Life on Eve?

[DRAG0Nmon]

Hi, I am new to the forums. So, uh. . . hi.

It seems that the only possible life in the Kerbol System other than Kerbin is Laythe, which is why many people focus on traveling there. But what if there was life elsewhere, like Duna, Moho, or Eve. Eve's purple color is explained by iodine in the atmosphere. But what if it was because of another reason, one that supported life?

Tons of people don't know this, but Earth used to be purple, not green. Today, plant cells use something called chloroplast, which allows them to use photosynthesis and gives them green color. But many years ago when plant life was brand new, they used something else to use photosynthesis, and this gave them a purple color, not green. So is this why Eve is purple? Maybe, because the abundance of CO2 (what plants breathe) and sunlight could allow plant life to exist.

Of course, there is no way to prove this in the game right now, but it's always fun to speculate. I have not been to Eve yet, but it's on the top of my list!

[KerikBalm]

1 hour ago, DRAG0Nmon said:

Tons of people don't know this, but Earth used to be purple, not green. Today, plant cells use something called chloroplast, which allows them to use photosynthesis and gives them green color. But many years ago when plant life was brand new, they used something else to use photosynthesis, and this gave them a purple color, not green.

#1 - its chlorphyl, not chloroplasts that give the green color. Plants contain chloroplasts which have chlorphyl, but there are bacteria that photosynthesize (cyanobacteria) that have chlorphyl. Bacteria do not have chloroplasts.

#2) its not certain that Earth used to "be purple", but it is a fairly well supported hypothesis.

Additionally, there are purple bacteria on Earth, right now, that do photosynthesis with purple pigments (photorhodopsin if I recall correctly, without googling). I'm 99% sure that they can't fix CO2, and as far as we know, there were no purple photosynthesizers that could make use of atmospheric CO2 (though I am sure life could find a way if conditions favored that)

[Vanamonde]

When you get there, enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. They are not purple.  

[ExtremeSquared]

If you look closely in the R&D building, the game claims there is life on every body. All biomes contain life, and every body contains biomes. It's probably not the same sort of life that we are familiar with -- even anaerobic Earth bacteria would struggle on Moho and Eeloo.

[DRAG0Nmon]

1 hour ago, ExtremeSquared said:

If you look closely in the R&D building, the game claims there is life on every body. All biomes contain life, and every body contains biomes. It's probably not the same sort of life that we are familiar with -- even anaerobic Earth bacteria would struggle on Moho and Eeloo.

Interesting, I will look out for that. I wonder why KSC is being so secretive about it?

[ExtremeSquared]

It's generally considered to be a mistake made by developers who don't know much about biology. But at the same time, the mistake has been there long enough I consider it canon. Just assume everything in the system is made from mystery goo.

[Tyko]

the Kraken lurks in the dark corners of all bodies waiting to gobble up landers

[Fearless Son]

On 4/5/2019 at 4:45 PM, ExtremeSquared said:

It's generally considered to be a mistake made by developers who don't know much about biology. But at the same time, the mistake has been there long enough I consider it canon. Just assume everything in the system is made from mystery goo.

Yeah, "biomes" always felt like a misnomer or awkward translation because it implies the presence of life that is distinct to that region, and only Kerbin shows clear evidence of regionally-distinct life beyond an endolithic scale.  "Ecotopes" would probably be more accurate term, since that implies a spatially homogeneous region of geography that can include both biotic and abiotic elements, so it would apply to Dres as equally as it would to Kerbin.

[theJesuit]

I wonder if exotopes could be used through a 'language' change?

We could have a proper English language pack called UK or QE for Queen's English.

[pincushionman]

On 4/5/2019 at 4:16 PM, ExtremeSquared said:

If you look closely in the R&D building, the game claims there is life on every body. All biomes contain life, and every body contains biomes. It's probably not the same sort of life that we are familiar with -- even anaerobic Earth bacteria would struggle on Moho and Eeloo.

If I understand you correctly, you’re saying that somewhere it says “all biomes have life,” and you’re extending that statement because all bodies have “biomes” (if it instead actually says all bodies have life, a screenie would help convince me)?

If that’s so, remember that at one time only Kerbin had “biomes” per se, and it may have been that the statement was true then and never updated.

I do agree with the other posters; “biomes” is not really accurate in this context. I actually blame Minecraft for this. I’d never heard of biomes in a game world before they used the term (though their use of it isn’t unreasonable).

[GluttonyReaper]

2 hours ago, pincushionman said:

If that’s so, remember that at one time only Kerbin had “biomes” per se, and it may have been that the statement was true then and never updated.

IIRC, 'biomes' were added across all bodies at the same time. I believe that the developers were aware it was inaccurate, either before or shortly after it was implemented, but it was kept that way as there wasn't really a better term that could be used that people would immediately understand. 

[ExtremeSquared]

3 hours ago, pincushionman said:

you’re saying that somewhere it says “all biomes have life,” and you’re extending that statement because all bodies have “biomes” 

All biomes have life. All KSP bodies have biomes. Therefore all KSP bodies have life. This is a basic syllogism -- it's not really a contentious statement.

[Fearless Son]

On 4/17/2019 at 6:48 AM, pincushionman said:

I do agree with the other posters; “biomes” is not really accurate in this context. I actually blame Minecraft for this. I’d never heard of biomes in a game world before they used the term (though their use of it isn’t unreasonable).

I credit SimEarth for instilling me with an appropriate understanding of the word "biome", where it was a direct factor in the gameplay:

(Does this mean I'm old?  Oh Kod, it does mean I'm old...)

[KerikBalm]

On 4/17/2019 at 7:30 PM, ExtremeSquared said:

All biomes have life. All KSP bodies have biomes. Therefore all KSP bodies have life. This is a basic syllogism -- it's not really a contentious statement.

The devs native language is not English, and the use of the word biome doesn't make sense, therefore the most logical explanation is that the devs chose the wrong word.

All bodies in ksp having life all over their surfaces is ridiculous.

[ExtremeSquared]

Having to choose between ridiculous but pedantically correct and wrong is a personal choice. And at the end of the day, KSP is not exactly a simulator of anything but orbital physics.

[MisterKerman]

Chill Kerik. He was just pointing out something the devs put in the game as is, and then defending why he chose the words he used to come to a conclusion based on that same flawed dev logic in regards to a gripe another user had with the validity of the observation of what's legitimately in the game.

If you read all comments leading up to that, you'll realize he actually agrees with you.

[DRAG0Nmon]

On 4/20/2019 at 1:48 AM, KerikBalm said:

The devs native language is not English, and the use of the word biome doesn't make sense, therefore the most logical explanation is that the devs chose the wrong word.

All bodies in ksp having life all over their surfaces is ridiculous.

I agree. I don't see how any form of life, even a microbe, would be able to survive on Eeloo or Moho. This brings me back to the main topic, could their be life on Eve? I was looking for evidence based on Eve's characteristics, but it was a good observation made by ExtremeSquared, even if it is just a flaw made by the developers.