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Planetary Model of Alterhuman Identities

I could have sworn I had posted about this before, but apparently not, so here we go. While questioning my faun identity a year ago, I ended up using a metaphor of solar systems and planets to describe different kinds and impacts of nonhuman identity. I posted about it on the Alt+H forums at the time, and wanted to also share here and see what discussions and developments come up. To be clear, these are not identities in themselves, but a metaphor for exploring how identities relate to one another. Identifying-as identites (therian, otherkin, various linktypes) are stars/suns. They can have different features. Just as a star can be different sizes, colors, densities, people can have varying 'types with different features. For example, my dog theriotype features phantom, mental and envisage shifts, pattern noemata, and behavioral urges. Someone else's type might come with past life memories, species dysphoria, etc. The reason these identities are stars are they are central- they have a certain gravity. Often, other things relate to them or they have a central/critical role in the overall picture. Paratypes are satellites (planets, etc.) Like suns, planets can be wildly different from one another and have all sorts of features. But what they share in common is that they all orbit the sun. A paratype is usually related to an existing 'type, just as planets orient to, center on, and are moved by their sun. One can use moons, etc. to reflect multi-layer relationships. Otherhearted/kith identities are planetary systems without stars. Otherhearted experiences can be just as complex, large and important as 'kin experiences, and I wanted to reflect that. There are a lot of astral bodies that meet the definition of planets (or have a similar mass to stars) but which aren't in orbit around a star. If I recall correctly, part of the original coining of 'paratype' compared the feelings to kith/hearted-like feelings. Thus an otherhearted planet can resemble a paratype planet, but is independent and moves in it's own right, without being tied to another identity. Cameos are comets (or other passing astral bodies). They pass through a given solar system, they might even loop around a few times recurrently, but they are not a stable, lasting fixture. On voluntariness: I have not made a voluntary/involuntary distinction here, and this is deliberate. For purposes of this model, the type of identity matters, but not it's origin. A mandmade satellite will behave in orbit the same as a natural one (e.g. a moon). They might have different features, but they function and relate to other another and other bodies in the same way. On questioning: This metaphor can extend into questioning. If one has an unknown astral body, one can try to identify it by it's features (e.g. size, density). Often, astronomers discover new planets or stars by seeing their gravitational effects on other bodies. Likewise, one can reach conclusions about an identity by how it intersects with others. For an example: For a long time I thought I had one dog kintype, with sheep as a paratype, and goats as a secondary paratype off of sheep. (Dog as sun, sheep as planet, goat as moon). Relating to other half-humans like fauns, mermaids, and centaurs I considered a general, broad connection to all alterhumanity. But this did not accurately reflect my feelings: I felt much more strongly connected to fauns > centaurs and minotaurs > everything else. And my love of goats didn't always seem to go through sheep as a middleman. This helped me realize and embrace my faun identity, where I could have two suns, and goats/centaurs became paratypes of faunness, with sheep as a paratype to both kintypes.

I'll include my own diagram in a reblog.

#mine #alterhuman #planetary model #planet #solar system

“Supercritical” water, a corrosive substance used to break down toxic waste on Earth, coats some small worlds around other stars, simulations suggest.

Small worlds around other stars may come in more than two varieties.

Using exoplanet densities, astronomers have largely sorted planets that are bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune into two categories: denser, rocky super-Earths and larger, puffy mini-Neptunes (SN: 6/19/17). Mini-Neptunes are generally thought to be padded in thick layers of hydrogen and helium gas, like the giant planets in our own solar system. But astronomers have detected clear evidence of hydrogen on only some mini-Neptunes — and, curiously, seen traces of water on others (SN: 5/11/17).

Now, new simulations indicate that some planets that look like gaseous mini-Neptunes could actually be rocky planets covered in superheated oceans, where the water is in an exotic state between liquid and gas. Such extreme saunalike worlds could bridge the divide between rocky and gaseous planet types, researchers report in the June 15 Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Olivier Mousis, a planetary scientist at Aix-Marseille University in France, and colleagues ran simulations of ocean-covered worlds in close orbits around their stars, where mini-Neptunes are often found. Intense stellar radiation would cause water on the planets to puff up into a diffuse layer of “supercritical” water between liquid and gas, topped by a steamy water vapor atmosphere, the team found. On Earth, supercritical water can be used to break down toxic waste.

The puffiness of each simulated planet depended on factors like its water content. But Mousis’ team simulated water worlds with a range of sizes and densities that match nearly all of the hundreds of mini-Neptunes discovered so far. This hints that water-containing mini-Neptunes may be better explained by supercritical oceans than by hydrogen and helium gas layers. For instance, the authors note that the mini-Neptune K2 18b, where water has been spotted, fits the profile of a supercritical ocean planet of about 37 percent water (SN: 9/11/19).

More detailed observations of exoplanets in the future may prove whether this new planetary model holds water.