What does the physiology and biochemistry of a vacuum adapted post-human look like? Part 5: Senses

I am a post-human adapted for permanent life in vacuum and micro-gravity. How might my physiology and biochemistry overcome the following challenges?

Please note I have a strong cultural aversion to augmenting my body in order to help me survive: i.e. enclosing myself in artificially-constructed protective shells, etc.

Current status

See Part 1 on radiation resistance

See Part 2 on temperature control

See Part 3 on metabolism

At this stage, I look similar to an enormous shining pangolin with interlocking plates of keratin-analogue that are alloyed with steel to protect against ionizing radiation. My radically engineered DNA and its unparalleled checksum and repair functions keep the doctor away. I can move these plates to help dissipate heat and - just like a Terran pangolin - curl up in a protective ball to shield my more sensitive parts. I have a reactive outercoating that allows me to alter my pigmentation (which I typically set to polished silver in order to minimise heat loss).

Space is a tough place to live and its very big, so you could say my metabolism has multiple redundancies. I can eat comets and asteroid material, using the spinneret on my tail to swaddle them in cocoons before supping on the extracted organics and minerals. I sift small concentrations of hydrogen from the interplanetary medium for use as a metabolic catalyst, and I'm a radiotroph, with the outer layer of my armoured plates coated in a melanin that helps me capture energetic rays to power my body. Stick me near a magnetic field and I'll even generate power like a dynamo.

I use my four long limbs and tail, five identical manipulators, and my silk spinnerets to move short to medium distances and interact with my environment. I'm still not sure how I move long, interplanetary, distances but I can do that as well. See part 4 on movement

Part 5: Senses

I have cat-like eyes, optical amplifiers to better perceive in very weak light. I can arrange sensory organs in my head, four limbs and tail to provide a rough 360 degree scan across the electromagnetic spectrum. My brain can intercept and interpret radio communications, etc.

I have two problems.

a. Laser communication I can emit coherent lasers through an adaptation incorporating fluorescent protein from a jellyfish. I use these to communicate with my peers, but I don't know what the sensory receiver looks like. I'm guessing it is a specific point(s) on my body, but what might it be biologically composed of?

b. Celestial mechanics In order to navigate the Titan-Mercury transit properly, I need to be able to sense mass, motions of celestial objects, etc. What kind of biological mechanisms could support such a sensory apparatus?

posted about 6 years ago

Chairman Yang‭

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