Questions tagged [biochemistry]
For questions regarding the chemistry of living organisms.
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What biomaterials with higher compressive strength than bone can I use to make big but proportionate humanoids?
One of the many problems with making really, really big creatures is that their bones are, eventually, incapable of supporting their own weight. Eventually, they get to be all leg and no body. This is ...
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Is bioluminescence metabolically expensive?
A small creature I have in mind is highly toxic and constantly glows as a distinctly visible warning to everything else at night. It would use other warning methods but they're not really visible in ...
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Is it possible to induce prions/protein-folding diseases via a magnetic field of sufficient strength?
This logbook entry from Destiny 2 states that
WARNING. Novel prion detected in body collagen. Hypothesis: Jovian
magnetosphere promotes highly abnormal protein folding. Prognosis:
massive sloughing/...
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2
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What are good structural and energy-storage molecules that don't release gas when synthesized?
Nicar is a carbon world (formed from a protoplanetary disk with more carbon than oxygen, so water is geologically unstable and the chemical environment is strongly reducing) with ammonia oceans and ...
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Aliens Using Both L and R-Amino Acids or Sugars - are they possible?
It's fairly common to see discussion of different chirality for amino acids and sugars whenever people ask for advice on plausible alien designs or biochemistry (e.g.: metabolizing left-handed sugars ...
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Could silicon-based lifeforms eat carbon-based food? [closed]
Say a group of silicon-based aliens arrive on earth, would their bodies be able to extract any nutrients from carbon-based food?
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Electromagnetic physiology [closed]
An electromagnetic ray fired from the my organism mouth, the EM Beam is incredibly deadly to those on the receiving end as the beam’s magnetism is up to 1 quadrillion gauss and strong enough to ...
2
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2
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Biochemistry of a sulfuric acid world?
Much like the Cannonball world with iron carbonyl seas, Stephen Gillett, in the book World-Building proposes a world with sulfuric acid seas and oxygen atmosphere, with life based on silicone (...
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Biochemistry of the Cannonball world
In his classic book World-Building, Stephen Gillett briefly describes a proposal for a "Cannonball" world, depleted in volatiles and with a large amount of surface iron, with life based on ...
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Molecular ecology for endogenous formamide formation?
Kind of a follow-up to this earlier question: How could formamide lakes form on an exoplanet?
Suppose the problem of how to get an initial quantity of formamide is solved, and microbial life has ...
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How can a vampire produce T cells at home?
Let's say that there's a vampire that consumes human blood for a regular re-infusion of T cells - both a convenient way to explain why they don't need massive amounts of it (you only need a few, and ...
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Are there any physical or biological principles that could be applied to electrically ground the human body?
Exactly what it says on the tin: are there any physical or biological principles that could be applied to electrically ground the human body?
This could take the form of genetic alteration, surgery, ...
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Is it possible for extraterrestrial plants to produce oxidants other than oxygen gas?
Oxygen is a byproduct of photosynthesis because photosynthetic organisms on Earth use water as the electron donor. However, the first photosynthetic organism emerged from ocean where chloride is also ...
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Are there any big showstoppers for this cold planet having a large ecosystem?
I have a question: what is the best way to get a outer habitable zone planet to have liquid water on its surface (and a complex biosphere) without having lethal amounts of CO2 or greenhouse gases in ...
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What material would my animal have to be reinforced in in order to fly at Mach 1? [closed]
My organism is a bird-like organism that lives on an earth-like world. My creatures speed clocked at mach 1. What material is my organism reinforced in in order to reach mach 1 just by flapping its ...
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Bio chemistry to create heavy rain [duplicate]
My creature creates heavy rain simply by coming into contact with Earth’s atmosphere, its body producing several chemical compounds to produce this effect.
What are plausible bio chemicals for my ...
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What are some biological electrical insulators that can be used as natural electricity-proof gloves?
I want to make a species that can grab and handle live electrical wires bare-handedly and be A-OK.
What are some natural biological electrical insulators that can
cover their hands thoroughly,
...
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3
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How can I use sensory details to convey to the reader that something is being digested in acid? [closed]
I have a scene where a slime monster engulfs a person and begins digesting them by secreting acid. This scene is being viewed from the perspective of another person standing some distance away. I ...
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Hyper dense muscles
My organism has hyperdense muscles. This allows their type to generate enormous aerial force, some even able to cut things with their wings or generate G-force winds. What materials is their wings ...
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What are the chemical characteristics of a chemical weapon that kills in the short term and melts biomatter into slurry in the long term?
This substance must:
be usable as a chemical weapon (i.e. deliverable via bombs, shells, mines, grenades, canisters, mortars, etc., and won't explode/denature/etc. when you synthesize it)
within ...
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Internal polar system of my creature
My fauna has a mysterious internal polar system, which enables him to create an aura of voluminous clouds of absolute zero temperatures and summon torrential ice blizzards. What material is my ...
2
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Science of my creature super power
Geo-Ionikinesis: my creature is capable of generating plasmoid flames from thin air, not requiring the consumption of oxygen or combustible objects to maintain the flames. He has been seen being able ...
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1
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Tough creature abilities skin
My creature has the natural ability to cause thunderstorms and heavy rain simply by coming into contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, its body producing several chemical compounds and unstable ...
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2
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Foamy scar formation
Imagine a world, a world several hundreds of light-years away which humans have promptly colonised. These interstellar pioneers land on the mysterious planet which they call home, only for them to see ...
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Extremely powerful jaws
How my alien creature jaws crush toughest metal alloys in our world with ease ? what structure could it need to produce such bite? and what materials is it possible reinforced that allows it to bite ...
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Biological furnace
My organism evolved to burn anything .But it is basically a biological furnace .IT works by incinerating anymatter within it .It could vent emit smoke from its vents like openings .But what could ...
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Attack mechanism [closed]
My creature attack was basically generated by releasing a stream of super-cooled and super-heated air at the same time which, when they interact with the addition of a strong gust of wind, generates a ...
2
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2
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Infrared photosynthesis - how make it to work biologically and chemistry and composition of the process?
My creature is capable of obtaining energy from infrared radiation, especially the heat emitted directly by fire (essentially, the closest thing we have to a true "fire-eating" organism). ...
4
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How could my animal claws work realistically?
My animals can use its claws to crush hull of modern ships. It evolved on an earth like planet. It uses a chemosynthetic metabolism. My question is that what is the chemical composition of the claws ...
2
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1
answer
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Silicon carbide composite for bone [closed]
First things first, I came across this interesting article after which I stumbled upon this mysterious composite of an aluminium oxide and silicon carbide. Specifically stating this on wikipedia:
&...
2
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2
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What would the structure of a biological thermocouple be?
For reference: a thermocouple is a device that converts heat to electricity.
What would an organic, naturally-evolved one that's part of a biological organism look like in terms of structure?
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How would a natural biological battery work?
Exactly what it says on the tin: what would be the structure and function of a naturally-evolved battery - i.e. a biological structure capable of storing electrical charge and powering an electrical ...
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Designing the most plausible space "dwelling" planimals
I'm a scientist of a colonised alien world in the far far future, on a planet which plant-derived insects and meat trees are keystone species in their biospheres. Let's say, I wanted to genetically ...
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How can a symbiotic bacteria affect psychology?
Let's say that I have a vampire.
This vampire is engaged in a symbiosis with some kind of bacteria; this bacteria grants it increased blood oxidization, cancer-fighting abilities, improved neural ...
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Analog to water in rain
While on earth it usually rains water, it usually isn't a sight to behold. To spice things up, I would like the rain to truly remind its colonists that they're on an alien world. However, this ...
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What would the side effects of being a shapeshifter be? [closed]
In this historical-fantasy scenario, a major protagonist has been given the ability to transform into every animal species that Earth has and had offered, alive and extinct. (Which means if he wants ...
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How a living prosthetic would work?
This is a little bit hard to explain concept, practically some like a kind of symbiosis in which two organisms evolve together one get transport, almost free nutrients and relative security and the ...
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How would a creature with "bio-radiocomunication" work?
Animals exist that use bioelectrogenesis allowing for electrolocation. Is this so different from "bio-radiocomunication" that it would disallow animals to develop this ability?
An animal ...
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How would a "Tesla tree" work?
At some point I heard about the concept of a "Tesla tree" - a tree or plant-like thing which is able to produce tension arcs strong enough to generate and hit nearby objects with artificail ...
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Why would an everything-eating fungus be unable to spread outside of Australia?
Let's say that Australia has been taken over by a hyper-aggressive fungus that grows on any biological life form larger than an ant. The stuff covers the entire continent, has subsumed every form of ...
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Biosolvents for Life
What biosolvents could, in theory, permit the emergence of life on other worlds? I have been recently looking through possible biosolvents and I have found a good number, but I am specifically looking ...
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Could a chemical be used to carry oxygen in blood that would also turn acidic when in contact with iron?
So, the general idea is this:
A humanoid species' blood uses a chemical to carry oxygen throughout their system. When iron is introduced into their bloodstream by say, stabbing them, it results in the ...
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How would a humanoid entity with bones made of both bone and nacre differ from more conventional life?
Background: nacre/mother-of-pearl is a strong composite material produced by mollusks, with a greater compressive strength then human bone but a weaker shear strength.
If an entity were to have bones ...
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Theobromine poisoning in an animal hunting a character
Background: theobromine is an alkaloid of the cocoa plant, and is the substance that makes chocolate and chocolate products poisonous to pet cats and dogs.
I'm writing a story in which a character is ...
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How would an amorphous, chewing gum-like retainer work?
In my setting, a cheap and effective (since it doesn't have to be custom-fit to a person's teeth), albeit rather unpalatable dental health solution is the amorphous retainer: a blob of non-toxic putty ...
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Insectoid creature that changes from solid to liquid and vice versa, how would this be possible?
I was thinking about the concept of a little relatively simple creature with a maximum size of a few centimeters such as some beetles but with an "intelligence" similar to ants, with the ...
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What are some biological non-Newtonian fluids that can be used as shock absorbers?
A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that does not follow Newton's law of viscosity, i.e., constant viscosity independent of stress. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity can change when under force to ...
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A reality check on blood viscosity decreasing under high temperature
Is blood that decreases in viscosity as it increases in temperature plausible? It's supposed to be a biomodification that decreases the amount of energy the heart needs to put in during strenuous ...
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Ammonia-based Nitrogenic Photosynthesis [duplicate]
How would photosynthesis work if it used ammonia as a solvent and was nitrogenic as opposed to water-based oxygenic photosynthesis? Ammonia is a basic solution so it might need some other kind of ...
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What are some substances that paralyze voluntary muscles in the human body but not involuntary ones, and do not cause any harmful side effects?
The title says it all. I'm not looking for things like curare, where it shuts down the lungs - I need something that basically turns people into ragdolls but otherwise leaves them unharmed.
If such a ...