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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
 Posted - 11/23/2008 : 10:51:19 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
Well, I suppose in theory you could have a single multi-cellular animal that covers an entire planet, like a uniform biofilm. In that sense, an organism's potential size is only limited by size of its environment. Or limitless, if like Star Trek amoeba that Chippewa referenced, its medium is space itself.
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Like in Solaris? |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2008 : 13:12:11 [Permalink]
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But that'd make the acquisition of nutrients tricky.
I guess it is conceivable on that aspect.
I am not sure how such an organism could work, it'd need to be close enough from a star to receive enough light and heat (biochemical reactions are essentially stopped when temperatures drop) yet be far enough that the solar wind to rip it apart and far enough that the 'hard radiations' don't break up the most complex molecules.
There is also the problem of atmospheric pressures. If you drop the pressure excerced on a liquid, it start losing its ability to contain gases, so either the organism membrane is strong enough to maintain a pressure within, or its metabolism is going to be weird with bubbles forming up in the middle of its cytoplasm...
And, of course, regardless of what the evolution did to this organism, the pre-biotic stages will not benefit of such evolutionary niceties. And these stages will require much stabler conditions.
So the organism will probably have to start under more earth like conditions and then progressively evolve to more spacey conditions...
I know it was a joke and not to take too seriously, but its nerdy fun to think along... |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2008 : 17:05:54 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Siberia
Originally posted by H. Humbert
Well, I suppose in theory you could have a single multi-cellular animal that covers an entire planet, like a uniform biofilm. In that sense, an organism's potential size is only limited by size of its environment. Or limitless, if like Star Trek amoeba that Chippewa referenced, its medium is space itself.
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Like in Solaris?
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Or Starship Trooper 3: Marauders, or Isaac Asimov's "Nemesis".
Fixed Siberia's URL:
Solaris
Edited to add:
Of cource, Solaris is the best novel of the alternatives above. Siberia has great taste. |
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| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 11/24/2008 08:07:49 |
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How cool is this?!
