Many stories on NOP have gone into how well we treat our animals but a recent thing has reminded me that it's not just our animals we care about: The other day I was at a local cove having a picnic when a van drove up to the boat ramp. Four men got out and unloaded a seal to be released back into the wild. This kind of thing happens all the time - someone finds a sick, injured, or orphaned animal in the wilderness and brings it in to be cared for.
And we've been doing it for so long some animals have clued in that if they are in trouble they can ask a human for help. The internet is full of such stories.
Ok, so I'm reading The Nature of a Giant 48 and they are talking about Gojid refugees heading to Earth and I'm like 'wait a minute! That's right, there AREGojid refugees on Earth.' And now I'm wondering if that subplot has been, or will be, advanced any? Did they survive the Fed bombing of Earth? Are they still in the camps or have they moved into settlements yet? Had there been any integration with human society?
What a story that would make: A Gojid with UN citizenship visits Venlil Prime to set up imports of Gojid centered items to make life on Earth more like "home" for those who want to stay.
Possibly an easy way to disprove the simplistic predator/prey worldview to the federation: Most animals, even prey animals with side-facing eyes, have some overlap in frontal vision (a field of view that is binocular). Talk to any fed and ask them what percent of overlap they have. Let's say their answer is 10%. Then ask them if that makes them 10% predator?
Here's a thought: It's very easy for information to get "lost" during the transfer from one medium to another. The Feds could have purposely erased a lot of knowledge just by convincing new members to convert their stored data to the new personal pads they gave them. A little bit or bite here and there with each software update over a few centuries and who would notice? Might be a good idea for a story: Someone in contact with the humans sees there are holes in their own knowledge and goes in search of older, forgotten, storage mediums and finds a stash of books in someone's attic, or basement, or locker, etc. At which point they realize 'holy crap, we KNEW this stuff!'
I think I read somewhere that Venlil Prime has a gravity of 1.1 gees - true or false? The reason I ask is I've also read somewhere that if Earth's gravity was just 10% higher we could not get into orbit with chemical rockets. This would suggest, if true, the Venlil did not get into space on their own and were uplifts.
The water deer, native to China and Korea, have long canine teeth which protrude from the upper jaw instead of antlers. The canines are fairly large in the bucks, ranging in length from 5.5 cm (2.2 in) on average to as long as 8 cm (3.1 in). Does, in comparison, have tiny canines that are an average of 0.5 cm (0.2 in) in length. These canines are held loosely in their sockets, with their movements controlled by facial muscles. The buck can draw them backwards out of the way when eating. In aggressive encounters, he thrusts his canines out and draws in his lower lip to pull his teeth closer together. He then presents an impressive two-pronged weapon to rival males. It is due to these teet