Along the way, the science fiction stories I'd been writing since I was 13 began to grow more believable. With my BS in biology and a fascination with genetics, I started to use more science in my fiction.
After reading hard SF for the past 50 years, and writing hard SF successfully for the past 20, I've started to dig deeper into what it takes to create realistic alien life forms. In the following series, I'll be sharing some of what I've learned. I've had some of those stories published, some not...I teach a class to GT young people every summer called ALIEN WORLDS. I've learned a lot preparing for that class for the past 25 years...so...I have the opportunity to share with you what I've learned thus far. Take what you can use, leave the rest. Let me know what YOU'VE learned. Without further ado...
So, let’s stipulate that aliens who are sapient intelligences invade our Solar System and out of desperation, we use the most powerful of the vast store of Human weapons from around the world to attempt to halt their implacable invasion of Human space…
A barrage of nuclear weapons explode, including antimatter weapons Humanity has cobbled together solely in an attempt to save themselves.. The aliens keep on coming. Their ships are disintegrated as are some of the aliens, but a number of the bodies of the aliens themselves head for Earth, stopping to take out the Martian and Lunar colonies, and then swing around the Sun and take out the Venusian colonies.
Why didn’t our nukes stop them???
Using Earth’s elite space forces, we manage to capture several of the Invaders. Using physical impacts, we knock two dozen out and rush them to a Lunar research station.
Under an atmosphere collected from an Invader ship, we recreate their air and begin an extensive and detailed bioassay.
We also discover that no matter how much we try and sterilize the samples of Invader tissue to prevent the contamination of Earthly biological forms with the alien ones, they are impervious to RADIATION…in fact, once we get more samples, we discover that the Invaders have nothing even remotely resembling CANCERS or MUTUATIONS. Among FURTHER facts, the Invaders (and a few other non-sapient lifeforms we got while capturing the intelligences, appear to be virtually identical within a species…) Specifically, their “rat-equivalents” and “sparrow-equivalents” appear to be singular species. Their paramecia seem to all be one species. Even a sort of furry green ball with multiple eyes and several manipulation limbs are all identical – no variation. ALL OF THE “GREEN POOFBALLS” are the same. They are genetically identical.
ALL of the sapient, intelligent aliens are exactly the same as well…if you examine ONE alien from its external anatomy to its DNA, you find that each and every one is EXACTLY THE SAME… Baffled, an elderly physician sends a memo for a presentation that they think will explain what Humanity has just discovered. They have a theory based on the discovery of a bacterium during the first quarter of the 21st Century.
They have cells and DNA that are immune to mutation because RADIATION HAS NO EFFECT ON THE CELLS…
“In fact, it appears that every single intelligence we’re captured is essentially a clone of every other intelligence.”
The conference erupts into chaos…
The horror never abates. Fear grips the entire Solar System and there are plans to destroy the Moon along with all lifeforms on it. The plans proceed swiftly until someone realizes that heat, laser, and energy weapons are all radiation-based.
They have no effect on the Invaders. Almost immediately, the politicians and ambassadors assemble and a conference proposed to the Invaders through a modified form of Morse Code. They accept.
From then on, communication is perfect, but the psychology of Humanity and Invaderity appear to be mutually incomprehensible…even though they have created an artificial language both seem to be able to use to communicate mathematical concepts.
The rest of the Human and Invader experiences are mutually incomprehensible… Neither side appears to ONLY understand destruction of the other. They appear to comprehend one word: war.
Abstract
“This report presents the recommendations of an international group of experts convened by the World Health Organization, in association with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to consider the implications of food irradiated to doses higher than those recommended in 1980 by the Joint Expert Committee on the Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food. Irradiation ensures the hygienic quality of food and extends shelf-life. The public perception of the safety of food irradiation has generally precluded its widespread use. However, current applications of food irradiation to doses over 10 kGy have been in the development of high-quality shelf-stable convenience foods for specific target groups such as immunosuppressed individuals and those under medical care, astronauts and outdoor enthusiasts. The Study Group reviewed data relating to the toxicological, nutritional, radiation chemical and physical aspects of food irradiated to doses above 10 kGy from a wide range and number of studies carried out over the last forty years. This report presents a comprehensive summary, along with references, of the effectiveness and safety of the irradiation process. It concludes that foods treated with doses greater than 10 kGy can be considered safe and nutritionally adequate when produced under established Good Manufacturing Practice.” (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10524010/)
Sources: Human-Induced Radioresistance as a Possible Mechanism for Producing Biological Weapons: A Feasible Bridge between Radioresistance and Resistance to Antibiotics and Genotoxic Agents - PMC ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4450694/
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