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Oni2:Slaves of War/Neo-Biology: Difference between revisions
"You use weird things." "This is useful. Take it." -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQWKnfT0UM#t=5m5s
("You use weird things." "This is useful. Take it." -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQWKnfT0UM#t=5m5s) |
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Let's look at real plants to get some inspiration. It seems that peering into nature closely only demonstrates how incapable we are of imagining anything stranger or more alien than the actual life that exists on this planet. Here's some stand-out examples: | Let's look at real plants to get some inspiration. It seems that peering into nature closely only demonstrates how incapable we are of imagining anything stranger or more alien than the actual life that exists on this planet. Here's some stand-out examples: | ||
===Sensitive | ===Sensitive plants=== | ||
*[[wikipedia:Mimosa_pudica|Mimosa pudica]] is known by countless names in countless languages because people the world over so enjoy touching it. No, seriously. It's usually referred to in English as touch-me-not, and in most other languages a variant of the word "shy" is used in its name. You can see why in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTcVNyOhUc. | *[[wikipedia:Mimosa_pudica|Mimosa pudica]] is known by countless names in countless languages because people the world over so enjoy touching it. No, seriously. It's usually referred to in English as touch-me-not, and in most other languages a variant of the word "shy" is used in its name. You can see why in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTcVNyOhUc. | ||
**The perfect orderliness of the folding leaves such as at 2:24 seems to belie our ideas about "organics" being "sloppier" than mechanical devices. Although it's been years since I played Myst III, watching this video reminded me of the stairs that can be seen at 1:09 in the game's trailer above (I actually forgot the game had all that organic stuff in it until I looked up the trailer to find those stairs!). | **The perfect orderliness of the folding leaves such as at 2:24 seems to belie our ideas about "organics" being "sloppier" than mechanical devices. Although it's been years since I played Myst III, watching this video reminded me of the stairs that can be seen at 1:09 in the game's trailer above (I actually forgot the game had all that organic stuff in it until I looked up the trailer to find those stairs!). | ||
**It seems to be a nearly universal reaction to become irritated at seeing someone messing with the touch-me-not, as you can see from all the comments on touch-me-not videos. One YouTube commenter | **It seems to be a nearly universal reaction to become irritated at seeing someone messing with the touch-me-not, as you can see from all the comments on touch-me-not videos. One YouTube commenter wryly explains, "Funny how people willingly pick, cut, step on, or otherwise harm plants, but as soon as the plant is capable of noticeable movement, suddenly they decide it has feelings and anyone who bothers it is a bastard." Hmm. | ||
*The [[wikipedia:Telegraph_plant|telegraph plant]] is a biological implementation of a [[wikipedia:Solar_tracker|solar tracker]] system; it uses leaflets to find the angle of the sun and then moves its larger leaves into place, to maximize its energy use vs. intake. | *The [[wikipedia:Telegraph_plant|telegraph plant]] is a biological implementation of a [[wikipedia:Solar_tracker|solar tracker]] system; it uses leaflets to find the angle of the sun and then moves its larger leaves into place, to maximize its energy use vs. intake. | ||
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hGbYMqM3zM Dancing grass] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hGbYMqM3zM Dancing grass] | ||
===[[wikipedia:Carnivorous plant|Carnivorous plants]]=== | |||
===[[wikipedia:Carnivorous plant|Carnivorous | |||
The very idea of a plant that eats meat is so bizarre that we would refuse to believe in such a thing if we hadn't all seen venus fly traps on TV. It seems that carnivory is a viable practice in areas that are too nutrient-poor for regular plants to grow. These plants dispel the notion that an organism needs to be [[wiktionary:motile|motile]] in order to catch food. (And the section after this dispels the notion that all plants are [[wiktionary:sessile|sessile]]!) | The very idea of a plant that eats meat is so bizarre that we would refuse to believe in such a thing if we hadn't all seen venus fly traps on TV. It seems that carnivory is a viable practice in areas that are too nutrient-poor for regular plants to grow. These plants dispel the notion that an organism needs to be [[wiktionary:motile|motile]] in order to catch food. (And the section after this dispels the notion that all plants are [[wiktionary:sessile|sessile]]!) | ||
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===Resurrection plants=== | ===Resurrection plants=== | ||
Here's a [http://www.types-of-flowers.org/pictures/resurrection_plant.jpg Rose of Jericho]. Here's a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rose_of_Jericho.gif Rose of Jericho on water]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs Any questions?] | Here's a [http://www.types-of-flowers.org/pictures/resurrection_plant.jpg Rose of Jericho]. Here's a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rose_of_Jericho.gif Rose of Jericho on water]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs Any questions?] | ||
===Self-planting plants=== | |||
Some plants, such as the newly discovered [[wikipedia:Spigelia_genuflexa|Spigelia genuflexa]], actually plant their own seeds in the ground. | |||
===[[wikipedia:Explosive dehiscence|Explosive dehiscence]]=== | |||
Some plants get bored waiting for Mother Nature to send wind or insects to help them spread seeds or pollen, and take matter into their own hands. | |||
*The [http://web.williams.edu/Biology/explodingflower/movies.html White Mulberry tree] spreads pollen by firing shots at half the speed of sound. | |||
==Other Stuff== | ==Other Stuff== | ||