I still cannot get over the wonder and mystery of what gall wasps can do to plants. This is bio-engineering! The wasp lays her egg and somehow the plant makes a structure that is not a fruit, it is not a seed, it is not a leaf or stem. It's a wholly recombinant architecture customized to the needs of the growing young larva. The plant provides food and shelter-- It's like a cancer, but with a purpose.
How did it evolve? How is it done!?
(Photo by Timothy Boomer, https://wildmacro.com/)
@futurebird The science fiction species I'm writing are plant-people. Their "technology" is largely biohacking of their (and other plant) physiology.
A backpack? It's a living plant grafted to the host. A space ship? One of the People sacrificed themselves to be mutated into that vessel. Communication and transportation? "World trees" link colonies whose space-born seeds offer zero-risk expansion. #peirspapre #spapre
The complexity of life and its interactions will never cease to amaze.
@yewscion @futurebird Iām planning on swapping my instance over to something more conducive to long-form posting, to better share what Iāve got. Short answer: both.
I have a #Stellaris species collection + series of event chains (my favourite chain: archaeologists excavating an archaeologist excavationā¦ yo dawg) as well as at least two novels planned. āChildren of the Peopleā (the term for orphans of war) and one covering the Awakening (to being a sentient species) and the first #spapre Avatar.
myrmepropagandist
Rev. GothAlice
Claire Rodriguez