Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (
More info?)
No 33 Secretary wrote:
> "Marc L." <master.cougar@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:Xns9623AF7F31135mastercougarhotmailc@207.35.177.134:
>
> > No 33 Secretary <taustin+usenet@hyperbooks.com> wrote in
> > news:Xns962188F306F26taustinhyperbookscom@216.168.3.50:
> >
> >> Giant? No. Not even remotely possible. Consider the energy it
> >> takes to put something that weighs several tons in to the air.
> >> Consider that this energy must come from the creature. Now
> >> consider how much they'd have to eat to have that much energy
> >> stored in their tissue.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Agreed, but what about a floater? Something like a living
> > blimp.
>
> I'm skeptical on a practical level, because hydrogen and helium leak
> through pretty much anything used to contain them. Anybody know of
any real
> life examples?
>
> --
> Terry Austin
> www.hyperbooks.com
> Campaign Cartographer now available
Manmade real world examples. Not a critter that isolates light gases to
float. Real world air floaters rely on wind and drag - dandelion seeds,
baby spiders, milk weed. A lot of the component parts that would be
needed exist in nature, though. There are float bladders in sea
creatures, plants and animals, this would be a weak starting point. The
electric generating capacity to isolate hydrogen through electrolysis
is present in several fish. Conjecturing a sci-fi or fantasy creature
using these for gas bag flight is not too great a stretch. It would
logically be more of a fish than a reptile, FWIW.
As you mention in another post, helium is not plentiful on earth. Most
commercial helium comes from deposits where it is trapped in quantity
in the earth. It can be gotten by fractional distillation of the
atmosphere, but it along with hydrogen are the last gases to condense,
and the yield is low (low percentage), though if you could live with a
helium/hydrogen mix, you would not have to drop the temperature past
where the bulk of the gases, N2, O2, CO2, and Ar condense out. It also
is produced though alpha decay of radioactive stuff (+2 ionic, but it's
the right nucleus; add some beta decay, and you're in business.)
There are other buoyant gases. The obvious one is hot air. Fits the
dragon mythos well - there's a reason they breathe fire. Fuel weight is
problematic. Then there are gases heavier than helium (atomic weight
approximately four) but lighter than N2 (molecular weight approximately
twenty eight) - water vapor (molecular weight approximately eighteen)
(condensation problematic), ammonia (molecular weight approximately
seventeen) (chemically active, eats through flesh), methane (molecular
weight approximately sixteen) (not a bad candidate - fairly stable and
inert ((in the grand scheme of things, but burns in the presence of
O2)), less flammable than H2, generated naturally in the digestive
tract), and neon (atomic weight approximately twenty.) (available in
the atmosphere, but hard to isolate - at the bottom of the pack for the
bulk of the gases; not available chemically (("from food")).) (Lithium
Hydride ((LiH, molecular weight approximately eight)) is not a gas at
STP, nor is Beryllium Hydride ((BeH2, molecular weight approximately
eleven.))
Madkaugh
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