Be Cool!

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Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human stock
but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every way
for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of that
month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely on
mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
Fahrenheit?

 

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On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 18:59:11 GMT, rgorman@telusplanet.net (David
Johnston) wrotCRIVE_E

>Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human stock
>but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
>survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every way
>for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
>than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of that
>month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
>difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely on
>mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
>could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
>will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
>Fahrenheit?

Give them cryokinetic powers, so they can generate extreme cold around
themselves. Then, one of them can attempt to join the Legion of
Superheroes and be rejected for one of the Lamest Reasons EVAR,
forcing him to become one of the only competent members of the
Substitute Heroes.
*----------------------------------------------------*
Evolution doesn't take prisoners:Lizard
"I've heard of this thing men call 'empathy', but I've never
once been afflicted with it, thanks the Gods." Bruno The Bandit
http://www.mrlizard.com

 

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Power failure would be a bitch! Good thing solar would be massively
abundant.

Perfect for human habitation and month long days seems incompatible. I
am doubtful that much life (useable to us at least) could exist on the
surface of a planet that was pulling those sorts of day/night cycles.
Plants would either have to mature in 'a day' or be able to be very
freeze tolerant. This would make farming a little tough.

UNLESS.... The planet was given a protective shroud of dust that tended
to reflect solar radiation during the day cycle to cool things off on
one hand and during the night, hold heat in.

OR IF.... The planet was for some reason in an orbit that put one of
its pole's permanently pointed away from the sun. This might creat a
moderat band around the equator that would be neither too hot nor too cold.

If you still want to stick with modifying the humans, I would go with
scales to absorb/reflect heat and radiation or a fur that accomplished
the same thing. Metabolism would have to be modified to not give up water.

I would still stick with creative engineering to pull off the survival
of the populace. A ring of interlinked solar pannels circling the world
providing power to a partially buried city. Or possibly a city
submerged just under the ocean so that it still receives light but is
temperature regulated by the sea. Additionally, the oceans would be
abou the only place I can forsee useable life forms existing.

Gills and extra body fat anyone?



David Johnston wrote:
> Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human stock
> but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
> survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every way
> for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
> than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of that
> month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
> difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely on
> mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
> could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
> will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
> Fahrenheit?

 

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How about giving them heat shock adaptation proteins from species that
can survive such extremes. The bacteria that live in gysers come to
mind.

 

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In article <4225b1e5.39609093@news.telusplanet.net>,
David Johnston <rgorman@telusplanet.net> wrote:
>Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human stock
>but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
>survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every way
>for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
>than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of that
>month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
>difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely on
>mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
>could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
>will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
>Fahrenheit?

Teach them to dig.

Which kicks up some other lesser problems, Vitamin D deficiency and
disruptions to circadian rhythms (bodyclock) spring to mind which should
not be too hard to fix.

Darkvision would be useful

--
Michael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NPC rights activist | Nameless Abominations are people too.

 

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David Johnston wrote:
> Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human stock
> but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
> survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every way
> for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
> than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of that
> month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
> difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely on
> mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
> could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
> will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
> Fahrenheit?


Making them taller, thinner, and with less body hair would be an easy
starting point. After that clothing might be enough to handle the
difference. Since currently people can handle 120+ degrees with only
attention to clothing, water, and shade it should be achievable as long
as they are not digging ditches or other strenuous activity.

 

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On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 18:59:11 GMT, rgorman@telusplanet.net (David
Johnston) wrote:

> What can you do to your offspring that
>will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150 degrees
>Fahrenheit?

I don't know if it's in line with the setting, but...

Fashion Genetic Modding!
Fanciful and colored skin panels able to disperse heat... And attract
people! Be a reptile!

That is, being able to switch from hot-blooded to cold-blooded and
viceversa. I know, it requires genetic engineering to a very DEEP
level, and it is HIGHLY un-realistic.


Korin Duval

--

"Truth requires a great amount of courage;
Fiction requires a great amount of maturity."

 

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Korin Duval schrieb:
-snip
> That is, being able to switch from hot-blooded to cold-blooded and
> viceversa.
-snip

Why not turning them just into cold-blooded?
Hyperactivity during the day, and the long night would be spend in
hibernation.

Bye
Ingo

 

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David Johnston wrote:
> Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human
stock
> but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
> survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every
way
> for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
> than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of
that
> month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
> difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely
on
> mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
> could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
> will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150
degrees
> Fahrenheit?

One thing you could do is engineer them to have a body temp of 150
degrees (along with enzymes that function at that temp), and then give
them thick fur to help keep them warm when it's colder than that.

 

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"Ingo Siekmann" <Ingo-Siekmann@web.de> wrote in message
news:42275568.22E13307@web.de...
> Korin Duval schrieb:
> -snip
>> That is, being able to switch from hot-blooded to cold-blooded and
>> viceversa.
> -snip
>
> Why not turning them just into cold-blooded?
> Hyperactivity during the day, and the long night would be spend in
> hibernation.

Cold blooded critters can't stand extreme heat any better than warm blooded
ones. The only real advantage to being cold blooded is not needing very
much food which is why they do well in environments where food is scarce,
like deserts. However, the disadvantages of being unable to function when
it's cold and having to constantly manually regulate one's body temperature
when it's hot would far outweigh the advantage of needing less food I think.
At least for humans it would.


--

-smithdoerr

 

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On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 19:20:24 +0100, Ingo Siekmann
<Ingo-Siekmann@web.de> wrote:

>-snip
>> That is, being able to switch from hot-blooded to cold-blooded and
>> viceversa.
>-snip
>
>Why not turning them just into cold-blooded?
>Hyperactivity during the day, and the long night would be spend in
>hibernation.

Because two "modes" are better than one... Ok, maybe I'm watching too
much "The Transformers".

Korin Duval

--

"Truth requires a great amount of courage;
Fiction requires a great amount of maturity."

 

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In article <1109956210.272390.244040@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
Scooter the Mighty <Greyguy3@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>David Johnston wrote:
>> Once again you are a genetic engineer attempting to modify human
>stock
>> but this time it isn't for a silly utopian fantasy. No, simple
>> survival is at stake. Your colony's new world is perfect in every
>way
>> for human habitation except for one minor detail. Each day is more
>> than a month long. That means the temperature over the course of
>that
>> month varies by over a hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cold isn't too
>> difficult to deal with, but heat is a real problem. You could rely
>on
>> mechanical refrigeration but that would mean that a power failure
>> could wipe out a whole town. What can you do to your offspring that
>> will let them survive occasional temperatures in excess of 150
>degrees
>> Fahrenheit?
>
>One thing you could do is engineer them to have a body temp of 150
>degrees (along with enzymes that function at that temp), and then give
>them thick fur to help keep them warm when it's colder than that.
>


Fur that grows quickly and falls out when it's hot.

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