"Eythil finger-shrugged."
-Poul Anderson, The Stars Are Also Fire, 7, p. 96.
How does a Lunarian finger-shrug? We have been told:
"Valanndray spread his fingers. A Terran would have shrugged shoulders."
-op. cit., 1, p. 14.
Lunarians and Terrans are two human species. Eythil is a "Saljaine," (7, p. 92), trusted attendant, officer or faithful henchman, of Lilisaire. Although Lunarian by species, he was bred on Mars and is shorter and broader than Lunarian Moondwellers. He is also dark-skinned with black, curling hair. Many Terran lineages contributed to Lunarian ancestry.
Such modifications of humanity will occur in the future and in other environments even if no aliens are encountered. For another example, in the Time Patrol series, see here.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can see it as being very likely that genetic engineering will be used, not too long from now, to create modified versions of the human species. I can only hope nothing worse will be done than to modify humans to enable them to live and reproduce without difficulty on the Moon. But S.M. Stirling's more pessimistic view of genetic engineering may turn out to be more correct.
Sean
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