- #1
newjerseyrunner
- 1,533
- 637
I have two separate inquiries that may seem unrelated at first, but aren't. Firstly, I'd like to propose a thought experiment. Say someone studying Venus suddenly discovered incontrovertible proof of a biosphere on the surface, and a vibrant one at that. Eventually, Venus will disappear in the sun's glare but when it emerges a short time later, there is a obvious technological settlement on it. Several months later, the settlement has grown to about 60% of the planet's surface. Several months later, we see evidence of artificial satellite's in orbit, and we start detecting radio signals. A month later, we see the unmistakable signature of nuclear explosions on the surface. A week after that, radar detects a rocket leaving Venus orbit on a free trajectory towards Earth. What'd the reaction from the public, scientific community, and defense systems? I'd imagine once word got out that something that sprung up from nowhere was headed here, everyone would go completely nuts, but in what way? What'd be the response to the realization that their tech would eclipse ours in a matter of months, or that the explosions we saw showed them to already to have nuclear military tech?Secondly, what are any potential advantages or disadvantages of having a glacial metabolism for a sentient being? My story is from the point of view of some sort of scientist of alien species. They are several centuries ahead of us technologically, but their tech is obviously designed around their glacial-speed minds. They've encountered a variety of alien creatures, all like them, and assumed until recently that the habitable zone of a given star is based on where NITROGEN is liquid, as that's their main solvent in all their biology. Their planet is near where Neptune would be in our system. This extreme low energy environment is why biological processes happen in super slow motion (or from their perspective, ours work at super-speed.). They never considered planets covered in molten ice to be habitable, until they detected our radio signals and now they see us developing thousands of times faster than them.
The obvious disadvantage that I come up with is that evolution must happen in slow motion as well, so their planet must be ancient, but I can hand wave it that silicone based life using nitrogen as a solvent is less stable so it mutates and evolves faster. It also wouldn't be able to complete for the greater galaxy against water based life. They move and think so slowly, we'd likely not even realize they were sentient. Imagine a sentient sponge-like creature that took five minutes to say "Hi" and could walk a millimeter in minute, but was smart enough to (given enough time) display all the eloquence of Shakespeare and the scientific genius of Newton.
A huge advantage is that local spacetravel becomes way easier. A 100 year journey to a species like that, would be like just a long military deployment for us. Its energy demands for life support are also greatly reduced. The time delay for communication between planets, even light hours apart, would seem like little more than minor lag. Would the perceived rapid day/night cycle throw things off do you think? Obviously, I can slow down the planet to the rotation of Venus or something, but those kinds of planets are very rare.
Thoughts?
The obvious disadvantage that I come up with is that evolution must happen in slow motion as well, so their planet must be ancient, but I can hand wave it that silicone based life using nitrogen as a solvent is less stable so it mutates and evolves faster. It also wouldn't be able to complete for the greater galaxy against water based life. They move and think so slowly, we'd likely not even realize they were sentient. Imagine a sentient sponge-like creature that took five minutes to say "Hi" and could walk a millimeter in minute, but was smart enough to (given enough time) display all the eloquence of Shakespeare and the scientific genius of Newton.
A huge advantage is that local spacetravel becomes way easier. A 100 year journey to a species like that, would be like just a long military deployment for us. Its energy demands for life support are also greatly reduced. The time delay for communication between planets, even light hours apart, would seem like little more than minor lag. Would the perceived rapid day/night cycle throw things off do you think? Obviously, I can slow down the planet to the rotation of Venus or something, but those kinds of planets are very rare.
Thoughts?
Last edited by a moderator: