Atmospheric Biology: Bacterium Informen
23 Jan 2022Scopelx
So I have traveled something in the neighborhood of 120,000 lys since I bought the Artemis flight suit and its accompanying genetic sampler from Explorer's Anchorage. Since then, I've dabbled in landing on worlds with tenuous atmospheres to take samples for genetic analysis if I notice a particularly interesting atmospheric composition, if I am passing through a system with a rarer stellar class, or I just need to get up and stretch my legs. I've only intermittently taken photographs or done any sort of thorough documentation, usually when whatever I've found qualifies for an official Codex entry for a region. Yes, my ship's communications array is set up to periodically beam all of my scans to the data repositories of Canonn Interstellar Research, but I have acquired a large backlog of semi-complete entries on atmospheric organisms meant for my personal reports. Recently, I have been mulling over how best to catalog these findings and I think I've settled on a method. I couldn't stomach the thought of reporting them as I currently do Canonn Challenge organisms. There are simply too many and the write-ups would be far too disjointed for my tastes. I'm choosing instead to wait until I log scans and samples for previously unknown populations of every variant of a given species and then do a report on the species as a whole. It'll still be quite a few reports, but at least it will have some sense of structure to it. Plus, this will encourage me to appropriately document the organisms I encounter rather than whatever haphazard nonsense I'd been doing previously. So with that little introduction out of the way, let's begin.
Bacterium Informen
In contrast to most other bacterial species, I have a lot of good things to say about these guys. First off they're valuable, netting you over 400k per sample from Vista Genomics. They're also widespread, popping up regularly in my experience. But for me all that pales in comparison to most attractive trait: their appearance. All of them, regardless of variety, exhibit the same grey-green rim/dark interior and almost floral surface pattern. Which is not only aesthetically appealing but, most importantly, distinct from its environment. No flying over the surface squinting through my canopy for 45 bloody minutes with these guys, they're always easy to spot.
For growth conditions of Informen, and all bacteria for that matter, I refer to an excellent guide written by a fellow Canonneer by the name of Cmdr Felsen83. In all cases my own observations match those he outlines. There are six variants of Informen. Their differentiation relies entirely on the respective rare trace element they each require to grow. As far as I'm aware, Informen can grow regardless of the star classes present in system, but all require a nitrogen atmosphere.
These first two varieties I discovered when the field of atmospheric exobiology was still in its infancy. It was within the first few months after the technology that enabled landing on these planets became publicly available. Add on top of that the fact that Mare Somnia, my carrier's permanent home and my survey region of choice, is sparsely traveled at the best of times and it's no surprise these discoveries wound up in the Codex.
Bacterium Informen Cobalt
Material: Yttrium
System: Cyaumie UK-M c21-0
Official Codex Entry - Mare Somnia
Bacterium Informen Lime
Material: Polonium
System: Bloo Prau AM-J c23-0
Official Codex Entry - Mare Somnia
The remaining four variants I discovered while working as an exobiologist with the Magellan Experience, an expedition to the far eastern reaches of the galaxy.
Bacterium Informen Gold
Material: Ruthenium
System: Synookea FH-L b35-0 (Lyra's Song)
Bacterium Informen Yellow
Material: Tellurium
System: Pruia Airgh IM-J b36-0 (Lyra's Song)
Bacterium Informen Red
Material: Antimony
System: Nuelou PJ-V b49-0 (Tenebrae)
Bacterium Informen Aquamarine
Material: Technetium
System: Bloa Aick NW-A c27-0 (Tenebrae)
