The Mickey

It's... MAGIC!!!

How do you know that the black gloop is bacteria or conventional DNA based? Could be nano-machines, could have protective coating, could be anything. And alcohol comes in many forms with different efficencies as a disinfectant. Not sure i'd want nurses using bubbly (15% by vol?) to disinfect stuff, think i'd prefer them to use high % propanol

I drink alcohol all the time and have yet to die... and I have been referred to as a bacteria by many a woman...

How old are you if I may ask? lol.

Old enough to own a few companies. Regardless killed or not, Alcohol would effect any organism.

I am just old enough to reach the keyboard... and use my paws to move the mouse ... why?

It was just a thought. I know it is Alien dna and so on, but Alcohol has proven to kill or alter most living things it encounters on a cellular level so it is fair that it could have killed or altered it.

true, but in prometheus it seems that all of the alien life is NEARLY indestructible. when they cut off the head of the serpent it grows back instantly. when shaw uses the medipod to neutralize the alien that she gave birth to it appears to work for the moment, but really doesnt work, and when they shoot the engineer/space jocky with a gun he barely flinches. even the fifield mutatnt takes quite a severe beating with fire and gunshots and is still alive after being run over by the vehicle that looks extremely heavy before being burned and shot more and finally dying. this was something i really liked about the film. clearly they can be killed, but not easily. and that "black goo" totally retransforms dna in seconds or minutes. its some kind of very potent fluid. i feel that its quite plausible that it would be resistant to things we expect would normally kill it, just like all the other creatures in the film. and of course it is only a film anyway ;)

Garethvk: It would indeed. Unless it is alcohol tolerant. Either that or Lindelof's Wizard Magic. And I guess it's Magic.

The disinfectant in the med pod should have killed Shaw's C-section "Cuddles"- but it didn't. The engineer should have died while not wearing a helmet or mask as he went after Shaw after his ship crashed- but he didn't. The Engineers, their black goo and the trilobite must be made of some pretty un-earthly stuff. Or, Molecules that aren't alive therefore don't die. It is unknown (scientifically) if a virus is alive, but they do expire when left in an inhospitable environment- HIV in a few minutes, and Hepatitis in a few weeks. The Black Goo was "in storage" for 2,000 years and did SOMETHING to anything alive that was exposed to it... Alcohol destroys cell membranes, but you cannot prevent food poisoning by soaking spoiled potato salad in booze. "Big things have small beginnings ". Maybe David had figured out somehow that a very small amount of this stuff would survive in a glass of booze- and still have very potent results. I'll go with the theory that the Black Goo isn't alive (organic?)- but instead some sort of hard chemical that alcohol hasn't any effect on. Like a carcinogen. But then, alcoholism increases the likelihood of a smoker getting any number of cancer types.. (read that somewhere)

@Garethvk, the only reason I asked was fear as I am still drinking like a fish at 50 and am in the shape of my life, apparently...but maybe that's just a false sense of security.

and @aircraftfixer, I respectfully and strongly disagree about the Engineer dying, they all Clearly have figured out how to completely manipulate their physical breathing environment as demonstrated in that film...No Issue what so ever for me there. & I presume it will be directly addressed on the DVD Menu with an detailed explanation and the made up scientific explanation they stuffed away for just this purpose. Whatever the reason is, after what we saw I feel it can very very easily be explained away.

@spartacus- Alright. I forgot that a while ago "Hadley's Hope" (wonder what happened to him?) debated that point with me quite vigorously. And I acknowledged then, that there are others that share his opinion. Ref, "No Helmet". Now that I remember, I will state again what I replied to him with back then- in the same context as this post- instead replacing: "The engineer should have died while not wearing a helmet or mask as he went after Shaw after his ship crashed- but he didn't."- with... Shaw should have died when the engineer opened the lifeboat door (exposing her to the atmosphere that was clearly stated to be lethal in two minutes) to attack her- But she didn't. It no longer addresses the remarkable constitution of the Engineers, their Black Goo or Cuddles, but it also cannot be very easily explained away. In fact, it cannot be explained away any easier than alcohol not killing/altering organic substances- if that was what the Black Goo was.

In checking up on him, I find that Hadley's Hope was banned from this forum- for some reason not explained to him when he asked why...

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all very interesting all the same you guys, good stuff.

@aurorian- Yeah, I observe that there are a great many details that aren't explained. I also admit that this is just a film, and so observe that it is only so. As I've stated in my profile, I have grief with things in any film that are not addressed during the story. If it isn't shown or presented in the story, it isn't part of the story. This forum has the attention of much better people than I. I am unable to get around concepts not seen in this film, such as slave engineers, or biological weapons etc... I would rather discuss concrete issues arising from this film. Alcohol not destroying the action of the Black Goo is kinda low on my lengthy list of "negative observations". This, in lieu of calling anything "without continuity" or "plot holes". The extent of Shaw's reaction to the goo Holloway was exposed to, and passed on to her was limited to her becoming impregnated- IMHO. Also, I Aliens it was hinted that the xenomorphs didn't require oxygen, as the Queen was ejected into space and didn't explode or anything. In the original, the alien was outside of the escape pod after Ripley blew it out the door- and remained attached by the cable launcher stuck in that door. The vacuum didn't seem to bother it any more than the spear in its gut. It just scurried into one of the engines. I enjoyed the film, but won't view it more than the once that I did- at the cinema anyway.

Well, this thread allows me to bring up an image from the film that I've not yet seen discussed on the board. When the sacrificial Engineer begins to collapse/disintegrate we see a swarm of black particles emerge from his body and rush upward in a spiral formation, a shape that foreshadows the scenes of the Engineer's DNA strands disintegrating underwater. What interests me about that "black swarm" is (a) that the particles do not seem to dissipate/disperse in the same manner that one would assume they would via the updraft from the waterfall and (b) the swarm's visual resonance with the B.G. that is "sweating" from the ampules and the particles contained in both the "green slime" and the glass vials. In regards to the latter think about what we see when Ridley's does a close up of the drop of B.G. that David puts on his finger. Who knows what any of this means but it does make me think that the B.G. and it's compoents are something "smarter" and/or more complex than a "simple" mutagen. For me, when viewing the images that I've written about above It's hard to not think about nano tech and flying drones.

... I have stated this before and will be summarily shot at dawn again for saying this... please take this fictional piece of entertainment with a grain of salt and realize, the writers and director were going not for scientific reality but storytelling devices and plot development... please set aside the emotional component and understand it is just a story....

Actually I learn through the reading of Scientic posts.. I didn't see this movie for Educational purposes....but a few a free readings here,,well. makes me seem like I did learned something..from the movie afterall. Then.,,somehow while going about my business,,,one of the topics mentioned here,come into my life and I add to the conversation..

Alcohol is’nt half as effective as some might think when it comes to killing germs, etc. There is also the difference between disinfecting and sterilising. Hospitals and dental surgeries use autoclaving to sterilise, as it is far more effective than using alcohol. Whilst we’re on the subject of alcohol. Never underestimate the power of a good weapons grade curry. Guaranteed to ream the living cells out of most organisms, particularly those recipes handed down through the ages from uncle to goat.

Batchpool, I have had some weapons grade curry... I only serve it to my enemies and for a snack on late Friday nights to clear the pipes...

[u]patch[/u]: It's refreshing of you to be so reasonable and down to Earth in your perception of the fanbase's more fanatical responses to the film. Good on ya, mate. I myself am a fan of a good Thai green curry. Spicy!

@synthetic_69 thanks, I was wondering if anyone would comment on that statement... The Thai Green Curry sounds like it would send Godzilla straight to the bathroom.... over and over again... Weapons Grade Curry... the other nuclear Deterrent... LOL I love the sound of that...

Weapons Grade Curry + Alcohol = Friday Night!