Hypotheses about Kerbal Biology

[Jonfliesgoats]

Kerbals can live for extended periods of time without food and they are green.  Is it possible that they are mild autotrophs?  Since they can exist for long periods of time in metal capsules and EVA suits perhaps their chloroplasts are optimized for something other than p680 photons?  Maybe Kerbals are most efficient when exposed directly to low and medium levels of gamma radiation?

Kerbin, being as small as it is, probably has a very weak magnetosphere and only a wee bit of protection from solar radiation.  This means the Kerbals likely evolved on a planet bathed in radiation and have also developed an uncanny knack to repair their own genes.

While there are different Kerbal sexes, there are no observable Kerbal children and no references to Kerbal reproduction.  Perhaps Kerbals need to get into space to support their asexual Kerbal reproductive cycle?  Are Kerbals clonal?  Are the clones math-literate at creation?

[Leafbaron]

My guess is that they evolved from the same polymer chains that make up Flubber. While not utilizing proteins in the same way we Earth life forms do but rather chains of polymers to achieve relatively the same effect. This would explain their extreme resilience to extremely high G loads and "bounciness" on unplanned EVA landings. Further testing is required. 

[nascarlaser1]

I think they are made them out of putty or rubber and a brain . This will let them have bodily functions, but still be near indestructible.

[MaxwellsDemon]

1 hour ago, Jonfliesgoats said:

While there are different Kerbal sexes, there are no observable Kerbal children and no references to Kerbal reproduction.

They don't discuss it with outsiders.

But, furthering the frog-people idea... their young are tadpoles in the water.  By the time they emerge, they're recognizably Kerbals.  But their spawning grounds are well-hidden...

[Leafbaron]

2 minutes ago, MaxwellsDemon said:

They don't discuss it with outsiders.

But, furthering the frog-people idea... their young are tadpoles in the water.  By the time they emerge, they're recognizably Kerbals.  But their spawning grounds are well-hidden...

Like Kiff from Futurama. 

[MaxwellsDemon]

2 minutes ago, Leafbaron said:

Like Kiff from Futurama. 

He looks rather Kerbal, doesn't he?  

[Jonfliesgoats]

I like the idea of Kiff as an exiled Kerbal.  Frog-people Kerbals sounds like a good way to go.  Somewhere there are hidden globs of fertilized Kerbal eggs hanging on the under rocks.

Kerbal puberty?  Slide rules, water parks and bubble nests?

[Haruspex]

I'll just leave this here:

Random musings on Kerbal biology and society

[cubinator]

Kerbals are colonies of Mystery Goo.

[Kosmonaut]

I always thought of Kerbals as an advanced plant-based life form, hence the green, lack of throats, and very few external features. I like to think that they reproduce when they die. Those little puff-rings could be spores, who attach themselves to the ground, or another plant, or something, and grow into fully fledged kerbals.

[KerbalKore]

 maybe they have no need for oxygen and their eggs are fertilized by the radiation? or is mystery goo egg sacs?

Edited October 3, 2016 by Bill the Kerbal

[Grenartia]

I always figured they had a knack for handling ionizing radiation (why else would they consider a NERV to be a viable engine?), and, given their ability to exist for years on nothing but air and light, some sort of autotroph. 

[Ty Tan Tu]

I have always wonder if they are not related to to H. P. Lovecraft's "Elder Things" form his novel At the Mountain of Madness. They obviously don't look nearly the same, but the "Elder Things" appear to be have plant, half animal. Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia:

Quote

 

They also differed in that they had a five-lobed brain. The Elder Things exhibited vegetable as well as animal characteristics, and in terms of reproduction, multiplied using spores, although they discouraged increasing their numbers except when colonizing new regions. Though they could make use of both organic and inorganic substances, the Elder Things were carnivorous by preference. They were also amphibious.

The bodies of the Elder Things were incredibly tough, capable of withstanding the pressures of the deepest ocean. Few died except by accident or violence. The beings were also capable of hibernating for vast epochs of time. Nonetheless, unlike many other beings of the Mythos, the Elder Things were made of normal, terrestrial matter.

 

 

[Rath]

On September 17, 2016 at 3:27 AM, Jonfliesgoats said:

Kerbals can live for extended periods of time without food and they are green.  Is it possible that they are mild autotrophs?  Since they can exist for long periods of time in metal capsules and EVA suits perhaps their chloroplasts are optimized for something other than p680 photons?  Maybe Kerbals are most efficient when exposed directly to low and medium levels of gamma radiation?

Kerbin, being as small as it is, probably has a very weak magnetosphere and only a wee bit of protection from solar radiation.  This means the Kerbals likely evolved on a planet bathed in radiation and have also developed an uncanny knack to repair their own genes.

While there are different Kerbal sexes, there are no observable Kerbal children and no references to Kerbal reproduction.  Perhaps Kerbals need to get into space to support their asexual Kerbal reproductive cycle?  Are Kerbals clonal?  Are the clones math-literate at creation?

There are kerbal children.

it mentions take-your-kid-to-work-day in the description of one of the mk3 adapters (says "kurvy" on it).

i think it's the mk3 to mk2?

[Rath]

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Mk3_to_Mk2_Adapter

here it is:

Our engineers insisted on a way to reuse Mk2 parts on the new Fuselage system. Manufacturing a streamlined adapter despite the considerable difference of the two cross sections required quite a radical design. It is often used as a slide on Take Your Kids to Work Day.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Rath

[ansaman]

On 9/16/2016 at 3:27 PM, Jonfliesgoats said:

While there are different Kerbal sexes, there are no observable Kerbal children and no references to Kerbal reproduction.

They are VERY protective of their children which they keep hidden because of a being called Harvester who is rumored to snatch the children up and eat them in a salad. They call the act of reproduction "doing the Falanghe" but they never have been seen doing it.

[eddiew]

15 hours ago, Rath said:

It is often used as a slide on Take Your Kids to Work Day.

Don't need kids to drop the kids off at the pool...

[Jonfliesgoats]

Kerbals have take your children to work day but no children can be observed.  Does this mean that Kerbal children are indistinguishable from adults?  It would explain the hilarious engineering mishaps and misspellings.

Hidden Kerbal children: owing to the difficulty in finding cave systems and large excavations on Kerbin, the children of Kerbals must be hidden somewhere on Kerbin's surface or under the sea.  Other frog-people hypotheses would lend some credence to the sea-children notion.

[ExtremeSquared]

Considering every single body in the system contains nondescript life forms in stock KSP, even the Mercury and Pluto analogs, I'd say they play by different biological rules.

[Jim Kernan]

 Kerbals are plant based. They need pressure in space but don't need oxygen. Their tanks most likely contain CO2. Nor food as we know it. Snacks are most likely fertilizer tabs. They reproduce by budding. Before a kerbal goes into space or jumps into an aircraft, they take a small snippet of them just in case. That way they can speed grow a replacement kerbal. Another thing is their language. They write in English (or whatever language you normally use  ) but they read the words backwards as well as speak backwards. That's why we can read the stuff they write. They live underground in vast tunnels and caverns. During the day you can find them sunning themselves. At night they go back underground. 

 

*This is only my roleplay. Your roleplay can be anything you want

 

[FirstSecondThird]

I simply thought that the females laid eggs. But this is much better.