Andrea and I recently watched a feature film starring, among several other comic book characters, a superhero who flies not by his own power but by flapping artificial wings while wearing a belt of anti-gravity metal. The belt answers the question: how would an organism with a brain and a central nervous system heavy enough to carry intelligence be able to lift itself and to fly under terrestroid conditions? Such a character would be a worthy candidate for admittance into an Ythrian choth.
In a comic book, we do not see the wings move whereas on screen we do and it looks good, my point of course being that it will now be an easy matter to put Poul Anderson's Ythrians and Diomedeans onto a cinema or TV screen so let's see it.
High is heaven and holy. Fair winds forever.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Humans in Anderson's Technic stories can strap on antigrav packs and fly that way. I know that is not the same as how Diomedeans and Ythrians can fly naturally, using wings. It's also mentioned how intelligent races able to fly naturally were rare.
Ad astra! Sean
Diomedeans basically can fly because the air is so much thicker, which overcomes the limitations of Earth.
Ythrians are more ingenious -- the supercharger they use is a very clever concept, and I don't see any reason it couldn't evolve. Ythri has lower gravity, of course.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, what you said. I think Anderson was inspired by the works of Hal Clement in writing THE MAN WHO COUNTS.
Ythri is described as a planet with a gravity 75% that of Earth's, which made me wonder if Ythrians could fly here? Possibly, with some difficulty.
I have a vague recollection of John Campbell helping Anderson work out how beings as heavy as Ythrians could fly and still be intelligent.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Anderson asked Campbell what might come after reptiles and mammals. Campbell suggested the supercharger. Anderson applied it to flight.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That is what I was trying to remember.
Ad astra! Sean
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