A Planet that does not Spin, with life

[SagaLore]

This planet orbits the sun with one side always facing it. There is no moon. The atmosphere is thick, with a jetstream path that comes from the poles to the equator, that then pushes along the equator to the back of the planet and returns to the poles - this allows the day side to be cooled and the night side to be warmed.

There is diverse life on this planet. The day side is lush with plants and tree jungles, and the night side has jungle-like macro-funguses - each to support an animal based ecosystem. Some animals are as smart as dolphins, apes, dogs, elephants, etc.

Now the question is - do any of these animals sleep? Or would they have evolved without the need to?

(The point is, do we sleep because it as an absolute necessity, or because it is evolution's way of coping with the change in sunlight/temperature)

 

[Witling]

What an incredibly oblique way to approach the question of do we need sleep. The answer is, yes, we do need sleep. See, e.g., Why Sleep Is Necessary or, better yet, since you seem to be asking about humans rather than speculating about other planets, look up the terms "sleep necessary" in Google.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Witling
What an incredibly oblique way to approach the question of do we need sleep. The answer is, yes, we do need sleep. See, e.g., Why Sleep Is Necessary or, better yet, since you seem to be asking about humans rather than speculating about other planets, look up the terms "sleep necessary" in Google.

When I say "we", I'm talking about all Earth animals.

 

[Witling]

The answer still seems to be that we, including fish, birds, and animals need sleep. Who can know about another planet? See the Wikpedia article on Sleep. One of the links in the table of contents is specifically to animal sleep.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Witling
The answer still seems to be that we, including fish, birds, and animals need sleep. Who can know about another planet? See the Wikpedia article on Sleep. One of the links in the table of contents is specifically to animal sleep.

This is a mental exercise of imagination. Talk about a fun-killer. :roll:

 

[Kinnetic]

Even in the absence of any outside light sources, the body's circadian clock in humans keeps us on a 25 hour cycle (not 24).

 

[Xyo II]

at present, animals need sleep. if we would have evolved on this other planet, it is very much possible that we would not need sleep- the body could conceivably break down the deadly toxins in our body and be more energy efficient so that you dont need to rest as so. in fact, i know somebody that works 20 hours a day. no joke, she sleeps w/ 2 hours or so, and during breaks, and is absolutely cheery. one day, we will most likely modify our bodies (genetically) so that we dont sleep, but eat more food, will be stronger, faster, and smarter, and will obey anything authorities tell us. ah, a perfect world.

 

[Atomicus]

Animals and humans alike "grow" during sleep (release of growth hormones) and metabolic reactions slow down so bodily tissues can rest. Staying awake 24/7 would basically wear down the body and organs physically, not to mention psychologically (I recall the radio personality that took on challenge to stay awake for 2 weeks straight and then spent the rest of his days in a mental institution due to the psychological damage he incurred).

Sleep is a necessity.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Atomicus
Animals and humans alike "grow" during sleep (release of growth hormones) and metabolic reactions slow down so bodily tissues can rest. Staying awake 24/7 would basically wear down the body and organs physically, not to mention psychologically

What if there was more system redundancy? Two circulatory systems, each connected to its own set of organs. Then the brain could shut down parts in a rotation so at any given time only 1/4 of the brain is resting.

 

[Parkre]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Atomicus
Animals and humans alike "grow" during sleep (release of growth hormones) and metabolic reactions slow down so bodily tissues can rest. Staying awake 24/7 would basically wear down the body and organs physically, not to mention psychologically

What if there was more system redundancy? Two circulatory systems, each connected to its own set of organs. Then the brain could shut down parts in a rotation so at any given time only 1/4 of the brain is resting.

That's interesting, but I only use 16% of my brain anyway (unlike those pathetic earthlings who only use 10%) muhhahhahaha

Also there's lot of other tissue that wouldn't get the rest, such as your skin, nose, eyes, etc. Unless you had two sets of everything which would be very ineffecient and wierd looking. Dragging around almost 2 times your healthy body weight (althought there are many Americans who do this already).

I don' t see it as a effective evolutionary process.

 

[makken]

Originally posted by: Kinnetic
Even in the absence of any outside light sources, the body's circadian clock in humans keeps us on a 25 hour cycle (not 24).

Oh, so THAT's why my sleep schedule always gets messed up, and i have to do a hard reset every week >_<

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Parkre
Also there's lot of other tissue that wouldn't get the rest, such as your skin, nose, eyes, etc. Unless you had two sets of everything which would be very ineffecient and wierd looking. Dragging around almost 2 times your healthy body weight (althought there are many Americans who do this already).

They're already going to be exposed to sunlight their entire lives - maybe they would just shed their skin much faster than we do. I would expect that their epidermal cells would also contain chloroplasts to put some of that constant sunlight to good use.

Speaking of skin - I would also guess that the Nightsiders would have an oily feather-like fur to keep warm and prevent moisture from collecting on them so fungal colonies can't grow.

 

[Titan]

The reason that we always see one side of the moon is because it's axial rotation is "locked in" by the earth's gravitational field.

Wouldn't this theorhetical planet have to be so close to the star it orbits to vaporize most chemicals on it, in order for one side to always be day? Would we have the war of the plasma creatures versus the stone-cold dark lords?

Not trying to shoot you down, just trying to flesh it out in my head.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Titan
Wouldn't this theorhetical planet have to be so close to the star it orbits to vaporize most chemicals on it, in order for one side to always be day?

No... I don't think so. The lack of spin is just a freak accident. With an infinite universe there is bound to be at least one life-supporting planet with no spin.

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Titan
Wouldn't this theorhetical planet have to be so close to the star it orbits to vaporize most chemicals on it, in order for one side to always be day?

No... I don't think so. The lack of spin is just a freak accident. With an infinite universe there is bound to be at least one life-supporting planet with no spin.

But my point is it would spin, orbiting the star. Unless it's not orbiting? Then that's just silly, everything is twirling about in the chaos out there 😛

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Titan

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Titan
Wouldn't this theorhetical planet have to be so close to the star it orbits to vaporize most chemicals on it, in order for one side to always be day?

No... I don't think so. The lack of spin is just a freak accident. With an infinite universe there is bound to be at least one life-supporting planet with no spin.

But my point is it would spin, orbiting the star. Unless it's not orbiting? Then that's just silly, everything is twirling about in the chaos out there 😛

Well "relative" to the star, it is not spinning. Relative to some fixed point in the universe, then yes I suppose the planet is spinning just enough so one side is always locked facing the star.

 

[Bassyhead]

Sleep is pretty critical. The body does things it can't do while its awake. I don't see any other solution to avoid it.

 

[Xyo II]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Parkre
Also there's lot of other tissue that wouldn't get the rest, such as your skin, nose, eyes, etc. Unless you had two sets of everything which would be very ineffecient and wierd looking. Dragging around almost 2 times your healthy body weight (althought there are many Americans who do this already).

They're already going to be exposed to sunlight their entire lives - maybe they would just shed their skin much faster than we do. I would expect that their epidermal cells would also contain chloroplasts to put some of that constant sunlight to good use.

Speaking of skin - I would also guess that the Nightsiders would have an oily feather-like fur to keep warm and prevent moisture from collecting on them so fungal colonies can't grow.

i highly doubt that the ones on the light side would evolve with skin very much like ours, or even look or process like we do. i doubt that life would even form, but if everyone here is supposing that life on a different planet with a completely different habitat and conditions would evolve to be similar to terrestrial life here, then i would suppose that if they did need to rest their bodies, well, they could do in sunlight. the basic reason that most animals dont sleep during the day, in broad daylight, is that other animals will see them and eat them while they're sleeping. then these animals, on the other planet, could hide in a cave. or curl up under a harder protective skin on their backside and hide in the trees. but i still say that the most likely thing to happen, is for the animals not to happen, without a "moon" to protect them from asteroids heading their direction. and even if a large meteorite hits the earth and doesnt obliterate all life, any large enough impact can be enough to cause an oscillation on the planet's axis, so the sides would be facing the wrong direction, for at least some of the time, and if the planet isn't revolving on its axis in the first place, its orbit around its (i am assuming the "sun" of this system is of similar size to ours) sun would be irregular without it turning to stabilize it. my opinions, anyway.

 

[Soccerman06]

Originally posted by: Kinnetic
Even in the absence of any outside light sources, the body's circadian clock in humans keeps us on a 25 hour cycle (not 24).

Actually its more like 24 hours 18 minutes. Any high-school psychology student knows that.

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Atomicus
Animals and humans alike "grow" during sleep (release of growth hormones) and metabolic reactions slow down so bodily tissues can rest. Staying awake 24/7 would basically wear down the body and organs physically, not to mention psychologically

What if there was more system redundancy? Two circulatory systems, each connected to its own set of organs. Then the brain could shut down parts in a rotation so at any given time only 1/4 of the brain is resting.

So you want us to lose 1/4 our brain? At one time we would lose our sight, another point all our conciouse thoughts, then we lose most of our motor skills. Doesnt seem very efficient, everything has evolved to sleep is the same manner (everything all at once) for a reason.

 

[Matthias99]

I saw something once about a sci-fi novel describing life on a tide-locked planet (in the book apparently there was an extended eclipse, and their society collapsed, since they were all instinctively terrified of darkness). Can't remember the title, though. :-/

Physiologically, there's nothing preventing life from developing on that sort of world. For the 'hot' side to be comfortable for carbon-based life on land, though, it would probably have to be further away from its sun than Earth is (or else orbit a smaller star). I'm sure that most aquatic life wouldn't really care that much.

So you want us to lose 1/4 our brain? At one time we would lose our sight, another point all our conciouse thoughts, then we lose most of our motor skills. Doesnt seem very efficient, everything has evolved to sleep is the same manner (everything all at once) for a reason.

Sharks and some other fish can basically do that (resting part of their brain while staying semi-conscious). I'm not sure it would work well with a more sophisticated brain, though. 😛

Our physiology seems to require sleep for a variety of reasons, but a more exotic one might not (or might not need it in such large chunks).

but i still say that the most likely thing to happen, is for the animals not to happen, without a "moon" to protect them from asteroids heading their direction.

There's nothing preventing such a planet from having a moon (which may or may not be tide-locked to the planet). And I thought the whole 'the moon shields us from asteroids' thing is pretty much not true?

 

[PowerEngineer]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
I saw something once about a sci-fi novel describing life on a tide-locked planet (in the book apparently there was an extended eclipse, and their society collapsed, since they were all instinctively terrified of darkness). Can't remember the title, though. :-/

Nightfall

 

[panipoori]

What reason do planets spin anyways? Is it cause some object collided with them and set them into rotation long ago?

 

[Xyo II]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

There's nothing preventing such a planet from having a moon (which may or may not be tide-locked to the planet). And I thought the whole 'the moon shields us from asteroids' thing is pretty much not true?

she says there is no moon on this hypothetical planet with her first post. the moon serves its purposes, but you are right about the moon not saving us from asteroids, not that it doesn't shield the earth from some of them. i was just reaching for some usefulnesses.

Originally posted by: panipoori
What reason do planets spin anyways? Is it cause some object collided with them and set them into rotation long ago?

most stars and planets rotate today because of the angular momentum accumulated when they were vast clouds of dust, being pulled together by gravity. (the great clouds of dust were constantly moving, so when they started to attract towards each other, the mass started rotating faster and faster, similar to how when a figure skater pulls his/her arms in, they rotate faster and faster)

 

[xtknight]

I saw this thing on TechTV ~1.5 years ago about a pill that would keep you up all day. They claimed it would work.

Last time I checked, one of the things an 'object' required in order to be an organism was not sleep. More like it having cells, metabolism, stuff like that.

But I suppose humans may require it... but maybe drugs will replicate sleep's functions so we don't need that process during sleep.

 

[mjia]

I would think that it would still be possible for life to develop on such a planet. There are two places on Earth that have similar qualities, the deeper regions of the oceans and the poles. It's always pitch dark in the deep parts of the ocean (to deep for the light from the sun to penetrate). In the north and south poles, it can be almost completely dark or light for half of the year.

I don't really know whether life actually evolved in these regions of the world, or whether creatures simply gradually migrated into them.