posted
Sorry, my mind isn't working at all currently...
Well, are they feasible? You, of course, can make it resistant to space, maybe asteroids and such, but to any weapon? And can it hold at least any decent power source?(Do not call cold fusion in...)
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posted
It depends on what really a 'bioship' is. Is it some sort of genetically engineered living ship-creature? If so, then it probably needs to eat some technobabbly food, and poop (hey, if Trip can use it, so can I!) out warp speed. If you build a ship out of organic material (ie not growing a ship) then you probably would still need some more conventional equipment inside.
Overall though, I think bioships are quite unrealistic. 'Conventional' technology is so much more adaptable and more flexible.
capped
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posted
Well.. Is they feasible?
If its something that evolved in space, then it seems likely it could survive in space. I'm thinking we both watched Tin Man last night
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Quiggie
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posted
If it evolved in space, then how did the aliens get to it in the first place? The aliens must have at one time used inorganic ships and then encountered the bioships in space and decided to use them instead. Please don't flame me.
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Makes sense to me. The aliens that used Tin Man as a ship probably encountered his species in space some how. They were probably telepathic since Gomtu obviously had telepathic powers and since the normal humanoid instinct wouldn't be to beam inside a living creature...
capped
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Member # 709
posted
*not sure who to flame first*
Of course, if Tam Elbrun was speaking truly when he said that the ship and crew were symbiotic, i.e. they NEEDED each other to survive, the ships would have to have evolved in the same place where the humanoid crew evolved (keeping in mind that we have no idea that the orginal crew were humanoid.. they could have been ambulatory miniature versions of Tin Man for all we know, a variation between their species for whatever purpose.. like the difference between a queen and a worker).. perhaps a harsh planetary environment evolved highly armored large creatures and smaller ones that could live within, and then the space travel came later
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I meant that ,I think, it's ultimately impossible to make a bioship able to resist any decent weaponry, or make it able to have such weapons...
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capped
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Member # 709
posted
Oh, its always weapons with you isnt it?
Agreed.. a constructed (non-evolved) bioship would seem to be lacking the sophistication that could be built into a less complicated mechanical structure.. but i wouldnt underestimate the ability of an organic component to be evolved to a point where it could resist many weapons.. thats what evolution is. Especially if it had innate abilities to control energy as well.
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posted
I can think of one benefit of an organic ship right off the bat: a regenerative hull.
Think about it. First, any biological ship's hull is going to have to be extremely resistant to energy waves (especially EM, like ultraviolet), so adapting them to resist energy weapons isn't much of a leap. (Human skin is resistant to energy waves to a point, anyway.) But also, once damaged, the ship's hull can grow back.
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posted
Humans can't withstand plasma, or nuke, isn't it?
Can any organic material be able to withstand million-Celsius hot burst of plasma, or can neurons be used to transfer some 50 gigawatts of power, eh?
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capped
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posted
um.. yeah. there are a lot stronger forms of organic material out there than human flesh. creatures with chitinous shells, plants with really dense cellulose and other types of coatings and finally microbial life that can withstand extreme pressures of ocean trenches, and that can exist in lava tubes and other geologically heated locations.
I'm not saying theres anything on Earth that could survive the weapons fire you are describing (complete with made up power ratios), but there are life forms that can easily survive heats and stresses that would surprise you or I.
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The whole thing is, this is SCIENCE FICTION. We can theorize about whatever we want. And it's certainly semi-believable (at least, not "outlandish" like some concepts, like travelling at infinite velocity and evolving into lizards). A lifeform can evolve a "skin" that's more resistant to the rays and energies that can be found in outer space.
Heck, we already know that Gomtuu and "Junior" were space-borne organisms, so skin that's resistant to EM rays and stuff like that is certainly not a new sci-fi concept. Is it that much of a leap to go from there to absorbing other types of energy, like beam weaponry?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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capped
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posted
I just wish someone would absorb the thread title into something resembling grammatically correct English
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