Doctor Whohas featured hostile aliens using advancedtechnologyto assault Earth ever since the iconic BBC series premiere back in 1963 . Today , we are close-fitting than ever to emulate some of this sci - fi technology , although none of it is being used to appropriate the world just yet . In laurels ofDoctor Who ’s 60th anniversary in 2023 , here are some of the most memorable baddies and their amazingly naturalistic skill .
1. The Zygons
Zygons first appeared inDoctor Whoin 1975 in a space vehicle under Loch Ness . The craft , which had crashed many years earlier , was part mechanical and part constitutive . So were the technologies inside — include a creepy soundbox pressman that enabled the Zygons to take human form and a huge underwater cyborg monster . This long - necked puppet look like a dinosaur , but unlike theLoch Ness monsterof legend , it could take the air on farming and was inviolable enough to destroy oil tackle .
We have n’t started growing our vehicles yet , although prototype bio - gondola do exist , with parts made of cellulose ( an organic chemical compound found in plant jail cell walls ) . So far , engineers have creatednanocellulosebioplastics fromwood . They ’re unattackable and lighter than crude - ground plastic , as well as renewable . Nanocellulose bioplastics can also be made using pineapple leaf and coconut shells . In 2022 , an Israeli inventorclaimedthat he could make an entire car out of cellulose material found in sewage .
2. The Cybermen
If the Cybermen get you , they ’ll replace your torso with mechanical constituent until you become as they are — a robotic golem destitute of human emotion . They call this an upgrade .
Cybermen have been a regular threat to the Doctor since the 1966 storey “ The Tenth Planet . ” As part of the cyber rebirth procedure , they like to get their victims ’ head hooked up to a mechanical interface . With this , Cyber Control can send info directly to the mind of the humans they are preparing for conversion .
We already have brain - implant technology , but it is used to meliorate spirit . Deep mental capacity stimulation(DBS ) is a treatment in which electrode are implant under the skin , near the collar osseous tissue . The electrode produce electrical impulses that touch on brain bodily function , electric cell , and chemical natural process within the brain , interrupt abnormal signaling . DBS is currently helping hoi polloi with epilepsy and Parkinson ’s disease , and researchers are take care into the potential use of this engineering to treat corrode disorder , substance misuse , anxiety , schizophrenia , dementedness , and other term .
3. The Axos
This small ballistic capsule , which turns out to be a living organism , clang lands on Earth in 1971 . Humanoid creatures come forth with a pellucid substance , axonite , which they claim will solve Earth ’s food problem by defecate crops and livestock maturate to enormous sizes , among other thing .
We have n’t depart breeding ginormous cows , but researchers are using the gene - editing shaft CRISPR - Cas9 to grow crop with climate - tolerant traits , which may also result in higher yield . Think drought - tolerant rice that require 40 per centum less water to grow ; worm - resistant cotton , and disease - resistant banana . Researchers are also using CRISPR to enable cows totolerate hot weatherand to give food animals like sheep , pigs , caprine animal , and fishmore muscleand therefore more meat .
Axos turns out to be a parasitic entity using axonite to attain its material end : run out Earth of its energy . In real life , recentresearchon zebrafish ( a common stand - in for humankind in scientific studies ) has suggested that CRISPR can result in unplanned mutations and undesirable side effects in the modified organisms that can be passed on to the next generations .
4. The Sontarans
Sontarans have been a regular opposite for the Doctor since Third Doctor Jon Pertwee ’s incarnation discovered a peculiarly foul one called Linx in medieval Britain in the 1974 story “ The Time Warrior . ” Sontarans are a raceway of clon genetically engineer with warlike characteristics . They be for the specific purpose of winning their perpetual war with the Rutans ( blob - similar energy creatures feature in theDoctor Whostory “ Horror of Fang Rock ” in 1976 ) .
Human cloning isbannedin many land , and no military officials are concerned about the prospect of facing an US Army ofDolly the Sheepclones . But researchers in Japan have found that genetically orchestrate human cells withtardigrade DNAdoes have its benefit .
Tardigradesare the world’smost resilientcreatures , able-bodied to live boiling water , freezing temperatures , gamy imperativeness , and eventrips to the synodic month . The microscopical animals do this by entering a state calledcryptobiosis , in which they expel almost every drop of wet from their bodies . The tardigrade bring about peculiar protein that protect its desiccation - sensitive parts from entire radioactive decay — like an insect encased in amber , but still alive , as it waits for the harsh conditions to pass .
Researchers regain that tardigrade DNA contains Dsup , a protective protein that helps keep the animate being alive despite uttermost dehydration . When the DNA contain Dsup was sneak in into human cells in a testing ground experiment , the cells were able toresist damagefrom X - ray , suppress it by about 40 percent . In the future , this find may help cancer patients contend with the side effects of radiation therapies or protect workers from atomic radiation sickness injuries .
5. The Ood
This telepathic alien race first appeared in the 2006Doctor Whostory “ The Impossible Planet . ” They practice rendering spheres to captivate and commune their thoughts into the minds of others , in the language of the soul , alien , or tool that the Ood is examine to commune with .
A new AI product from Meta may be coming tight to this variety of engineering . In August 2023 , Metareleaseda multilingual speech translator , SeamlessM4 T , that uses a individual algorithmic program to instantlytranslatealmost 100 languages from speech to text and textbook to text . It can also interpret 35 oral communication speech - to - voice communication .
The company hopes to habituate it to identify toxic and sensitive words when moderating Facebook and Instagram place in unlike terminology and key gender bias in translations .
6. The Nanogenes
In the 2005 stories “ The Empty Child ” and “ The Doctor Dances , ” an alien infirmary starship clangor - lands in London during the Second World War and exit nanogenes : tiny automaton that can repair any lesion . alas , the first person the nanogenes find is wearing a gas mask , and because they are unfamiliar with the human form , the bots now deliberate a human brass a wound that needs healing . The robotic brute go to give everyone they bump a masquerade party - like facial makeover .
While this scenario vocalise terrifying , helpful medical nanorobots actually live . They ’re used toeliminatedecay - get bacterium among tooth during dental subroutine , treat disease bydelivering drugsto precise targets in the eubstance , and assist other non - invasive medical treatments . Scientists have also designedDNA - based nanocarriersthat may kill cancer by put in line - curdle drugs into parentage vessels around tumors , cutting off their blood supply .
In the hereafter , medical nanorobots could be used todeliver anti - capture drugsfor epilepsy or monitor our organic structure forbacterial infection .
7. The Silurians
These reptilian humanoids from Earth ’s prehistory hibernate underground for millions of days in cryogenic chambers , waiting for things to get red-hot enough for them to return to the surface . In the 1993Doctor WhonovelBlood Heat , they lose longanimity and use advanced technology to rapidly ignite Earth ’s air so they can emerge .
man have n’t had much bother warming our major planet , sadly , and currentgeoengineering researchis aimed at find ways to cool down it down .
A few of the direction scientist have suggest to combatclimate changeand prevent extremeweatherevents admit spraying seawater into clouds , whitening cloud or fritter away micrometer - sized particles into space to mull the sunshine , or slenderize cloud to allow more infrared rays to leave the Earth . Some investigator are concerned that these experimental advance could fetch about other problems : One idea involved shoot sulfur - based aerosols into the ambience , which a2008 studyinSciencefound would speed up ozone bed depletion in the Arctic and delay ozone recovery in Antarctica . Geoengineering could alsonegatively affectclimate formula , peradventure for centuries .
There ’s also a risk of a sudden , sharp return of world warming , should such experimentation begin and then be stopped , because greenhouse gases are not actually being removed from the atmospheric state by geoengineering technologies . Sounds complete for the Silurians . Not so swell for the substandard ape fauna , as they call mankind , who took over the Silurians ’ planet while the reptiles slept .
8. The Daleks
Finally , no list ofDoctor Whoaliens would be all over without the Daleks — destructive and mean little creatures who palpate so vulnerable that they enshroud inside almost impenetrable metallic element casings . They ’re protect from any of their victims fighting back .
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have make amaterialfour time strong and five times lighter than steel . With ego - assembling desoxyribonucleic acid , the researcher formed a lattice - comparable nanostructure and coated it with flawless glass particles only a few hundred atoms duncish . As long as the glass - alike material has no pass or feeble spots , a three-dimensional centimeter can hold 10 tons of press ( solid iron can withstand seven tons ) . The researchers paint a picture this lightweight , incredibly unattackable material could one day improve the performance of cars and airplane , body armor , and/or medical twist .
