Today, a Sea Slug. Tomorrow, ... ?

Jeff Wilson · 18 Jan 2010, 02:44 · from 2010-January.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:44:49 -0600 (CST)
Subject: (urth) Today, a Sea Slug. Tomorrow, ... ?
In-Reply-To: <4B53AFEE.3080204 at verizon.net>
References: <mailman.1.1263766583.1573.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
	<4B53AFEE.3080204 at verizon.net>
Message-ID: <92f04c0926e3c47a86eabf9d054e8154.squirrel at webmail.prismnet.com>

> Severian's friend the Green Man always seemed quite plausible to me. I
> hadn't realized just how plausible. Apparently a sea slug has
> incorporate algae genes into its genome and produces and uses
> chlorophyll inside its body:
>
> http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/53496/title/Sea_slug_steals_genes_for_greens,_makes_chlorophyll_like_a_plan

There's still a question of him being able to intercept enough sunlight to
be more active than a slug. A man-sized silhouette in Earthly conditions
intercepts less than 100 calories worth of sunlight a day. From the Green
Man's sunny smile, his people apparently still have humanlike teeth, so
presumably they can eat a variety of food to make up the deficit, but I'm
not sure if reducing your food needs by 1/30 is worth the hassle.

It might be that the chlorophyll isn't strictly for food, but for sensory
purposes; can anyone think of an occasion when the Green Man would need to
be able to feel a shadow falling on him, or would have to distinguish
between bright lights of different character?

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