Questions tagged [xenobiology]
This tag identifies questions related to creating an alien biology that may be close to or far removed from Earthly biology, but still reflect what science knows about biology. This tag implies the use of the Science-Fiction tag. Use the Science-Based or Hard-science tags to impose greater scientific restrictions (see warning in tag wiki). The goal of this tag is to answer the question using what science humanity knows.
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How to replace glucose with ethanol?
So, I'm designing a species of sapient extraterrestrials for a series of short stories, and I've gotten to the point of needing to find a significant biochemical difference between life on their world ...
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If a hawk-person teaches a peacock-person to fly, what kinds of maneuvers will the peacock-person be capable of?
Imagine two races, both of human-level intelligence:
Hawklings are raptor-like (as in falcons, hawks, eagles, etc) flying humanoids who have six limbs: legs, arms, and wings. They live on high cliffs ...
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How can these aliens evolve sapience without cooking?
So, I have a species of sapient aliens I'm designing, but I have one big problem: Cooking is widely (although not universally) considered to be a major factor in the evolution of sapience in humans, ...
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Are there any alternatives to oxygen for animal life?
Almost all animal life on Earth uses oxygen, due to its powerful ability to oxidize various compounds
While there are many bacteria which use a different electron acceptor, I can find no examples of ...
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Can reconnection of continents be sufficient reason for the evolution of sapience?
So, the process that began the evolution of sapience in humans was ultimately triggered by a changing climate forcing chimpanzees into a drastically new habitat; I am trying to write about a race of ...
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How to make an Old Solar System planet Venus scientifically possible?
The "Old Solar System" is our solar system as described in many space operas and planetary romances written before the space age.
https://www.solarsystemheritage.com/
In stories in the Old ...
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Minimum Group Size for Sterile Workers?
Essentially, I'm planning on designing a race of sapient aliens with a sterile worker caste, but I have one big problem:
On earth, sterile workers castes are only found in groups of thousands or ...
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Are my "ZW humans" plausible?
I'm worldbuilding a human inspired species where females are larger than males. According to the explanations I've read about why that would happen with birds of prey, dimorphism comes from:
Avoiding ...
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Can sharkmen perceive your emotions?
alledgedly sharks can feel a humans heartbeat from a mile away or something like that, and they can perceive electrical signals, makes you wonder how come then they are dumb enough to confuse surfing ...
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Life present on earth-like habitable exo-planet
Scientists are looking for an earth-like habitable exo planet. If an exo planet is earth-like (in terms of gravity, atmosphere, light, water etc.), then it must have gone through an evolution process (...
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Are there things that can make natural lifespan in other planets inherently longer?
How would things like gravity, air composition and density affect the lifespan of the biological protein based life that inhabits the planet, or would they have any significant effect at all?
Honestly ...
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Plausible matter cycle for rock-based life
Organic matter follows a cycle in which decomposers such as fungi and bacteria break down waste and corpses, and the byproducts of decomposition become the building blocks for all living beings (...
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Would sailing plankton be viable?
I have made an alien world in which it seems like nekton would be unviable due to the slowness of animal life. Therefore these animals would be restricted to plankton (and slow plankton at that) and ...
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What are ways an alien species could have a subtle inability to pronounce certain sounds in Earth languages?
Nothing too huge, just things you might notice after awhile if you're really paying attention and don't shrug it off as a slight speech impediment -- which it kinda is, I guess, but y'know what I mean,...
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Methane-Breathing Animal?
In my story, Saturn’s moon Titan’s methane lakes are inhabited by microorganisms that photosynthesize, converting hydrogen into methane (A process thought possible on Titan after some study). This ...
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Pros and Cons of Interlocking Teeth? [closed]
By interlocking teeth I mean teeth that fit perfectly together in a zipper or puzzle-like fashion, but don't literally stick together. What would the problems and benefits of this arrangement be?
...
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Eyelids with compound eyes?
I have a large insectoid creature with compound eyes in my story. The creature’s habitat is prone to sudden dust storms; as a result, I was planning to have it evolve a set of eyelids so it could ...
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What can we infer about a creatures that uses some kind of oil instead of water for our cellular fluid?
Is it feasible to envision a biology where oil is the main "solvent" (not sure if this word is chemically accurate). Whereas humans are 80% water, these guys would be 80% "canola oil&...
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Electricity-powered life on an ice planet?
I imagine that in a nearly Earth-sized ice planet with an atmosphere similar to that of earth, life has been able to proliferate.
It first formed in the oceans below the ice, which are warm enough for ...
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How would life on a magma planet be?
I imagine that, thanks to a mysterious magical element, multicelular life has been able to survive and diversify on an Earth sized planet which is only composed of solid and molten rock.
This planet ...
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metal/alloy based lifeforms? how would they function?
I've been working on an alien race for a while, and the look of them have changed a lot In the design process, but right now, I've stuck with metallic lifeforms..
essentially living machines, made ...
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What would Silicon-Based Aliens look like?
Would silicon-based aliens' biochemistry cause them to look any different than the carbon-based humans that we have in the real world? If so, what could they possibly look like?
For further ...
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How to Detect Things Through Lava
I'm coming up with an alien species that can swim through magma.
Assuming that all necessary body parts are somehow protected from/immune to the magma, what would be feasible senses for it to use to ...
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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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Benefits of Silicon [closed]
I am trying to decide whether the race that I am creating should be silicon or carbon based. So my question is what are the advantages and disadvantages of a silicon based life form?
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Thunderstruck and tesla beetles: Are they feasible?
I my game project, "The Von Neumann Project," you play as an android attempting to colonize a hostile alien world, and turn it into into a thriving factory planet. One of the many odd and ...
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Warm blooded Desert Dwellers
How could a race of warm blooded, hair covered humanoids maintain their body temperature of 43.7’c when their arid homeworld has temperatures ranging from 32’c in winter and to 78’c in summer, and ...
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What would make a species of sentient starfish rationally and ethically choose between sexual and asexual reproduction? [closed]
Starfishs or seastars have sexes( they are either male or female) but they can reproduce both sexually and asexually. The latter is possible using fission or fragmentation.
In this planet there is a ...
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Is an almost entirely water-based planet stable enough to stay as a planet for long enough for complex life to form?
Imagine an earth mass that consists purely and entirely of water that orbits a star similar to ours at a similar orbital distance to Mars(or whatever distance would be sufficient for the planet to ...
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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 ...
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What elements/compounds would be in the body of an alien living in this specific set of environmental conditions?
What elements could be in the body of an alien that lives under these conditions?
5/16 of the atmosphere contains sulfur (1/16 hydrogen sulfide and 1/4 sulfur dioxide)
High quantities of sulfuric ...
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What happens to my candy-creatures when they get wet and how do I stop it?
Dilithoids or as I call them candy-creatures are the lowest animals on the food-chain on my arid alien planet. What distinguishes them from other alien fauna is their simple body plan and their ...
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Eye size and pupil shape of an over 6ft tall ambush predator?
They're built in such a way that they can stalk and chase their prey on all fours like a feline can, and then easily return to digitigrade twoleggedness for everything else in their life (this is a ...
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What is the advantages and disadvantages of a creature capable of splitting sections of their wings apart?
I was trying to make a creature for a fictional dimension that is extremely hot and has many cliffs and difficult to maneuver areas, leading me to the conclusion that flying creatures would be ...
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Interstellar Evolution [closed]
Is it possible for a species/ecosystem to travel the stars?
I'm curious what this would look like. How many generations would it take to adapt to a planets atmosphere and propel a seed colony carrying ...
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How could octopus-like creature evolve to live on land?
How could an octopus like creature evolve to live/survive on land? Would it want to live on land?
For my world I am having 2 intelligent species on the planet. One lives on land, one lives both in and ...
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What would be different in the brain of a being that lives hundreds of years allowing it to have enough memory space?
So I’m trying to create a race of alien that lives for 600 years but I need them to have the memory space for all that time. The human brain can hold approximately 300 years worth of memory and that ...
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What is the largest size a creature using hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin could reach?
I haven't been able to find much on this question. I am making a world that is fairly cold compared to ours, not quite a snowball planet but enough that the highest average temperature is 66 degrees ...
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Mammalian Dragons
The traditional dragon is a reptile, but on my planet (Zavnious) there are warm-blooded dragon-like creatures that are covered in fur. They have a thick skin instead of scales and they do not breath ...
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Why would a creature need a rib cage that can split open?
Aside from making it hard for surgeons to operate, the rib cage is essential. It’s a calcium battery, frame for our muscles and protects our organs and bone marrow. Ribs by themselves (like in snakes) ...
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What would be a realistic size for a werefox race?
If you have read Eragon, then you know of the Werecat: a race that can shapeshift between a 'large cat' and a 'child', almost certainly with no change in mass. The Magic System is based on the literal ...
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Explaining The Evolution of a Bioengineering Species [closed]
Re: Ultimate Alien Parasite
It's been well established that parasites can alter their hosts. Gall wasps, for example, use viral or bacterial vectors to make a plant form galls around their young. ...
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I am making a creature with sloth like claws and need to know how it would be used for climbing trees and walking
My question is about my creatures.So in my world i have these creatures that have bladed claws on each leg think like a sloths claws they have 6 limbs in total two strong arms to move from tree to ...
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Why might a creature appear to exhale dust rather than gas?
Recently, I have gained an interest in silicon-based lifeforms. I heard mentions here and there that if they exhaled silicon dioxide, they would exhale a fine dust or solid rather than a gas. Now, the ...
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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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My creature electricity production mechanism
In my organism electricity is usually generated by absorbing free electrons in the air and using them in combination with a proton-laced electrical sack to create an electric current ,which is then ...
user90523
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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 ...
user90210
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Could life on a planet under a red dwarf star be ammonia-based?
Instead of water-based, since liquid water would be very hard to come by there...or would it still be warm enough to find water?
I haven't been able to decide if the world should be tidally-locked or ...
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Could alien microorganisms "infect" our own microbiome clouds and then "pollinate" us?
I'm trying to make my idea make sense. I wanted to create an parasitic/symbiotic alien species which reproduces/breeds by air or touch, which they are unaware of. They do not understand why their ...
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