Re: starship-design: Bugs again

[Timothy van der Linden <Shealiak@XS4ALL.nl>]

To Jon(athan),

>>You are assuming that the alien bacteria evolved a defence against their
>>Earthly enemies and that these alien bacteria might not be food for
>>that-spot's-fittest bacteria. 
>>It may seem as if I'm making fun of you, but to me this seems a number
>>game, the largest group is most likely to win.
>>
>
>Not necessarily. You could have a ton of bacteria and a few of a
>different, stronger kind, and the stronger could win. We have plenty of
>bacteria in our bodies,yet we are still prone to illness. A heavyweight
>wrestler could take on dozens of 10 year olds, and who do you think would
>win? That also brings up the question "Can they sufficient resistance?"

Yes, that indeed is a possibility, although not very likely, since the
alien bacteria should be able to beat many different kinds of bacteria that
have many different attack methods.
For this I guess a genetic history of much much more than 1 billion years
(estimated history of Earth's bacteria) seems to be necessary, assuming it
is possible at all.

Quite soon, your now multiplied wrestlers will run into the angry parents
of the 10 year olds and the rest of the community...

Note that I'm not talking about critters (multi-celled beings), they have
far more ways to defend themselves and to adjust themselves to their
environment. Their disadvantage is that they need much more time to
reproduce and that they usually need a partner to do so.

Afterall, Earth's bacteria have a history of almost 4 billion years (and
maybe longer if they did arrive from outside our solar system).

Timothy