Although not usually hostile, they have the ability to kill humanoids almost instantly by dehydrating every cell in their bodies. A species called Ankari has created technology that allows them to summon the lifeforms into our normal realm for a few seconds. They use this on spiritual practices as they regard the nuclegonic lifeforms as spirits of good fortune. The term "nucleogenic" strongly implies that the lifeforms run on a nuclear rather than chemical metabolism, and might explain why their bodies can generate so much power, enough to propel a starship more than 10,000 light years in less than two weeks.