Re: Re: Bio-Forces

At 13:23 05/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
Status: RO

>
>In a message dated 11/4/97 6:39:35 PM, you wrote:
SNIP stuff on some of the problems of making a _big_ bug.

	As an entomologist (more or less) I agree that really big
arthropod-style beasts are unlikely on land with our sort of biology.
However, there are some ways round it:

1) The exoskeleton is or becomes radically stronger
2) The beasts are aquatic- Earth's biggest bugs were sea-scorpions,
active
predators up to about 9 feet long!
3) The gravity is much less than ours.	This got me thinking- how about
an
"insectoid" species of spacefarers, evolved from the assorted
creepy-crawlies left when a large spaceship (a generation or seeder
ship?)
gets decrewed by epidemic or radiation?  In microgravity, a lot of the
size
disadvantages for arthropods disappear, and there would be rewards for
gaining different levels of control over the vessel's systems, eg
environment control and food dispensers, leading to the evolution of
intelligence, control of the ship, and a civilisation.	Perhaps it's not
too
much to think of a sort of "Joe's apartment in space"- crewed by
roachoids...  Such creatures would have major problems on high-gravity
planets, but might build trading colonies on small moons, etc.

cheers
Rob Paul

"Rob Paul

Dept of Zoology
Oxford University
South Parks Road
Oxford
(01865) 271124
----------------------------------------------
"Once again, villainy is rotting meat 
before the maggots of justice!"
"