Atmospheres

Baron Munchausen · #1 February 16th, 2003, 06:59 AM

Of course, this whole debate about the 'suitability' of one atmosphere or another for life is presuming that there are distinct 'types' of atmospheres. This is even more UNrealistic than trying to claim that life could exist in a predominantly chlorine atmosphere.

I hope that SE V will have much subtler gradations of 'suitability' to account for the highly variable composition of various elements that would exist in real atmospheres. Balancing atmospheric gases could be a field of terraforming all to itself. (As opposed to the very crude 'conVersion' currently offered.)

Then with temperature, gravity, and radiation levels we could finally have some believably realistic environmental management on our worlds.

Desdinova · #2 February 16th, 2003, 07:33 AM

sounds like you are talking about stars' planetary characteristics. just a sliding bar to determine where your races habitable/tolerable ranges are. no specific atmosphere, gravity or radiation selected.

Erax · #3 February 17th, 2003, 02:41 AM

Fyron, once again we have the opportunity to disagree.

Life is sustained by a series of chemical reactions which take place in a solvent, which for all known life is water.

I agree that chlorine is incompatible with water-based lifeforms, so a chlorine-breathing creature would need to use another solvent, for example trichloroethylene.

AFAIK, chlorine-breathing lifeforms are not impossible, and in fact are more plausible than CO2 or argon breathers.

There are a few SF books that feature chlorine breathers (James White's Sector General series, for example) which is why I think they included the chlorine atmosphere in SE3.

Suicide Junkie · #4 February 16th, 2003, 05:48 PM

Wouldn't CO2 breathers be very similar to our plants?

Phoenix-D · #5 February 16th, 2003, 08:16 PM

Argon being a non-reactive gas would be kind of unlikely..heh.

CO2 breathers might be similar to plants, but then maybe not. There are bacteria and such around that die in the presance of O2, which plants don't obviously..CO2 breathers might be more similar to the bacteria. Or they might breath CO2, with their equivlent of plants using O2- can't see how though.

Phoenix-D

orev_saara · #6 February 16th, 2003, 09:42 PM

Ultimately, our understanding of science is limited to our experience, and more, to the experience we feel is relevant. So while the science we understand may rule out chlorine breathers, et al, all we can say with certainty, and even then not with 100% certainty, is that they're not possible here. In different regions of the galaxy, different conditions may prevail.

While we're talking about this, doesn't the air we breathe contain more N2 than O2? So why is it an oxygen atmosphere in the game and not a nitrogen one? I guess it's partly because the real nature of atmosphere is much more cmoplex than the one-gas model in the game. I also would like to see more gradation in atmospheres in the future of SE.

One Last comment on scientific knowledge, how exactly DID Tesla light his laboratory?

Baron Munchausen · #7 February 16th, 2003, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Wouldn't CO2 breathers be very similar to our plants?

Actually, plants use oxygen too! They generate oxygen during the day when they are photosynthesizing (sp?), but their metabolism is like ours in being driven by oxygen and carbohydrates. How else would be be able to eat them and get anything useful?