Superior Species: A Science Fiction Story

On the distant planet Nydor there was a civilization that had made great progress in technology, having recently developed rockets, television, and computers. But in one respect this culture was very backward: it still had the institution of slavery. All of those with black skin served as lowly slaves, serving the white-skinned majority. The government taught that this was the proper order of things, saying that the black-skinned people were all inferior.

This planet Nydor was the second planet in a solar system of five planets. After the people on Nydor developed large telescopes, they began to study the third planet in their solar system, named Selnia. The people of Nydor could see green patches on Selnia, the signs of life. The people of Nydor began to dream about one day traveling to Selnia to see what was there.

The scientists of Nydor began to develop the rockets they would need to travel to Selnia. But they knew that to get funding for the expedition, they would have to ask the ruler of their planet, who was known as the Planet King.

“Why should I give you all this money you are asking for?” asked the Planet King.

“Great Lord, you are the ruler of all our planet,” said the expedition organizer. “But if we explore the third planet, Selnia, then one day your dominion may be increased, and you can be the ruler of two planets. Also, perhaps we will find black-skinned people on this planet, who we can bring back in chains to our planet, to serve us as slaves.”

The King was thereby persuaded to fund the great mission. A great interplanetary rocket ship was built in orbit. From a list of 1427 applicants, three pale-skinned men were chosen to go on the mission: Alor, Dren, and Velnus.

To the cheers of ten thousand watchers, a rocket ship launched the three men into space. Their ship docked with the orbiting interplanetary craft designed to take them to the third planet Selnia.

“Looks like we won't have much room to move around in this craft,” said Alor. “But we won't have to put up with these cramped conditions for long. In three months, we'll get to Selnia.”

Burning its rocket engines, the interplanetary ship went off to Selnia. Two months into the voyage, the ship's radio antenna was destroyed by a micro-meteorite, a tiny piece of rock traveling at high speeds.

“That kills our radio,” said Alor. “We'll just have to tell them what we discovered when we get back.”

After a three month voyage the ship reached orbit around Selnia, the third planet. Alor and Dren moved into a landing craft that would travel to the surface of the planet. Velnus stayed behind, manning the interplanetary ship as it orbited Selnia.

The landing craft landed successfully. Alor and Dren took a few readings with their instruments.

“The atmosphere is just like our planet,” said Alor. “We won't even need to wear space suits.”

The men got out of their landing craft, and began exploring. They were soon greeted by intelligent black-skinned beings, who spoke some language Alor and Dren couldn't understand.

The black-skinned beings gestured for Alor and Dren to come with them. Through hand gestures, the two men were wordlessly invited to live with the black-skinned beings. Alor and Dren consented. The black-skinned beings began trying to learn the language of Alor and Dren. After only about three weeks, the black-skinned beings were able to learn the same language Alor and Dren spoke.

“Dren, they've managed to learn our language in only three weeks,” said Alor. “What do you think that means?”

“I don't know,” said Dren.

“Strangely enough, I think it means that these beings are a lot more intelligent than we are,” said Alor. “Think of it-- how long did it take you to learn a language the last time you tried? Maybe two years? If they can learn our language in three weeks, they must be far more intelligent than we are.”

“Black people far more intelligent than white people?” said Dren. It surprised him because on his planet the black people were all slaves, and were regarded as less intelligent than whites. The Planet King taught that this was how God intended things, for the whites to rule over the blacks.

Alor began to ask some questions of the local mayor of the black-skinned Selnians.

“Do you have any king who rules over you?” asked Alor.

“No,” said the mayor. “Here we follow democracy. We elect our own leaders, who serve no more than two years.”

“But what about religion?” asked Alor. “On our planet, the king is not only our political leader but also our spiritual leader, who commands us what to believe about God.”

“We have no spiritual rulers,” said the mayor. “On our world each person believes as his own reason compels him, not because any authority compels him to do so.”

“Do you keep any slaves?” asked Alor.

“Perish the thought!” said the mayor. “Our society is structured to insure that all enjoy the same social status and the same economic status. We have no division between the rich and the poor, no division between the favored and the unlucky. We make sure that all enjoy the blessings of our planet equally.”

“Is there war on your planet?” asked Alor.

“War?” said the mayor. “We haven't had a war in 2000 years. We don't even have crime.”

For several weeks Alor and Dren studied the culture of the black-skinned Selnians, and the men learned all about a society which was far more advanced than the society Alor and Dren had come from.

Finally the two men returned to their landing craft, and blasted off. They docked with the interplanetary craft orbiting Selnia, which then set off to return to the second planet Nydor, their home world.

“Just wait until the people at home hear about what we've discovered,” said Alor. “This will change everything. The winds of change will start blowing.”

Three months later the three astronauts returned to the surface of Nydor, the second planet. The three astronauts were met enthusiastically by some assistants of the Planet King.

“So tell us, what did you find on the third planet, Selnia?” asked the assistants. “Were there any black-skinned creatures we can bring back to our planet in chains?”

“You won't believe it!” said Alor. “The third planet is inhabited by a black-skinned race. And the amazing thing is: they are superior to us in every way. They are much smarter than us. They follow democratic ways. They have no slaves. They have an egalitarian society, with equality for everyone. They have a more intelligent approach to religion. They have neither war nor crime. Their technology is far more advanced than ours. This black-skinned race has so much to teach us! They are far better than we are.”

The assistants reported these findings to the Planet King. There was a five hour delay.

Finally the king's assistants returned and spoke to the astronauts.

“Good news,” said the assistants. “You will be flown to see the Planet King himself. He wants to hear all about your findings.”

The three happy astronauts got in an airplane, which took off into the sky. After flying for twenty minutes, something very surprising happened, while the plane was passing over a mountain range. The pilots of the plane put on parachutes, and jumped out of the plane.

“What the hell did they do that for?” asked Alor. The three astronauts went to the cockpit of the plane, and tried to fly the plane themselves.

“God help us, we're out of fuel!” said Dren.

As the Planet King had commanded, the airplane had been deliberately supplied with only a tenth of the fuel needed to reach its destination. 

“Glide it, we'll have to do a crash landing!” said Alor. 

But soon the plane approached a mountain. The astronauts tried to steer the plane away from the mountain, but without any fuel, they didn't succeed.

The plane crashed into the mountain, killing all three astronauts in a giant explosive fireball.

A representative of the Planet King announced the results to the public.

“The Planet King is very saddened by the most tragic death of his heroic astronauts,” said the representative. “They died in an accident while traveling to the King to report the results of their expedition. But from their spaceship's records we have been able to determine what they discovered on the third planet, Selnia. They discovered only plant life and some small animals, but no signs of any intelligent life.”

A few years later the Planet King discussed what had happened with his chief adviser, one of only a few who knew the truth about what had happened.

“It was unfortunate that I had to take such drastic action in regard to those astronauts, and give the command which led to their deaths,” said the Planet King. “But I really had no choice. It was unthinkable that my subjects should learn that some other race was more advanced and more intelligent than our race. Think of how it would have undermined faith and weakened the people's confidence that I am their rightful ruler in all matters political and spiritual. And for the people to have learned that a black-skinned race was superior to our own – that would have caused an upheaval in people's thinking that might have shattered my rule and overturned our institutions.”

“You did what you had to do, wise ruler,” said the chief adviser. “Our holy sacred institutions such as slavery must be preserved at all costs.”

A few minutes later, one of the king's ministers came into the room.

“Great ruler, something astonishing has happened,” said the minister. “Our scientists have detected a huge spaceship coming from the third planet, Selnia. It is heading for our planet. It is a thousand times larger than the spaceship we sent from our planet to Selnia.”

The Planet King's jaw dropped, and his open-mouthed expression persisted for several seconds. He then covered his face with his hands.

“So what do we do now?” asked the chief adviser. “Planet King, you told everyone there is no intelligent life on Selnia, and that all of the black-skinned are inferior. So how do we explain it when the superior black-skinned Selnians land on our planet?”

The Planet King had tried to bury the truth, but now the truth would bury him.

Is There a Body Transplant in Your Future?

This week an Italian neuroscientist named Dr. Sergio Canavero released a paper outlining how to perform a human head transplant.The scientist made headlines by announcing that head transplants (which can also be called body transplants) are feasible and can be done in the near future on humans. Supposedly the procedure has already been performed on other mammals such as rhesus monkeys. The procedure involves rapidly chilling the two bodies involved, cutting off their heads, attaching one head to the other head, and then gradually warming the body of the transplant recipient, who has an old head and a new body.

If such procedures are done any time soon, they will probably be done on special cases, such as people who have been paralyzed from the neck down. But what about using a body transplant as a radical means of extending human life? Let us explore the feasibility of that. The big question is: even if it were possible for a person to extend his life by getting a body transplant for his aging body, how could the young body be acquired? I can imagine several different ways.

Acquiring a Body From a Newly Deceased Youth

One way to get bodies for body transplants would be to use bodies from young people who had died naturally, from events such as gunshots to the head or drug overdoses. This method would be fairly uncontroversial, as you would only be using a body that would otherwise soon rot in the grave. But the main problem with this method is that only a small number of people could use it, because relatively few young people die.

Acquiring a Body From a Human Raised to be a Body Donor

Another method would be to raise ordinary humans specifically for the purpose of serving as body donors. The humans might be told from an early age that they were not destined to live beyond an age of about 20, at which point they would serve as body donors. This method is technically feasible, but morally unacceptable and appalling. The film Never Let Me Go offered a chilling look at a future society in which a group of young people were raised purely to be organ donors. Raising humans to be used for body transplants would be even more chilling and repugnant.

Acquiring a Body From an Unconscious Human Raised to be a Body Donor

Another method would be to somehow raise unconscious humans specifically for the purpose of serving as body donors. The humans would somehow have the higher levels of their brain removed as early as possible, so that they would have no consciousness, personality, or memory. But the lower brain stem functions of these humans would be left intact, so that their hearts and lungs could keep working. They might be fed intravenously.

While a little less appalling than the previous method, this method would also be very morally objectionable to many people. Somehow there is something revolting about the idea of a human body slowly growing on a bed for 18 years, while the body is attached to a bunch of sensors, wires, and tubes.

Growing a Human Body in a Lab

Another method would involve growing a human body in a lab, through some type of technique that might allow the quick growth of a human body. Scientists have been able to grow organs in a lab, and they might somehow progress to growing an entire full-grown body in a lab, possibly by speeding up the normal human growth mechanisms.

Creating a Human Body Through 3D Printing

Another method might dispense with growth of the body altogether, and attempt to simply assemble or produce a full-grown human body. Scientists have recently been able to create an artificial ear by using 3D printing. If 3D printing progresses sufficiently, we might be able to somehow print layer-by-layer a 3D body that could be used as a donor for body transplants. It is likely that 3D printing could one day be used to produce something that resembles a dead human body, but whether it could be used to produce something like a functional human body, with all the processes working, is an unanswered question.

Using an Electronic Body for a Body Transplant

Still another method (and one that seems relatively sound from an ethical standpoint) is the method of creating an electronic or robotic replica of the human body, and using that for body transplants. This might be advantageous from the standpoint of greatly extending the human lifespan. Rather than having at 80 a body transplant that would give you another 60 years of life, and then having to worry about getting another body transplant 60 years later, you could instead get an electronic and robotic body that might last you for 500 years. But we might not have the technology for using electronic body transplants for many decades, perhaps not until the 22^nd century.

Downsides of Body Transplants

There would seem to be two main downsides of having a body transplant as a way of extending your life.

The first negative aspect is that if you had a body transplant when you were very old, you might then have a nice young body, but you would still have the same wrinkled old face and the same old aging brain. So imagine if you lived to 80 and had a body transplant. You might then five years later get Alzheimer's disease. Rather than living a few years in senility, you might live sixty years in senility. Not much of a bargain. 

Another negative aspect is the possibility that the body transplant would go wrong, and that you would end up with a new body, but be totally paralyzed. You might then live 60 additional years in such a state of paralysis. Of course, your doctors might try a second body transplant operation to fix the problem. But perhaps you didn't have the money to pay for that. How could you earn it, with your body being paralyzed?

Conclusion

In summary, I conclude that there is some possibility of a body transplant in your future, but only if you are young and rich (or someone who will become rich). People who fall into neither of these categories (such as myself) must hope for some simpler method of life extension, such as a nice simple youth pill.

Clown Planet: A Science Fiction Story

Young Eddie, age 10, was tired of putting on clown makeup every day of his life, just like his friends, his family, and everyone he knew.

One morning he went to eat breakfast, and his mother greeted him. She was wearing clown makeup all over her face, consisting of white greasepaint, two bright red circles on her cheeks, a bright orange nose, and blue triangles above and below each of her eyes.

“Now, Eddie, you know you're supposed to put on your clown makeup before breakfast,” scolded her mother.

“I'm sick of putting that stuff on,” said Eddie. “It makes my face too hot, and it smells. I'm not going to wear any clown makeup today.” This comment was heard by his father, who also wore clown makeup all over his face.

“Now don't be silly, Eddie,” Eddie's father said. “As soon as you're finished breakfast, I want you to march into your bedroom and put on your clown makeup just like you do every day.”

After breakfast, Eddie decided to leave the house by himself and go walking around town without wearing his clown makeup. His mother noticed he was gone, and went outside. She noticed a neighbor who was gardening.

“Did you see my boy Eddie?” she asked.

“Yes,” the neighbor replied. “And it was the strangest thing – he wasn't wearing any clown makeup.” Like everyone else on the street, the neighbor had his face covered in clown makeup.

Eddie's mother called the police and told them of the situation.

The police sent out an announcement to all the squad cars: “We have a young boy aged 10, who is walking around town without wearing his clown makeup.” The police cars started looking for such a boy.

Eddie picked up a newspaper and used it to cover his face. He hoped that this would allow him to walk around a while without anyone noticing that his face looked different from that of everyone else. He was the only one in town who was not wearing clown makeup.

Eddie went to the park and found a patch of woods he could play in. He spent hours playing by himself. Eventually he was spotted by two police officers who were walking nearby.

“I think that's him: that runaway kid who's running around face naked,” said the first police officer. The two clown-faced officers ran after the boy and finally caught him.

“So little boy, you've had quite the little adventure, haven't you?” said the first officer. “But how long do you think you could get away with strolling around like that, with your face as bare as it was on the day you were born?”

The two officers took young Eddie back to his worried parents, who promised that the boy would be punished, and lectured on why he simply could not be allowed to stroll around town without his clown makeup.

Dad and Mom took Eddie into the living room to give him a stern lecture.

“But why?” asked Eddie. “Why do I always have to wear that smelly old clown makeup every day?”

“Because everyone else wears it,” said Mom.

“That's not a good enough reason,” said Eddie.

“You know something, son?” said Dad. “You're right, it's not. So I should explain the real reason why it's absolutely necessary to wear your clown makeup every day. It's a bit complicated.”

“Several decades ago the world had a serious problem called global warming,” said Dad. “The pollution of human society was causing Earth's temperature to get hotter and hotter. Finally the scientists decided to do something about it. They started to tinker with our planet to try and make it cooler. They called this tinkering they were doing geoengineering.”

“The scientists started doing lots of things to change the atmosphere, to try to make the Earth cooler,” explained Dad. “It was some kind of very scientific stuff I don't understand. But the plan worked, more or less. The geoengineering stopped global warming, and Earth stopped getting hotter.”

“But what does that have to do with why I have to wear clown makeup all the time?” asked Eddie.

“I'm getting to that,” said Dad. “Look, what happened is that when they tinkered with the atmosphere, there were what they call side effects. The geoengineers accidentally made something worse. It was the ozone layer. The geoengineering done to stop global warming accidentally destroyed the ozone layer.”

“What is the oh-zo layer?” asked Eddie.

“It's the ozone layer,” said Dad. “The ozone layer was this great layer of gas in the atmosphere which protected we humans from all the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Long ago, people didn't have to wear clown makeup. They could stay outside for hours without getting hurt by the sun. But the geoengineering work done to fight global warming ended up destroying the ozone layer. So now everybody has to wear clown makeup to protect our skin from the sun's ultraviolet radiation.”

“Aw, Dad, I don't understand all this scientific stuff,” said Eddie. “You're making my head hurt.”

“Okay, son, let's make it simple,” said Dad. “You must wear your clown makeup, because if you don't wear it, and go outside for just ten minutes, your skin will get all red and burnt, and it will hurt. And if you go outside for a few days without wearing your clown makeup, you'll get skin cancer, and you might die.”

Eddie was disappointed by his Dad's talk, but a few weeks later Mom reported some good news.

“I heard on the TV that the geoengineers are going to restore the ozone layer,” said Mom. “They're going to make a bunch of machines to send up ozone into the atmosphere. If it works, in five years we won't have to wear clown makeup any more.”

“Let's hope they have more luck with this geoengineering scheme than they had with the previous geoengineering scheme, “ said Dad. “You know, the one that accidentally nuked the ozone layer.”

If You Had Been Born Elsewhere in the Universe

The universe is full of strange habitats very different from our familiar planet. Let us look at different habitats in the universe, and how life would be different for you if you had been born in one of these places.

If You Had Been Born on an Ice World

A planet revolving around a star can only support life if the planet has an orbit that is neither too close nor too far from the sun. Planets with such an orbit are said to exist in the habitable zone. Many planets must exist on the outer edges of the habitable zones of the stars they orbit. Many of these planets must be ice worlds – worlds that could have been like Earth if they had only been a little closer to their sun.

If you had been born on an ice world, your planet might have many large oceans, but the tops of every sea, ocean, and lake would be frozen solid. On your planet, people could not grow crops the way they do on Earth. Your planet would be too cold for that. How would you get food? You would presumably do that by ice fishing. Life for you and your family would revolve around fishing, and hunting other animals that ate fish. You would probably live rather like an Eskimo, perhaps living in a house like an igloo. So would every one else on your planet.

If You Had Been Born on an Ocean World

There is no reason why a planet within the habitable zone has to have a mixture of continents and oceans such as Earth has. Some planets must consist almost entirely of oceans, with only a few isolated islands.

If you had been born on an ocean world, you might live on some tiny little island, and never leave that island for your whole life. If you ever wanted to travel somewhere else, you might have to go on a long sea voyage for hundreds of miles, before coming to some other tiny little island. You would probably never ride in a train or drive on a large highway. The civilized population of your planet might only be a few thousand people, or perhaps a few million people. Life on your planet would be much simpler than life on Earth.

If You Had Been Born on a Super Earth

Scientists are now using the term Super Earth to refer to a rocky planet a few times larger than our planet. Life can presumably exist on such planets when they are inside the habitable zone, but the gravity of a Super Earth would be much higher than on our planet.

If you had been born on a Super Earth, you would probably be much more careful about walking around than you now are. You would know that one good fall from a height as small as five meters would kill you. On your planet there would be no very tall buildings such as our planet has. You would probably have short legs much thicker than a human's legs, and your neck would probably be shorter and thicker. You might never go on a plane trip, because air travel might be extremely difficult and expensive on your planet. As the atmosphere on your planet would probably be quite thick, you would probably have just a tiny slit for a nose, which would be all that you needed.

If You Had Been Born on a Mini-Earth

A mini-Earth can be defined as a planet significantly smaller than Earth in the habitable zone of a star. Because it is easier to detect larger planets than smaller ones, the Kepler Space Telescope hasn't yet detected any habitable mini-Earth planets. But it is expected that such planets will be detected by the Kepler Space Telescope's successor.

If you had been born on a mini-Earth, you might have thin long legs. You would be able to jump much farther than a human being, perhaps as long as 30 meters. Your lungs and nose would probably be much bigger to help you breathe the rather thin atmosphere on your planet. It's quite possible that you could fly just by putting on some wing-like attachments to your arms. On your planet you would see trees grow to astonishing heights. Your civilization might be able to build buildings hundreds of stories tall.

If You Had Been Born on a Tidally Locked Planet

When a planet is tidally locked in relation to the sun, one side of the planet always points toward the sun which the planet revolves around. The other side of the planet always points away from that sun. Life could exist on such a planet, but it would be confined to a ringlike band between the hot side of the planet and the cold side of the planet. Scientists think that there are many tidally locked planets within habitable zones of stars, particularly red dwarf stars.

If you had been born on a tidally locked planet, the winds on your planet would probably be much greater than the winds on our planet. If you ever wanted to keep one of your possessions, you would never leave it in your back yard overnight, because by the time you woke up the object would probably have blown away, perhaps traveling for miles. There would be a good chance that everyone on your planet would live underground. There might be a huge network of tunnels that would allow people to travel for many miles underground. If you traveled more than a little way to the East or West, you would go to one of the parts of your planet that was too hot or too cold. So when people would travel on your planet, they might go on long trips to the North and South, but they would only go on short trips in a direction of East or West.

If You Had Been Born on an Arid World

Life requires water, but that does not mean that life can only exist on a planet with liquid water visible from space. In theory life and possibly even intelligent life could evolve on a very arid world, as long as there was underground water or oases scattered around here and there.

If you had been born on an arid world, your language might have no word meaning boat or ship or ocean or river. You might have extra bodily organs allowing you to store a gallon or more of water, so you could live weeks without drinking any. You would regard a small garden stretching ten meters long as the most extravagant type of paradise, suitable only for a king. Your people might fight battles or wars over water. When one of your fellow citizens died, your people might use some extraction process to squeeze out every drop of water from the body, and would then bury only dust and bones.

If You Had Been Born on a Moon Revolving Around a Gas Giant

We should not at all assume that intelligent life exists only on planets. We know that Jupiter has a moon named Ganymede that is larger than the planet Mercury, and Saturn has a moon named Titan that is also larger than Mercury. It is likely that many stars have gas giant planets within their habitable zone, and a certain fraction of these should have moons that are large enough to support civilized life. 

If you had been born on a moon revolving around a gas giant in the habitable zone, the moon would probably be tidally locked with the gas giant. So there would be a 50% chance that you would see a glorious sight in your sky: an object that looked perhaps 10 or 15 times larger than the moon looks in our sky. This object would probably always appear in the same part of the sky, but it would have phases like the phases of our moon. The reflected sunlight from this planet would be so great that you might not see any stars in your sky, or only a few. If, on the other hand, you had been born on the other side of your moon, you would never see any planet in your sky, and you would see plenty of stars in your sky. You might hear tales of how people on the other side of your moon world could see a giant planet filling a good fraction of their sky. You might not believe such tales, thinking them too fantastic. Or perhaps you would spend lots of money to travel to the other side of your moon world, so you could see this glorious sight, as a once-in-a-lifetime treat.