Life on the planet Furaha

Coen

Thanks!

Well, as the author of the Furaha website, I can only thank you. It just so happens that I love alternate history, so I'm happy to have found a whole forum dedicated to it.:)
 

Roberto

Coen said:
Well, as the author of the Furaha website, I can only thank you. It just so happens that I love alternate history, so I'm happy to have found a whole forum dedicated to it.:)
Click to expand...

Welcome! I think you'll find yourself lacking much of the sanity you had before you joined the site after a while, but don't worry, you wont' miss it.

Great site, btw. Really thought out. Keep it up!
 

Hnau

Banned
Really? I caused you to join the forum? Wow. And so quickly! That's awesome. I'm a big fan of Furaha, it seems such a realistic habitable planet, that I'm modeling my own planetary creations after your format. Truly excellent. I hope you continue to work on it, and I bet you could get a larger audience from advertising it here.

BTW: Don't listen to AHF, he tries to make newcomers believe we're all crazy. But it's not all about the people, on this forum, but the great opportunity to discuss and create alternate history with other people that are interested in the subject.
 

Coen

Yes Hnau (what does that mean?), your mention caused me to visit here. Drop me a line about your world; I'm interested.

The Furaha website has been on line for several years, but I haven't got much time to spend on it, and never checked visitors. However, i've been using this service for a month or two now, that tells you how many people visited the site, and more importantly, from where they got referred there.

That's how I found out about the AH board (still trying to guess the meaning of the abbreviations on this board). I guess it's time I place the story of humanity on Furaha on my site, but first, I've got the animations of tetropters to work out.
 
Last edited:

Hnau

Banned
C.S. Lewis said:
...It became plain that Maleldil was a spirit without body, parts or passions. "He is not hnau," said the hrossa. "What is hnau?" asked Ransom. "You are hnau. I am hnau. The séroni are hnau. The pfifltriggi are hnau." ... "Which of the hnau rule?" [Ransom] asked. "Oyarsa rules," was the reply. "Is he hnau?" This puzzled them a little... Perhaps Oyarsa was a hnau, but a very different hnau. He had no death and no young.
Click to expand...
Yes, Hnau means a sentient, a thinking being. Just a short humble username I came up with. Yeah, you should definitely try to get some more input from the community here on the impact of humanity on Furaha, we have a lot of experience with figuring out how history develops and what-not. Hey, you probably do need a 'future history' to detail how humankind got to Furaha. The Future History Forum is centered on trying to figure out a plausible timeline of the future. All in the name of worldbuilding, of course.

There are a few people here that are attempting to build their own plausible, habitable worlds with realistic ecologies, geography and so forth, as you have done. I'll try to find some links for you later on that. Anyway, I've just recently began a project to create a world around Beta Canum Venaticorumaka 'Chara'.

- 96% gravity
- Axis is tilted only 2.6 degrees
- One continent, 63% of the planet is covered with water
- The main idea is that its a tropical swamp/jungle planet that is slightly metal-poor. This trend, along with the fact that more of the planet is covered with land, means that the world has 350% as much petroleum.
- I'm trying to detail the history of the sentient race that lives here. They begin to use oil much earlier than we do, because of the prevalence, and so I'm trying to investigate how petroleum-based technology would work in an otherwise classical/medieval setting. It basically ends in a ecological disaster that forces the race to migrate off-planet (somewhat cliche, but...)

Anyway, I'm trying to give the planet a realistic, alien depth that... well, you're the first person I think to have pulled off correctly, no flattery intended. Its also fun to figure out how life would have adapted to the specific differences I'm highlighting.

So here's a question for you: Furaha has 116% Earth gravity, but it doesn't seem to impact the creatures that live there too much. What main differences do you think there are throughout evolution on a heavier or lighter planet?
 

Emperor Qianlong

Beta Canum Venaticorum? An excellent choice for an Earthlike planet, however I will disagree with that it would be metal-poor. The stellar database gives 96% metalicity for Beta Canum Venaticorum, which is almost the same as that of our sun. And to use a lower metalicity as an explanation why your planet has higher amount of hydrocarbons is... a bit unlikely. I think, you'd have to think about more about the prehistory of your world.
 

Coen

Hnau said:
I'm trying to detail the history of the sentient race that lives here. They begin to use oil much earlier than we do, because of the prevalence, and so I'm trying to investigate how petroleum-based technology would work in an otherwise classical/medieval setting. It basically ends in a ecological disaster that forces the race to migrate off-planet (somewhat cliche, but...)

So here's a question for you: Furaha has 116% Earth gravity, but it doesn't seem to impact the creatures that live there too much. What main differences do you think there are throughout evolution on a heavier or lighter planet?
Click to expand...

Starting with the first bit: I purposely avoided having a sentient race on Furaha. Well, one did exist for a while: a hexapod carnivore evolving on an island. It's extinct now, and the local fauna conspiciously lacks any large animals. The thing is I wanted to play with biology, not with technology. I thought that the sentient race would probably wreck the ecosystem, so down the drain they went. The only reason there are humans on Furaha is to provide readers with some human interset. I can see the fun in designing cultures. The way of thinking of an alien race will take some doing, I guess.

As for gravity, it will depend: for lifeforms swimming (i.e. moving in fluids) gravity should matter much less than for land-dwellers. For them, 1.15 G won't affect biomechanical constraints very much. You may notice that legs are generally a bit thicker than on Earth, but that might also have to do with the strength of the 'bones'.

If you wish to get an idea of what a large range of gravity forces would do to the biomechanics of animals, simply have a look at what size does to Earth's animals. Very small animals can get away with long spindly legs sticking out sideways; they can also jump easily and fall from great heights without problems. Very large ones need thick columnar legs, and don't jump (elephants cannot jump at all). Reduce gravity, and the type of design that now works only for very small animals will also work for larger ones. The reverse also applies: with very high gravity a cat-sized animal had better trundle along on thick columnar legs. Perhaps more legs would also be a good idea (to reduce the risk of falling).

Gravity probably affects flight the strongest. Note that this applies mostly to heavier-than-air designs. The energy balance quickly becomes untenable for high gravities. For lighter-than-air, gravity has no direct effect, but the density of the atmosphere does: the denser the better for a balloon. That's why Furaha has a rather dense atmosphere. Even there, the existence of ballooning lifeforms is probably stretching it.
 

Ofaloaf

Oh wow, organic zeppelins! How would that work, though? Does the lighter-than-air trick involve the digestive processes at all, or what?

Also, the Seasoar page doesn't have any size comparison figure on it. How large are the creatures?
 

Hnau

Banned
Beta Canum Venaticorum? An excellent choice for an Earthlike planet, however I will disagree with that it would be metal-poor. The stellar database gives 96% metalicity for Beta Canum Venaticorum, which is almost the same as that of our sun. And to use a lower metalicity as an explanation why your planet has higher amount of hydrocarbons is... a bit unlikely. I think, you'd have to think about more about the prehistory of your world.
Click to expand...

Hrmph, I guess I explained that poorly. What I meant was because there were less hard metals, the natives must focus on petroleum-based technology rather than a metal-based technology early on, a switch between the two. Now metals are rare and petroleum easy to find.

Anyway, I know Chara has 96% metallicity, but hey, its possible that the planet itself might have a lower percentage. I'm thinking 90%, so, its not that big of a stretch.

Oh wow, organic zeppelins! How would that work, though? Does the lighter-than-air trick involve the digestive processes at all, or what?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was definitely a cool part of Furaha. I imagined that lighter-than-air organisms would vent gases to dive and then create new gasses by digestion. The idea to make them change color so as to change the temperature of the gases inside was ingenious.

The reverse also applies: with very high gravity a cat-sized animal had better trundle along on thick columnar legs. Perhaps more legs would also be a good idea (to reduce the risk of falling).
Click to expand...

Right. So thats why Furahan life are hexapods and on. On a lighter world, the opposite might mean more flitty bipeds. Hm... and more flying creatures.
 

Coen

Ofaloaf said:
Oh wow, organic zeppelins! How would that work, though? Does the lighter-than-air trick involve the digestive processes at all, or what?

Also, the Seasoar page doesn't have any size comparison figure on it. How large are the creatures?
Click to expand...

Hm, well, actually I haven't worked out the evolutionary background of the gas glands. I suppose it went as follows: the evolution of active lift control in proto-ballonts must have depended on various features, such as the segmented airsacs, a waxy airtight coating, and of course the gas glands. Some say ballonts started out as passive floaters, others say it started with gas production. They don't fossilise readily, so that question will probably stay open. Anyway, once the basic conditions are in place the new lifestyle changes the demands on the animal, causing a spurt in evolution. The gas glands now have no function in digestion, but it is possible and in fact rather likely that they indeed started out with such a function.

As for the size of the seasoar: the wingspan reaches three meters in old final-female specimens. They're quite impressive.
 

Bulldawg85

Dragons

Just to give you some suggestions on the flying creatures. I did see a show on the History Channel a yr or two ago about dragons. The show was a little what-if. It took the position that dragons were real, and if they were real how they could have evolved.
 

Analytical Engine

Bulldawg85 said:
Just to give you some suggestions on the flying creatures. I did see a show on the History Channel a yr or two ago about dragons. The show was a little what-if. It took the position that dragons were real, and if they were real how they could have evolved.
Click to expand...

Saw something like that on Channel 4... maybe the same program.

It was interesting, anyway. :cool:
 

Fardell

Furaha is interesting, but I am curious as to how far away from the Solar System the Nu Phoneceous (sp) System is.
 

Atom

Whats the tectonics like on Furaha? It has some odd features, like the Felician trench. Is that splitting or is it just an odd feature? Are Tendaguru and Auralgia experiencing lift from some small oceanic plates? are the Mts. Solitudinae old? Have you worked on climate yet?

I really really really like it. Especially the swimming and hexapodal life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top