Activity for rumguffâ€
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
The Alien perspective - generating alien POV characters via twists on human psychology TL;DR: suggest human traits of mind/society that one should (a) tweak (b) leave well alone, in order to generate an alien worldview that allows a novel length tale to be told purely from perspective of said aliens but at the same time permit human readers to identify with and care about the character... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Pharbohydrates vs Carbohydrates Question: Are there are any serious biological or evolutionary plausibility issues with separating the energy storage/production function from the production of structural/regulatory biomass? Background: In terrestrial life biomass is initially produced by plants which produce carbohydrates and rela... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
An equilibrium for competing sapient species What scientifically, socially and logically plausible mechanisms allow two (or more) sapient land-based species (either closely placed on the phylogenetic tree, such as Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis, or only distantly related) to develop and deploy tool-use on the same world in a similar evo... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Hydrogenenic Photosynthesis: Strategies for animals Hydrogenic photosynthesis reduces methane and water to build biomass ($\text{CH}2\text{O}$) and releases hydrogen: $$\text{CH}4 + \text{H}2\text{O} + \text{photons} \to \text{CH}2\text{O} + 2\text{H}2$$ For reference, oxygenic photosynthesis is: $$n \text{ CO}2 + n \text{ H}2\text{O} + \text{photo... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Mycolaria: How can radiotrophic fungi symbiotically assist an animal species to mitigate effects of solar radiation? Mycolaria is my working name for an alien planet featuring a much more visible role for fungi of all kinds, large and small. There are also animals and plants on this world. This is the second in a series of fungi-related worldbuilding questions. This particular mushroom related question is about ra... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Attributes of an alien world with a larger role for fungi I would like to explore how to design an alien planet featuring plants and animals but with a much more prominent ecological role for fungi. More fungi, larger fungi, more complex and beautiful fungi. Fungi are heterotrophs so they still need plant (and animal) matter to feed on. What type of wor... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Low bio-diversity, high oxygen : implications for development of tool-using life The trope here is a world with 3-4 X earth atmosphere with high oxygen content (30%). Nice things about this are it enables heavy beasts to fly, and the high pressure smoothes out the negative effects of long nights and inconsistent illumination. Downsides are low bio diversity since the atmosphere ... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Close the door on your way out - Life lit by a blue dwarf star I'm seeking a hard science setting for a piece of xenofiction with a decidedly non-sciencey feel. That said, there is no magic or magic technology. The idea is as follows: A red dwarf star has a rocky, icy planet well outside the habitable zone. After 6 trillion years the red dwarf begins a trans... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |