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Genies!

Join us in talking discussing all things Honor, including (but not limited to) tactics, favorite characters, and book discussions.
Re: Genies!
Post by namelessfly   » Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:35 pm

namelessfly

A good point.

However; genetic isolation between human subspecies was never total. Their was always some adventurous young male roaming far from home in a quest for women. The amen in turn tended to be receptive to successful travelers.

There is also the issue of how alien viruses and prions will affect human DNA. Throw in extreme environments and speciation would be more rapid.

However; the biggest factor in the Honorverse is genetic engineering. The GEs might be designed to be a new species or the genetic engineering might be imperfect (Grayson) or the genetic modification will be further alter by natural selection.


JohnRoth wrote:
TheGlyphstone wrote:To try and drag this back on-topic, what other variations of humanity might exist out there in the universe who adapted to their environments? Graysons were intentionally modified for pollutant filtration and mutated further from there to handle the toxic metal contents of their planet...the Mfecanes were subjected to genetic experiments on top of being residents of a heavy-gravity world. But how far might have some hypothetical undiscovered human colonies drifted to keep up with their homes in conditions other than simple gravity variances, and how far would they need to drift before they're not really 'human' anymore? (a more complicated question than 'can they breed together, since donkeys+horses can produce (sterile) offspring.



A long time ago I saw a comment that it takes about 5 million years for two groups of primates to achieve reproductive isolation - that is, strong form speciation.

We know that Neanderthals and modern Homo Sapiens could interbreed, and they parted ways 500 to 800 thousand years ago. Add in the mysterious Denisovians and the even more mysterious "archaic species" lurking somewhere in darkest Africa, and I wouldn't think 2000 years is anywhere near sufficient, regardless of how harsh natural selection happened. Extinction for that branch is more likely. Unnatural selection, now, that's possible, but speculating about it is also arm-waving.
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Re: Genies!
Post by Chyort   » Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:22 pm

Chyort
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runsforcelery wrote:
Snip

My Dad was a pretty hard left Chicago-born and raised Democrat for his entire life, which led to some interesting table discussions, and also taught me the virtue of always assuming your opponent in a debate or in a political campaign is (a) human, (b) sincere, and (d) reasonably intelligent even if he does have the ineffably bad judgment to disagree with you. :)

Snip

Touch late to the convo, but i just cant resist making this joke....

(c) you later? :lol:
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Re: Genies!
Post by jchilds   » Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:37 am

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Did genetic engineering come late enough that the truly hardcore fanboys & girls of various genres missed the boat and died out? Or did they stick to biosculpt and spare their children?

Or are there some surviving colonies out there with some variation on pointy-eared tree-huggers or lumpy-headed opera lovers out there?
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Re: Genies!
Post by Michael Everett   » Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:44 pm

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jchilds wrote:Did genetic engineering come late enough that the truly hardcore fanboys & girls of various genres missed the boat and died out? Or did they stick to biosculpt and spare their children?

Or are there some surviving colonies out there with some variation on pointy-eared tree-huggers or lumpy-headed opera lovers out there?

There's a Star Trek book based on a colony that went by the rules of Comedy as their basis for the interactions with the rest of the galaxy.
IIRC, the book is called "How much for just the planet?"
And it is pretty much insane.
Good read, though.
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Re: Genies!
Post by Brigade XO   » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:57 pm

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Yeah, insane. Like local protocol requiring politicians and such (the Kilingon and Federation officers acting as diplomats) to wear skin tight (and not well tailored pants) which split up the butt when you bend over etc in deliberat very low comedy and slapstick fashion.
If you can't beat them (and they were never going to have a worthwhile military) embarrass into submission.
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Re: Genies!
Post by Theemile   » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:12 pm

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Brigade XO wrote:Yeah, insane. Like local protocol requiring politicians and such (the Kilingon and Federation officers acting as diplomats) to wear skin tight (and not well tailored pants) which split up the butt when you bend over etc in deliberat very low comedy and slapstick fashion.
If you can't beat them (and they were never going to have a worthwhile military) embarrass into submission.


The grumbling from all the factions on the preceived original functions of neckties before they became merely ornamental was priceless.
******
RFC said "refitting a Beowulfan SD to Manticoran standards would be just as difficult as refitting a standard SLN SD to those standards. In other words, it would be cheaper and faster to build new ships."
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Re: Genies!
Post by George J. Smith   » Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:04 pm

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I'm not sure this is the correct topic but her goes.

In The Stray there is mention of someone riding a horse and that made me wonder if animals, both pets and working types, were also modified for the heavier gravity of the 3 MBS planets.

Any thoughts or textev on anything of this nature.


T&R
GJS
Last edited by George J. Smith on Sun Mar 23, 2014 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
.
T&R
GJS

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Re: Genies!
Post by KNick   » Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:45 pm

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George J. Smith wrote:I'm not sure this is the correct topic but her goes.

In The Stray there is mention of someone riding a horse and that made me wonder if animals, both pets and working types, were also modified for the heavier gravity of the 3 MBS planets.

Any thoughts of textev on anything of this nature.


T&R
GJS


The only direct textev that I can recall off hand is the mention of modified goats one of the YA novels. I can't remember if it was the second half of ABF or Fire Season.
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Try to take a fisherman's fish and you will be tomorrows bait!!!
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Re: Genies!
Post by cthia   » Sat Mar 22, 2014 5:21 pm

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MaxxQ wrote:
TheGlyphstone wrote: If Thandi Palane and Honor went to the mat in a full-contact bout, who would win? And how much could we sell the tickets for? :D


Cue namelessfly in 3...2...

My rusty centicre's worth is on Honor for sure.
It's because of her Coup de vitesse which just seems to be such a raw form of martial arts. IMHO, someone going up against it for the first time would be in a heep of trouble.

Before Thandi knew what was happening she'd be getting her butt kicked...

Hey, this bitch is kicking my aiyeeee! Splat!

Same as happened to the Brotherhood of Maccabeus!

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Genies!
Post by KNick   » Sat Mar 22, 2014 5:36 pm

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cthia wrote:
TheGlyphstone wrote: If Thandi Palane and Honor went to the mat in a full-contact bout, who would win? And how much could we sell the tickets for? :D

MaxxQ wrote:Cue namelessfly in 3...2...

My rusty centicre's worth is on Honor for sure.
It's because of her Coup de vitesse which just seems to be such a raw form of martial arts. IMHO, someone going up against it for the first time would be in a heep of trouble.

Before Thandi knew what was happening she'd be getting her butt kicked...

Hey, this bitch is kicking my aiyeeee! Splat!

Same as happened to the Brotherhood of Maccabeus!


Honor only has two advantages over Thandi. More experience and her prosthetic arm. Thandi is trained in more types and is probably faster. (For all we know, Thandi has her own Black Belt in Coup). Also, Thandi works out regularly against people who are a close match for Honor physically (and kicks their asses, as in broken bones when she's mad at them).
_


Try to take a fisherman's fish and you will be tomorrows bait!!!
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