A baby born on another planet

Ok...this sounds stupid but what would happen to a baby born on another planet. This planet is nothing like earth but the baby will have oxygen and food for a lifetime on that planet. Will the baby grow up differently? Not just body but think differently. I was thinking that a person born up and a very high mountain has a larger lung capacity than normal which got me to thinking about different planets. If this baby survived till its natural death but had children of its own would we see evolution maybe? Another thing that got me thinking were the native american tribes. Some people did not wear shoes and there soles of their feet hardened and toughened up and they adapted. I was thinking maybe the generations in space would adapt their own thing. Maybe the 2nd generation born on another planet would say they belonged to that planet and does not find its heritage to earth. I got this idea from 2nd generation migrants to newly found America - the feeling of being American and not British or whatever etc.

Ive typed without thinking so you might not understand but oh well.

I understand what youre saying. The child born on another planet would probobly evolve if there was oxygen and no other poisonous gases in the air. If there were poisionous gases the child would probobly die, unless if it had an air tank with very small amounts of that poison so the child can gain a resistance to the poison.

If there wasnt any oxygen then I dont know what would happen. Maybe they can have an air tank and keep decreasing the oxygen levels until the new species of humans on that planet dont need oxygen anymore.

we will have to deal with this issue when we'll start colonizing other planets or the Moon.
Since, the settlers will live in bases, the only factor that will change in comparasion to Earth is gravity.
The pressure and air composition in the base will be the same than on the Earth.

On the Moon with gravity one sixth lower than on the Earth, the baby will grow taller and his muscle won't develop very much.

If the baby grows on a planet with a very strong gravity, he'll become a small adult very muscular

Might I recommend Robert Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strange Land"?

It tells the story of a young man born and raised on Mars as he travels to and adapts to life on Earth... it's a very interesting concept, and Heinlein is a great author anyway

yeah thats another good question, could they adapt if they came back to earth? people talk about aliens coming to earth but maybe theyve avoided us because the environment isnt suitable for them.

however human they may be related to us, people would eventually call them an alien because something will be diifferent for sure.

they might adapt if they came back to earth, or as in War of the Worlds, they could die because theyre not used to our germs and bacteria in the air and stuff. i was thinking about poisonus gasses mentioned in here and thought that if you took in small amounts of carbon dioxide, could you eventually become immune to it and practically live in most situations where oxygen ceases to exist such as another planet, or a small room without ventellation or air flow at all, however you got yourself into that one, lol... also, i once saw a tv show i think it was 20 20 maybe about some tiwanese (is that a word???) tribe that was adapted to their surroundings so well, they knew the tsunami was comming and they can see twice as far and clear as we can in salt water.

Schmidt1989

Assuming the gravity pull was in a range so as to not crush the child, or allow him to float off of the planet, and that the atmosphere was such that it could sustain human life, and that the climate was within reasonable temperatures for human life (roughly earth-like), I think you'd see adaptation within a single lifetime, but evolution, being an actual permanent change in genetic code, would most likely occur far slower - over several generations, as genetic selection would have time to occur (going with the theory that genertic selection refers to the notion of survival of the fittest).

For less Earth-like climates, adaptation would most likely have to occur over a long period of time (perhaps even generations), and would likely parallel genetic evolution, rather than simple adaptation. Such an adaptation would also likely require the use of aids in the adaptation (such as a bubble-habitat that would gradually increase or decrease on temperature, so as to allow the body to adapt).

Over time, a human on a different planet would theoretically evolve into its own species of human, as the genetic selection process would likely favor different strengths, and those best suited would survive.

The most obvious changes are the ones that haven't been mentioned here.

Culture.

The child would have an entirely different style of life than we do now, it would be started on a clean slate. It'd be very interesting to see, depending on the type of world, and how it survived, if it started to dominate it's surroundings, or blend in and become part of them, and whether it would start to create a primitive religion or even some sort of form of contact with other creatures. A lot of this depends on what other creatures and obstacles of nature are there with them, other humans, adults, animals, hostile and/or nonhostile, ocean, forest, desert, tundra, and so on and so forth. There are literally an infinite amount of possibilities.

Forgive me if I missed something in your post Amory, but a cultural evolution would also take place over a couple of generations for it to be a major change from Earth cultures.

This baby doesn't exist in a vacuum; there has to be someone there to raise it (and/or give birth, depending on how exactly this baby is to be brought into that world.) That person will still have their own cultural aspects from earth, and although there will have to be some modifications to that culture they won't be terribly massive, and that person will still be telling stories of the "good ol' days" back on Earth.

The Earth-based culture will definitely be watered down almost immediately, but it will be a while before an alien community develops and there is a completely different culture in place. It will probably always have certain Earth-based qualities--we still have many aspects of our modern lives based in Egyptian and Roman cultures to name a couple--but over a generation or two there will probably be vast differences.

It's a great question channy.

There are other things to consider too.
Was the baby concieved there? Was it carried full term on this planet..?

Hows the gravity? The bones would grow differently, depending on gravitaional effects..
and the amount of sunlight, length of day,.

what color is the Star? Is it more reddish or bluish? That could effect pigmentation..

Wow, it shows that humans are very adaptable...but by how much?

Channy,

It is a well documented fact that man is a very adaptable animal.
We change, depending on our sourroundings-that is why we have survived (Please no religious responces).
Many species have died out-most becouse they could not adapt to changing conditions.
My point is another life on another planet may or may not be very adapable to changes in enviroment.

Originally posted by MCory1
Forgive me if I missed something in your post Amory, but a cultural evolution would also take place over a couple of generations for it to be a major change from Earth cultures.

This baby doesn't exist in a vacuum; there has to be someone there to raise it (and/or give birth, depending on how exactly this baby is to be brought into that world.)

Simply put, not necessarily. You'd probably need, or want, a human raising it for a few weeks, but after that, machines and animals can take over. That's why I say it depends on the external circumstances. If you have machines raise it, it'll learn to be a mute mechanic. If natives raise it, it'll follow their tribal customs. If animals harbor it, who the hell knows?

A creature born to another planet, would grow up and form it's ideas and way of life, based on it's surroundings, and seeing as how you stated it's planet would be nothing like Earth, it's not too far fetched to say it would think and act somewhat differently as well.
Basic survival instincts would be there, as with any creature, as well as reproduction, in one sense or another, however general ways of life would cause it to act/behave differently.

Originally posted by spacedoubt
It's a great question channy.

lol, thanks. i thought this would be one of those flop threads because the topic sounds silly

you know gravity on the brain, maybe lighter pressure on the different planet will make the brain expand when theyre growing making the person more clever? no? im come up with silly stuff, lol

Fysical adaption: They'll be human, so adapting to the envirment isn't going to be a problem. Especially the third generation will profit from this. Maybe some changes in pigment, lung capacity, metabolism. Those are always the first to adapt. Offcourse the gravity also plays a role here.

Evolution: Skincolor will be engraved into their dna. I think the eyes will change too, less (or more) light on the planet. The ability to withstand changing temperatures (more extreme or always same temperature). But all will take hundreds of generations. If evolution gets a chance (letting the weak die). But medicle knowledge will keep the less adapted alive, "poluting" the gene-pool.

Culture: Yep, them kids are gonna be war-starters. Fighting for their independence from the dictorial reign of earth.

bigpimpin this is to you
is is absouultly impossible to ween a human off oxygen, even after a million generations.
oxygen plus carbon (sugar) gives us energy
what else we gonna use instead of oxygen? florine ?
lol