Nuclear Powered Aliens

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Nothing material can survive the temperatures of a fusion reaction, at 100 million K in does not matter what the reactor is made of if the fusion plasma touches the reactor wall, that is why they use magnetic fields for containment. A genetically engineered creature like a bioroid could use symbiotic bacteria to grow the components of a fusion reactor within it, using a process similar to the development of bug gems.

So, what you're suggesting is that a human from a society that hasn't been able to make fusion into a reliable energy source would have the knowledge of how to build such and would also figure out how to make bacteria that would be able to build such a reactor inside of a living organism. Yeah, that's not happening in this setting.

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

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.

Plants rarely go above 2%, in spite of the roughly 10% maximum. I intended for them to incorporate some chlorophyll variants to make use of more of the electromagnetic spectrum to help them get to the roughly 10% value (which, to be fair, probably isn't quite the maximum for their photosynthesis compounds, but is about as high as I'm willing to go).

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

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

I intended to have their radiosynthesis be based on that of the Chernobyl mushrooms (as I like to think of them), but didn't find any good numbers with a brief search.

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

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...

Yeah, that's a lot of the idea.

Originally Posted by acrosome

They will need some sort of bulk matter input, unless they are highly closed systems recycling waste products. (Which I guess could be what you all are trying to say, but then it would make more sense to call it a closed life-support system.) Even plants here on Earth take matter in from the ground and even more so in the form of carbon dioxide to get the carbon to make sugars.

They are indeed highly closed systems, although there is some loss. While the larger bioships can't really function in atmosphere (at least, that's the current intent), they often get more matter from asteroids and similar.