[Moontanman]

Xittenn, on 13 February 2012 - 05:37 AM, said:

I don't think the primary reason for photosynthetic species not moving is their inability to procure sufficient energy; although this is a restricting factor in how a species that are photosynthetic expresses themselves morphologically. Phytoplankton are photoautotrophic and are mobile! Trees don't move because they are made up mostly of dead cells that are composed of a stiff material called lignin. I can mentally conceive of species that can satisfy the conditions of being phototrophic and mobile. I am surprised that there aren't popular varieties of insect like phototrophs that might carry a butterfly like appearance. Another possibility might be a highly limited wake time.

You are forgetting the cube square law. A tiny phytoplankton is much easier to power than something as big as a human being. a single microorganism has surface to volume ratio several orders of magnitude different than a human being. a human sized creature just can't carry around enough surface area to make it's energy from sunlight... Also it's necessary to point out that phytoplankton drift with the currents, much if not most of their movement is simply drifting along with the current not actively moving around like a fish and many of them can eat other organisms if they get the chance as well. it's just not a viable comparison...

This post has been edited by Moontanman: 14 February 2012 - 02:56 AM

[Xittenn]

Moontanman, on 14 February 2012 - 02:55 AM, said:

You are forgetting the cube square law. A tiny phytoplankton is much easier to power than something as big as a human being. a single microorganism has surface to volume ratio several orders of magnitude different than a human being. a human sized creature just can't carry around enough surface area to make it's energy from sunlight... Also it's necessary to point out that phytoplankton drift with the currents, much if not most of their movement is simply drifting along with the current not actively moving around like a fish and many of them can eat other organisms if they get the chance as well. it's just not a viable comparison...

My first statements were made in the context of my later statements--contained in the same paragraph--about the butterfly like creatures. So I apologize if it sounded like I was implying that a human would achieve the same functionality, because I wasn't. I don't know what the right combination is, which is why this is the pursuit of a research topic, as opposed to a direct preposition toward advancement. Maximizing surface area is definitely a point of interest. Maybe you have some thoughts that go beyond the very simple? I know that I don't at the moment. Thanks Moontanman!

[Moontanman]

Xittenn, on 14 February 2012 - 03:29 AM, said:

My first statements were made in the context of my later statements--contained in the same paragraph--about the butterfly like creatures. So I apologize if it sounded like I was implying that a human would achieve the same functionality, because I wasn't. I don't know what the right combination is, which is why this is the pursuit of a research topic, as opposed to a direct preposition toward advancement. Maximizing surface area is definitely a point of interest. Maybe you have some thoughts that go beyond the very simple? I know that I don't at the moment. Thanks Moontanman!

I honestly can't figure a way around the cube square law, it's the same reason you can't scale a six foot human up to twelve feet tall. I could see a possible combination organism with a sessile asexual stage that stores energy then gives to it's sexual stage which is motile but doesn't produce it's own energy. The sessile stage could be a tree like organism that has a human sized (more or less, probably a little less) sexual stage that feeds from it's parent stage but that is just food chain that is non predatory...

[Xittenn]

Maybe a photosynthetic process that synthesizes an enzyme that catalyzes the human electron transport chain, making it more efficient. This sort of increase in efficiency, maybe in combination with a chemotrophic metabolic process, and a more basic precursor energy form, could keep me busy for some time!