CoSM:Glossary
This article serves as a glossary for the many smaller terms in the wiki that don't require a dedicated page, at least for the moment.
Astronomy
Estranged Mother Theory
The Estranged Mother Theory is a popular theory in xenobiology, especially among the SDO. It posits that life on Elm, Julee and Earth finds a common origin in an extraplanetary First Universal Common Ancestor. This FUCA entered through fragments of an initially single celestial body, probably an asteroid, which shattered at some point during its course. This object has been tentatively named several times, with the most popular term nowadays being the Ark of Sugar, sometimes shortened to simply the Ark. The "sugar" in its name is in reference to ribose, the sugar backbone of RNA. Several probable impact sites on Elm and Julee have been found, although recognising ones on Earth is by now impossible due to its destruction in 143 PE. Several triangulations have been made attempting to decipher where within the Milky Way the Ark of Sugar originated. The most popular theory posits that it was originally part of a planet, called Estranged Mother (Áonak: Šaqqüq ʼǘqü), located somewhere within VS Leo Albus.
Neighbour borrowing sugar axiom
The Neighbour borrowing sugar axiom states that universes that are close enough to each other will have similar rules. This means that matter from one universe will be essentially "translated" into an equivalent form pertaining to the other. For example, the dessian element aranine will fill a similar niche to that of oxygen when transported to the cosmos. Physically, they will present differences, but functionally, they are similar enough to take one another's place.
Vicus stellaris
A vicus stellaris (Latin for "star neighbourhood"), often shortened to VS, is a uranographic boundary originally created for census tracking, but also used in mapping stars. It's defined as a spherical area with a radius of 12,5 ly with a central star, called the capital, as its origin. There are three major vici stellares: VS Leo Albus, VS Furittum and VS Helix Solaris.
Biology
Biological unit
A biological unit is the basic building block for life in a given biosphere, usually at a planetary level. The classic example is the cell of World (and previously Earth), subdivided into eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, both having a common origin and biochemical characteristics. These characteristics, along with general anatomy, are the main defining points that distinguish biological units from one another.
The CHONPS universal states that all known biological units are, at their basest of elements, composed of primarily carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
| Feature | CEVO group | Avau | Zir | Kannocyte | Telecyte | Araicyte | Enyacite | Tyngey | Clannadocyte | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cell | Erdyll | Vit | Óóta | |||||||||
| Planet | World | Julee | Elm | Maaya | Celiane | Kanno | The Farthest Land | Arai | Enya | Atahualpa | Clannad | |
| Solvent | Water | Ammonia | Water | |||||||||
| Genetic storage | DNA + RNA | INDs | GNA | FNLP | Polypeptides | DNA + RNA | Polypeptides | Biomineral chains | RNLP | |||
| Energy storage | ATP | Organometallic compounds | Polyphosphate chains | 2,3-Bis(acetylmercaptomethyl)quinoxaline | Polyphosphate chains | ATP | Polyphosphate chains | Organometallic compounds | Acefurtiamine | |||
Nucleic laminar polymer
NLPs (nucleic laminar polymers), chiefly genetic tape or genetic laminar, are the main Kannoan and Clannadian genetic information storage chemicals, comparable to nucleic acids in the CEVO group of biological units. They are long, flat molecular ribbons that store information through patterns utilising two chemicals, the bases. These bases form two- (in simpler organisms) to six-base-long lines (in most multicellular life) that go horizontally across the tape's width.
An important distinguishing factor of NLPs is their continuous-pattern genomes: each line in the genetic code influences the next. Sequences of lines form semi-predictable patterns, owing to the tendency of their bases to form labyrinthine chemical patterns. This pattern-based structure is inherently self-healing, in that, were a mutation to occur, enzymes would rapidly recognise it and rearrange the molecules to match the surrounding pattern. However, this system is not perfect, and lines that are "close enough" to matching the surrounding pattern are left as-is. This provides the NLPs with ample room to mutate and adapt to environmental constraints.
Kannoan FNLP (fuconucleic laminar polymer) uses fucose backbones and 2-aminopyrimidine and 2,4-dioxopyrimidine for data encoding, while Clannadian RNLP (ribonucleic laminar polymer) uses ribose backbones, much like RNA. These two biochemistries are fundamentally incompatible:
- Kannoan FNLP is typically six bases wide, while Clannadian RNLP usually has only five.
- Even in sequences with the same width, the same base sequences encode for different amino acids.
Glyconucleic acid
GNA (glyconucleic acid) is the genetic storage polymer used by Celianese life. It consists of a glycol-phosphate backbone and two discrete nucleobases (2-amino-8-(2-thienyl)purine and 2-pyridone), forming Watson-Crick base pairs that form 4-base codons. This means that life in Celiane produces the fewest number of amino acids of any known biochemistry by far (only 12: Gly, Pro, Cys, His, Ser, Ala, Leu, Glu, Arg, Tyr, Gln, Val). The lack of amino acids is compensated by other macromolecules and cofactors (vitamins, minerals, organometallic compounds) filling the same niches.
As a result of this, Celianese organisms' biological processes tend to be strikingly different:
- Neural pathways are simpler and much more reliant on electrical synapses (over chemical).
- Immune systems are enzymatic rather than cellular.
- Fewer, simpler proteins entail less chances for misfolding and protein aggregation, rendering diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, etc., exceedingly rare, almost impossible.
- Faster, simpler biosynthetic processes lead to advantages such as faster wound healing and tissue regeneration.
- High-metal-content systems require high-metal-content diets, specifically iron, copper, zinc, manganese and magnesium.
- Structures that might be keratinous in CEVO group organisms (fur, hair, claws, nails...) are instead primarily chitinous.
- Better chemical sensing capabilities due to higher cofactor diversity.
Honeymilk
Honeymilk is a Kannoan animal byproduct produced by members of the class Melifera, comparable to milk in mammals. A major component of honeymilk is the trisaccharide sugar melezitose, also found in Earth animals, mostly insects in the form of honeydew. Honeymilk generally has a light cream colour and tends to be a little more viscous than mammalian milk, as is the case with urm and beecattle honeymilk.
Inositol nucleic disc
Inositol nucleic discs (abbreviated INDs) are the main Maayan genetic information storage chemical. They are almost-flat discs, a central cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexol (myo-inositol) molecule in the middle, with positions 2, 3, 5 and 6 recording information by changing groups (methyl, amino, carboxyl and hydroxyl). These discs are stacked together in long cylindrical polymers, similar to DNA, linking together in positions 1 and 4 through phosphate groups. Position 2, being axial, serves as a start/stop point for enzymes reading the information.
With 4 states possible per 4 positions, the possible disc combinations add up to a total of 256 combinations. However, despite the large number of combinations, the genome only encodes for around 34 amino acids, with many disc configurations being redundant. This implies that there is a hard limit of possible amino acid biosynthesis pathways. The leading theory is that ancestral lifeforms on Maaya encoded for many more amino acids, but only those with few remained, while every other evolutionary line perished due to exponentially more frequent and deadly protein misfolding and Alzheimer's-like aggregation events. As proteins became bigger and more complex, there were more opportunities for them to synthesise wrong. Even today, one of the top death causes among Amono is ACS (amono cerebrosclerosis, the hardening of brain tissue due to massive protein aggregation), even more common than cancer.
INDs are highly mutation-resistant as a result of their chemical stability. However, genetic repair enzymes on Maaya are much less efficient than their CEVO group equivalents (the biological unit group that includes World and Earth cells), making it easier for a mutation to slip through and become a permanent, inheritable part of the genome.
A common genetic issue is the sticking together of the oppositely-charged carboxyl and amino groups in the genome. This condition (called cytoplasmic potassium salt deficiency or CPSD) arises from imbalances in the usually potassium-salt-rich nuclear cytoplasm, which shields these groups from interacting. The IND strands become tangled and unreadable, leading to cells undergoing rapid necrosis if K-salts are not reintroduced into the system.
Photodermal patch
The photodermal patch is a (usually) external organ found on the faces of phylum Photodermata on Elm. It is−as the name suggests−an area of exposed skin made of cells capable of sensing light to a limited degree. It accomplishes different tasks from one species to another. For example, on elmians it regulates the circadian rhythm and aids in emotional information, while on the benthic genus Anops of paons they are used for vision (mostly in the form of sensing changes in light at a short distance).
Politics
Misoxeny
Misoxeny is the prejudiced hatred of sophont species other than one's own. A person who acts upon misoxeny is a misoxenist. Misoxeny is a prolific problem during the initial stages of integration of other sophont species into the larger interstellar community, but it tends to attenuate with the passage of time. A good example of this were the initial reactions from urms towards the arrival of the SDO, often described as unwanted and invasive, especially by the more conservative clans. This prejudice was also reflected into the opinions of more isolationist people in places of (primarily) Elm, who frequently pushed for the abandonment of the urms due to their "unwieldy size" and lesser technological status.
Technology
Clone
A clone is a grown organism that traces its genealogy to a single imago, its genetic sample.
Moonbrain
The Moonbrain is a moon-sized quantum supercomputer in orbit around Nausicaä, built from 12x PE until 1Na PE by the Search and Discovery Organisation prior to the advent of the Nenenet. Its equatorial radius is of about 1415 kilometres (around ~300 km less than that of the Earthen moon).
Pratidhvani
A pratidhvani (from the extinct Earth language Sanskrit प्रतिध्वनि pratidhvani "echo, reverberation") is a synthetic organism made to replicate its organic counterpart in nearly all aspects. This includes tissue, organs, cognitive function, and everything else that constitutes a living being. This technology was pioneered by the Elmians during the Early Noŋŋo eon, succesfully creating the first pratidhvani in 4250 ENE, a living replica of a female Earth cat which they subsequently named Prithvi after the Hindu goddess of the earth.
Pratidhvanayah (as they are referred to in the plural) are distinguished from clones in that they possess no imago, i.e. an organism whose genetic material is being sampled, and from yantra (mechanical being) in that their constituent parts are ultimately of organic origin.
Yantra
A yantra is a mechanical being with an artificial intelligence advanced enough for it to be indistinguishable or better than that of an organic being.