I'm still thinking about centaurs!

[conuly]

Several people have mentioned that centaurs must eat a lot to support their huge horse body AND their not-too-tiny human body.

But not all horses are huge. What if centaurs aren't big? What if the horse half is, like, a miniature horse and the human half is scaled accordingly? What does that do to their diet? Shouldn't they eat less then? Why do we assume centaurs are big?

On another note: Winged humans. How do they work? Whichever sort of wings they are - bat wings, fairy wings, angel-type wings, bird wings of another sort - is there ANY way to make that happen? In Earth gravity? I assume they have a delicate bone structure, but how do the wings even attach?

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Not on Earth, no. If the other-planet life-forms come from a planet with lower gravity, denser atmosphere and a higher oxygen level, so that it's possible for someone human-weight to fly without requiring a 23-foot wingspan and a breastbone like a ship's keel, they not only couldn't fly on Earth - they'd be crushed by our gravity and asphyxiated by our thin atmosphere.

This is just one of the many glaring scientific impossibilities in John Norman's Gor books: Gor supposedly does have slightly less gravity and a slightly richer atmosphere than Earth, but not enough to allow for giant hawks capable of carrying multiple people for long distances. (Don't even get me started about the orbital parameters of Gor, sheesh!)

It might be possible to genetically engineer humans to have a 23-foot wingspan instead of arms, drastically lighter bones, a drastically-enhanced cardiovascular system, and a breast-bone like a boat-keel for the wing-muscles to attach to. But what would be the point? They'd be extremely fragile; they wouldn't have useful arms or hands; they wouldn't look anything like humans; they'd probably be of very low intelligence due to the oxygen-use problem, and they STILL wouldn't be efficient flyers.

If one wanted to genetically engineer a flyer with human-equivalent intelligence and communication abilities, it would make a lot more sense to start with ravens or parrots and work up.

[conuly]

If you're reading the Gor books for the science, might I suggest that you're approaching them from the wrong angle entirely?

But what would be the point?

Mad science? Again, if you're looking for a point besides "sheer awesomeness" you're probably not looking at it right.

Not that they'd really be that awesome, alas.

If one wanted to genetically engineer a flyer with human-equivalent intelligence and communication abilities, it would make a lot more sense to start with ravens or parrots and work up.

Now there's an idea! Can we give them hands? Or make them bigger, anyway?