interesting alien biology
and how it influences behavior
author:
karen traviss
titles in series:
city of pearl
crossing the line
the world before
matriarch
ally
judge
link to first book
https://books.apple.com/us/book/city-of-pearl/id363689099
@millard_jmm I've always thought it'd be interesting to write about alien lifeforms on a cryogenic, high-pressure world, but with an interesting twist...
Nitrogen. They're nitrogen-based.
In other words their bodies are quite literally made of explosives; the main reason they don't explode is because their world's surface temperatures are extremely, extremely low (think -200C, perhaps even lower).
Even touching a human would cause them to explode catastrophically.
i would like to hear more
thoughts on body structure
and function
of what i assume is a
liquid nitrogen based
life form
and
how would we
interface with them
the temperature differential
alone precludes direct contact
being successful on both sides
@millard_jmm As for communicating with them... well, if they evolved to use ultra-low-frequency, low-energy radio waves to communicate with each other (using conductive natural "antennas" that grow throughout their bodies to pick up the signals?), then it'd be relatively easy.
Perhaps we'd build a station in orbit around their planet to communicate with them the same way they communicate with each other (which would be slow due to the low frequencies involved)?
over time there is
curiousity to evolve
so the lattice
can set microtubule
outside of the nitrogen sea
perhaps a crystalline shell
is extruded outside of the lattice
at certain points in time
creating a system of nested shells to accomodate growth
the shells allow storage
of nitrogen seawater
around the lattice
to carry a store of raw materials
now the lattice can breech
out of the sea
for periods of time
to experience out there
then splashes back down
into the sea to refuel
my imagination is taking
your words and seeing this
a complex lattice
of microtubules filled
with flowing liquid nitrogen
bathed in a liquid nitrogen sea
the shape of each lattice
is unique to the individual whim
lattice intakes nitrogen sea water
impurities are used to extrude
more crystalline microtubules
nitrogen added to the lattice
to maintain proper density
excess nitrogen sent thru
specialized comm microtubes
to create sound waves
or expelled to provide propulsion
@millard_jmm Due to the extremely low temperature environment, they probably couldn't be super motile - all their processes would likely have to proceed very slowly.
They'd probably get their energy from a temperature differential (eg: geothermal), but must be very careful+clever to avoid overheating/blowing themselves up.
That'd make their environment complex enough to select for high intelligence; perhaps something like an intelligent, motile but slow-moving crystalline plant-like organism.