Alien Genesis

4. Riding Neutrinos

CHAPTER FOUR

RIDING NEUTRINOS

Domhan-Siol is the fourth planet of eighteen orbiting a yellow K-class star. It has an abundance of gaseous, liquid, and some frozen water. Life began its remarkable evolutionary journey on the planet some seven billion annum ago.

The sentient beings that evolved on Domhan-Siol wanted to believe the cosmos was teeming with life. Domhanian scholars proposed theoretical models that estimated the number of technologically advanced civilizations in the galaxy. The variables included: the rate of star formation, the number of planets per solar system environmentally suitable for life, the fraction of life-bearing planets that evolved sentient life, the fraction of civilizations that developed technologies emitting detectable signals, and the length of time such civilizations produced those energy signatures.

Initially this formula was merely a brain teaser, but over time Domhanians became obsessed with finding extraterrestrial life. The more focused they became on this quest, the more they refined the formula, and the more discouraged they became. Technologically advanced civilizations were simply not as abundant as they had hypothesized.

During the early centuries of Domhanian space exploration they invested heavily in extraterrestrial mining. They became increasingly dependent upon imports of minerals from planets, moons, and asteroids throughout their solar system. Enormous industries producing almost incalculable wealth grew out of these enterprises.

Though the search for extraterrestrial intelligence had been fruitless and their enthusiasm flagged, Domhanians did not abandon the effort. They were astounded and ecstatic when a spacefaring species visited the solar system of Domhan-Siol. They called the extraterrestrial visitors Natharians. However, Domhanians were crestfallen when they realized the Natharians would neither respond to nor initiate any form of communication.

They came to believe the Natharians were probably a life-form so different that interspecies communication would be a difficult proposition, if even possible. They also theorized that Natharian space travel technology was based on a branch of physics unimagined by the scientists of Domhan-Siol.

Domhanians had for centuries understood that antimatter particles could coalesce to form antiatoms the same way protons and electrons form atoms. However, virtually everything they observed in the universe was made of matter rather than antimatter. So where was all that antimatter?

They were also aware of the existence of an electrically neutral subatomic particle that did not behave like any other type of matter. (Tens of thousands of years after this discovery by Domhanians, humans on Earth would identify these particles and call them neutrinos.) Even though neutrinos are infinitesimally small, they are so numerous they have approximately the same mass as all the stars in the galaxy combined. Every second, billions of neutrinos pass through every cubic centimetre of matter virtually everywhere in the cosmos.

Because they are neutrally charged, Domhanian scientists were unable to confirm the existence of a neutrino’s antimatter correlate. Their search for the antineutrino went on for decades. During this time they continued to observe many dozens of Natharian spacecraft visiting Domhan-Siol’s solar system. Applying known principles of physics, Domhanians were baffled by the frequency of Natharian visits.

Then a team of theoretical physicists was struck with an inspired epiphany. They proposed and soon proved that most antimatter does not exist in this physical universe. Rather it is deposited in another dimension of a multiverse. This discovery led to the realization that the matter-antimatter model simply did not apply to neutrinos.

The new science predicted that not only could neutrinos pass through other matter unimpeded, they also passed through the barriers between dimensions of the multiverse and through folds in the fabric of space-time. A neutrino could exist in dimension Alpha, cross over into dimension Beta for just a few days, then reenter dimension Alpha many trillions of kilometres away; the effect being that the neutrino had traveled an unfathomable distance relative to dimension Alpha.

Domhanians realized that neutrinos are the threads that knit the fabric of the multiverse together. Over the course of many decades they learned how to weave clusters of neutrino threads into interdimensional energy conduits. They came to see these neutrino streams as the neural pathways of the cosmos; an interdimensional corpus callosum.

Domhanian scientists theorized that Natharians were not only moving energy along the neutrino threads between dimensions, but they had learned how to fold additional mass into neutrino streams. If Domhanians could develop a technology to accomplish that feat, the pathways could become neutrino tunnels between dimensions and across the galaxy. This theoretical possibility underpinned whole new areas of study.

All the while there were dozens of pious sects zealously claiming that in the entire galaxy only Domhanians had been created in the image of an all-powerful deity. Among these cultists it seemed comforting, and even became vogue, to mock intellectuals and their scientific “mumbo jumbo.”

Thousands of annum before they embarked on space exploration, a cultural homogenization had occurred on Domhan-Siol. Though there remained some regional eccentricities, for the most part linguistic and cultural differences were inconsequential.

This integration process naturally resulted in a blending of the genepool. Racial differences all but disappeared. Adults ranged in height from about 1.6 to 2.1 metres. There was no significant difference in gender sizes, though on average males tended to be slightly larger than females.

They were a symmetrical, bipedal species: two eyes and ears, one mouth, and one nose. They had two arms with hands reaching about mid-thigh. Their hands had six digits; five fingers with an opposing thumb. Likewise, their feet had six toes.

Domhanians had a fully developed forehead above thick eyebrows. The parietal area in the back of the skull sloped back in the shape of an elongated egg. Their skin color varied from darkish cream to light olive. They had scant facial hair though their heads were covered with thick curly locks, ranging in color from shiny sorrel to almost flat black. They also had fine, light-colored hair sparsely covering the rest of their bodies.

All in all, they considered themselves quite a handsome species.