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Old 03-16-2018, 01:39 PM   #31
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

Changing our vertebrate elastin for insect resilin would up elastic tissue's efficiency a bit but greatly improve its ability to resist snapping under tension.
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Old 03-27-2018, 11:59 PM   #32
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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But then 40k have never been high on practicality. At some point someone thought it would be cool if Space Marines could spit poison.

They also have a melanin mod to protect against radiation, but it's hard to think that matters much when you're already wearing power armour. On the other hand it give you an excuse to have it malfunction for a chapter to give them completely white skin (Raven Guard).
The melanin mod makes RL sense and IIRC lots of SM gear runs off reactors and radiothermal power sources, so there's probably an elevated background rad count even when the outfit is enjoying downtime or taking passage.

Ah, I see the "poison" thing is Betcher's Gland, which takes it up a level to cellulose-dissolving acid. This is actually worthwhile not just for logistical reasons but for defense against Tyranids, Kroots, and Chaos.
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Old 03-28-2018, 10:25 AM   #33
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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The melanin mod makes RL sense and IIRC lots of SM gear runs off reactors and radiothermal power sources, so there's probably an elevated background rad count even when the outfit is enjoying downtime or taking passage.
While I fully appreciate the folly of arguing science in W40K ( I had a character who actually survived 2 long campaigns of Dark Heresy) Melanin gives limited protection from UV but is of no use v. more energetic radiation.
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Old 03-28-2018, 03:33 PM   #34
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

Still, if poison spit is silly for space military, it is the kind of thing street thugs would go for. Street punks, with links to profitable illegal businesses, would probably go for several showy gimicks of limited use.
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Old 04-03-2018, 01:06 AM   #35
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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While I fully appreciate the folly of arguing science in W40K ( I had a character who actually survived 2 long campaigns of Dark Heresy) Melanin gives limited protection from UV but is of no use v. more energetic radiation.
If you have lots of pheomelanin for instance in all your tissues rather than just the topical layers, the rather large redundantly connected molecule can soak up some of the energy from general ionizing radiation instead of your ribosomes or chromosomes.
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Old 04-03-2018, 07:51 AM   #36
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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If you have lots of pheomelanin for instance in all your tissues rather than just the topical layers, the rather large redundantly connected molecule can soak up some of the energy from general ionizing radiation instead of your ribosomes or chromosomes.
That probably only increases your cross-section to incoming radiation. It doesn't reduce the cross-section of your important proteins.
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Old 04-03-2018, 02:47 PM   #37
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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If you have lots of pheomelanin for instance in all your tissues rather than just the topical layers, the rather large redundantly connected molecule can soak up some of the energy from general ionizing radiation instead of your ribosomes or chromosomes.
That doesn't terribly matter unless you have so much of it that it functions like radiation shielding. The usual way of adding resistance to penetrating radiation is massive redundancy.
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