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33-788: Destroyer of Worlds depicts a confrontation between the Pak and the Puppeteers . Niven has written that he invented the Protectors as a thought experiment to explain the common effects of aging on humans and to create a fictional evolutionary explanation for humans' long lives after females have passed reproductive age. Accordingly, most of the positive attributes of Protectors are based on negative human aging effects: swollen joints, decreased muscle-fat ratio, weakening heart, invariant diet, decreasing height, facial atrophy, leathery skin, hair loss, lack of sex drive, and tooth loss are all turned to advantage during

66-452: A Protector) commits genocide by exterminating the Martian race ("Aliens were dangerous, or might be, and Pak were not interested in anything but Pak") and also releases a genetically modified Tree-of-Life virus on the colony world Home, turning everyone middle aged into a Protector (and killing all other humans on the planet) in order to create an army of childless Protectors with which to fight

99-665: A function of how few Protectors with families encounter each other. Protectors typically die from starvation (from lack of will to live, e.g. if the Protector's bloodline has died out, in which case they simply stop eating until death takes them) or violence. Although Protectors have a vastly extended lifetime, it is not infinite; during the original half-million year journey to Earth some Protector colonists did die from old age. Because of their enormous intelligence and instinctive need to protect their family (or their species, etc.), Protectors are efficient, ruthless and quite amoral. Xenophobia

132-477: A human child: sexually immature and dependent upon adults for survival. Pak Breeder is analogous to a young-ish human adult: sexually mature, self-sufficient (in later writings) and providing immediate care for the children. To the Pak, the Breeder stage, though capable of space travel, is not deemed fully sentient; Breeders, to a large extent, rely on Protectors for long-term survival. Earlier Niven stories describe

165-451: A kind of pumpkin. It was among the first plants to be domesticated and cultivated . The South African English name spanspek dates back at least as far as 18th-century Dutch Suriname : J. van Donselaar wrote in 1770, " Spaansch-spek is the name for the form that grows in Suriname which, because of its thick skin and little flesh, is less consumed." A common etymology involves

198-476: A potentially dangerous mutation. This weeding also suppressed positive mutations, essentially halting Pak evolution. Protectors are fully sentient, and are far more intelligent than ordinary humans. This "superior" intelligence, however, serves only a Pak Protector's instincts to protect its bloodline at any costs. The Pak have no drive toward the collection of abstract knowledge, have no concept of art, and do not even possess enough of an artistic impulse to understand

231-418: A snack. Because the surface of a cantaloupe can contain harmful bacteria—in particular, Salmonella —it is recommended that a melon be washed and scrubbed thoroughly before cutting and consumption to prevent risk of Salmonella or other bacterial pathogens. A moldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois , market in 1943 was found to contain the highest yielding strain of mold for penicillin production, after

264-562: A typical human. Pak Protectors also acquire an extended lifespan, and can live tens of thousands of Earth years (a common element in Niven's stories). Once the transformation is complete, a Pak Protector must periodically consume more Tree-of-Life root to maintain the virus in its body. Without the virus, a Protector will weaken and die as its DNA is degraded; the virus supplies replacement DNA. The Tree-of-Life crop on Earth failed due to there being insufficient thallium oxide (which particular oxide

297-456: Is a commonly displayed trait: other races are considered either unneccesary or potentially dangerous. It is observed several times that this intelligence combined with instinct also compels action so completely that Protectors often have little "free will". Niven uses this trait as a plot device several times as characters set up circumstances where Protector characters will react in a specific manner. In Protector , Jack Brennan (a human turned into

330-583: Is called cantaloupe in North America (hence the name American cantaloupe ), rockmelon in Australia and New Zealand, and spanspek in Southern Africa. Cantaloupes range in mass from 0.5 to 5 kilograms (1 to 11 lb). The name cantaloupe was derived in the 18th century via French cantaloup from The Cantus Region of Italian Cantalupo , which was formerly a papal county seat near Rome, after

363-514: Is never explained) in the Earth's soil ; the plants grew but did not support the virus. As a result, the Protectors that led the colony to Earth died of starvation when their store of roots ran out. Pak Protectors have an innate need to protect close relatives. When a Pak Protector has no bloodline to protect, it usually stops eating and starves, though some childless Protectors can adopt the entire Pak race as their family. Niven states that Protectors on

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396-419: Is relatively narrow (between 42 and 50 Earth years). Tree-of-Life is common on the Pak world, so there is almost no risk of a Breeder living past this window without being exposed to the roots. The transition from Breeder to Protector involves reconfiguration of the anatomy. Skin thickens, becoming similar to leather armor, strong enough to turn a copper knife. Joints swell until the creature becomes "a parody of

429-447: Is used to refer to a specific plant which, when consumed, triggers the transformation. The term "Tree-of-Life virus" is used to describe the symbiotic virus which actually governs the transition. Niven took the name Tree-of-Life from the Book of Genesis ; specifically to the fruit of the "Tree of Life" that could make Adam and Eve immortal (Genesis 3:22–24), which is quoted as the foreword to

462-646: The ARM may be run by at least one Protector and that Boosterspice (which dramatically prolongs human lifespan) is derived from Tree-of-Life. In Protector, Niven explains that humans (and all of Earth's primates) are descended from a colony of Pak breeders that were stranded on Earth 2.5 million years ago. The protectors that built the colony ship died when their Tree-of-Life crops failed. The original Pak Breeder population (known to us as Homo habilis ) bred and mutated wildly, evolving into modern humans as well as all other Earth primates . All Terran primates would transform into

495-646: The Puppeteers (and the Gw'oth) entering into conflict with a Pak Protector fleet (though not the fleets featured in Protector ). It also resolves why Alice Jordan 's knowledge about the Pak never entered later novels, and restates the known timeline of the Home conversion to a planet of Protectors. This article about a 2000s science fiction novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on

528-531: The American cantaloupe in netted rind, but differs in green flesh and non-dehiscent peduncles (which means the melon does not detach from the stalk when it is ripe). Therefore, some horticulturists classify the Japanese muskmelon under Inodorus Group instead of Cantalupensis or Reticulatus Group. In 2016, global production of melons, including cantaloupes, totaled 31.2 million tons , with China accounting for 51% of

561-498: The Protector stage if exposed to Tree-of-Life root (or, more accurately, the symbiotic virus it contains). In The Ringworld Engineers, the characters find evidence that the Ringworld was built by Pak Protectors (confirmed by the statements of a character in Ringworld's Children who claims to be one of the original builders) and populated by Pak breeders. The Pak Protectors dwindled in numbers until they were no longer able to maintain

594-557: The Spanish-born Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith , who ate canteloupe for breakfast while her husband and 19th-century governor of Cape Colony , Sir Harry Smith , ate bacon and eggs; the fruit was termed Spanish bacon ( Afrikaans Spaanse spek ) by locals as a result. However, the term had been in use long before that point. The true or European cantaloupe (Cantalupensis Group sensu stricto ), which has non- to slightly netted rind and orange flesh, includes

627-425: The article's talk page . Cantaloupe The cantaloupe ( / ˈ k æ n t ə l oʊ p / KAN -tə-lohp ) is a type of true melon ( Cucumis melo ) with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, cantaloupe refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. Today, it also refers to the muskmelon with strongly netted rind, which

660-438: The breeder as "just intelligent enough to swing a club or throw a stone". Pak Protector is not analogous to any human form. It is described as a 'fighting machine', with armor-like skin, super-human strength and super-human intelligence. Niven's stories that focus on the Pak mostly concentrate on the unique Protector stage. Niven explained the evolution of the Pak as resulting from high radiation levels on their home world near

693-404: The core of the galaxy . The high radiation near the star-dense core caused severe mutations that can destabilize the evolutionary process. As a result, the Pak evolved a mechanism to eliminate dangerous mutations from the population. That mechanism is the Protector stage. Protectors are highly sensitive to the smell of their close relatives and "weed out" those that smell wrong, which may indicate

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726-460: The crowded Pak homeworld would constantly war against each other to gain advantage for their family and that alliances would last only until one ally sees advantage in betrayal. Human Protectors, and those on the Ringworld, seem to be less warlike and better able to work for the betterment of the entire species (or all of the Ringworld hominids) rather than just their bloodline, though this may simply be

759-551: The following types: The Israeli cantaloupe (Sub-group Ha'Ogen) is similar to the European one, but it has green flesh. The muskmelon or American cantaloupe (formerly Reticulatus Group but now merged into Cantalupensis Group), which has strongly netted rind and orange flesh, includes the following types: A melon with netted rind is not necessarily a cantaloupe. Many varieties of Chandalak Group and Ameri Group also have netted rind. The Japanese muskmelon (Sub-group Earl's) resembles

792-563: The fruit was introduced there from Armenia . It was first mentioned in English literature in 1739. The cantaloupe most likely originated in a region from South Asia to Africa. It was later introduced to Europe, and around 1890, became a commercial crop in the United States. Melon derived from use in Old French as meloun during the 13th century, and from Medieval Latin melonem ,

825-668: The genetic purity of the breeder forms and the breeders eventually evolved into all the other hominids of the Ringworld that one sees in Larry Niven's novels. In Destroyer of Worlds (co-written by Niven and Edward M. Lerner ), a human world (and the Pierson's Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds ) confronts a Pak Protector war fleet. The trailing edge of that Pak fleet, carrying the primary Pak Library, also figures prominently in Betrayer of Worlds , by

858-410: The human form done in cantaloupes and coconuts ". This increases leverage available to muscles by increasing the force of the moment arm , the result being that a protector can lift ten times its own weight. Genitalia and gonads vanish, and a second two-chambered heart forms in the groin at the fusion of the femoral veins . The arms lengthen. Fingernails turn into retractable claws. Teeth fall out and

891-544: The invading Pak fleet. It is indicated throughout Niven's works that humans ( Homo sapiens ) that have turned into protectors are far more intelligent than their Pak ( Homo habilis ) counterparts (in much the way that humans are more intelligent than the primates they evolved from) and that the Pak may, in fact, be the final evolutionary stage for the human race as a whole. Niven explains much of Protector behavior in his Future History, by revealing in Ringworld's Children that

924-438: The lips and gums fuse, the mouth forming a horny beak (flat in protectors transformed from humans, non-flat in protectors transformed from Pak). All the breeder's hair falls out and the head acquires a bony ridge to protect the newly expanded cranium . The expanded skull allows the brain to grow to an enormous size; the resulting mind, even starting from something as "unintelligent" as a chimpanzee, becomes far more intelligent than

957-461: The novel Protector , and also mentioned by Brennan within the novel. Tree-of-Life (the plant) is a bush native to the Pak homeworld. When a Breeder reaches the proper age (early 40s for humans), the smell of the root becomes irresistible; the Breeder gorges on the Tree-of-Life root, infecting itself with the Tree-of-Life virus and transforming into a Protector. The age window for the metamorphosis

990-418: The purpose of making sketches and paintings for reasons not directly useful. The change from Breeder to Protector is the result of a peramorphic transformation brought about by the plant known as Tree-of-Life . As humans (and all primates ) are descended from the Pak, Tree-of-Life can create a Protector-stage human. Tree-of-Life is the mechanism by which a Breeder becomes a Protector. The term originally

1023-511: The same authors. Destroyer of Worlds (novel) Destroyer of Worlds is a science fiction novel by American writer Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner , set in the Known Space series. It is a sequel to their previous novels, Fleet of Worlds and Juggler of Worlds . It is set ten years after Juggler of Worlds , drawing heavily from Protector , but, like the rest of the series, can stand alone. The plot involves New Terra and

Pak Protector - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-405: The shift from Breeder to Protector. In Protector , the audience learns that humans are descended from the Pak. Pak Children and Breeders appear in Earth's fossil record as Homo habilis ; the few Pak Protectors to make it to Earth apparently are not found in the fossil record. The Pak species goes through three stages of development: Child, Breeder and Protector. Pak Child is analogous to

1089-503: The world total (15.9 million tons). Other significant countries growing cantaloupe were Turkey , Iran , Egypt , and India producing 1 to 1.9 million tons, respectively. California grows 75% of the cantaloupes in the US. Cantaloupe is normally eaten as a fresh fruit, as a salad, or as a dessert with ice cream or custard. Melon pieces wrapped in prosciutto are a familiar antipasto . The seeds are edible and may be dried for use as

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