Fwd: heavy metal !!!!!

More from the Oitjuan creator:

"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis
is 
of no use."

				 - S. Freud

>From: "FUCHS_001"
>
>Brian,
*snip*
>
>Now, as to the matters at hand:
>
>1)With regard to the inverted-triangle cross-section providing
stability in 
>windy conditions, one viewer wrote, "Assuming they remain
dorso-ventrally 
>flattened and close to the ground, right?"
>
>Actually, remaining close to the ground should not be necessary, so
long as 
>they remain horizontal.  Sort of "down on all six", so to speak.  As
long 
>as they stay in this position, they're free to raise themselves as high
off 
>the ground as their legs will allow.  The flat dorsal and angled
ventral 
>surfaces would work as an inverted wing, increasing their traction on
the 
>ground.  Pretty much the same concept as ground effects on a race car.
>
>Side note: I did struggle a bit with the legs.  At first, I was going
to 
>make them short and stubby and place them directly underneath the body.
 
>This made for an unattractive appearance, and a total lack of agility,
but 
>given the weight of these creatures I could see no way around it.  Then
I 
>realized that the reason all heavy land animals on this planet followed

>that particular arrangement is directly related to the limitations of 
>carbon-based bones and muscles.  The limbs of a metal creature could 
>withstand far greater stresses.  In fact, nothing says that these
creatures 
>necessarily represent the high end of the weight spectrum in their 
>ecosystem.
>
>2) As for the flat dorsal surface protecting against aerial predation;
>Quite true, airborne predators large enough to grip both sides at once 
>would be their nemesis.  Originally, I envisioned them with the flat
part 
>on the bottom, and the ridge along the spine.	But they just looked 
>butt-ugly,and I could not see any way to get their front two segments 
>vertical (a pose resembling a centaur) so they could use their first
two 
>appendages in their primary role, as manipulators.
>
>  Attacks from underground are of course still a threat.  However, the 
>angled surfaces on the underside would serve to deflect attacks of the 
>striking variety by predators which rely on piercing their prey with
some 
>equivalent of claws or fangs.	Grasping predators, such as those who
employ 
>some form of tentacles, for example, pose a real threat.
>
>BTW: what would you use for poison on a metal-eating, acid-breathing 
>organism? Corrosive agents? Some kind of extremely alkali fluid? Is 
>milk-of-magnesia lethal to these things? Or perhaps an insulating foam
to 
>interfere with the propagation of electricity through the body, causing

>muscle-paralysis? Or a highly conductive substance to short-circuit the

>biological functions.
>
>3) Size-Limitation Imposed by Exoskeleton:
>This is a topic to which I devoted considerable thought in my
childhood.  I 
>was crazy about those "giant insect" movies.  In school we were taught
that 
>there was no reason to fear an attack by giant insects, because insects

>breathe through their skin, and above a certain size air would not be
able 
>to reach all the internal organs.  Teachers told us this in order to 
>reassure us.  It was a great relief to many students.	To me it was a
major 
>bumber!
>
>With this life-form, there are a number of ways this problem could have

>been circumvented.  One possible solution presented itself as I was
looking 
>at the body cross-section as an inverted wing.  In the mid-'60s, the
United 
>States Air Force experimented with the concept of laminar flow.  They 
>theorized that an airplane wing could generate lift without creating 
>turbulence if a series of near-microscopic holes were drilled through
the 
>width of the wing, from its leading edge to its trailing. These tiny 
>air-holes, literally millions of them, actually worked.  Of course, the

>expense of building a wing with all of these holes in it (and even
greater 
>expense of keeping the holes clear), were completely out of proportion
with 
>the small increase in aerodynamic performance.  However, breathing is 
>somewhat more important, and may be worth it.
>
>Another possibility is that the acid-metal reaction might penetrate
more 
>deeply than oxygen-carbon respiration.
>
>However, the simplest solution is probably the one I came up with as a 
>child.  As far as I can tell, there is no reason why a creature with an

>exoskeleton can't have lungs.	In this biosphere they don't, but that 
>doesn't mean they couldn't.For that matter, there's no reason why a 
>creature with an exoskeleton could not also have an endoskeleton.  In
fact, 
>that is very nearly the case with shelled creatures such as turtles and

>armadillos.
>
>4) Grace under Pressure (Pressure under Grace?)
>Yes, I have seen specimens brought up from the ocean floor by DSV's. 
It 
>was pretty startling to see anything survive such a radical change. 
>However, if the Oijuan do have lungs, and a cardiovascular system,they 
>would probably pop.  Of course, the word "pop" takes on a whole new
meaning 
>when you're talking about a 20 ft.-long creature with a metal casing.
They 
>must "pop" like the boiler room in "The Shining"!
>
>5) The "Slow-Thinking" Thing:
>I'm working on wording of the explanation to that one...just give me a
few 
>minutes ; -{ )
>
>It's the same reason computers have exhaust fans.  When you're sending 
>information as a series of electrical impulses through metal, heat is
the 
>enemy. Heat is electromagnetic energy, just like the signal that
travels 
>through your brain, constituting the physical manifestation of what we
call 
>"thought". Increasing the amount of heat increases the "background
noise" 
>over which the electrical pulse must be "heard". It also adds to the
amount 
>of energy in the pulses themselves, making them "fat", so they spread
out 
>over a wider area. Of course, if the centers of two of these "fat" 
>electrical pulses are close together, their trailing and leading edges
will 
>overlap, and the neuron in the brain will receive a steady stream of 
>electricity, rather than individual pulses. A creature with an
extremely 
>high body temperature must leave more space in between signal pulses in
its 
>neurons.
>
>Conversely, a creature with a supercooled brain, like one that has
liquid 
>nitrogen for cerebral fluid, could have superconducting synapses. They 
>could think so fast it staggers the imagination!
>
>Anyway, I hope this provides some interesting ideas to think about,
>
>-Brian

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