KSP- who says science doesn't apply?

[Poryy]

This thread is a place where you can post all of your theories about planets, rockets, and pretty much anything in KSP. Well written topics will go in the OP.

Example theory:

On Kerbal Biology:

Kerbals are a humanoid species that dwells on an improbable planet, orbiting an impossible star. Kerbals believe they are alone in the universe, but that is only because other races are afraid to brave the rings of spent SRB's and corpses surrounding the planet. Kerbals has very large heads, and two large bony ridges in their mouths that function as teeth. These "Teeth" give the impression that kerbals are herbivores. Kerbals have green skin, giving the impression of a plant-based life form. This makes sense, as they do not need food or water, nor sleep to survive.

Theory Gallery:

On Kerbal Spacesuits

Perhaps one of the most ingenious inventions of the Kerbal race (outside of the Self-Detonating SRB and Jeb's Coffee) is the technology which they utilize in their spacesuits. These marvels of high science are capable of maintaining any Kerbal wearing one indefinitely, as well as shielding them from falls that would easily kill a Kerbal not in a spacesuit. It was long believed that Kerbals simply do not need to eat or sleep, but recent discoveries have shown that this is not true. It is, however, very true that a Kerbal in a spacesuit does not need to do either, as their spacesuit's functionality halts all biological processes for the Kerbal in question. In fact, the Kerbal spacesuit is revolutionary in that it effectively kills the wearer without actually stealing away their awareness.

Because of this rather horrifying feature, Kerbals placed in a spacesuit are not actually animate; not in the usual sense, at least. Rather, their bodies are puppeted about by their suits at the whims of their mission controllers, while the Kerbal in the suit is effectively paralyzed in their state of semi-stasis. The horror at the realization of this tends to drive many Kerbals who are placed into spacesuits insane within seconds of launch. The only known way to alleviate the terror symptoms (besides being a "bad-S", the Kerbal term for one who is immune to fear) is to inject the Kerbal with RCS via their jetpack. This will calm even the most fearful and paranoid Kerbal instantly.

Under no circumstances should you ever agree to being put inside a Kerbal spacesuit, not if you're non-Kerbal especially not if you are Kerbal.

By SkyRender

Edited October 26, 2013 by Poryy

[Poryy]

Remember to post evidence as well. Things must be able to be observed in the stock game.

[Visitor]

The Oceans are not H2O:

The liquid that makes up much of Kerbin's surface, and that dominates the surface of Laythe is most likely not water, as even girders and I-beams float on it's surface easily. The densities required to give H2O such an effect are not present on either planet.

Kerbal Biology:

Kerbals seem to be able to extrude parachutes and tires, as they can repair or repack missing/used/broken parachutes/tires without ever needing additional supplies.

[Daman453]

Um, After extreme amount of time to themselves without kerbal contact, they are still happy to sit in a ocean for years a time, waiting in till they get back to the KSC.

[SkyRender]

On Kerbal Spacesuits

Perhaps one of the most ingenious inventions of the Kerbal race (outside of the Self-Detonating SRB and Jeb's Coffee) is the technology which they utilize in their spacesuits. These marvels of high science are capable of maintaining any Kerbal wearing one indefinitely, as well as shielding them from falls that would easily kill a Kerbal not in a spacesuit. It was long believed that Kerbals simply do not need to eat or sleep, but recent discoveries have shown that this is not true. It is, however, very true that a Kerbal in a spacesuit does not need to do either, as their spacesuit's functionality halts all biological processes for the Kerbal in question. In fact, the Kerbal spacesuit is revolutionary in that it effectively kills the wearer without actually stealing away their awareness.

Because of this rather horrifying feature, Kerbals placed in a spacesuit are not actually animate; not in the usual sense, at least. Rather, their bodies are puppeted about by their suits at the whims of their mission controllers, while the Kerbal in the suit is effectively paralyzed in their state of semi-stasis. The horror at the realization of this tends to drive many Kerbals who are placed into spacesuits insane within seconds of launch. The only known way to alleviate the terror symptoms (besides being a "bad-S", the Kerbal term for one who is immune to fear) is to inject the Kerbal with RCS via their jetpack. This will calm even the most fearful and paranoid Kerbal instantly.

Under no circumstances should you ever agree to being put inside a Kerbal spacesuit, not if you're non-Kerbal especially not if you are Kerbal.

[Savage117]

I always liked the idea that Kerbals were plants or plant-animal hybrids of some sort. I saw somewhere the KSP devs said that Kerbals are not plants, but as far as I know they have not said what they are, if not plants. If a plant creature eats other plants does that make them a carnivore or a herbivore?

Lets look at the facts

1: Kerbals are green in color, this does not guarantee they are plants. All photosynthesis needs is a color that can absorb the chosen light wavelength efficiently, on a planet called Earth, this color is mostly green, but it has been observed that dark colors may be just as effective if not less efficient at absorbing visible light from Earths star, The Sun. So, the green skin does not mean a Kerbal is a plant.

2: Kerbals seem to be able to survive near indefinitely without food or water or on very tiny amounts of it, this suggests another possible source of nourishment, prevailing theory seems to be photosynthesis.

3: Kerbals are able to endure extreme amounts of stress and gravitational forces without any known physical side effects, this suggests very flexible but strong skeletal systems and a lack of complex internal organs and circulatory system. Judging by facial expression they do experience emotional side effects when under the effect of these extremes.

4: Kerbals have no known sexes, it appears they are Asexual. It is possible they are produced by a, as yet unseen, "Queen" Kerbal and these are just the "Workers".

5: Kerbals display an advanced intelligence but seem to lack a fight or flight response, they show fear, or elation in the case of one unique subject, when under stress but do not run or fight, they continue on what ever task they have set for themselves This is possibly due to the absence of any known animal life, other than Kerbals, on Kerbin.

6: When a Kerbals body is put under more stress than it can handle they explode into a cloud of grayish black particles, it is thought that this is the death of the Kerbal, but some individuals seem to come back, where from is still unknown. This also suggests a more complex entity involved, an entity with the ability to store the personality of the individual and re-grow that individuals body after the previous bodies destruction, these individuals seem to be known by the local populace and are given orange flight suits to signify their celebrity and immortality. This entity seems to have an unlimited supply of material and unique personalities to produce these "Workers" with.

7: Kerbals seem to not have adaptive emotions, each individual reacts to stimuli differently, but will react the same way to the stimuli as they did the first time they experienced said stimuli, no matter how many times they experience that stimuli. For example a Kerbal that fears heights will always fear heights throughout its entire life.

8: Kerbal astro/aeronauts seem to be graded by they’re courageousness and stupidity, any applicant that gets negative scores in these fields is likely to be given jobs as scientists, engineers, or other essential jobs needed to run their space program. It seems a high score in stupidity, meaning a low intelligence, does not stop a Kerbal from becoming a astro/aeronaut. While in a Human space program a low intelligence, or high score in stupidity, would likely result in disastrous accidents and numerous deaths and is therefor avoided at all costs. Kerbals on the other hand seem to prefer high stupidity applicants despite the numerous accidents and deaths. Perhaps this is a translator malfunction and its supposed to mean smarts or intelligence, or Kerbals are using the dumbest most impressionable individuals they can find to either dispose of them, or use them should they succeed in not dieing horribly. In a way I find this method practical and logical, as long as you don't consider the moral ramifications.

9: A "natural" Kerbal death has never been observed. All Kerbal deaths seem to be violent or the cause of something that translates to the word "Kraken".

10: The Kerbol System seems to be located in a physically compressed space time region, known physical laws are different in the Kerbol system than in the Sol system, this phenomenons cause is still unknown.

Wall o text I know, but these are a bunch of theories I thought up on the fly.

[nadreck]

Personally I find the Kerbals remind me most of the Moties from Larry Niven's "The Mote in God's Eye"

[Jaxal1]

I don't think the reappearing Jebs, Bobs and Bills are reincarnated or anything like that: I think we're getting Jebidiah Kerman Jr. (III, IV, V, etc.)

[Godot]

I don't think the reappearing Jebs, Bobs and Bills are reincarnated or anything like that: I think we're getting Jebidiah Kerman Jr. (III, IV, V, etc.)

My hypothesis on this is, that there are clone tanks for Bill, Jeb and Bob and every time one of these 3 dies, another clone is raised and, a short time later, appears in the Kerbal Spaceport.

Unfortunately cloning (and storing the DNA samples needed for this) is expensive on Kerbin, which is why it was decided that only Bill, Jeb and Bob should profit from this technology

[SkyRender]

My hypothesis on this is, that there are clone tanks for Bill, Jeb and Bob and every time one of these 3 dies, another clone is raised and, a short time later, appears in the Kerbal Spaceport.

Unfortunately cloning (and storing the DNA samples needed for this) is expensive on Kerbin, which is why it was decided that only Bill, Jeb and Bob should profit from this technology

I rather like my theory better. It sort of opens up the door for Kerbals to basically "astrally project" themselves into the corpses of less-fortunate Kerbals who got recruited for the space program. That's not actually Jebediah Kerman up there, it's some poor intern who got "inserted" into a spacesuit and is pretty much an animated corpse that Jeb is controlling back on the ground at KSC. Nice and horrifying.

[Sirrobert]

cutting wall-o-text

Interesting theorys. I am especiallly intrigued by your 'queen' hypothesis. It would explain alot if such an entity were to exist.

Allow me to insert my own theorys into yours:

The existence of the 'queen' entity would explain the unweavering determination to do whatever Kerbals have been tasked with. Even in the face of certain death, they continue to perform the dutys that have been given to them.

On earth, the only analogus that comes close is the ant society, where the worker ants do everything for the nest, while the queen produces more workers. Ants are also known to sacrifice theyr own existance for the survival of the nest. Kerbals take this concept to a whole new level though. Instead of just sacrificing for survival, they will sacrifice themselves for every little thing the queen figure seems to demand of them.

In keeping the instect analogy, Kerbals seem to posses some form of what we know as 'hyvemind'. The Kerbal 'workers' all seem to follow orders given to them exactly, and these orders can seemingly be transmitted instantaneously over unlimited distance. What this means is, that the can transmit information faster than the speed of light. This could be either a form of telepathy, or maybe some highly advanced form of quantum entangled particles, or it could be information transmission as we know it, modified by the modifyd laws of physics, as talked about in theory #10 of Savage117.

The 'entity', as talked about in theory #6 of Savage117, could be some form of a devine being. My own theory on this, is that this entity and the 'queen' are the same figure, or somehow connected. This would explain the devotion of individual Kerbals to it's orders.

An alternativy theory on this, is that the 'divine being' is in reality some extremely technologicly advanced alien, stranded in the Kerbol System. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic afterall, so it could be that the Kerbals are tricked into THINKING that it is divine.

The existence of such an alien would explain the seemingly random jumps of technological advancements that the Kerbals are making, including the sudden jump from nearly nothing to space travel. In reality, it is the alien designing the technology, based on his own knowlage, and what he still has available of his own devices.

We are left to guess at the motifs of this alien, and his actions seem to randomly switch between perfectly excecuted launches, and seemingly intentional explosions

Edited October 25, 2013 by Sirrobert

[Poryy]

Observations on planet K1-1-1:

The planet, being the closest to it's sun, does not seem to harbour any of the effects that close solar proximity has on regular planets. This being said, it is much too hot for Us to seed life, and it will be impossible for it to develop life. The planet has a red-brown coloration, hinting at a large iron quantity, but there is no oxygen for oxidization to take place. Therefore, this must be either a result of volcanic activity or naturally occurring clay "bricks". This could be caused by minuscule amounts of clay being pushed up to the surface, then being baked. Why there could be clay on this extraordinarily barren planet is beyond comprehension. The planet seems to undergo volcanic cycles, each lasting 750 years. The planet in it's dormant state is incredibly boring looking, and I propose that We repurpose it. As discoverer, I will name this planet Moho, and add the memory to the minds of the inhabitants of planet K1-1-3.

Repurpose denied.

-Observer Ka'ren'shal

[Savage117]

I rather like my theory better. It sort of opens up the door for Kerbals to basically "astrally project" themselves into the corpses of less-fortunate Kerbals who got recruited for the space program. That's not actually Jebediah Kerman up there, it's some poor intern who got "inserted" into a spacesuit and is pretty much an animated corpse that Jeb is controlling back on the ground at KSC. Nice and horrifying.

I have to say, your theory kinda ruins KSP for me if I think about it, not because its a stupid theory or a wrong one, but because its so well put together and plausible. Im one of those people that hate killing my Kerbals, I know im crazy, but I like the little guys and want to see them succeed and not die in horrific fiery crashes. I do the YES!!! thing when my Kerbals survive one of the many horrific fiery crashes. And your theory terrifies me, you mean to tell me that my astronauts are already dead before I even bring them out to the launch pad, poor guys, now I can only ever use probes, boring, emotionless, expendable probes. Seriously creepy theory.

Im gonna go sit under the shower in my clothes and jibber for a while until the bad thoughts go away.

[dacamp66]

my private theory is that

A. kerbals are evolved from a sort of Euglena analogue (euglena is a protozoan that is both plant (has chlorophyll) and animal (can move around under its own power))

when active, kerbals need to eat/drink just like you and me; however due to the scarcity of natural resources on kerbin, most lifeforms on kerbin evolved the ability at need to go into a type of "torpor" in which they use incredibly tiny amounts of resources (don't knock it, IRL African lungfish and Water Hoarding Toad can do this for years)

B. kerbals are telepathic and share a kind of "telepathic internet" that can allow the entire race to concentrate on problems as needed. this is why they can advance up the tech tree so fast (you don't have just a few guys researching something, you've got millions of them brainstorming on it) however, the telepathy has a limited range and the farther away you are, the less info you can share. (range approx. edge of kerbin atmosphere) this is why kerbals had to invent radio, or as they call it "artificial thinktalk"

the most widely played game on kerbin is Telepathic poker, with "kerbopoly" and "K-UNO" tying for second place

Edited October 26, 2013 by dacamp66

[Skyrunner27]

Hypothosis

Kerbals are not plants but have developed a sort of hibernation style system. They are only not hibernating while the vessle is active.

Evidence

1. Squad has officailly stated that kerbals are not plants

2. The fact that Kerbals can survive without color change at any distance from Kerbol

3. The fact that Kerbals can remain indefinantly in any vehicle they have including EVA suits.

4. We can tell Kerbol was have varying degrees of light from solar panel power.

Conclusion

Hibernation Theory

1. All Kerbal vessels are equipped with hibernation pods including EVA suits.

2. Timewarp is a pseudonym for deepness of hibernation

3. The hibernation has effected some of the Kerbals intelligence as seen in most of the pilots in the KSP.

[Poryy]

Observations on planet K1-1-2:

The planet known as "Eve" by the seeded species on K1-1-3 is a deep purple color. It is unknown why this is the case, but everyone can agree it looks pretty. The oceans of Eve are possibly made up a radioactive element known as "Blutonium." The planet has a very thick atmosphere, possibly made up of a mild acid, explaining why solar panels randomely fall off.

-Observer Kame'Gar'Veidt