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Sound-Eating Alien?; Are phonoautotrophs a possibility?
Topic Started: Feb 22 2010, 04:23 PM (1,261 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?
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
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Are you plausible?

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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.

If I were that plant, I'd want to soak up as much sound as possible. I'd never sheathe anything if I could help it.

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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.

We'd probably have to call that the 'wind chime' plant. ;) I like it though! I once thought of plants using sound to attract pollinators, but taking it all a step further doesn't seem as implausible as I may have first thought.
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

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food for thought
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