Kharaa Scientific Documents: Rapid Mitosis, Etc.
the_x5
the Xzianthian Join Date: 2004-03-02 Member: 27041Members, Constellation
the Xzianthian Join Date: 2004-03-02 Member: 27041Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">various important FAQs</div> <span style='color:gray'>Before I can explain the phenomena of self-regen and metabolize, I must share some important classification information and get a little into the proteins. Rapid self-regeneration is intrinsic to every cell of every tissue of every member in a Kharaa collective and is perhaps a symbol of their greatest strength: very, very fast growth.</span>
<span style='color:yellow'>What is the Official Taxonomy of the Kharaa?</span>
Recent genetic mapping of the DNA various cell from the Kharaa have finally proven that they are technically not bacteria descendants but archaea methanogen-thermophile hybrids. They have several similarities to bacterial but are multicellular and have all but two traits which are requirements of archaea used to differentiate them from bacteria:
<!--QuoteBegin-table+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (table)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><span style='font-family:Courier'> Bacteria Kharaa Archaea
Nuclear Envelope Absent Present Absent
Membrane-enclosed organelles Absent Present Mostly Absent
Membrane lipids Unbranched hydrocarbons A few branched hydrocarbons, mostly unbranched A few branched hydrocarbons, mostly unbranched
Peptidoglycan in cell wall Present Absent Absent
RNA polymerase One kind Several kinds Several kinds
Initiator amino acid for start of protein synthesis Formylmethionine Methionine Methionine
Introns? Rare Present Present
Response to streptomycin and chloramphenicol Growth inhibited No effect No effect
Histones associated with DNA Absent Present Present</span><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thus:
Domain Archaea
Kingdom Euyarchaeota – Crenarchaeota is probably more accurate but since they have traits of methanogens they have to go in this kingdom
Phylum Methanothermophilia – are both methanogens and thermophiles
Group Myxoarchaea -- named after the bacterial group with a similar prefix because Kharaa also form elaborate colonies (obviously an understatement), and also because they too secrete a slimy substratum mucus on which the cells glide (usually this stops on maturity for most things in the collective)
Genus Amoebamycetes --amoeba cells, mycelium forming
Species Velociacutus -- "vicious fast"
<span style='color:yellow'>Huh? I'm lost. What would the binomial nomenclature be for the Kharaa then?</span>
Their scientific name is <b><i>Amoebamycetes velociacutus</i></b>.
<span style='color:yellow'>Any other catagorizations Kharaa fall under?</span>
You bet! As the most versitale lifeform ever discovered Kharaa share many existing biological catagories with other organisms. Here are a few more things Kharaa collectives can be classified as:
<span style='color:green'>zoomycetes</span> – things which are both fungi and animal
<span style='color:green'>methanogens</span> – produce chemoautotropic energy by using carbon dioxide to oxidize hydrogen gas to produce methane. Kharaa have since adapted the ability to combust this methane with oxygen which produces water and carbon dioxide to be recycled. This energy is temporarily stored in sugars and energize-able proteins (much like <a href='http://www.amsainc.com/atp-chemistry.asp' target='_blank'>adenosinetriphosphate</a>)
<span style='color:green'>opportunistic omnivores</span> – Kharaa units and the hyphae of the mycelium will eat anything this can; Kharaa units are active eaters as they need to supplement their energy and nutrition requirements (the aerial network doesn't provide enough energy). While they seem to be mostly carnivorous, they will actually also scavenge dead food or eat plants. If it is organic, Kharaa can eat it. Antibiotics used on the Kharaa may be effective only on first application. After adaptation most poisons are quite nutritious to Kharaa. (Why the poison laced bullets proved an engineering disaster)
<span style='color:green'>decomposers</span> – the hyphae of the myceliums actively seek out food sources. We don't think of the mycelium as of being active like the visible strucutres but it also grows very rapidly. Dead soldier bodies are rarely recovered, especially if the dead are in an infested area
<span style='color:green'>sentient colony</span> – Kharaa are united by one intelligence which is horribly misunderstood. Technically all members of the Kharaa are one collective being know as the hivemind. The hivemind is very intelligent and has one primary objective: to ensure the colonies live, which means survival first. As long as you do not present a threat to the Kharaa, they will ignore you. Any threats are dealt with quickly, the hivemind may ponder strategies but the response is ASAP and brutal. And the Kharaa are amazingly strong at fighting for survival.
<span style='color:green'>parasites</span> – the hyphae attack cells using haustoria, but their true parasite qualities show when the Kharaa adapted away to parasitize direct current electricity. Resource nozzles in most facilities have a nice DC electical connection, this is arguably the final adaptation that allowed the Kharaa to match evenly with human military technology.
<span style='color:yellow'>What's in resource nozzle "steam" anyways?</span>
A lot of things but to keep it simple: <span style='color:orange'>hydrogen gas (50%), water (19%), and nanites (which carry various metals, 31%). </span>The Kharaa find the nanites to be a nice little snack but pretty much useless. These nanites are not designed for immune functions and are merely microscopic construction vehicles used to carry metals and build materials.
The water is just there to keep the hydrogen from exploding. People often forget: <span style='color:orange'>most of the energy in the resource nozzle is provided by the electricity, not the steam. </span>
<span style='color:yellow'>Is it true that just one living haploid cell from any tissue can grow a new colony?</span>
This is not a myth, it is true! Now initially that cell (often a spore) will need favorable conditions: food source, something around 30 degrees Celsius, and plenty of water. But even one cell can learn to adapt to a food source and then being mitosis. Initially the group of cells forms a callus, a mass of undifferentiated cells. But this callus begins to differentiate when it is about 4 mL. This can indeed grow into a new colony as it did in Project Origin.
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the Kharaa haploids (N)?</span>
"bacterial" myceliums
aerial energy network cells (AENCs)
all chambers
gametic spores
other "ground" tissues
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the Kharaa diploids (2N)?</span>
all "independent units," the known are the following:
hives
skulks
gorges
fades
onii
lerks
<span style='color:yellow'>What are some common traits of the "independent units"?</span>
All are motile (except for hive)
All have bilateral symmetry
All have a digestive system (hive is only one with out a complete system)
All are quadrapeds (four limbs)
All have eyes
All have some sort of sound sensory organ
All can smell (and are very sensitive and accurate)
All have epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous tissues
All have an endoskeleton, some have exoskeleton parts (onos skull for example)
All are "sexless"; they have no genders but lerks undergoes meiosis to produce male and female endospores when, when combined with the spores from a different lerk, is the only known mean of sexual reproduction on the Kharaa (if we are assuming there are no other diploid lifeforms, then lerks are the only ones)
All have lungs and oxygen dependent, although it is rumored they have demonstrated the ability to stay underwater well, much like otters or whales.
All opportunistic feeders (hive gets most of its food though AENC and mycelium veins)
All have jointed appendages
<span style='color:yellow'>How does self-regeneration work?</span>
It's basically just insanely rapid mitosis and all Kharaa cells are capable of it. The hive is able to "heal spray" other things that are in range. There's not a whole lot to it. Most diploid units have sacrifice the rapidity for motility when they are created but can choose one of three genes activated by something known as the "defense chamber" and one of the genes is to evolve a way to regain this rapid mitosis. But there is a trade off. Some say it's much like continued rapid growth.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does carpace work?</span>
It's an increase in lignin, chitin, and collagen in epithelial skin cells forming a very tough armor. In some case this includes making small carbon nanotube matrices. It's is one of the three defense chamber genes a unit can choose to activate. Again, not a whole lot to it. It's a subdermal change that effects the epithelial cells.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does redemption work?</span>
The third gene choice available when activated by a defense chamber is the "redemption" which allow the hivemind to keep track of your health and teleport you back to a hive. To be honest, no one has observed how this works but it requires a complete colony to work. This is yet another one of the mysteries surrounding the almighty collective hivemind. The only thing we know for sure is that the hivemind has shown amazing superpsychic-like powers several times before. Summoning storms, unexplained shifts in gravity or electric fields that crash ships, teleportation, etc. We also know the highly intelligent fades know how redemption works. Finally unraveling the mystery of redemption could be huge in developing effective counters to the Kharaa. (The other really useful one would be the cloaking effect) One popular theory states that the chamber or redemption or something else triggers the hivemind to destroy the organism's body and respawn it at the hive. So while the conciousness is transfered by the collective the body the creature that is left behind is not the one that is made. Opponents of this theory argue that there is no way a unit as massive as an onos could be disassembled or reassembled that quickly.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does metabolize work?</span>
Fades are the only known motile unit which can heal itself without the defense chamber gene activated and regeneration restored. A fade can rapidly digest and metabolize food it has eaten to fuel quick tissue repairs in pulsing waves. The fade appears to look like it is puking when metabolize and makes a funny humming noise (which is actually the fade doing a big inhale similar to how a skulk does right before exploding in Xenocide; see How Xenocide Works) The fade adapted this technique independently, yet another testament to their underestimated intelligence. There metabolism is dependent on their "attack" symbiote. Which while most Kharaa have the tube like organs as part of their anatomy, the fade is the only one where the symbiote is a completely independent organism. Thus fades are technically two organisms in a symbiotic relationship. (soem argue that the symbiote is actually more of a parasite)
<span style='color:yellow'>Why do the diploid units need oxygen?</span>
Adapting form the human threat's model, the Kharaa made its units dependent on oxygen for combusting foods and recycling the methane waste to get more energy, vital water, and recycle the carbon dioxide to be reused by the methanogen tissues.
<span style='color:yellow'>Where does the hydrogen oxidization occur?</span>
Mostly in a type of chamber called an alien resource tower for lack of a better term. It is a specific adaptation to the human environment. It oxidizes the gas.
<span style='color:yellow'>Can hives and the "resource towers" live underwater?</span>
Unlike the motile Kharaa units, RTs can live well underwater by absorbing dissolved oxygen in the water though their permeable skin. The oxygen in the water is sufficient as long as it is not too deep.
Hives also absorb nitrogen, oxygen, and other nutrients though their mucus coated permeable skin but do have lungs and so must not be immersed in water above it's tentacle mouth.
<span style='color:yellow'>What is the Official Taxonomy of the Kharaa?</span>
Recent genetic mapping of the DNA various cell from the Kharaa have finally proven that they are technically not bacteria descendants but archaea methanogen-thermophile hybrids. They have several similarities to bacterial but are multicellular and have all but two traits which are requirements of archaea used to differentiate them from bacteria:
<!--QuoteBegin-table+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (table)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><span style='font-family:Courier'> Bacteria Kharaa Archaea
Nuclear Envelope Absent Present Absent
Membrane-enclosed organelles Absent Present Mostly Absent
Membrane lipids Unbranched hydrocarbons A few branched hydrocarbons, mostly unbranched A few branched hydrocarbons, mostly unbranched
Peptidoglycan in cell wall Present Absent Absent
RNA polymerase One kind Several kinds Several kinds
Initiator amino acid for start of protein synthesis Formylmethionine Methionine Methionine
Introns? Rare Present Present
Response to streptomycin and chloramphenicol Growth inhibited No effect No effect
Histones associated with DNA Absent Present Present</span><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thus:
Domain Archaea
Kingdom Euyarchaeota – Crenarchaeota is probably more accurate but since they have traits of methanogens they have to go in this kingdom
Phylum Methanothermophilia – are both methanogens and thermophiles
Group Myxoarchaea -- named after the bacterial group with a similar prefix because Kharaa also form elaborate colonies (obviously an understatement), and also because they too secrete a slimy substratum mucus on which the cells glide (usually this stops on maturity for most things in the collective)
Genus Amoebamycetes --amoeba cells, mycelium forming
Species Velociacutus -- "vicious fast"
<span style='color:yellow'>Huh? I'm lost. What would the binomial nomenclature be for the Kharaa then?</span>
Their scientific name is <b><i>Amoebamycetes velociacutus</i></b>.
<span style='color:yellow'>Any other catagorizations Kharaa fall under?</span>
You bet! As the most versitale lifeform ever discovered Kharaa share many existing biological catagories with other organisms. Here are a few more things Kharaa collectives can be classified as:
<span style='color:green'>zoomycetes</span> – things which are both fungi and animal
<span style='color:green'>methanogens</span> – produce chemoautotropic energy by using carbon dioxide to oxidize hydrogen gas to produce methane. Kharaa have since adapted the ability to combust this methane with oxygen which produces water and carbon dioxide to be recycled. This energy is temporarily stored in sugars and energize-able proteins (much like <a href='http://www.amsainc.com/atp-chemistry.asp' target='_blank'>adenosinetriphosphate</a>)
<span style='color:green'>opportunistic omnivores</span> – Kharaa units and the hyphae of the mycelium will eat anything this can; Kharaa units are active eaters as they need to supplement their energy and nutrition requirements (the aerial network doesn't provide enough energy). While they seem to be mostly carnivorous, they will actually also scavenge dead food or eat plants. If it is organic, Kharaa can eat it. Antibiotics used on the Kharaa may be effective only on first application. After adaptation most poisons are quite nutritious to Kharaa. (Why the poison laced bullets proved an engineering disaster)
<span style='color:green'>decomposers</span> – the hyphae of the myceliums actively seek out food sources. We don't think of the mycelium as of being active like the visible strucutres but it also grows very rapidly. Dead soldier bodies are rarely recovered, especially if the dead are in an infested area
<span style='color:green'>sentient colony</span> – Kharaa are united by one intelligence which is horribly misunderstood. Technically all members of the Kharaa are one collective being know as the hivemind. The hivemind is very intelligent and has one primary objective: to ensure the colonies live, which means survival first. As long as you do not present a threat to the Kharaa, they will ignore you. Any threats are dealt with quickly, the hivemind may ponder strategies but the response is ASAP and brutal. And the Kharaa are amazingly strong at fighting for survival.
<span style='color:green'>parasites</span> – the hyphae attack cells using haustoria, but their true parasite qualities show when the Kharaa adapted away to parasitize direct current electricity. Resource nozzles in most facilities have a nice DC electical connection, this is arguably the final adaptation that allowed the Kharaa to match evenly with human military technology.
<span style='color:yellow'>What's in resource nozzle "steam" anyways?</span>
A lot of things but to keep it simple: <span style='color:orange'>hydrogen gas (50%), water (19%), and nanites (which carry various metals, 31%). </span>The Kharaa find the nanites to be a nice little snack but pretty much useless. These nanites are not designed for immune functions and are merely microscopic construction vehicles used to carry metals and build materials.
The water is just there to keep the hydrogen from exploding. People often forget: <span style='color:orange'>most of the energy in the resource nozzle is provided by the electricity, not the steam. </span>
<span style='color:yellow'>Is it true that just one living haploid cell from any tissue can grow a new colony?</span>
This is not a myth, it is true! Now initially that cell (often a spore) will need favorable conditions: food source, something around 30 degrees Celsius, and plenty of water. But even one cell can learn to adapt to a food source and then being mitosis. Initially the group of cells forms a callus, a mass of undifferentiated cells. But this callus begins to differentiate when it is about 4 mL. This can indeed grow into a new colony as it did in Project Origin.
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the Kharaa haploids (N)?</span>
"bacterial" myceliums
aerial energy network cells (AENCs)
all chambers
gametic spores
other "ground" tissues
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the Kharaa diploids (2N)?</span>
all "independent units," the known are the following:
hives
skulks
gorges
fades
onii
lerks
<span style='color:yellow'>What are some common traits of the "independent units"?</span>
All are motile (except for hive)
All have bilateral symmetry
All have a digestive system (hive is only one with out a complete system)
All are quadrapeds (four limbs)
All have eyes
All have some sort of sound sensory organ
All can smell (and are very sensitive and accurate)
All have epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous tissues
All have an endoskeleton, some have exoskeleton parts (onos skull for example)
All are "sexless"; they have no genders but lerks undergoes meiosis to produce male and female endospores when, when combined with the spores from a different lerk, is the only known mean of sexual reproduction on the Kharaa (if we are assuming there are no other diploid lifeforms, then lerks are the only ones)
All have lungs and oxygen dependent, although it is rumored they have demonstrated the ability to stay underwater well, much like otters or whales.
All opportunistic feeders (hive gets most of its food though AENC and mycelium veins)
All have jointed appendages
<span style='color:yellow'>How does self-regeneration work?</span>
It's basically just insanely rapid mitosis and all Kharaa cells are capable of it. The hive is able to "heal spray" other things that are in range. There's not a whole lot to it. Most diploid units have sacrifice the rapidity for motility when they are created but can choose one of three genes activated by something known as the "defense chamber" and one of the genes is to evolve a way to regain this rapid mitosis. But there is a trade off. Some say it's much like continued rapid growth.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does carpace work?</span>
It's an increase in lignin, chitin, and collagen in epithelial skin cells forming a very tough armor. In some case this includes making small carbon nanotube matrices. It's is one of the three defense chamber genes a unit can choose to activate. Again, not a whole lot to it. It's a subdermal change that effects the epithelial cells.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does redemption work?</span>
The third gene choice available when activated by a defense chamber is the "redemption" which allow the hivemind to keep track of your health and teleport you back to a hive. To be honest, no one has observed how this works but it requires a complete colony to work. This is yet another one of the mysteries surrounding the almighty collective hivemind. The only thing we know for sure is that the hivemind has shown amazing superpsychic-like powers several times before. Summoning storms, unexplained shifts in gravity or electric fields that crash ships, teleportation, etc. We also know the highly intelligent fades know how redemption works. Finally unraveling the mystery of redemption could be huge in developing effective counters to the Kharaa. (The other really useful one would be the cloaking effect) One popular theory states that the chamber or redemption or something else triggers the hivemind to destroy the organism's body and respawn it at the hive. So while the conciousness is transfered by the collective the body the creature that is left behind is not the one that is made. Opponents of this theory argue that there is no way a unit as massive as an onos could be disassembled or reassembled that quickly.
<span style='color:yellow'>How does metabolize work?</span>
Fades are the only known motile unit which can heal itself without the defense chamber gene activated and regeneration restored. A fade can rapidly digest and metabolize food it has eaten to fuel quick tissue repairs in pulsing waves. The fade appears to look like it is puking when metabolize and makes a funny humming noise (which is actually the fade doing a big inhale similar to how a skulk does right before exploding in Xenocide; see How Xenocide Works) The fade adapted this technique independently, yet another testament to their underestimated intelligence. There metabolism is dependent on their "attack" symbiote. Which while most Kharaa have the tube like organs as part of their anatomy, the fade is the only one where the symbiote is a completely independent organism. Thus fades are technically two organisms in a symbiotic relationship. (soem argue that the symbiote is actually more of a parasite)
<span style='color:yellow'>Why do the diploid units need oxygen?</span>
Adapting form the human threat's model, the Kharaa made its units dependent on oxygen for combusting foods and recycling the methane waste to get more energy, vital water, and recycle the carbon dioxide to be reused by the methanogen tissues.
<span style='color:yellow'>Where does the hydrogen oxidization occur?</span>
Mostly in a type of chamber called an alien resource tower for lack of a better term. It is a specific adaptation to the human environment. It oxidizes the gas.
<span style='color:yellow'>Can hives and the "resource towers" live underwater?</span>
Unlike the motile Kharaa units, RTs can live well underwater by absorbing dissolved oxygen in the water though their permeable skin. The oxygen in the water is sufficient as long as it is not too deep.
Hives also absorb nitrogen, oxygen, and other nutrients though their mucus coated permeable skin but do have lungs and so must not be immersed in water above it's tentacle mouth.
Comments
<span style='color:yellow'>What is an "egg"?</span>
It is technically not an egg. It is a <span style='color:green'><i>chrysalis</i></span>. Much like the one insects produce when undergoing complete metamorphosis.
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/egg_rightside.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
The Kharaa chrysalis is used to completely change the organism in question. Hives can only produce skulks, but these skulks may produce a chrysalis at any time they have enough stored energy to undergo the metamorphosis. Even still most of the major anatomical features remain constant, even though they reform.
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/egg_mouthforming.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
The changing mouth is clearly visible in the above image.
<span style='color:yellow'>What was the evolutionary order in which the diploid units appeared?</span>
Skulks and gorges first appeared about the same time the hive did. Gorges have a unhinge-able jaw and no teeth. All higher level life forms are descendants of the skulk, not the gorge. Genetics and analysis of the anatomies of the various diploid units provided by the Frontiersmen prove this, but the best visible evidence of this is in the teeth and endoskeleton.
There isn't a whole lot remarkable about the skulk teeth:
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/skulk_teeth.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
There are three large lower canines and the rest of the teeth are tiny spikes which provide excellent grip. The skulk teeth are all replaceable (just like a shark's teeth) and are made of Aluminum Oxide enamel (versus Calcium carbonate) and re-enforced with a carbon crystal (diamond) matrix underneath. The result is the teeth are easily strong enough to chew though most metals. The lower canines appear to be adapted for penetration and tearing while the other teeth provide the grip.
Lerk teeth are a bit more evolved:
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/lerk_teeth.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Fade teeth are very similar to lerk teeth but the two side spikes have un-evolved.
In onii, the lerk spikes re-evolved back into tusk-like horns. Onos have completely different teeth and dental physiology.
In all of the other motile units known that have teeth (skulks, fades, lerks) they all grow in and stop growing. They can be lost but a new one will grow up in its place. Just like a shark. Onos, on the other hand, have teeth like a rodent. If they are lost they cannot be replaced, but they grow continuously and rapidly. This means an onos is adapted for a lot of chewing. Onos teeth are especially unusual because they are herbivorous, rather then the carnivorous teeth seen on the skulks, fades, and lerks.
so the order is:
hives, skulks, and gorges evolved at same time
gorges diverge from skulk lineage
skulks gave rise to fades (campare below ot see how similar they are)
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/fade_joints.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/skulk_leftside.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
fades gave rise to lerks (same feet as fades as you'll notice)
gorges and lerks combined traits to give rise to onos (similar endoskeletal structure from gorges, spike "tusks" from lerks)
(the onos and the lerk are newest)
<span style='color:yellow'>How many armor plates does an onos have?</span>
Officially, four. There is a thick layer of epithelial cells which forms a fifth but there are only four which are hardened.
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/onos_leftside.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the teeth, armor, and spikes of the Kharaa made of?</span>
Composition varies depending on what you are talking about. Offense chamber spikes are made out of cellulose and lignin and are made to be hard yet brittle. Almost all of the skin and structural supports in the entire collective have chitin in their cell walls. The enamel of the hard teeth, horns, and spikes on the motile units are made mostly of Aluminum oxide backed up by a diamond matrix.
<span style='color:yellow'>What are the skulk's spike feet and the fade's spike hands made of?</span>
They are made of the same material and enamel as the teeth except that they grow continuously.
<span style='color:yellow'>The fade is the only one with a "tube" which is a separate organism. What is it and what does it do?</span>
<img src='http://www.xzianthia.net/fade_symbiote.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Very interesting thing about the tube worm on the fade, I have never noticed
that it was pretty seperate from the fade itself before. I like the in depth
information about reproduction and healing too...
Very interesting thing about the tube worm on the fade, I have never noticed
that it was pretty seperate from the fade itself before. I like the in depth
information about reproduction and healing too... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm actually going to expand on the specific protiens and celluar processes later, but need to research some more.
After this I'd like to know how exactly stomp works.
My mouth = pwned
you: Kill the onos chrysalis!
noob: Huh?
you: The chrysalis! Kill it damnit!
noob: What's that?
you: The farking pink egg-like thing!
noob: Um how do I fire?
you: !!!
noob: How do I set the chrysalis on fire?
*onos chrysalis hatches, onos eats noob*
noob: Omg hax
noob: Hey why is my screen red?
Seriously though I'm having trouble getting Zunni to communicate with me on the changes and precise details in B6 so I can have an accurate manual/guide. Kinda like:
O_o -_- <_< >_> T_T
Zunni, Nem0, if you read this please talk to me so I can get this revised guide as accurate and complete.
PS: I am trying to make a team of people to work with me on the marine tech stuff. I also need this team to help be find important numberic value such as the velocities of various things, damage values, damage reductions values, etc. Then I can use a little reverse engineering and a physics to calculate the correct valuse for things like: pressure, mass, tension, force values, etc. Any help would be appreciated. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
If you want to see how qualified I might be to proof-read for you, check <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82449' target='_blank'>this</a> link.
I'll be a director and be in charge of the content of the project.
I need a right-hand man/woman to be my producer to organize the team and the project and force everyone to make the deadlines and prioritize things so I can realize my vision while not having organize all of the editing and who helping (as some people will enivitably want to join but then fall out)
And I need editors and statistics gathers. And damage value of 15 points means nothing for my calculus algorithms unless I can get some sort of quantifier.
In addition by chilising out all the detail into beautiful scientific professional looking research we will help grow some more things and make new discoveries:<ul><li>We might discover that certain values make no sense and have new ideas for the I&S grow.</li><li>We will encourage new people to bring in talent into the fan fiction forum</li><li>I will finally be able to present my orginal work of fiction, <i>the Hivemind: I live therefore I kill</i></li><li>And last but most important, the whole community will benefit from a beautiful and very deep manual. We will have a deeper understanding of the NS Continium. The maps and fan fiction stories will mean more and will have more detail to draw on. Plus, we might even draw in some new intelligent people to our community. And besides science own you.</li></ul>
So yes editing is good but I am wanting to make this a team project now, and this will require a little organization. I was wondering if a good method would be:
...for my producer to give me a list of questions to answer. I fill it out and leave some blanks for the values of things I may not have the answer for. (example: I still have a blank in the "How OC's work" in which I need the velocity of the OC spikes in order to begin calculating for the different pressures) Then the producer(s) coodinates with the information gathering gurus (NS Guides most likely) to give me the stats I need to complete my calculations. I present a final draft and the editors wack out any spelling errors or mistakes for the director and producer(s) to fix. When the whole giudes for Kharaa, TSA, and the history is completed I move onto making it into a webpage and other artists apply their graphic talents to make it frikin beautiful and then voila. New kick-****, uber-detailed manual abotu the science and history in the Natural-Selection world for everyone to enjoy and to be hosted in a place of honor. (preferbaly with a linkto it from the main page)
In addition by making the early rough draft in a FAQ style like I am, the text could easily be made into a .hlp file to be included with every future version of NS that is downloaded.
What do you think?
After this I'd like to know how exactly stomp works. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
no he's the best biologist in the TSA and also the main instructor at the TSA Headquarter <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
After this I'd like to know how exactly stomp works. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
no he's the best biologist in the TSA and also the main instructor at the TSA Headquarter <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
LoL. Yes, yes, and yes. (UofL speed engineering school fyi)
Thank you all for your wonderful compliments. I am getting fatigued of waiting for Zunni ro Nem0 to communicate better with me on the major changes they have planned to include in the next version therefore I shall now resume my work on this finishing this half project's writing and moving onto uber detailed technical data on the human technology used by the Frontiersmen. Hopefully time permitting I will have results sometime this comming week.
If you all may I think there is a way for all of you to help me futher refine this guide's information: <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='color:orange'>post FAQ style questions on how and why a phenomina is the way it is, asking for more detail on a specific thing I mentioned, correcting any errors, giving me more detailed technical information (like I need to know the velocity of the OC spikes, how many units a leap is, etc). I also want to open up to any FAQ you can think of abotu how or why of the human technology seen in the NS world. Don't hold back. The more you ask the better of an end totally new and revised guide you will have. I want it to be something you can have pride in, to be able to brag about to you friends or impress the teacher or parent who whines that games don't teach you anything.</span>
As part of citing my research in advance for the IPs, PGs, and commander drops basics, enter quantum teleportation sources:
Popular Science
Discovery
<a href='http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cpr/pres/107480_.pdf' target='_blank'>http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cpr/pres/107480_.pdf</a>
<a href='http://www.howstuffworks.com/teleportation.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.howstuffworks.com/teleportation.htm</a>
<a href='http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/teleportation/' target='_blank'>http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/teleportation/</a>
<a href='http://www.its.caltech.edu/~qoptics/teleport.html' target='_blank'>http://www.its.caltech.edu/~qoptics/teleport.html</a>
Obviously I will delve deeper into the technical aspects but now you have the basic background physics that allow the technology to manifest itself. Also quantum teleportaion has already <a href='http://www.quantum.univie.ac.at/research/photonentangle/teleport/index.html' target='_blank'>proven possible</a> with photons and it is likely that photons will be used in the process.
I also recommend reading the <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83009' target='_blank'>"Teleportation Paradox" thread</a> in the Off Topic forum.
Forgive me, but Kharaa units arn't "voracious eaters" according to the manual, "Hives pump out a steady stream of healing bacteria (see healing spray, regeneration and defensive chambers for corollaries). Nearby aliens can rapidly heal damage, and return to the fray. There is speculation that this process long ago replaced the Kharaa's natural need for food. It is not surprising they defend their hives so desperately."
On the other hand, maybe the manual isn't the thing to follow, for example, the manual states the things on the onos backs are tentacles used for whipping paralyzing barbs, this is no longer the case. The manual is too outdated to be very useful, so maybe you shouldn't try to be true to it.
BTW, I've read the whole manual about 3 times, if you need anything cross checked by the manual PM me. Another cool thing,
there is no Earth animal that bites like the Skulk. Super-tensile muscles are relaxed and swung open, and then tightened with incredible speed, raking its jagged teeth together. It is not trying to eat its enemies; it is trying to savage them, causing as much bleeding and damage as possible.