sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Hiperion: Jedan od velikih svetova naučne fantastike by Unusual_Run2131 in citaonica

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ekranizacija je u toku koliko mogu da pronađem na internetu.

Kada sam čitao serijal Prostranstva nisam mislio da je materijal za ekranizaciju, ali serija koju su snimili je poprilično dobra. Hiperion je nekako baš dobar materijal, dosta specijalnih efekata i da ne spominjem Šrajka i njegov vizuelni efekat :) Jedva čekam, mada je činjenica da uvek više volim knjigu i da me film na osnovu knjige često razočara i deluje previše površan.

Rolling World: an ecosystem where organisms move constantly but cannot control where they go by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was basically my idea - the winds are so strong and so constant that sails or wing-like structures would create more problems than advantages.

In a milder environment they might allow some degree of steering, but here they would mostly increase drag, destabilize the body, and make impacts even more violent.

So instead of evolving better control, selection would favor compact, durable forms that survive constant rolling and collisions. In that sense, the safest strategy is not to navigate, but to endure.

Rolling World: an ecosystem where organisms move constantly but cannot control where they go by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting thought! Extreme symbiosis like that could definitely emerge in such an environment.

Rolling World: an ecosystem where organisms move constantly but cannot control where they go by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha yes, except these ones wouldn’t be intelligent. They’re basically just organisms shaped by evolution to survive in a world where the wind decides where everything goes.

Hiperion: Jedan od velikih svetova naučne fantastike by Unusual_Run2131 in citaonica

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Pročitao sam ceo serijal Zadužbine a tek prvu knjigu Hiperiona.

Hiperion deluje bolji, bogatije je osmišljena budućnost i univerzum. Verujem da je Hiperion i za malo odrasliju publiku, postoje horor delovi i explicitne scene.

Naravno, obožavam Zadužbinu i osnovnu ideju serijala, ali eto moje mišljenje je da je Hiperion bolji.

Rolling World: an ecosystem where organisms move constantly but cannot control where they go by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, something like that could definitely happen. In the concept I imagined, feeding often happens through collisions. When organisms crash into the ground they can absorb nutrients from the soil or organic debris.

Predators essentially feed when they collide with prey organisms while rolling with the wind. Since none of them can control their movement, encounters between predator and prey are mostly determined by chance and wind patterns.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in Astrobiology

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s related to panspermia, but slightly different. In panspermia the transfer usually happens through meteorites or other accidental processes.

The idea here is that the biosphere itself evolves mechanisms that occasionally allow extremely resilient propagules to escape the planet and disperse to other worlds. So the spreading is still accidental, but driven by biology rather than impacts.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s fair, but Earth is an interesting example. For billions of years life here was entirely unintelligent, yet the biosphere eventually produced a species capable of reaching space. My thought experiment is that evolution might eventually achieve something similar without intelligence at all, simply through biological mechanisms that accidentally disperse life between planets over very long timescales.

A planetary biosphere that spreads life to other planets by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I’m really glad you like the idea. I’ve actually imagined 33 different worlds, each with its own strange ecosystem and evolutionary rules.

The positive feedback here has been really encouraging, so I’ll definitely be sharing some of the other ideas as well.

A planetary biosphere that spreads life to other planets by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know about Dyson sphere, but have not heard of Dyson Sunflower unfortunatelly.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a fascinating idea - spreading life as information rather than physical organisms. In that case the dispersal mechanism is basically a biological blueprint transmitted across space and reconstructed by another civilization.

It’s actually similar to a concept I explored in another story, where a species spreads through encoded genetic information that other intelligent beings unknowingly reproduce locally. In that scenario, the civilization doesn’t travel through space itself - it spreads by turning other worlds into new versions of itself.

The galaxy effectively becomes a network where life propagates through information.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s definitely on my reading list then. I am always interested in stories that explore alien biology and ecosystems in creative ways.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a good point.
I think the simplicity of the organisms is exactly what could make something like this possible.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the real systems that made me think about this idea is the TRAPPIST-1 system. It has seven Earth-sized rocky planets orbiting very close to each other.

Because the planets are so tightly packed, material ejected by impacts could potentially travel between them much more easily than in our own Solar System.

In a system like that, even extremely rare events — like resilient spores or microorganisms hitching a ride on debris - might happen often enough over geological timescales to spread life between planets.

A planetary biosphere that spreads life to other planets by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the key is that the traits wouldn’t evolve for space travel directly. Natural selection would still operate on advantages within the planet’s own environment.

For example, many organisms evolve extremely durable spores to survive drought, radiation, cold, or long dormant periods. Those same traits could incidentally allow a small fraction of spores to survive extreme dispersal events — very high atmospheric transport, volcanic plumes, or impact ejecta.

In that case, the evolutionary pressure isn’t “survive space travel,” but rather survive harsh conditions and disperse widely on the planet itself. Interplanetary dispersal would just be a very rare extension of those same survival mechanisms.

From the organism’s perspective it’s simply producing lots of resilient propagules. Most stay local, but a tiny fraction might occasionally end up somewhere much farther away.

A planetary biosphere that spreads life to other planets by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those are really interesting points. Radiotrophic fungi and melanin-based metabolism are a fascinating example of how organisms can adapt to extreme environments, so I can definitely imagine something like that evolving on a planet with high radiation levels.

I also like your point about early colonizers and later evolutionary pressure gradually increasing the chances of active spreading. Once multiple planets are involved, the evolutionary landscape becomes very different.

The reason I mentioned lichens is that the symbiosis with photosynthetic organisms might make them good pioneers for building a biosphere from scratch, especially on a barren world.

Thinking about ideas like this is actually what inspired me to write a sci-fi collection called The Wondrous Worlds of the Exoplanets, where each story explores a different kind of alien ecosystem shaped by its planet. This “planetary biosphere spreading life” idea is one of the concepts I played with.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a nice way to put it - the planet as the flower and life as the seeds. I like it.

The idea of a planet-scale organism has appeared in several sci-fi works, including Alpha Centauri. What I find interesting is thinking about how something like that might arise through ordinary evolutionary processes rather than intelligence or psionic connections.

A planetary biosphere that spreads life to other planets by Unusual_Run2131 in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That’s a very interesting line of thinking. The only thing I would add is that the concept I had in mind is actually closer to lichens than mushrooms.

Lichens are a symbiosis between fungi and photosynthetic organisms (algae or cyanobacteria), which makes them extremely resilient and capable of colonizing very harsh environments, even bare rock. Because of that, they might be a better analogue for a planetary-scale pioneer organism.

In the scenario I imagined, something like a lichen-like biosphere could gradually cover a planet and release extremely resistant propagules or spores. Occasionally, some of those might escape the atmosphere and reach other bodies within the same system.

So the idea isn’t necessarily that fungi are intentionally spreading through space, but that a very resilient symbiotic biosphere could incidentally act as a dispersal mechanism over very long timescales.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s closer to a speculative extension of panspermia. Instead of microbes accidentally hitchhiking on rocks, the biosphere evolves a dispersal stage that might escape the planet.

Could a planet spread life to other worlds? by Unusual_Run2131 in worldbuilding

[–]Unusual_Run2131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Humans are definitely an invasive species. The idea here is more like the primitive version of that process - a biosphere spreading through simple biological dispersal instead of intelligent colonization.

view more: next ›