The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 279 Tianyuan Four

Blazing high-temperature plasma is ejected from the four nozzles, propelling the huge body to sail in the vast void - even though the speed is far faster than the chemical rockets or nuclear fission rockets of the past, it still looks like a giant rocket against the background of the vast universe. at every turn.

In the field of view of a pair of photoelectric comprehensive observation compound eyes, a dim red sphere is quietly suspended in the distant space, and the faint light reflects even fainter light spots on only three terrestrial planets. If it were not for the compound eyes of the pioneering stars, The structure has been changed again and again, and it is not always possible to tell that they exist.

A rough estimate shows that the overall conditions of the three terrestrial planets are not very good. Some are too close to the star and are tidally locked in rotation by gravity. Some have too complex gravitational environments and are not suitable for establishment like Gondwana. A large space elevator serves as a stable production base.

The star that appears in the compound eyes of Pioneer Star seems to be called Barnard's Star in later generations. It is an M-type red dwarf star. It is also the name of one of the few stars around the solar system that Lin Yi still remembers.

In line with the mentality of going for it and not losing money, Lin Yi simply threw a few small chrysalis-like structures carried by pioneering stars towards these terrestrial planets, and continued to sail forward.

On the other side, a star that Lin Yi recognized was Sirius, an extremely bright and dazzling A-type star, forming a binary star system with a white dwarf star that was much smaller and much dimmer. It was quite dazzling in the night sky.

In this star system, there is a rocky planet that Lin Yi thinks is suitable, but it is just a satellite of a gas giant planet. The Pioneer Star directly docked into its synchronous orbit and began to slowly decelerate while preparing to pupate towards the large space station.

It is envisaged that the large space elevator on the surface of the giant planet satellite will be close to the skyhook structure in the orbit of the future giant planet body, and a large number of short-distance transport stages will travel back and forth between them to realize the mutual transfer of matter and energy.

The perspective shifts back to Barnard's Star. Since the hyperspace channel only connects nearby stars, not necessarily adjacent stars, Lin Yi does not know which star is connected to the opposite side before the star enters the hyperspace channel.

In the direction of the three stars of Centauri, because the Ezki exploration fleet has shared part of it, and there is certain information for reference, here, we can only let the pioneering star to explore by himself.

Now, in addition to expanding and running away, for some reasons, Lin Yi also wants to find a few habitable planets with an environment similar to the earth. It would be best to meet some conditions to resolve some remaining issues.

After driving out of the gravity well of Barnard's Star and passing through one of the hyperspace channels, a bright orange-red star suddenly appeared in the compound eye of the pioneering star, which made Lin Yi interested.

This kind of star seems to be called K-type star or orange dwarf star by later generations. Together with the G-type star to which the sun belongs, that is, yellow dwarf star, it is considered to be the two most suitable stars for the birth of life. It has a broad habitable zone and suitable light and Heat provides conditions for the birth of life.

The closest K-type orange dwarf star to the solar system seems to be Tianyuan IV. In some later works, it was also considered to be a good target after having the ability to colonize stars across stars.

However, some people believe that Tianyuan 4 is not suitable for the birth of life - this star is younger than the sun and emits strong radiation, and the gravity well is likely to be very chaotic. It is speculated that it has an asteroid belt near a habitable star. , if there is a habitable planet, it is likely that meteorites are flying around. But in Lin Yi's view, it's hard to say whether all this is a blessing or a curse. For example, in terms of radiation, there are fungi on the earth that rely on radiation synthesis to obtain nutrients. Maybe alien creatures will reach the pinnacle and build a new ecosystem based on this.

As for meteorites, a terrifying and devastating meteorite impact like the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous is not that easy to happen. It is more likely that a large number of meteorite fragments fly by from time to time, most of which are burned out by friction in the atmosphere, and few are left. Partially, on the contrary, it brings matter, nutrients, etc.

This was the case for the Middle Ordovician meteor event originally speculated by later generations. It's just that the existence of unknown intervenors makes all this develop faster. And a habitable planet that is always in a similar environment may experience faster biological evolution.

Pioneer Star continued to sail forward, observing the planets that appeared in front of them - the number was still not as large as that of the solar system, but there did seem to be an asteroid belt running across it in a position roughly equivalent to the habitable zone, and there were planets orbiting nearby.

Preliminary estimates indicate that this planet is slightly larger than the Earth. Upon closer inspection, the familiar blue surface is vaguely visible, and it is basically certain that it is an ocean composed of liquid water. This means. The existence of living things has become possible.

But compared to the Earth, this planet, which is probably a habitable planet, is a bit more green. It seems that the overall temperature should be higher than the Earth now and in Lin Yi's previous life, and it is likely to reach the Eocene Extreme Heat Event. period level.

Two satellites orbit the planet, but there are no other man-made structures in orbit, and no electromagnetic waves are observed - unless there is also a nest, it is impossible for a civilization to develop into the interstellar age without relying on electromagnetic waves.

Everything shows that there is no advanced civilization on this livable planet. Even if there is, the development is quite abnormal and there is a high probability that it will not pose any threat.

The orbit of the pioneering star changed slightly, flying straight towards the most likely habitable planet. On the way, a small pupa sac structure was thrown towards the asteroid belt, and a sub-base was also established in the asteroid belt to prevent just in case.

Unlike the Ezki and all similar civilizations, including later humans, the Hives are not so dependent on habitable planets. The development of fragile civilizations on other planets will not be restricted because the cost of maintaining them on other planets is too high.

Therefore, for the Ezki people, all are key resources. If they don’t build immediately, they will have to send an exploration fleet to occupy the pit first. A livable planet suitable for a large population to survive. In Lin Yi’s case, it is more of a kind of It exists like a protected area.

But its importance is also irreplaceable - even if genes are linguistically realized, the genes of some organisms can still provide a small amount of reference for Lin Yi, just like the popularity of bionics in later generations. On the earth, he has basically collected all the species in the Paleozoic Era, and it is difficult to gain anything.

Therefore, a living planet, to Lin Yi now, is nothing more than a brand new, undiscovered genetic treasure house, in which there may be some key gene fragments that are of reference value to the current nest group.

(End of this chapter)