In the Original Series of Star Trek there is an episode called “The Devil in the Dark”. The Enterprise is called to help with a problem on a mining planet. For some time there have been mysterious deaths and damages to the mining equipment. The crew arrives to find a creature lurking around in the caves (spitting extraordinarily corrosive acid to make new caves really fast) and killing the mining personnel. First they realize that this creature is actually a life form very different from their own – life based on silicon. Second, they manage to communicate with the creature by using Vulcan mind meld and then learn that the creature is the only living representative of this highly intelligent race and the reason why she killed was to protect the eggs of the next generation of their race (that the miners were breaking). And then, they made a treaty with the creature – the creatures make the caves and the miners collect the minerals. Continue reading →