Re: Re: starship-design: Bugs again

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/19/98 1:36:08 PM, Shealiak@XS4ALL.nl wrote:

>Kelly,
>
>>>Another explanation would be that as I suggested: Contamination won't
>>>happen unless you are contaminating with large numbers of bacteria.
>>>And what about those typical totally grey-skin with large black eyed aliens
>>>that every selfrespecting abductee tells about. Couldn't that grey skin not
>>>just be a "space"suit? If these aliens breathe oxigen, then they would
>>>hardly need anything more than a water-tight suit to survive in Earth's
>>>atmosphere. (So no cumbersome backpacks nor metal parts to avoid the
>>>spacesuit from becoming a balloon.
>>
>>Surprized you heard about the 'grays'.  That style of alien sighting is only
>>common in the U.S. (other areas of the world have different cultural
>>preferences) europeansd generally report Nordic looking ET's.   ;)
>
>The NL imports a multitude of US movies, series and info-programmes.

Ah, as a rep of the US, I apologise.



>>Anyway quock check shows the aliens are B.S.  As to the idea the
>contamination
>>won't happen without quatities of microbes, thats not really true.  Microbes
>>reproduce.  So if one hits a fertile zone, you quickly get quantities.
>
>If there were no other bacteria, you would be right.
>I think it is quite save to say that there isn't any fertile spot on Earth
>were there aren't bacteria already. These bacteria likely have
>overtaken/driven away all weaker kinds of bacteria and thus are the fittest
>and most numerous for that particular spot.

Your asuming they have an evolved defence against the intruders (unlikly) and
that the bacteria themselves might not be the food for the intruder.  Even
tiny samples of more toxic bacteria introduced into a filled culture, will
whip out the rest of the stuff in the culture.


>The likelyhood of survival of a few bacteria that are not (yet) adapted to
>that spot is therefore small. Assuming the spot is suitable for the new
>bacteria, they'd need to be much stronger to get the overhand while being
>attacked by a majority that has the advantage of being adapted best to the
>particular spot.
>
>>>====================================================================
>
>>>Our body can become very agressive, it will change environmental parameters
>>>of which the best known is temperature. This will reduce the growth rate of
>>>the alien cells while our body has a wealth of options to partially
>>>compensate for this thermal inconveniance.
>>
>>That only works on bacteria that are sensative to temps.  Some can survive
>>(even thrive) in swings of hundreds of degrees.  Also our body only runs a
>>feaver if it senses a infection it knows to react against.
>
>Survival is something very different from thriving. I doubt that there are
>bacteria that can thrive in a large range of temperatures. 

There are.  The ones merntioned above handel frezing to hundreds of degrees
water just fine.  They can survive far worse.

>Anyhow, any
>divergence from the optimum temperature for the hositle bacteria will give
>the human body an advantage.
>Our body can sense a very large scale of alien (not necessarily
>extraterrestrial) substances. As far as I know it is not so that our body
>has to learn what is alien, it merely checks if it isn't familiar to the
>body itself. As soon as a substance is strange, the body will try to attack
>it right away. I suppose the body has standard procedures for substances
>that it doesn't have encountered before.

Many unnatural substances can be introduced without reactino.  the deseases
that kill us specifically are ones te body often does not react to effectivly
or at all.


>>>Furthermore leukocytes (attack cells) will attack and won't make feeding
>>>for the bacteria or small organisms any easier.
>>>In fact our body can destroy part of itself in a fight: High fever can
>>>cause serious damage to organs, the high temperature is generated by the
>>>body itself in response to the intruder.
>>
>>Again, only if its something te body knows to attack.  Many things will kill
>>us without triggering any defensive measure.
>
>No, some creatures just can quickly enough find spots where our body's
>immune system is very ineffective or hardly notices it. Other substances
>like poisons are just attacking too fast for our body the react against (if
>they are in large enough quantities). In general relative small quantities
>won't make much of a chance.

Poisons can work quickly or take years.  They are just chemical componds.  If
the body doesn't normally break them down and excreat them safely, we get
hurt.


>Timothy

Kelly