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I’m still quoting from War’s End, which is in the editing stage. Coralie’s dog Bounce is bringing the Maung back to the group, and they are wondering how to feed it – and themselves, as they have only a limited supply of the emergency food bars.
“They do need different trace elements,” Ginger replied shortly after she took back the reader. “Mmm …. They can handle our amino acids — not a chirality problem — but they need a different balance than we do. Could be allergy problems, but probably not on the bars. This is not a complete reference, but I seem to remember that their bone structure is not based on calcium phosphate, or at least it’s got something else to make it stronger — they’re adapted to higher gravity than we are. I think they need more chlorine — there’s enough in their atmosphere to make Humans pretty sick. And several complex chemical compounds, like our vitamins, but there’s nothing we can do about that. At least they’re carbon-based and get their energy from oxidizing carbohydrates and hydrocarbons!”
If you’d like more information on the Maungs, check the second day of my world building week.
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Clever, well thought out detail , loved it!
Just being practical.
Nice excerpt. I’ll have to check and find out who the Maungs are.
This one’s going to have quite a role to play. (See the following post, which is live now.)
Amazing detail! Seems very real.
It is, to me. Has to be to write good science fiction.
Wow, that sounds very realistic.
I hope so.
Terrific excerpt! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for reading it.
Ginger is very knowledgeable. These bits of information about other races help to make your setting really realistic.
Ginger has a very complete and well-indexed reader. Plus she’s well-trained as a doctor.
Wow, the maung clearly need a dietician in this situation! As always, you have your science so well thought out and matter of fact! Another excellent excerpt!
Comes of being a scientist and a diabetic. (Have to keep track of what I eat.)
World-building has a practical side, always; in this case: how are you going to eat, and is eating the local food going to do you any good?
There is always an arms race between the eaten (including plants) and the eaters.
Nice detail as always. You seem to have strength in narratives. Good job!
Personal experience, in this case.
Very convincing technical details. Very nice snippet.
Instant attention grabber! Love your 8!
Well, food’s an essential for life.
Lots of … erm … food for thought here 🙂
I always hate it when writers assume that just because you can breathe the atmosphere you can safely eat the food too. Just look at all the things on Earth that some animals eat that are deadly poison to others. Glad to see someone poking at the complexities a bit.
Hardly! I have one planet where all the native animals are poisonous because of a microscopic organism in the water.
I knew you were brilliant, Sue Ann, but sheesh! This is amazing.
Mostly a combination of basic chemistry and living with diabetes.
Lots of science involved in this. I hope they can figure out how to solve the problem.
I hope the science doesn’t turn people off, but of course I’m aiming for a science fiction audience.
Very, very interesting, Sue. I like that you delve into their biology and chemistry, and steer the focus away from the emotional aspect of them. Nicely done.
Well, if you’re going to keep a Maung alive, you’d better know what it eats.
A lot of detail there… It’s clear you’ve done your homework before writing these. Keep putting the science into science fiction 😉
Actually I am a retired scientist. Atmospheric science, but I have a fair background in physics, basic chemistry, and geophysics.
You just took me back over 15 years to my college days! (Biology / biochemistry double major). Love the detail you have in here and how you managed to do so in such a conversational way.
I’d have to go back 50 years to a course I once took from Carl Sagan when he was teaching a class at Harvard–Post-Doc, I think. Some of it stuck.