Science fiction has played with the laws of gravity so much that I didn’t believe there was anything special about moving my characters from planet to planet. After taking a closer look at what we know about gravity, though, I noted some things I really should be more aware of as I continue building my Drifting Amalgams universe.
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In my last talk, I discussed some effects gravity has on living things and objects. I’ll share some of that here as context for my worldbuilding technique.
In short, gravity shaped our bodies. There’s evidence that the heart and brain of land creatures are so close together because it helps us better endure 1G. And not just that. When we leave Earth’s gravity, a whole host of issues arise because we’ve evolved to thrive in the gravitational environment we were born in.
That means that science fiction body shapes and biologies don’t need to be humanoid. In fact, there is some scientific conjecture that bipedalism would be tenuous in lower gravities. Quadrupedalism or even hexapedalism may be more advantageous.
Similarly, being in low-gravity environments–even for a relatively brief time–can affect life systems. For beings living and moving around planets that have different gravities, I like to keep a few things in mind as I build a species:
What is movement like in different gravities? Here I’m asking if people are slow, fast, labored, or free. Think: moving in water vs. moving in air.
Are there gravities in which the species becomes disoriented? And how do they compensate? Plants, for instance, use gravity to know which way is down (i.e. where are nutrients coming from). In lower gravities, plants lean more strongly on other sensory queues, like light to know what direction to grow in.
Does a different gravity cause balance problems? Humans commonly have balance issues in low g because the environment affects the way the vestibular system works, so it’s good to think about whether my species have any characteristics, like agility, that are especially dependent upon balance.
How do individuals act in environments they’re not accustomed to? For instance, do they accidentally tap people’s shoulders too hard or too lightly because they no longer understand their own strength?
Does the body function properly? Do cells fire differently because they don’t understand how to interpret new sensations?
What body systems have the species adopted for their gravity? For instance, do they have or even need bones?
What happens over time in a different gravity? Can the changes become “permanent” if a person doesn’t go back to their home gravity for years, decades, or even centuries? And does this happen on an individual level or an evolutionary level?
There are so many areas to think about species design here, and it becomes technologically significant when I start to think about what it means for species of notably different gravities to interact.
Because I’m creating a world with interplanetary–even intergalaxy–trade and diplomacy, I have to think about what hospitality and mobility look like. If I were to have an intergalactic meeting, would gravity suits be provided by the host planet?
Even more commonly, I think about what it means to have gravity on a space vessel. Yeah, a common idea is to have gravity and anti gravitational mechanisms within the ship. But who are those systems attuned to? Let’s say that I had a group of people from a half G planet on the same ship as people from a 5 G planet? Is the ship’s default 3 G …and everyone’s just uncomfortable all the time? Or maybe everyone’s uniforms adjust to their individual comfort? And maybe those suits slowly acclimate them to the ship’s default over time if they are a long-term crew member? Something to think about.
And just one quick note on the non-living: What objects–especially vessels–are being impacted by gravity and how are they shielded or adapted when they leave the gravity they were built in?
So much narrative material to work with. I gotta say that I love gravity. It’s a more interesting literary device than I ever would have thought!
Until next time, keep creating.