4 ms·

Seems unlikely that a microbe that is adapted to the Venusian environment would outcompete microbes that are adapted to the Terran environment

momento 1y ago
Famous last words.
thaumasiotes 1y ago
> the Venusian environment Everyone uses "Jovian" for Jupiter, and yet nobody uses "Venerean" for Venus... [The planets take adjectives in -an because, I assume, people didn't want to reuse "Martial", "Jovial", and "Venereal". In science fiction you also see "Terran" replacing "Terrestrial". Interestingly, while martial and venereal are named after the gods, jovial and mercurial are named after the planets.]
- perihelions 1y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytherean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytherean
  - thaumasiotes 1y ago
    It's a little odd to complain that "venereal" is strongly associated with sex when you don't mind the planet being called "Venus".
arp242 1y ago
When wood-like structures first evolved there were no bacteria that could penetrate the tough cellulose. The trees would just fall over and ... stay there, as rotting wood is just wood being eaten by bacteria. This is where coal comes from. I suppose something along those lines could happen: Venusian microbes are sufficiently alien that Earth-based life can't really interact with them, while the Venusian can interact with Earth-based life, or something like that. They can eat you but you can't eat them. In lots of sci-fi like Star Trek all aliens have DNA and you can create Vulcan-Human hybrids and whatnot, and while e.g. Star Trek does offer an explanation for this[1] in reality alien life would be foundationally different. It will have some sort of DNA-like encoding structure, which isn't DNA. I agree it's somewhat unlikely, but it's also completely uncharted all-bets-are-off territory. It's not so much about competing, but more about how it will interact (or not). [1]: https://i.redd.it/16xmtid83sbf1.jpeg https://i.redd.it/16xmtid83sbf1.jpeg

momento 1y ago

Famous last words.

thaumasiotes 1y ago

> the Venusian environment Everyone uses "Jovian" for Jupiter, and yet nobody uses "Venerean" for Venus... [The planets take adjectives in -an because, I assume, people didn't want to reuse "Martial", "Jovial", and "Venereal". In science fiction you also see "Terran" replacing "Terrestrial". Interestingly, while martial and venereal are named after the gods, jovial and mercurial are named after the planets.]

perihelions 1y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytherean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytherean
- thaumasiotes 1y ago
  It's a little odd to complain that "venereal" is strongly associated with sex when you don't mind the planet being called "Venus".

arp242 1y ago

When wood-like structures first evolved there were no bacteria that could penetrate the tough cellulose. The trees would just fall over and ... stay there, as rotting wood is just wood being eaten by bacteria. This is where coal comes from. I suppose something along those lines could happen: Venusian microbes are sufficiently alien that Earth-based life can't really interact with them, while the Venusian can interact with Earth-based life, or something like that. They can eat you but you can't eat them. In lots of sci-fi like Star Trek all aliens have DNA and you can create Vulcan-Human hybrids and whatnot, and while e.g. Star Trek does offer an explanation for this[1] in reality alien life would be foundationally different. It will have some sort of DNA-like encoding structure, which isn't DNA. I agree it's somewhat unlikely, but it's also completely uncharted all-bets-are-off territory. It's not so much about competing, but more about how it will interact (or not). [1]: https://i.redd.it/16xmtid83sbf1.jpeg https://i.redd.it/16xmtid83sbf1.jpeg