New life, and new life forms

Too long, I know, but I had fun so I really don't care.Let me introduce you to the Araneans.They are an intelligent species of the planet Perneaus about 2000 light years from Earth.The Araneans are a carbon-based life form whose genetic structure is DNA using different nucleic acids but much the same sugar backbone as in our structure in a circular rather than a spiral form. A major difference, however, is that in the Aranean evolution, their eukaryote ancestors had 4 nuclear organelles instead of one. The Araneans' cells contain 4 genetic nuclei, each with 8 circular chromosomes.The body plan of the Araneans consists of a bulbous abdomen about 1-1.5 meters in length supported on four legs, two on the front quarter, two on the back quarter on either side. The legs emerge horizontal from the abdomen then from the hi-knee down to the lo-knee at mid leg then down to the podiapad. At full extension the legs hold the abdomen about a meter off the ground.At the front end of the abdomen is a thorax which, similar to a long neck, can extend forward, but is usually held upward perpendicular to the axis of the abdomen. The thorax sports two sets of arms in the upper half of its meter length. The lower set of two arms, one extending out each side the thorax, have a similar form to the legs and each ends in a thick three-pronged claw which can be opened or closed. The upper set of arms (about 6-10 cm above the lower set) is similarly structured but end in four long (6-8 cm) jointed digits.Atop the thorax is the head which is usually spherical. Two compound eyes of six lens segment each are set in the upper hemisphere oriented toward the front but extending to the sides of the hemisphere. The compound eyes give the Aranean a 210 field of vision without moving. Swiveling the thorax gives the Aranean a complete 360 view with little effort.Since the star around which Perneaus orbits is a spectral type M star the energy of its main output is shifted further into what on Earth is called the near infra-red. The visible spectrum for the life forms on Perneaus is shifted in wave length 150 nm from what we know on Earth and extends from 850 nm in the red to about 650 nm. Aranean eyes are geared to these wavelengths.Below the eyes in the lower hemisphere is the proboscis opening or mouth and the olfactory assembly which consists of 12 short tentacles hanging (Zoidberg-like) from just above to just below the proboscis opening, about 3 cm.On either side of the head, just below the outer edges of the eyes are the ears. They consist of a spherical orb about the size of a golf ball sticking out of the head on the end of a short shaft. Each fluid-filled orb is composed of two nested spheres of collagen each covered with various length cilia. The cilia on the inner sphere are shorter then those on the outer sphere.At the back of the head, the remainder of both hemispheres is covered by usually 3 thick cranial ridges. Within the cranial cavity is a three-part cerebellum above the autonomic hind brain.At the top of the head are two antennae, flexible stalks about 4 cm long. They sense an additional set of infra-red frequencies from about 900 nm to 850 nm wavelengths. There are no structures on the antennae and no terminal bulbs. The antennae can be deflated under conscious control and recessed into the cranial shell. In recent times it has become fashionable to pierce the tops of the antennae with gold rings and precious stones.The Araneans are exo-skeletal. In their evolutionary history the first multi-cellular creatures incorporated silica from their environment for protective shells rather than make calcium carbonate as on Earth. The Araneans are covered head-to-ped, so to speak, with a hard silicate-impregnated fibro-collagen matrix.The top of the abdomen has natural ridges and patterns in a single shield. Before the use of genetic testing, carapace image was used as the main form of identifying an individual. The underside of the abdomen is covered with shell but is segmented over the mid-section covering the ovi/semen duct and at the end of the abdomen over the anal sphincter.The legs, arms and thorax are covered by movable segments of shell of various size. The face is covered by a thin segmented shell except for the around the eyes, olfactory and proboscis areas. The ear spheres are cover with a thin skin but have 10 small silicate spikes over their surface. The rear of the head is covered with a thick ridged shell.Araneans do not have lungs but respire through the skin on the thorax by waving the segments of silicate shell.Araneans are hermaphrodites. In pre-history an Aranean would sculpt a shallow oval about 20 cm long, 3 cm deep, in the dirt where it would deposit an oatmeal consistency goo as bedding. In modern times this is done in an ornate ceramic nesting bowl with elaborate ceremony in the presence of friends, family and the Chosen. It would then deposit two small ovi, each about the size of a lentil, onto the bedding making sure the two eggs are touching and receiving the witness of those in attendance that the bed has been properly prepared.It has long been taboo for an Aranean to fertilize its own eggs. The Chosen then moves over the nest and deposits a thick foam of semen. Depending on individual tastes and ability the Chosen sculpts the foam with highly intricate patterns and images much to the delight and approval of the audience and its mate. Each ovi contains one genetic nucleus. After each is fertilized the two ovi fuse into one individual with the necessary 4 nuclear organelles.The fetus grows and feeds on both the bedding and the foam taking in not just the nourishment but the silicates to build its shell segments. After about 6 months the movement under the now semi-hardened foam becomes agitated and the offspring pokes its head through the foam where, in a more party atmosphere with friends and family than ceremony, the new parents cut away the remaining foam and bring the new born out of the nest. Awe. Of course the first order of business is to inspect the carapace to verify the family lineage.Language for Araneans involves the clicking of the claws on the lower thorax arms, signs using the digits of the upper arms and the positioning of the antennae (usually to indicate tense, and in some dialects, inflection). For the vast majority of Araneans the left tri-claw is slightly larger than the right and makes a lower-pitched click. Using two of the three claw segments of either tri-claw makes a slightly softer click then using all three in unison.Araneans feed by protruding the proboscis out its opening, through the Olfactory tentacles, piercing the meat, fruit, vegetable then alternately releasing then sucking back strong digestive juices. Their history is unclear how or when the feeding orb was first used but some smart Aranean took something similar to a medium gourd, packed it full with its favorite mixture, sealed it back together, put a small proboscis sized hole in it and fed without any mess or spill.Today, home cooks have various sized feeding orbs for use. A typical meal is usually two medium orbs for various foods with various flavorings and a small dessert orb and what humans would recognize as a cup or glass for liquids. Of course mass produced polymer-based single-use food orbs are now readily available over many cultures on the planet.

No, not really. There is a reason we are a carbon-based life form and that same reason permeates the entire universe. It is the structure of the carbon atom.Carbon is the lightest element with four valence electrons. As such it can form flexible chains of itself with moderate bonds strong enough to be stable yet reactive under moderate energies. You can bend a chain of carbon around on itself forming a ring and still have connection points on the other electrons for bonding other elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. An excellent scaffolding for building complex molecular structures.The next element with this scaffolding capability is silicon, which is a considerably heavier element with stronger bonding strengths. It cannot be bent very much without breaking the bonds. It is brittle and tends to put a death grip on other elements. Its bonding strength is high and its flexibility is low.Sulfur, phosphorus and chlorine are even heavier, do not chain easily, if at all, and are highly reactive with some elements under low energies or bond too tightly to others. Their bonding strengths are too low or too high and their flexibility is near non-existent.When we look out into the cosmos we can see and identify by spectral analysis molecular structures in the interstellar medium. Last time I looked at the numbers we had identified around 6 sulfur compounds, fewer compounds of other elements and something around 86 carbon compounds.Because of its flexibility, stability and moderate reactivity carbon forms stable molecular compounds in abundance using less energy than any other element. If there is one thing we know about the universe it is that it will do things at the lowest energy state required. This is exactly what you need to build a complex chemical life system.All this does not mean that other life systems are not possible, just very highly unlikely.

Not really. We know quite a bit about chemical reactions in high energy environments. That's why we can model the interior of blast furnaces , stars and planet cores. Under such extremes the high energies are available to break just about all chemical bonds regardless of the elements involved. Not good for a life system. Stability over an abundance of complex compounds is required or a life system cannot be started let alone be maintained.As I said prior, this may be possible, though we haven't seen any evidence of viability, but what we know of chemistry in high energy environments makes this highly improbable.Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

This thread has given the two major resolutions to the Fermi paradox.Let's keep this just to our galaxy. The universe is just too much at this point.I like Crash Frog's idea that we are the first to the party. I would alter this to we are one of the first to the party but we are all still so young our EM bubbles have not even come close to crossing paths. It's a big, big galaxy.The other resolution is Coyote's idea that we haven't been looking in the right place. It is quite probable that a somewhat older more sophisticated civilization has abandoned spewing their energy out into the galaxy in the form of EM waves and their EM bubble passed us by quite some time ago never to be seen again.I would alter this one to speculate they could be using all their resources building their Dyson sphere today and we wouldn't know it since they are on the other side of the galaxy. Or yet a second civilization that has also abandoned wasting EM energy and is now invisible to us put out self-replicating von Neumann probes a few million years ago but those probes have yet to venture beyond the few hundred million of their nearest stellar neighbors let alone ventured anywhere close to us some 200 billion stars further on. It is a big, big, big galaxy.And these two resolutions are not mutually exclusive. We can come up with thousands of variations on these themes all quite probable.The one thing we can say with certainty (well ... as certain as we can be without holding it in our hands) is that, given the numbers involved (just in our galaxy) and the chemistry and physics that is universal, there is life out there even if just microbial.Intelligent mega structures similar to us are not so certain but are very probable indeed. There is a whole big bunch of opportunity for even the remotest flukes in chemistry and intellect to be repeated many times over, and this just in our galaxy.And these numbers and the scale of the galaxy give us many plausible reasons why we have not yet seen them and probably will not see them for a very, very long time.

I took this as being one of those excuses christians use to explain why they are not so well respected in the rest of society.If they were loving toward others, empathic at heart, helped those less fortunate and sought to comfort humanity, then other people would love them back.But, since they are the chosen of god with a place in the after life, intolerant of other creeds, torture those who disagree, stone babies and make war in his name, all as he has directed, then, the rest of the world, jealous of the christians' special status with god, will hate them.Another cross the poor mis-understood christian must bear in this life.

Oh, was that supposed to be "eat babies"?I'm always behind on these things.Sorry.