Looking for a short story title about an alien that encounters a probe on its own planet

This short story concerns an alien creature of some kind that is slowly feeding on the surface of its home planet. It must stay "in its lane" so to speak because others of its species feeds on either side of it. It encounters something in its path which turns out to be a probe from somewhere. The creature can't go around (due to the feeding rules) it so it attempts to go OVER it and ends up inside and is amazed to find itself immersed in "liquid food" (a formula culture provided to sustain any alien samples collected). It suddenly reproduces, even though the alien concedes it was not the right time to do so. AND the food bolsters its intelligence. It argues with its spawn, explaining that "they" must get to the planet's surface. One does but the other does not! Any ideas?

Answer

This is J. F. Bone's "On the Fourth Planet". It's based on an early NASA probe concept called Project Gulliver. The probe shot out sticky strings and reeled them back into nutrient-filled analysis chambers. The story describes the Martians encountering such a probe.

"It was the edge of a huge metal disc fifty raads in diameter. And that wasn't the end of it. Three thick columns of metal extended upwards...."

This story was also offered up as an answer to the following questions.

Looking for the title/author of story about snail-like creatures (accepted answer)

Short story where creatures have squares of territory. (no accepted answer)

Comments

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?

Blog

Search This Blog