"What an evolution! Century after century of slowly decreasing
temperature--one continuous struggle to adapt the physique to a
constantly changing environment. First they must have tried to maintain
their high temperature by covering and heating their cities.--Then,
as vegetation died, they must have bred into their plants the ability
to use as sap purely chemical liquids, such as our present natural
fluids--which also may have been partly synthetic then--instead of the
molten water to which they had been accustomed. They must have modified
similarly the outer atmosphere; must have made it more reactive, to
compensate for the lowered temperature at which metabolism must take
place. As Titan grew colder and colder they probably dug their cities
deeper and ever deeper; until humanity came finally to realize that it
must itself change completely or perish utterly.
"Then we may picture them as aiding evolution in changing their body
chemistry. For thousands, and thousands of years there must have gone
on the gradual adaptation of blood stream and tissue to more and more
volatile liquids, and to lower and still lower temperatures. This must
have continued until Titan arrived at the condition which has now
obtained for ages--a condition of thermal equilibrium with space upon
one hand and upon the other the sun, which changes appreciably only in
millions upon millions of years. In equilibrium at last--with our bodily
and atmospheric temperatures finally constant at their present values,
which seem as low to you as yours appear high to us. Truly, an evolution
astounding to contemplate!"
"But how about power?" asked Stevens. "You seem to have all you want,
and yet it doesn't stand to reason that there could be very much
generated upon a satellite so old and so cold."
"You are right. For ages there has been but little power produced
upon Titan. Many cycles ago, however, our scientists had developed
rocket-driven space-ships, with which they explored our neighboring
satellites, and even Saturn itself. It is from power plants upon Saturn
that we draw energy. Their construction was difficult in the extreme,
since the pioneers had to work in braces because of the enormous force
of gravity. Then, too, they had to be protected from the overwhelming
pressure and poisonous qualities of the air, and insulated from a
temperature far above the melting point of water. In such awful heat,
of course, our customary building material, water, could not be
employed...."
"But all our instruments have indicated that Saturn is _cold_!" Stevens
interrupted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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