Re: Magnetovores

"nunya@xxxxxxx" <Alien8752@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1176078525.443936.242380@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Mar 24, 12:19 pm, "Logan Kearsley" <chrono.sur...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
[...]
So, picking some convenient test values, say that r=.2AU, M=1*10^23Wb*m,
t=15 minutes, and x=45 degrees, I get
dE ~= .054V/m
And maximum E ~= .098V/m

That seems to be just on the edge of usefullness to me.

Depends on the size and metabolic rate (and methodology) of your
posited critters, I think. Terrestrial organisms capture visible
photons in the few eV range for photosynthesis through chemical
mechanisms. We need a physical mechanism that can capture magnetic
energy and convert it to something the critters can use. Given the
radiation "sleet" we pretty much concur must be going on at a NSs
planet's surface, what sort of physical structure will be robust
enough to survive that and still be able to utilize the field
variations? What sort of mechanism (chemistry, metallurgy, I don't
know) can utilize captured magnetic energy?

Well, you could just not live on the surface, or at least live on the
darkside, in order to avoid needing to be quite so robust. That's one of the
big advantages of using the magnetic field rather than radiation- it's
available deep underground. Anyway, for capturing the energy I was thinking
long electron conduction systems, maybe made of out of organic
semiconductors or something, arranged in antenna-like organs that would make
use of the electron current to pump protons across a cell membrane, or else
to power synthesis enzymes directly.

At a rough estimate (dividing the energy released by breaking down glucose
by 36), it takes ~.8eV to make one molecule of ATP. So either we need a much
weaker energy storage molecule, extremely long antenna organs, or some way
to combine the power output of lots of electrons moving along the conduction
channels.

What sorts of processes are going on that might give rise to life?
We have the particle sleet, the visible/UV/Xray/gamma radiation, and
whatever chemistry is possible given the (hard to nail down) elemental
composition of the crust of such a planet. We have reasonable
speculation that at least some minerals of the surface will be
fluorescing from the EM and there'll be an atmosphere of ion species
generated by continuous ionization erosion on the day side, and
possibly redeposition of said ions on the night side.

I was going to suggest you forget magnetovores and consider
"radiovores" that actually eat the radiation sleet (because the sleet
can be considered to be fairly constant and has a much higher energy
density than the magnetic field variations) but I couldn't think of
any structure that might do that without fatal erosion. However,
terrestrial lifeforms constantly renew their outer integument to
compensate for damage and to allow growth, so it isn't completely
improbable to posit such a mechanism for a NS-planet lifeform. If the
lifeform can generate (or capture and store) and manipulate magnetic
fields it might be able to retain a sort of "shieldskin" comprising a
cloud of trapped ions that not only shields it from said sleet to some
degree but performs at least some of the functions of digestive/
eliminatory/respiratory organs at the same time.

A thick atmosphere might produce enough auroral light to power
photosynthesis, and secondary radiation and maybe flourescence could provide
a less dangerous energy source to creatures living just below the surface.

Taking 1 gigameter as an approximation for the Roche limit around a
neutron
star or white dwarf, and leaving all other variables constant, I get
values
of
dE ~= 48.56V/m & peak E ~= 87.84V/m. Perhaps a bit extreme. Geolightning
and
inductive heating might make it an unfriendly place for life.

Your later corrected math says to me "no geolightning" and "don't
worry about inductive heating", at least in the relatively short term.
It might contribute to what we call geothermal processes, but surface
life should be able to ignore it for the most part.

? The corrected math gives larger values. I only listed the correct values
for the .2AU case previously- the corrections for the 1 gigameter orbit are
negligible, only about .02eV.

-l.
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