this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Apologies if this doesn't fit here, not sure where else to post something like this on lemmy

I think having gravity act like weather might be an interesting concept for a fantasy world, where each country has its own gravity patterns, some tend to be heavier some tend to be lighter, some are all over the place

For a few examples, there could be a desert with gravity so high you can get dragged down into the sand

Could be a country with gravity so low everyone uses personal aircraft that work like bicycles instead of land vehicles

Animals in higher gravity areas would have less dense bones, more muscle, etc and lower gravity would have far larger animals because they can support more weight

In a really high gravity area people might need exoskeletons to prevent long term damage

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[โ€“] foggy@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We would have different bones/muscles/joints.

[โ€“] flashgnash@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What kinds of differences are you thinking? I'd have thought existing joints would be reinforced, limbs shorter, bigger muscles for high grav or the opposite for low

[โ€“] Gardienne@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The dwarves live in high gravity, elves live in low gravity. :O

[โ€“] flashgnash@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Lmao yeees would explain why the elves live longer too because their bodies are under less strain

[โ€“] foggy@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Idk, humans couldnt survive gravity changing all the time. Probably have bones filled with material that changes density with gravity fluctuations.

[โ€“] Cinner@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

yeah any sort of large change would kill us in our current form, like less oxygen in the atmosphere killing off a number of larger species in Earth's past. this world would have to have adaptions like you mentioned.

The expanse goes into some interesting generational changes between people who live on earth, Mars, and in the asteroid belt. Belters are tall and scrawny and when they go to earth they can't stand and the gravity crushes their bones, extremely painful. The only way they can be there comfortably is in water. I'd imagine different areas with different "weather " would have different types of adaptations and travel wouldn't be as common/easy.