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| Sound-Eating Alien?; Are phonoautotrophs a possibility? | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 22 2010, 04:23 PM (1,260 Views) | |
| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 04:23 PM Post #1 |
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Informed enough to care
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The other day, while cruising Deviantart instead of doing my homework, I bumped into this fascinating creature: http://njoo.deviantart.com/art/Feeds-on-Sound-100734841 If links don't work, it's more or less a creature that feeds on sound. According to the artist, in literally his own words, "Via the ultra thin webbing between the circular shape holes, it absorb sound waves and the energy is process in its special organs, filtering out the good sound waves. The sound nutrients is then store at the pouch-like organ at the back of the head,etc and the different wave nutrient results in the bright multi-colored skin." Some of this ("sound nutrients", skin changing in response to sound) may be a little far-fetched, but the basic idea is strangely compelling. So, is it possible for there to be an organism that can obtain nutrients from sound? |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| sam999 | Feb 22 2010, 04:27 PM Post #2 |
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Adult
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Looks like my rep for comeing up with the most unlikly topics has came to an end... |
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.![]() ![]() ![]() Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please... | |
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| Temporary | Feb 22 2010, 04:29 PM Post #3 |
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Transhuman
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No, nutrients are made of matter. While a nutrient can be carried by a wave, I doubt a sound wave could do the job. Energy could be obtained from sound, though. |
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| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 04:31 PM Post #4 |
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Informed enough to care
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And I am sorry that I've stolen your thunder, my friend. And Temporary, perhaps not nutrients in the specific sense, but a phonosynthetic organism could exist. How would that work, though? |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Empyreon | Feb 22 2010, 04:31 PM Post #5 |
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Are you plausible?
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Can energy be created from sound? That doesn't sound inherently impossible, but the question of "how?" arises. Perhaps the circular membranes convert vibrations into stored energy through some sort of biological capacitor, but will that be enough? And where does it get the materials necessary not only for its own growth but for the development of its offspring? |
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 04:32 PM Post #6 |
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Informed enough to care
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Well Empyreon, I'd figure that it'd function the same way a plant would; the only difference would be that its own xeno-chloroplasts would translate sound waves into chemical energy, instead of light waves. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Empyreon | Feb 22 2010, 04:36 PM Post #7 |
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Are you plausible?
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And my question is still how. Light waves are electromagnetic in nature, while sound is an oscillation in pressure. Chlorophyll uses the electromagnetic energy to carry out chemical reactions, while I'm not sure sound has any similar chemical properties. |
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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| Temporary | Feb 22 2010, 04:39 PM Post #8 |
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Transhuman
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Well, it does but I don't know what they are. I was thinking hairs that vibrate and this could translate the energy somehow. |
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| Empyreon | Feb 22 2010, 04:52 PM Post #9 |
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Are you plausible?
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Yeah, that's the best I can think of, too, but I'm not sure if that can generate enough to support life (even with a creature this relatively small). |
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 04:53 PM Post #10 |
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Informed enough to care
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Perhaps the phonoautotroph would possess long, feathery membranes, with transparent fibers absorbing nearby sounds? It might even be able to make its own noise by sucking in and blowing air. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Temporary | Feb 22 2010, 04:55 PM Post #11 |
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Transhuman
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Sucking and blowing cost energy, and despite the fun inneundo, I doubt it would lead to a net gain. |
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| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 04:59 PM Post #12 |
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Informed enough to care
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You sure? Alternatively, the phonosynthesizers would grow near very loud places, like cliffs with crashing waves or high up on mountains where there's harsh wind. Otherwise, these little buggers would need to move if they sacrifice survival for efficiency. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Canis Lupis | Feb 22 2010, 05:00 PM Post #13 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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No. Can't occur. If you take a simple look at biochemistry, you can't. If you feed only on sound, how can you obtain proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids? These are all materials necessary for carbon based creatures. Sound could not carry nor create these chemical compounds. That said, it might be plausible for machine life. Scientists are working on how to run a refrigerator on sound alone. If this is possible, maybe an alien civilization thousands of years more advanced than we are could have created an animalistic machine (which can self-reproduce and change over time) that runs on sound alone. The alien race becomes extinct and soon you will have a world full of sound-eating creatures. Bring earplugs kids! |
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| Practically Uninformed | Feb 22 2010, 05:03 PM Post #14 |
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Informed enough to care
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But C.Lupis, what if it weren't necessarily an animal? It could simply be a plant, complete with roots to suck up those essential nutrients. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Empyreon | Feb 22 2010, 05:03 PM Post #15 |
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Are you plausible?
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Life forms that feed themselves always sounds like more trouble than it's worth. It's like paying off a credit card with another credit card. You still have to get the energy from somewhere. The best plan so far is an array of tendons or other elastic, fibrous material around the sound-collecting membranes, which is pulled by the vibrations, thus creating potential energy. As the elastic tendons snap back to their natural positions, that energy is released, which would then need to be transferred into some system of energy storage. We use ATP, a chemical method. Can that mechanical energy be converted into chemical storage, or does this alien need another method of storage?
Then where does the "plant" get the nutrients it needs for growth? Earth plants send down roots, but if this creature is mobile- which it seems to be, based the picture- where does it get it from? Edited by Empyreon, Feb 22 2010, 05:06 PM.
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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