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Sound-Eating Alien?; Are phonoautotrophs a possibility?
Topic Started: Feb 22 2010, 04:23 PM (1,263 Views)
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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?
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

PU, what most people don't realize is that plants and animals ARE related. They use the exact same biological compounds. DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, all are needed. The reason plants can feed themselves is their leaves take in CO2 from the air and water from the ground. Then, the sunlight strikes them so as to cause a chemical reaction, forming carbohydrate molecules and oxygen molecules.

The only way I can see this being plausible is to use something similar to plants and to steal some ideas from Empyreon. The phonoplant takes in CO2 from the air and water from the ground, then the sound generates heat in the tendons (which store the CO2 and the water just like plant leaves), thus creating carbohydrates and oxygen.

Though the creature would have to be plant-like for it to work. In order to obtain all the nutrients, it would have to be sessile.

Plus, how could the plant get enough sound for phonosynthesis? It would take more sound waves than would be practical.
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To address both issues, Empyreon:
1. That I don't know. The way I saw it, a heavily modified xeno-stomata would produce vocalizations that would stimulate its own systems, but given the notion of energy transfer, that's probably wildly innefficient. Perhaps the sound-plant could possess hollow tubes or clonking apparati that, when the winds blows through them, produce sound passively.
2. Either root-like tubes and tongues if the creature is sedentary, or some kind of trap for organisms.
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

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The only way I can see this being plausible is to use something similar to plants and to steal some ideas from Empyreon.

It isn't stealing if I'm practically throwing it out there. :)

And I like the idea of phonosynthesis, though I do still wonder if it's enough to power life. Too little sound in the environment, and it "starves", like a plant left too long in the shade. Too much sound, and any tympanic surfaces would tear.

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Perhaps the sound-plant could possess hollow tubes...

Now that seems like an interesting idea. Forget tympanic membranes. Convert wind into sound, and use sound to vibrate cilia within the tube. The vibrating cilia then somehow triggers chemical reactions for life-sustaining energy. I'm still fuzzy on how that works, but the "flute-plant" idea strikes a chord in me (pun intended that time). ;)

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Either root-like tubes and tongues if the creature is sedentary, or some kind of trap for organisms.

In either case it's clear that life can't subsist on energy alone. Material consumption must accompany the metabolic process.
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And C.Lupis, I was fully aware that plants and animals used the same processes, chemicals, and whatnot. I just figured that there was a slim possibility of some wayward creature developing the ability to create xeno-sugars using the power of the howling wind, or maybe their own howls.
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Just making sure. Sorry if that sounded offensive in any way.


That flute plant does sound interesting. Using wind to create kinetic energy which could begin one of these chemical reactions. Interesting.
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Empyreon, mind if I keep the flute concept for a cave pseudo-plant?
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

If I didn't want it being used by anybody but me, I wouldn't have mentioned it in your thread. ;)

I'm going to keep it in mind for some future projects of my own as well, if you don't mind.
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S'ok. I've probably got something completely different in mind than you.

So, to wrap this thread up; sound could POSSIBLY be an energy source for some autotroph, but doesn't seem to be as efficient as an energy source. Instead, we have the Weather-Vane plant.
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

Wind would probably be more reliable than direct sound, IMO.
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colddigger
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how about use the energy from the vibrations to trigger chemical reactions in tiny organs attached to the membranes? i'm not aware of any reactions myself, but i was thinking that it could produce an unstable molecule that when broken releases energy that would then be transferred to another reaction that produces sugar, then the sugar would be pumped through the critters system to power the rest of the body.

it could collect material from the air, although that would take a while... water vapor and dust and such...
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Well, colddigger, it could be possible to absorb sound and synthesize energy. Only problem is, sound turns out to be pretty inneficient as an energy source.
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colddigger
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hum... i see that my clock is off for this forum, i thought the topic was still pretty young...
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

Your clock is off? What do you mean?
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I have had an epiphany!
What if some sort of sound-based plant could stem from the flute-plant? The cilia that are stimulated by kinetic motion could become more and more sensitive in areas with weaker and weaker wind, until it gets to a jungle, which has no wind at all.
This plant could get its own energy from all of the vocalizations of animals at night! It would be nocturnal, sheathing its fibres during the quieter daytime.
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colddigger
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how about it grows a hammer thing that it smacks itself with and use the vibration of being smacked to start up the reaction?

by smacking itself i mean it simply drops the hammer, it would be hinged and slanted so it drops toward the tube-like plant, only energy used in the process would be growing the thing.

actually, how about a hammerplant that would just be a simple tube, hinged in the middle or two thirds the way up, the top half would fall over and smack the lower half and both parts would produce energy. no need to grow a special hammer at all.

or to develop these hammerplants further they could have several potential hinges -weak spots- in their bodies and they just lay dormant until wind or what have you knocks a piece over to strike itself and start up the process.

another group of hammerplant could be something with a pair of prongs going down either side, when wind hits them they get pushed in that direction and smack into eachother, they could be slightly elastic or something so that they can strike eachother several times for one gust of wind.
Or these pronged hammerplants could have some kind of growth at the bases of the prongs that snap or pop when moved by the wind... it could ''feed'' off that sound or if the prong snapping is rapid feed off the sudden jolt of motion it causes. like a reaction that requires to suddenly be shook to produce new chemicals.
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