The Biology of Dune | Speculative Biology

How do lifeforms like the Sandworms actually function? Discover the biology of 'Dune' on this expedition across planet Arrakis…
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Imagine a world composed solely of a single, endless desert. What extreme forms of life might we find here? Would this be a world of microscopic organisms… or of unfathomable giants? Arrakis, also called ‘Dune’ is the titular planet at the center of the world-famous science fiction book and recent film of the same name. And although the planet is a desert of intense heat and extreme scarcity, it is also abundant with unexpected life.

So, join me in this tour of the ecosystems of Arrakis, which will dive deep into the extended material from the books and other sources. We’ll uncover how such fantastical forms of life might function, and find biological analogues in the most unexpected places on our own planet.

So, let’s begin our expedition across Arrakis. And be sure to walk without rhythm…

0:00 Biology of Dune
0:58 Planet Arrakis
1:38 Muad’Dib Rodent
3:01 Other Species
3:39 Sandworm Biology
5:04 Sandworm Movement
5:58 Sandworm Vibration Sensing
7:23 Sandplankton Biology
8:35 The Spice
9:32 Outro

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[brandonkawski]

If I recall, during the shooting of the 2021 dune, they went as far as putting vibrating plates under the sands, so that the actors physically ran on this liquefied sand

[ProfLambeo_VT]

I think it's worth mentioning that the Sand Worms aren't even originally native to Arrakis; thousands of years ago, Arrakis had a LOT more water, but some idiot decided to introduce sand trout, which suck up all the water they can, since apparently water itself is toxic to the adult sand worm. That whole thing feels like a huge facepalm moment for all the people living there that need water a lot more than they do some magic drug secreted by a hyperterritorial sand monster.

[kelthufrekingzad]

Also worth noting is that the sandworms are piezoelectric autotrophs, they only really eat sand-plankton to get molecules, while most of their energy comes from rubbing against the sand or their 'inner fire'

[WolfSoulXIV]

Comparing the vibration sensing of sandworms to that of spiders makes even more sense when you consider that some species of spider-hunting spiders will walk in very specific ways when on another spider's web to trick it into not noticing it.

[igothesilversmith]

I always get excited when I see a new Curious Archive video. This happens so rarely nowadays. Love it <3

[itwdqkw]

Also usually sand particles are rigid, but when they are being blown into dunes for thousands of years they become smooth. That's why you can't use dune sand in construction. So I think having spherical particles of sand instead of their usual ridgid structure, then it would make it a lot easier for sandworms to move around.

[intensebreadexperience]

The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to experience

Amazing video!

[cesarvidelac]

I´m very glad you cover this topics! The movie and the book are too large and detailed, this is a good excercise. About sand fluidization... I'm chilean, we have wtnessed the greatest ever recorded earthquake, I've been through 3 of them, including the 6th greatest historical one in 2010, only opaqued by the Japan 2011 earthquake. Here in Chle, engineers call the sand phenomenon "liquefaction" and it can hapen without any gas or liquid, the sole energy of earthquake vibration can make sand and sandy terrains fluid enough to bhave like liquids. Unfortunately this happened to an specific set of buildings in the coast of my country were liquefaction was very pronounced and caused the complete tilting of ths buildings. When you see the movie, the vibration is very clear, speculating I would say that the worm intentionally cause vibration, maybe this is why they feel atracted to them, it's a form of intraspecific competition against other worms. Great video as always, thanks for sharing!!

[PaleoAnalysis]

I would love to start getting into speculative biology and cryptozoology as well. You and EDGE have such fantastic content!

[a.k.pedroza]

Worth mention Frank Herbert was an echologist before he wrote Dune and he spent almost two years planning all the ecosystem on Arrakis

[caroline]

Sand Plankton: “Who are you?!”

Sand Worm: “I am your father.”

Sand Plankton: “NOOO!”

[gamerhats]

One of my most favorite concepts is the surface being inhospitable to most life, but deep beneath it there is a complete living ecosystem with many types of life thriving in an almost fantasy-like place.

[simethigsomethingidfk]

I still find it really silly that these giant worms with literally zero threats to their life and no interest in hunting, are extremely territorial to stuff. Its like blue whales attacking oil rigs. They have nothing to gain by attacking stuff on the surface and all it does is possibly hurt them... I guess the worms accidentally ramming mining stations every now and then isn't quite as interesting for the plot.

[jg]

Apart from scale, the worms from tremors are very similar to sand worms. They move through sand like liquid, they can sense vibrations from under the earth, and they eat people.

[isaacmccarty]

Dune!!!! I am so happy to see this episode!!!!

[alexv]

I've always wondered why the Harkonnens didn't kill all the sandworms for interfering with their spice mining operations. Colonisers tend to be very good and killing off wildlife that gets in the way, and why the Harkonnens didn't drop bombs down the worms' necks whenever they came to eat the spice mining rigs (or why the mining machines didn't have flight capacity built into them) is a bit of mystery. The only reason I can think of is that they already tried that a long time ago and realised that killing worms made the spice go away and they've been keeping that a secret so they can use the worms as an excuse to keep prices high

[The_Third_Bomb]

1: How do sandworms reproduce?

2: How do sandworms deal with the tonnes of sand that would fall into their mouths every time they eat something on the surface?

[anon]

The African clawed frog also cannibalizes its tadpoles, which are filter-feeding algivores.

[cxbaob]

5:15 Fluidization also occurs during earthquakes, due to vibration

[coinwater]

Narrator: "Frogs"
Video: *shows a toad*

I'm nit picking of course. Love this video, very well put together!