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Alien Meals; Dare we partake?
Topic Started: Feb 23 2010, 04:46 PM (1,936 Views)
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Are you plausible?

Okay, in an extraterrestrial restaurant you seat yourself to a nice meal of steak and taters, but when the plate comes to you the steak is marbled green and purple and the taters are striped red and orange. Your waiter insists that it hasn't gone bad or anything, so you come to the conclusion that it's not from Earth.

In seriousness, I'm wondering about the odds of actually finding something edible on another planet. What kind of factors need to be considered when thinking of whether humans can rely on a planet's nutritional resources?
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food for thought
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lamna
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When it comes to domestication some animals just are not suitable. Eland should make great farm animals in Africa, able to exploit more food than cattle so you can keep more per acre and immune or resistant to African diseases. Yet they stubbornly refuse to be domesticated despite decades of trying. We've been keeping Elephants for millennial and only in the past century have we learn to breed them in captivity. Zebras could have been an effective replacement for horses in Africa, but they just won't be domesticated. Some can be tamed, but never domesticated.

You want something that matures fairly quickly and is social so you can keep them in large groups and you can replace the leader in the hierarchy. Otherwise it's pretty much trial and error.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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I've been thinking a bit more about these "wholly alien chemicals".

You see, these chemicals may be very potent to humans. You may not need to eat them, or even touch them, to encounter their effects.

So, walking through an alien rainforest you could drop dead in seconds, or get as high as a kite, or itch like hell...

This could be a major hurdle to living or even going to habitable worlds. People walking around in NBC suits, etc.
Edited by T.Neo, Mar 6 2010, 02:06 PM.
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Are you plausible?

So even breathing in a particle, or a single particle coming in contact with skin, could be dangerous.
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T.Neo
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Yes.

For example, nerve agents are only required in small amounts to kill. Imagine a forest full of plants rich in chemicals that are nerve agents to humans...
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Are you plausible?

Are such things detectable, so that explorers with enough foresight could wear appropriate protection? Or, in the opposite, know that it's safe to walk around in short sleeves?
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lamna
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Of course there is, you just suck it up. I mean really die because you were brushed by a leaf, that's not on. If you really are worried put the American on point so if he bumps into anything nasty you'll know about it.
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Depends on where you want to detect it from. If it's obvious, like the majority of organisms containing cyanide, then maybe. But random chemicals that might be toxic, I doubt it. The ecosystem is a very diverse thing and you can't know everything about everything.

And lamna, it isn't "just a leaf", it's a wholly unknown alien organism... would YOU take the risk? :P
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Ddraig Goch
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Again, I might...

Still, the idea that you wouldn't even have to contact an alien organism to die from it is quite scary.

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brushing a leaf could easily be deadly, brushing leaves in South America you can break out in serious rashes or feel like your skin is burning off.

of course these poisons were designed specifically for Earthly organisms.

the whole poison in the air deal, that's what canaries are for.
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T.Neo
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A poison doesn't have to be specifically designed for Earth organisms. It could just be a random chemical with a job in a native organism, that we find toxic or narcotic.

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the whole poison in the air deal, that's what canaries are for.


What happens when the canary dies? Do you carry an extra?
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if the canary dies you get outta there fast.
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lamna
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Bah, tis just a leaf, stop acting like a big jessie and eat it.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Holben
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If the leaf contains a sodium-containment organ, eating it may just frazzle your innards. Perhaps a molecular scan is called for.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

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T.Neo
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Yeah, with our shipboard hyperwave scanners. :P
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lamna
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Or as I call them, servants.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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