Inhumi eyes and names

António Pedro Marques · 28 Sep 2012, 17:38 · from 2012-September.txt.gz

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From: entonio at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?QW50w7NuaW8gUGVkcm8gTWFycXVlcw==?=)
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:38:32 +0100
Subject: (urth) Inhumi eyes and names
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Naming:
- There is no reason why the inhumi have to conform to the vironese 
convention, except maybe when they're named by or descended from some 
vironese person.
- Isn't Jahlee's name just a nom de guerre, derived from the word for 'liar' 
in gaonese or something like that?

Vision:
- I think this is one case where Wolfe just chose to go with a cool idea, 
not worrying very much whether it can be scientifically explained or not.
- At first sight, the inhumi would be able to filter out the refraction of 
light, but I don't think that's feasible (unless they don't see light, of 
course).

David Stockhoff wrote (28-09-2012 18:22):
> Regarding the vision thing:
>
> I've struggled with this question for years. I can think of only two
> possibilities. Either
>
> (1) Krait's vision sees all wavelengths but modulates its reception of light
> that is strong enough to overwhelm its reception of other light and is
> therefore incredibly /sensitive /to what we call visible light, or
>
> (2) it does not see light at all in the visible spectrum. As you say,
> infrared vision. This assumes the sun does not emit evenly across the board
> but rather more light than heat. That is easily checked, but you'd need to
> try wearing night vision goggles during the day to actually test it. Would
> you see the stars at day? I doubt it. The photons are there but just too
> weak, and probably especially in the infrared range.
>
> I suppose therefore a third possibility exists that incorporates both.
>
> On 9/28/2012 1:07 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>>
>> I just read a passage where Krait is discussing his vision and the vision
>> of all
>> inhumi. He says he can see clearly in fog and that the sky always looks
>> black to
>> him and the stars are always there.
>>
>> The fog and black sky elements seem to suggest infrared vision to me.
>> Makes sense
>> for a predator of warm blooded creatures. But could infrared be so
>> sensitive as to
>> detect heat differences between empty sky and stars? Or does he just mean he
>> can detect infrared radiation from stars in the daylight without it being
>> masked by the sun's output?
>>
>> Anyone remember anything else in Short Sun addressing this issue?
>>
>> Also, from the recent discussion of Quetzal's name I got curious about the
>> other inhumu
>> names we are given.  I knew a krait was a cobra relative. I just learned
>> that juganu is
>> Hindi for firefly or glow worm. The Hindi connection to krait is
>> interesting. Fava is of
>> course a plant/bean name. Used in India but not particularly associated
>> with it or Hindi.
>>
>> Then there is Jahlee. I can't find a plant named this or any variation of
>> the spelling as
>> I expected. I can't find an animal either.
>>
>> I am more than convinced the name Jahlee was meant to invoke Jahi, the
>> vampiric demoness
>> from Dr. Talos' play. This is a character played by Jolenta, who, like
>> Jahlee, is a red-
>> haired, busty sex goddess. The connections match up nicely.
>>
>> But I still wonder why Jahlee's name seems to defy the Vironese naming
>> convention, unlike
>> all the other inhumu. Are there any other named inhumu which could help
>> shed light on this
>> mystery?
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