Downdraft

There was a terrible accident at the New Zefport Science Academy today. Don’t worry, it didn’t happen on earth, some other place. They were experimenting with a new form of energy production involving the removal and use of heat energy. The experiment was actually a terrific success, it just had some unexpected consequences. Thousands of tons of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen upon having 99.999999999% of the heat removed from their molecular structures entered a super-fluid state. The condensates ignored gravity and rose rapidly into the atmosphere,  even up into outer space for a time. Upon reversion back into gaseous form, the cold dense gasses came crashing back down through the atmosphere creating a series of very serious downdrafts. The winds near the epicenters exceeded the speed of sound by hundreds of miles per hour.

The destruction caused by the heavy winds was horrific, particularly in cities caught within close proximity to the air-bursts. There were however a few small groups of thrill seekers who managed to catch the ride of their lives. A hand full of surfers caught and survived a wave that crossed over an entire continent over the course of a few hours. Another group of hang gliders became the first on the planet to break the speed of sound while almost completely exposed to the elements. A few motorcyclists found themselves significantly air-born, several yards above ground, for durations of minutes at a time.

Life on Venus

It wasn’t easy, but then, if it were, TK Lumbrant wouldn’t be interested. TK Lumbrant is the scientist-gone-explorer who single handedly increased the percentage of the deep sea floor explored by humans from 1% to 20% over the course of twenty-two years. He has recently been given command over the Venus Missions.

Several ecosystems have been discovered on the sea floor that survive completely independently from the sun. Many of the creatures who live there derive their energy from methane or sulfur. TK Lumbrant is attempting to discover such life that is non water based or that survives from hidden pockets of water protected deep within Venus’s crust. There is a chance that water existed on the surface of Venus in relative abundance before its greenhouse effect evaporated all surface water.

“The surface pressure of Venus is only about one-hundred times that of earth,” TK Lumbrant tells the television news media, “I’ve tolerated four times that under the ocean floor. And as for temperature, I cook my meals at 450 degrees centigrade. Hah! This mission should be a piece of cake.”

The probe begins on the mountaintops of Venus. It takes a sample of venetian snow. This snow is not composed of water, but a mix of galena and tellurium, both of which are conductors.

The probe then burrows deep into the venetian crust. The probe discovers a massive ecosystem there, one which TK Lumbrant is quite familiar with. Simple animals live in symbiotic relationship with specialized microbes to derive energy from sulfur deposits. They do not look the creatures found in the trenches and undersea lakes of earth, and only one of the three habitats that the probe visits is water based. Water no longer has a monopoly on life. Carbon however, still plays its part.

As if discovering life on Venus was not a great enough success already, the samples brought back from the mountaintops contained life as well. Synthetic life. Tiny creatures composed of carbon, tellurium and galena use conduct trace ions from venetian lighting and use the energy to replicate themselves. A more complicated variety of such life will be discovered on one of Jupiter’s moons two years later. TK Lumbrant will be in charge of this mission as well.

“I submit that all solid planets have life at some depth,” TK Lumbrant states triumphantly to the world science tribunal, “Of course there will be exceptions to that rule, but in any case, it is the view we must maintain if we are to discover where life truly dwells.”

Life is abundant in the universe. Intelligence however, frivolous and unnecessary as it is, only develops where life is abundant and intelligence can become a relevant competitive asset.