08-31-2014, 10:34 AM | #101 |
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Warmer temperatures could mean similar richness of cultivation location for tropical species like the ever important cacao, cinnamon, and coffee.
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08-31-2014, 12:19 PM | #102 | |
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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08-31-2014, 12:20 PM | #103 |
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
But do they like the stats for Galadriel?
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08-31-2014, 02:50 PM | #104 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Venus was destroyed by a protoplanet only a half-billion years after the solar system really settled down. As a result, the inner system is choked in debris, and the earth (and the moon) are pelted with asteroids. The first thing you'll see upon visiting is a larger, visibly volcanically active moon. If you forgot your breathing gear, the second thing you'll see is spots before your eyes as the toxic atmosphere kicks in. The name of record is Luna-9, although the odd moon is only a consequence of this unique universe, rather than a major cause.
The current date is approximately 200 AD, but multicellular life hasn't evolved yet. Instead, Earth's thin atmosphere, shattered coastlines, and scattered tide pools are home to incredibly hardy single-celled organisms. The constant bombardment has slackened over the past hundred million years or so, and life on earth is undergoing a diversity explosion unlike that seen on practically any other timeline...albeit on an invisibly small scale. Biologists are ecstatic, because this is practically an alien ecosystem just about to evolve from earthlike beginnings; multicellular life is likely just around the corner! Others see a different treasure trove here: the varied domains of life on this earth are based on DNA and use the same chemical library, meaning they are potentially compatable sources for gene splicing... and the huge variety and harsh environment have developed hugely advanced chemical processes. There's a species of bacteria here that coats itself in silver nanoparticles, and a different one that metabolizes dissolved oceanic uranium and refines it into a polonium toxin; nobody knows how it withstands the radiation itself. A proto-sponge- one of the most complex multicellular colonies on the planet- is electrically conductive and generates electricity from sunlight (with efficiencies far above solar panels)... a large colony could output voltages on par with a lightning strike. It's deadly, looks like barren rock and storm-tossed ocean as far as the eye can see, and the red, baleful moon is somewhat unsettling... but it's also hugely exciting for anyone who's first thought, when one mentions the beauty of nature, involves a microscope. ---- Slowdown (Murray-2) I've mentioned this one elsewhere. It's a world where time is about 67 million times slower than real time. Inexplicably, it's "stuck" on March 12, 2009. Thursday. As you stay in this world, you gradually slow down to match the local time rate. It is a perfect prison; put someone in there, and they're not your problem (So long as you can keep them there for an hour). You can bring them back any time you want. It's very useful, in its own way. Naturally, there are one or two crazy biologists considering living there for a year to see what happens on Luna-9. ---- B'ak'tun A massive planetoid struck earth in 2012, obliterating them both. Current date is only a year or two behind Homeline. The debris cloud is still settling in; it may be millennia before anything changes. The only lingering remnants of life consist of what bacteria are clinging to the martian rovers. It appears that, since the planetoid was extremely cold and extremely fast, it went completely undetected. Besides as a marketing gimick for Homeline spaceflight agencies and the few lingering Mayan apologists, this reality also has a huge practical utility for spaceflight. Jumping to B'ak'tun is much cheaper than launching something to orbit, and there's no gravity well. Use cheap, efficient, deep-space propulsion, fly to where earth orbit would be, then jump back. Last edited by PTTG; 08-31-2014 at 03:07 PM. |
08-31-2014, 03:05 PM | #105 | |
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Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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08-31-2014, 03:09 PM | #106 | |
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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The point is, it's not safe to breath the air, but if properly contained, it's fairly easy to splice genes from these things into homeline industrial bacteria. |
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09-02-2014, 05:43 AM | #107 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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09-02-2014, 01:16 PM | #108 | |
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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Archea, archea everywhere. But good gravy, the completely rational need for extreme decontamination procedures without any involvement of alternate physics or biological laws.
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09-02-2014, 01:24 PM | #109 |
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Everyone wants alternates where dinosaurs still exist. I want the Cambrian and carboniferous weirdoes.
The 2 foot wingspan dragonfly relatives lived past the oxygen drop off so they could even survive in modern environments. Transport them to neighboring low tech worlds for fun and profit, and mad giggles. Imagine nature "history" documentaries that have no need for barely accurate CGI recreations. Protecting a film crew could make for a whole campaign let alone one off adventure. Animal smuggling gets much more entertaining too.
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09-02-2014, 03:07 PM | #110 |
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Location: West Virginia
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Especially with seving platter sized giant spiders that die without added oxygen in the atmosphere and then kill you with it.
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