Posts tagged biology
This question asks about traditional artificial wombs viability (Is an artificial womb feasible?). I was wondering if we could take an alternative route by using a biological womb instead. Is it ...
I was thinking of a set of life forms that originates from neutron superfluid inside a neutron star. So these life forms are not made of atoms but are made entirely of neutrons. How might this li...
I've been working on this creature some more and have hit another snag. If my critters communicate through the use of pheromones and chemical trails, how do they communicate the message that it i...
What animals and in what conditions would evolve into something resembling a bearfolk like this one A ''bear'' humanoid of 600"“800 pounds standing in two legs, divided in many sub-species with ...
First question What event would cause hydrogen to slowly replace oxygen in the athmosphere? it can be something natural or artifial. it doesn't have to cause too much mass extinctions. Some sa...
Is it possible for nanobots to become so integrated with a creatures biology that they could be transferred via the creatures reproduction and passed on to future generations? 'Synthetic Biology' l...
Hunting is dangerous; even for the predator, hunting can result in death. There have been countless example where a predator was killed by what was supposed to be prey. Animals have evolved many wa...
How could an auditory organ perceive sound waves with a completely different anatomy from the vertebrate ear (e.g. canal, typanum, bones) at the same effectiveness?
There is a creature. Let's call it a Blop. Blops are fairly simple creatures: They consist of a tough, flexible outer skin and then an inner structure that is (essentially) organs and tentacles fl...
How would an organism evolve to ''see''or sense things with high precision way before light hits its eyes or sound reaches their ears, or at least giving the illusion of doing so?
Having read this excellent question and its answers, I've tried to come up with an evolutionary history for a sapient, avian race that populates part of a world I'm building. I'd like feedback as t...
Is it possible that a large, multicellular, naturally evolved organism with an advanced intellect on the order of a human's could have evolved to pass on its knowledge and memories in a fashion tha...
And I'm not talking about insects. In what kind of environment could a large number of different species all develop six legs/limbs/appendages the same way most vertebrate species on Earth have fou...
Yes I'm talking about a living biological speaker. An organism that can produce any physically possible sound at any frequency, at any speed and any intensity. How would this biological speaker...
What modifications would be needed for a mammal, bird or reptile to work with electricity? For work I mean mostly think and move, for example it would need to eat in order to repair it's body, gro...
Some months ago I made this thing, it doesn't have a name.So let's just call it Jonathan like my brother. Basically a lizard in erect posture with the head of a mammal, two ''tentacle'' antennas i...
Within software environments there is a variety of malware such as viruses, trojans, bots and so forth. This malware is created by human programmers to accomplish specific purposes (e.g. steal pers...
In an old story of mine, there happened to be a species of humanoid who could produce a variety of mutants and hybrids from stolen and harvested DNA, sperm, and biological tissues. They would produ...
For my story I am working on, a peaceful alien race that is studying Earth wants to terraform the Moon by building a giant sealed dome over its entire surface, then they will create forests, desert...
I know the idea seems a bit far fetched but it's something I believe is common is science fiction and fantasy stories. I remember the talking trees of Zelda: Ocarina of time and of course, Tolkien'...
The concept of "age" on Earth is based on the number of revolutions the planet has completed since one's birth. In a setting where interstellar colonies exists, of even in a setting where multiple ...
I'm making a species which has a gas-based circulatory system. How would one go about designing such a system, in which liquid blood is replaced by some kind of gas? What kind of blood vessels wou...
Note: This question assumes an earth-like biology. Could a microbe (probably virus) be created that transformed humans into plants? What I mean by this is that the microbe would take human cells, ...
I'm trying to work out some really basic biochemical details for cold-world aliens whose bodily fluids are based on liquid methane rather than water. I figure they have to be hydrogen breathers, be...
In Pokemon, each individual Pokemon "evolves" into a new stage of its evolution. A lot people claim that this can be explained using mere metamorphosis, but there are no mammals that go through suc...
In the case of a world-wide plague epidemic that'll trigger the near extinction of humanity, is it possible that a virus/disease has inconsistent symptoms so that people aren't aware that it's real...
In my fantasy setting, dreams are located in what could be called a parallel dimension - commonly known as "The Void". Some people are able to develop powers related to the Void through long traini...
Why aren't animals photosynthetic on earth? And what would make it plausible for them to evolve to be?
Small vs. Large! If you had nearly the same creature, and the only difference was size, what advantages and disadvantages would large size vs. small size have--beyond the usual--reaching leaves mor...
On Earth, life took on a quadruped body plan which has lead to many different sub body plans; 4 legged, 2 legs-2 wings, 2 legs-2 arms, etc. This has made me wonder what possible sub body plans can ...
There are various arguments on the web stating that the domestication of zebras is impossible, because zebras are bad tempered and skittish, and/or animals elsewhere are even-tempered and friendly....
Here's the set up: in my fantasy world, there is a species of tree similar to Banyan trees. There are several giant versions of these, and smaller ones are quite common. One of the biggest of the...
Let's say I have been chosen to evaluate whether or not alien worlds contain sapient life before we terraform them. Just assume that we learned to work together and live as a species in peace, trea...
Suppose such an organism had evolved from using sound like most life we know to use different intensities, wave lengths, and hues of light to communicate. This is assuming that these creatures are...
Suppose a species possessed different sets of DNA for different parts of its anatomy. I'm not suggesting one set for every function in the body; that would result in hundreds of thousands of unique...
I am making a world with a gigantic structure the surface size of a smaller continent. This structure is suspended about a hundred meters above ground, and before the construction the area below wa...
Say there is a humanoid creature. This humanoid creature is very tall, with elongated arms and legs. The creature has legs that end in, rather than feet, complete points (similar to a spike). Woul...
There's a species called Foos. Foos are fairly similar to humans. In a primitive society, in fact, they would appear identical to humans in actual physical appearance, mannerisms, and base behavior...
Birds, as we currently know them, build nests and lay eggs on the ground. People and things with sharp teeth live on the ground. There are also things with claws and beaks up in the air, but fewer....
Building on Josh King's answer to this question concerning the feasibility of a disease which dies with its host, can a disease be contagious by airborne means while not being contagious by fluid e...
How believable is a touch or fluid vectored bacteria which is so dependent on its host that the remains of a terminated victim become non-contageous within minutes of the host's death? I'm postula...
We all like hexapods, from the Centaur to the Griffin. A large problem with the realism of the hexapodal body plan is that there are not many reasons for a creature to have them and is still worth ...
Pando is a system of clones, each clone is connected and genetically identical to the others and they all share the same roots. Pando is the heaviest and oldest living organism, with a size of 4...
The basis of almost every food chain in existence relies on plants in one form or another, but let's the sun couldn't provide the earth with enough energy for plants to exist. What can possibly rep...
In my world, daytime lasts for 9 years. I am trying to make this as realistic as possible. How would life live on this planet? How would they sleep etc.? My own theories are that they would mig...
I'm playing with the idea of an alien race that uses ammonia, not water, as a solvent and breathes hydrogen. This is mainly because I want it to combust when exposed to our atmosphere. However, I w...
Assume that the atmospheric concentration is still the same 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen etc, except now just as dense as the Venusian atmosphere. Would humans be able to survive in this atmosphe...
This actually occurred in a dream last night, but I'm interested in what could come out of this. I'm not experienced with writing stories and have only read some Worldbuilding posts, so excuse me i...
Could life originate on planets outside the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ) where there is very little exposure to sun (like Uranus). If so what kind of energy source would they depend on. Coul...
I've got a humanoid race living in a extremely bright and hot desert. Would there be a plausible or realistic reason for them to develop without eyesight, due to the harsh rays of their sun? Or, in...
