What Would A World With Life and Vinegar Oceans Be Like?

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In summary, an alien world with oceans of vinegar would have a drastically different atmosphere, possibly with a strong vinegar smell. The lifeforms living there would have to be resistant to corrosion and could potentially have abilities like the bombardier beetle, using chemical reactions to propel themselves through the air. This could create a unique ecology with predators using these jet-powered animals as their prey. However, it is also possible that a vinegar ocean may not be necessary for these abilities to evolve.
  • #1
Bab5space
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What would an alien world with oceans of vinegar instead of saltwater be like?
Would the atmosphere be air or something else?

Since I could easily say the lifeforms living there breath air different than us.

The whole reason for this is I want to see bio-propelled rocket lifeforms. Take a tiny low mass animal, have them suck up some vinegar into a body pounch, mix in some natural body deposits of something like baking soda but with more kick and boom! Expel the exhaust from body nozzles.
Creatutes can launch into the air higher than if they just jumped.
Gravity is 1g.
would also presume both skin and bone would need to be ulra resistant against corrosion, as that is what vinegar does long term. More than water.

What can you think up?
 
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  • #2
There are small worms (called vinegar eels, but they are really nematode worms) that live in vinegar and eat the bacteria or yeast which makes the vinegar from things like apples. This would be the strength of apple vinegar you might get in a grocery store.
These animals are used as live food for small (mostly baby) fish. I have raised them.

Structurally, they are very similar to Caenorhabditis elegans a very simple research organism. As adults they might be 1 mm long. They lay eggs which hatch out into very small worms. Their outer surface contains chitin (like insects) and they go through 3 or 4 molts as they get larger.
They are highly active and swim up in the water (vinegar) column by wiggling.
They have no problem dealing with the vinegar environment that they have evolved to handle.

I am guessing they evolved to take advantage of the vinegar-like environment of rotting fruit.

That's all real world stuff of a vinegar environment on earth.

Since vinegar is acetic acid (CH₃COOH). Acetic acid is volatile and would get mixed with other atmospheric gasses. It might smell as strong as the inside of a vinegar bottle or a bottle of glacial acetic acid (very strong), depending on conditions.

I'm guessing a vinegar ocean would be a blown up version of that. Interactions with geology might be interesting.
On a larger scale, you might be able to come up with some kind of ecology where producers of some kind are eaten by predators which in turn are eaten by an increasingly large series of predators.
It would be situations like that where a jet powered animal might evolve.

The bombardier beetle is an example of an animal that that can combine two fluids together to make a jet from the chemical reaction. It shoots it out it butt as a defense mechanism.
Squids, octopus, and nautilus make water jets by muscular contraction of water containing bladder like structure.
 
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  • #3
BillTre said:
There are small worms (called vinegar eels, but they are really nematode worms) that live in vinegar and eat the bacteria or yeast which makes the vinegar from things like apples. This would be the strength of apple vinegar you might get in a grocery store.
These animals are used as live food for small (mostly baby) fish. I have raised them.

Structurally, they are very similar to Caenorhabditis elegans a very simple research organism. As adults they might be 1 mm long. They lay eggs which hatch out into very small worms. Their outer surface contains chitin (like insects) and they go through 3 or 4 molts as they get larger.
They are highly active and swim up in the water (vinegar) column by wiggling.
They have no problem dealing with the vinegar environment that they have evolved to handle.

I am guessing they evolved to take advantage of the vinegar-like environment of rotting fruit.

That's all real world stuff of a vinegar environment on earth.

Since vinegar is acetic acid (CH₃COOH). Acetic acid is volatile and would get mixed with other atmospheric gasses. It might smell as strong as the inside of a vinegar bottle or a bottle of glacial acetic acid (very strong), depending on conditions.

I'm guessing a vinegar ocean would be a blown up version of that. Interactions with geology might be interesting.
On a larger scale, you might be able to come up with some kind of ecology where producers of some kind are eaten by predators which in turn are eaten by an increasingly large series of predators.
It would be situations like that where a jet powered animal might evolve.

The bombardier beetle is an example of an animal that that can combine two fluids together to make a jet from the chemical reaction. It shoots it out it butt as a defense mechanism.
Squids, octopus, and nautilus make water jets by muscular contraction of water containing bladder like structure.
Thank you. Yes... I learned that I do not need a vinegar ocean afterall. All I need is a lifeform with abilities like the bombardier beetle... scaled up to human size and weight.

I know a chemical reaction powerful enough to lift an adult humanoid would be powerful enough to do damage with it's exhaust too. So likely the reaction chamber and nozzle must be made out of hard exoskeleton.
 
  • #4
The Starship Troopers movie had something like that.
 
  • #5
BillTre said:
The Starship Troopers movie had something like that.

I think you're thinking of Tremors, Tremors 3 in particular has the "Assblasters" which can propel themselves with a jet of fire. Not really hard-scifi though, they would certainly burn themselves! they look quite similar to starship troopers aliens though.
 
  • #6
Bab5space said:
What would an alien world with oceans of vinegar instead of saltwater be like?

Salad dressing will be a breeze ... literally!

Zz.
 
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  • #7
some bloke said:
I think you're thinking of Tremors, Tremors 3 in particular has the "Assblasters" which can propel themselves with a jet of fire. Not really hard-scifi though, they would certainly burn themselves! they look quite similar to starship troopers aliens though.
Granted, this is not a unique idea, since nature already evolved the bombardier beetle, but the Starship Troopers movie, although not very good, had some great visuals and interesting bugs.
Among the bugs was one that could shoot plasma out its butt to attack starships. They were quite spectacular.
Plasma Bugs are massive Arachnids which have the ability to launch equally massive plasma bursts with such force that they can fly far beyond the orbit of the planets they are launched from, which can then deflect asteroids or slice a starship in two. They serve as not only the ground artillery and air defense roles, but also the planetary defense castes for the Bug colonies.
From here.
 

1. What is a "life and vinegar ocean"?

A life and vinegar ocean is a hypothetical scenario in which the majority of Earth's oceans are composed of a mixture of water and vinegar, and are also teeming with various forms of life.

2. How would life survive in a vinegar ocean?

Life in a vinegar ocean would have to adapt to the acidic environment. Some organisms may have protective coatings or specialized enzymes to neutralize the acidity, while others may have evolved to thrive in acidic conditions.

3. What impact would a vinegar ocean have on the Earth's climate?

A vinegar ocean would have a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The increased acidity would change the chemical composition of the atmosphere, potentially leading to changes in temperature and weather patterns.

4. Could humans survive in a world with life and vinegar oceans?

It is unlikely that humans could survive in a world with life and vinegar oceans. The acidity of the oceans would make it difficult for us to obtain the necessary resources for survival, and our bodies are not adapted to such an extreme environment.

5. Is a world with life and vinegar oceans a realistic possibility?

While it is possible for a planet to have a vinegar ocean, it is unlikely that it would support complex life forms. The high acidity would make it difficult for organisms to evolve and thrive, making a world with life and vinegar oceans a highly unlikely scenario.

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