Nuclear Powered Aliens

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'm considering having their photosynthesis have roughly 10% efficiency (a brief bit of research indicates this is somewhere near the theoretical maximum for biological photosynthesis - or at least photosynthesis based around chlorophyll),

If you gene-splice your ships to use bacteriochlorophyll in addition to chlorophyll, you'll get a significant boost to energy production from sunlight alone.

As for converting ionizing radiation into food, melanin-containing fungi are actually pretty good at that.

If you can genetically engineer most of the biological inefficiencies from natural evolution, you can probably have bio-ships powered mostly by photosynthesis and radiosynthesis, with the occasional infusion of what amounts to fertilizer. In fact, that can be a pretty good way to handle biological waste from the life forms on board...