Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thread

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GeoModder
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by GeoModder »

Which begs the question how much storage space is available for a Construct in on of those Loroi 'waste bins'.
Its pretty clear (or at least the Construct hinted so) it wasn't enough to allow a full holo display of a Construct. But maybe at the time of the interview on Tempest' bridge it traded data space for graphics?
Also, I assume the Construct in the container aboard Highland-7 can stay in intermittent contact with the Pocket Historian on Alex' tablet?
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by boldilocks »

GeoModder wrote:Which begs the question how much storage space is available for a Construct in on of those Loroi 'waste bins'.
Its pretty clear (or at least the Construct hinted so) it wasn't enough to allow a full holo display of a Construct. But maybe at the time of the interview on Tempest' bridge it traded data space for graphics?
Also, I assume the Construct in the container aboard Highland-7 can stay in intermittent contact with the Pocket Historian on Alex' tablet?
I'd assume that the waste bin is being used as a relay, as it is more likely to contain the technology necessary for historian "secret transmissions" than a handheld human device.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by GeoModder »

IIRC, the container is Loroi-made.
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Krulle »

I hope this'll be clearred up a bit for us in the upcoming pages, of which Arioch hinted we would learn a bit about the capacities of the Pocket-Historian.
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charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by SaintofM »

I guess this is more of a any and all race question here, but how do the races in this setting handle waste. This is in relation to biological (urine and fecal mater), trash, and byproduct of using fuel, either on planet or in space.

How do they do the space toilet when a representative from one of the other races need to go on each other's ship (the smallest adult Barsum are going to need a bigger john than Alex for example).

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Murph »

SaintofM wrote:I guess this is more of a any and all race question here, but how do the races in this setting handle waste. This is in relation to biological (urine and fecal mater), trash, and byproduct of using fuel, either on planet or in space.

How do they do the space toilet when a representative from one of the other races need to go on each other's ship (the smallest adult Barsum are going to need a bigger john than Alex for example).
Maybe self resizing toilet seats?

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

SaintofM wrote:I guess this is more of a any and all race question here, but how do the races in this setting handle waste. This is in relation to biological (urine and fecal mater), trash, and byproduct of using fuel, either on planet or in space.

How do they do the space toilet when a representative from one of the other races need to go on each other's ship (the smallest adult Barsum are going to need a bigger john than Alex for example).
Planetside waste management is kind of a large topic, so I'll just say that most garbage and sewage contains valuable resources and potential energy, so in most cases it is processed to reclaim those, rather than simply dumped into a landfill or pumped into the sea.

Most primary energy is generated by solar collectors (both electronic and biological), fusion or taimat reactors, and so the chief waste product is radioactive cooling agent (usually water) that has to sit in holding areas until it is safe to dispose of. In the few cases where fissionables are still being used, they have to deal with the radioactive by-products the same way we do: dig a deep hole and monitor it carefully.

Aboard spacecraft, refuse and waste must usually be stored aboard until the ship can make port. It can be jettisoned into space is some instances, but this is rarely a good idea, as it presents a navigation hazard to other vessels. While it's possible to put the ship on a collision course with a star or uninhabited planet before jettisoning waste, I think in practice this is not as simple as it sounds and is probably against official protocol.

Once it reaches a spaceport, waste is stored and eventually processed (either in orbit or planetside). Really toxic or radioactive waste can be stored indefinitely. I can imagine disused wings of old space stations with rotting cargo hulks moored.

The various different species of the Union each have their own "sanitary" requirements, but for most of those that are likely to cohabit (especially the Loroi, Neridi and Barsam), toiletry needs are not that different... a bowl with a seat will do. On a vessel such as Prophet's Reason which has both Barsam and Neridi crewmembers, the toilet facilities are designed accordingly: a large bowl with a "kiddie seat" attachment. Loroi vessels do not normally host alien crewmembers or passengers (with the exception of Golim engineers, who have their own facilities... though they do not require toilets, as Golim feces are dry and odorless, resembling charcoal briquettes), and so if there are visiting aliens, appropriate facilities must be installed. These can be elaborate and permanent such as the facilities for the ambassadors aboard the Imperial flagship, or they can be crude and temporary like a TL10 port-a-potty. In the worst case scenario, portable solutions such as one might use when camping can be employed.


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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by asaenvolk »

Honestly, at their tech level their plumbing should be short and nearly self contained at each unit with an extra sterilization unit for Alien units just to be safe. The processed based material then being collected for reuse.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

orion1836 wrote:(core waste dump)
Kind of fanciful, like throwing your garbage into the Sun; I suppose it could be done, but it would be far more trouble than it would be worth. Even if you had the technology for it, it would take an enormous amount of energy to overcome the pressure in the core to inject stuff down there, and just as much to keep it from coming back up at you every second. The kinds of waste that you might not be able to reprocess into useful materials or fuel at this tech level, such as radioactive waste, won't be "destroyed" by the temperature and pressure near the core. It might be below the water table, but it won't be safe; the material in the core and mantle circulates, and some of it eventually comes out in volcanoes. I don't think you want plutonium seeping through black smokers at the bottom of the ocean someday, killing everything in the ocean.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Murph »

Dump it into a Jupiter mass Gas Giant. :D

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Sweforce »

Let the Malon waste disposal experts handle the job... :mrgreen:

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by SaintofM »

@Arioch: I can think of a couple of other issues as well. The closer to the mantle, the layer of earth beneath the crust, you get the hotter it becomes, and humans and our tech, even in this web comic, can only handle so much of that. It can handle quite a bit, planetary reentry for excample, but that has limits.

The other is the mantle is not as rigid as the crust. Its been awhile since i took geology, but if I remember right the mantle is more like playdoh compared to the crust, so i would think keeping a rigid structure like this would need would be difficult at best.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Krulle »

Yeah, you don't want the geological movements to make the waste storage facility collapse, and the bore of it becoming the main chimney of a new super volcano....
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Ithekro »

Thermal exhaust port with multiple shield barriers as energy locks to keep it back combined with actual locks in case of power failure. (one torpedo should set off a chain reaction which will blow up the planet....no...that's not it)

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by orion1836 »

I think I remember reading that the Russians tried it, but for energy, not waste disposal... couldn't even remotely get close.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Krulle »

The Russians also did not reach the mantle, but 12.200 meters (with only 22 cm / 9 inch diameter) is quite a feat nontheless.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithson ... 180954349/
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by SaintofM »

A Neridi question.

In regard to them being a transgender race what usually sets the transition into motion.

Is is like with with the kobudai fish do they reach a certain age and beguine transitioning.

Or is it like with clownfish, or to use a Jurassic Park example, some frogs when there isn't enough of a good male/female ratio does this influence the change.

Or can they start the process at will.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

SaintofM wrote:A Neridi question.

In regard to them being a transgender race what usually sets the transition into motion.

Is is like with with the kobudai fish do they reach a certain age and beguine transitioning.

Or is it like with clownfish, or to use a Jurassic Park example, some frogs when there isn't enough of a good male/female ratio does this influence the change.

Or can they start the process at will.
It's a combination of both life cycle and environmental factors. Most Neridi start (upon reaching sexual maturity) as female and then eventually transition to male as they age. The change most often happens after a female gives birth, and is more likely the older and the smaller she is (smaller females transition sooner), and is less likely if there aren't many other females in the local community. If a group finds itself completely without females, the largest of the resident males may transition back to female. These transitions aren't voluntary, but they can be artificially triggered with high-tech medical techniques.

To clarify, the Neridi are hermaphroditic, in that they all have both male and female sexual apparatus (so that anyone can have sex with anyone else... and they do), but the organs producing sex cells can only operate in one mode or the other at a time, so each individual does have an implicit male or female gender at any given moment.

There are actually two types of males: a minority of Neridi (usually the smallest individuals) start as males instead of females; these "itinerant males" are nomadic and travel from community to community, and it's these males who are responsible for most pregnancies. The "resident males" are usually older individuals who used to be female or who used to be itinerant males, but who have now settled down. Resident males represent the majority of the Neridi population.

Gender change does affect psychology and (to a certain extent) social roles; after transition an individual may change his or her name or even find he or she is no longer interested in his or her current profession, and may go back to school to pursue a different vocation. The behavioral differences between itinerant and resident males are actually more dramatic than between males and females, and so it might be argued that resident males represent a third gender, but they still produce male gametes, (if in lesser quantities, and rarely father offspring at this stage of life -- although they still have lots of sex, impregnation chance is based on female receptiveness, and they are almost exclusively receptive to the roguish itinerant males), and so are still technically male.

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