One of the gashes students managed to ask your ANC SS went out on the water knowing these things existed well yeah Maya Shrugged we had to eat besides going into the water was probably safer than staying on land back then you should hear about what we had to deal with

there no the entire class shouted in unison even Professor zil's tentacles made a cutting are you sure Maya grinned because I haven't even told you about the time humans almost hunted great whites to extinction because we thought they were too dangerous then realized we needed them and started protecting them instead you protected them T Rex's voice was barely a whisper deliberately of course they're essential to our ocean ecosystems we even have international laws protecting them now Some Humans dedicate their entire lives to shark blade dedication to preserving apex predators Professor zigo mused their tentacles slowly

un nodding perhaps we have underestimated your species complexity oh that's nothing my wave dismissively wait until you hear about the people who study active volcanoes or the ones who jump out of perfectly good spacecraft for fun or Professor txe interrupted desperately I believe it's time for our scheduled break indeed Professor zul agreed quickly their tentacles already Reaching For What looked suspiciously like alien anti-anxiety medication we'll resume in shall we say several hours perhaps after thorough meditation Maya watched with Amusement as her classmates practically fled the lecture hall only Professor Zig silk remained still staring at

the holographic megalon tooth student chin they said finally I believe I owe you an apology for my earlier dismissal of Earth's evolutionary challenges Maya smiled no apology needed Professor though if you're interested I could prepare a presentation about some of our land Predators for next week have you ever heard of something called a honey badger the sound of the professor's hastily retreating tentacles echoed through the empty lecture hall the next day Maya arrived at class to find the lecture hall had been completely rearranged all the seats had been pushed back and extra 3 m from

the presentation area and someone had installed what appeared to be emergency force field generators around each desk the praying mantis students had formed a prayer circle and were burning what smelled suspiciously like like anti Predator incense blorp had encased themselves in a protective transparent shell while turx A's crystal structure was vibrating at a frequency that supposedly helped with trauma recovery ah student chin Professor zil greeted her all five eyes blinking nervously we were just discussing yesterday's Illuminating presentation several students have submitted formal requests to transfer to the theoretical Zen no biology program where they won't

have to deal with Act ual creatures Maya tried not to laugh as she took her seat which she noticed was now the only one in the front row that seems a bit extreme I mean sharks are fascinating but they're really not the scariest things on earth a collective whimper echoed through the classroom not the scariest zzz's environmental suit fogged up with anxiety what could possibly be more terrifying than an apex predator that can detect a single drop of blood in millions of liters of water Maya grinned well since you asked she pulled out her data

pad would you like to hear about the Inland typon it's a snake that can kill 100 people with a single bite or maybe the box jellyfish which has 24 eyes and tentacles loaded with millions of microscopic harpoons filled with neurotoxin the medical drones began preemptively hovering near the more sensitive students or we could talk about the saltwater crocodile which has the strongest bite force of any living animal and actively hunts humans for food oh or there's the Brazilian wandering spider which is not only deadly venomous but also gives human males extremely painful 4-Hour student Chen

Professor zek's tentacles had tied themselves into what looked like an advanced macra project perhaps we should focus on less lethal aspects of Earth's biodiversity but that's what I'm trying to explain Maya said earnestly Earth isn't special because it has dangerous creatures every world does Earth is special because of how we've learned to understand and coexist with them the class fell silent even the Mantis students prayer circle pausing mid chant think about it Maya continued humans don't have natural weapons or defenses we can't regrow limbs like sharks regrow teeth we can't sense electricity or smell a

drop of blood from a kilometer away we don't have venom or claws or protective shells that how TX is's Chimes were barely audible how did you survive Maya's smile turned surprisingly gentle we learned we studied we understood every predator on Earth taught us something sharks taught us to respect the ocean's power but also its beauty snakes taught us about medicine some of our best painkillers come from Venom research even the deadliest creatures helped us become who we are Professor zix's tentacles slowly began to unot a fascinating perspective you're suggesting that Earth's hostile environment fostered not

just physical adaptation but intellectual Evolution exactly Maya beamed we didn't become space fairing because we were the strongest or fastest or had the best natural weapons we did it because we had to understand everything around us to survive and once you understand something you no longer fear it as much blorp finished softly their protective shell beginning to dissolve well that and we figured figured out how to make really big explosions Maya added cheerfully but that's a presentation for another day the sound of Trix of fainting again was almost drowned out by Professor zix's hastily shouted

class dismissed as her classmates fled the lecture hall for the third time in two days Maya caught sight of something interesting on one of the Mantis students data pads they had drawn a new picture of a shark but this time instead of looking terrified the artist had added a small home note fascinating creatures from a safe distance progress Maya thought with a grin just wait until they hear about honey badgers