Quote:Terminology correction issue. Like how sex is a physical characteristic and gender is a mental construct. People use the terms incorrectly. For instance one of the western US' tribes of plains Indians had a rite of passage called Sun Dancing. Sundancing involved putting up a pole and attaching the prospective men to it. By attaching I mean taking a strong stick stabbing it through the front of their chest (between the muscle across the front of the chest) then tieing leather tines between the pole and both ends of the stick. Then they wet the leather and its time to get off the pole. See leather shrinks under these conditions... slowly. This drags you up the pole... to pass you had to become unattached without using your hands. Or still be trying after sunset without giving up. Did I mention it starts at sun up.
...Huh? The fact that these people happen to have furry ears or funny colored hair really has nothing to do with their cultures. But they do have funny colored hair, they are human, and their cultures are different.
Well if you didn't want to participate those anatomically male could end up as a third gender... the wife how never gets pregnant. Anatomical females could participate in this and became a fourth gender the guy (hunter, warrior, husband) who tipped his guy friends off to not being home at a certain time when 'he' wanted offspring from 'his' wives (yes plural).
In western society we have 2 official genders and a few others that get less expectance. Some of our genders feel optional reconstructive surgery is an expression of their identity though its not actually required. The lines get messy here though. I had the anthropology course that this came up in in the late '90s so the details get a bit fuzzy and I think I recall some Earth societies had as many as 7-9 recognized.
Though like many things in sense the idiots of the Victorian era this is a screwed up issue to deal with the specifics of. Like how most illegal drugs are extreme refinements of ritual substances or herbs that were of were corrupted by idiots. Peyote and weed are classic examples of ritual substances used by idiots that ignore there being specific times and circumstances. Cocaine is a extreme refinement of a leaf chewed for stamina (a dental treat mainly).
Races are physically different groups that are all members of a single species that all can freely interbreed with each other. What I'm saying is that your stating that most of these races can freely interbreed. Which considering how quick genetics become uncrossable, it would take constant tweaking for that to work.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenclature_code for further input.
Quote:Thats why silicone based life is a popular concept. Silicon can be used in all the same chemical bonds as carbon... its basically the next molecule up on the periodic table of elements, but not a metal. Though carbon makes carbone dioxide gas and with silicon , silicon dioxide is sand.
In short, Spider biochemistry might or might not use carbon the same way ours does, but it does not use enough oxygen for them to included in their life support mixes...
periodic.lanl.gov/default.htm
Quote:Okay. Then tell me what you want them to be doing. I'll see if I can help with that. So far I have them really liking to play with exotic energies (that the other groups think is suicidal)... and them being hard wired enough to brain fry if they try to incorporate not them bits of tech into their bodies.
I don't know. It hasn't been decided yet... I'm sort of stumped for where to go with that, see...
So far I get a vibe of trying to become energy beings... not AIs, but basically more themselves then they are currently. Which means they have such focus on knowing themselves as they are now that they can't adapt to new parts. Their mental self image is that focused. They developed mental (or whatever they are screwing around with at a personal level) 'phantom limbs' that allow them to use limbs that are physically no longer there. They get exhausted they fall over or can't use that phantom arm to hold things. They still have to be physically viable though... their brain/heart/etc.. gets taken out they can't hold on.
The reason a selfaware AI, especially if they run into one which has digital/animated avatar for talking and a more or less humanoid personality. Nonlife life... they attack because they can't take things that aren't in their world view. They aren't evil just hard wired and hostile when confused.
Again thats from what I've seen so far. It can easily change. I mention that kind of AI, because I don't know the in system speeds of ships. If it take weeks or months to get from planet to planet and jump points are at systems edges, people have to do something. An "AI" could just be a diagnostic or system running program (engines, sensors, communications, the music server) that gives general read outs through their avatar (don't bother the captain with the niggling details, facial expressions work better). If getting minor errors it looks confused. A lot of errors it looks mad. Everything running smoothly it looks happy. System failure panic. Off line do to not in use sleeping. Broken or destroyed injured or dead. Etc... just an idea that hit me. Nothing advanced so much as something bored captains made the staff do for entertainment. Plus on days where your bored and half asleep having a suddenly damaged system icon start ranting prophecies of doom is better at getting your attention. Sound files with program triggers. It'll get more complicated over time... mostly from the attentions of bored crew. These are on upper monitor or a main one or five. That way the captain can look at the monitors rather than constantly distracting people from their jobs in a crisis. The read outs are for the professionals of the stations. That and it will further the idea of the humans being crazy... or an are they are strangely advanced in.
Quote:Lost me here... Orion is a reference to what? Does it even matter?
well, they do the bang-bang boogie. Aka, Orion.
Quote:Unless they send an autonomous explosive devise to sit on their engine block then run and remote detonate it. Run away and drop off some stealth suicide drones and you can take out a fleet with a single bomber.
But no one tries to attack the rear end of their ships. Well, not more than once. The big sheet of armor may be a gunnery blind spot but there's too much chance of taking a nuke in the face.
With the gravity though, humans will have to spend most of their time in 1 g gravity zones or with weighted suits on or their going to suffer ill effects. Brittle bones and the like... being in low gravity for too long messes up hearts and the other organs. Thats why space shuttle crews and other astronauts are taken out on stretchers.