Taumoeba
The amoeba from Adrian that eats Astrophage.
Taumoeba is a microbe native to the upper atmosphere of the planet Adrian, living about 91 kilometres above the surface, and the only known natural predator of Astrophage; it is what keeps Tau Ceti's Astrophage in check. Grace and Rocky named it for Tau Ceti and the shapeless amoebas of Earth.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Microbe, the only known Astrophage predator
- Home
- Adrian's upper atmosphere, about 91 km (56.5 mi) up
- Weakness
- Nitrogen, until bred to resist it
- Waste
- Methane and a solid residue
- Role
- The cure sent to Earth in the beetles
Facts from the source article.
Background
Working out that something on Adrian must kill Astrophage, the two built a collection device, hauled a sample up through the planet's air on a ten-kilometre xenonite chain and confirmed the predator, which digests Astrophage into methane and a foul-smelling solid waste. It tolerates wide temperatures and is carried by oil, so some got into the Hail Mary's fuel lines and ate most of its Astrophage until the ship was flushed with nitrogen, which is lethal to it. Grace and Rocky bred strains that could survive the nitrogen in the atmospheres of Venus and Erid's breeding planet, but the new breed could also eat through xenonite containers, which is why Grace turned back to save the Blip-A. The beetles carried Taumoeba farms to Earth, where it was seeded on Venus and the Sun returned to full brightness.
Source
Text adapted from Taumoeba on the Project Hail Mary Wiki (Fandom, CC BY-SA 3.0). Page history: contributors. Codexery summarised the page, and this entry is shared under the same licence.
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