What makes the Goa'ulds eyes glow?

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

Now that we've covered why a host's eyes light up, can anyone explain the deep, distorted voice?

The voice isn't actually natural, the Gou'ald just uses the voice to frighten people. It's a scare tactic, perhaps an instinct.

[!Dorentus!]

The voice isn't actually natural, the Gou'ald just uses the voice to frighten people. It's a scare tactic, perhaps an instinct.

But how does he do it, regardless of what reasons he may have.
Oh... wait, I think I know where you're going with this, but you'll have to explain more clearly. So were thinking of the same thing

[EnigmaNZ]

Relaxing the vocal chords would have the effect. If you have seen wrestlers etc that have taken large ammounts of steroids until it effects there facial structure, they often talk in a similar deep tone. I love it when I get a cold or flu, lol, because my natural voice, which is a little high, drops a couple of octives and is nice an deep for a while.

[!Dorentus!]

Relaxing the vocal chords would have the effect. If you have seen wrestlers etc that have taken large ammounts of steroids until it effects there facial structure, they often talk in a similar deep tone. I love it when I get a cold or flu, lol, because my natural voice, which is a little high, drops a couple of octives and is nice an deep for a while.

Yeah, I agree it does have something to do with the vocal cords. But how does the symbiote control it at will? Hmmm....it relaxes the vocal cords with it's "tail"? Maybe,.... that's all the explanation I can think of.

[Seastallion]

Now that we've covered why a host's eyes light up, can anyone explain the deep, distorted voice?

Back by popular demand..!

Okay... this is a rough version of what I've come up with. I've done a little reading on vocal chords and such, to try and get a better clue. This is a reasonable theory that I think might work.

The Goa'uld's body produces electrical pulses, not unlike an electric eel, but more specialized. When the symbiote wraps itself around the spinal chord and up the neck, its fins (or wings) run up along the trachea to the vocal chords and muscles. We know that the Goa'uld has tendrils in its head that reach up into the brain to excert control, the same may also be true of its fins onto the vocal chords. The fins could use tendrils that burrow into the voice box in the throat. Once there, the tendrils physically and electrically control and alter the vocal chords to produce their 'god' voice.

I felt that if the symbiote were so highly specialized as it was... surely it had to do something with its fins too? Otherwise, except for when it is in a pool of water they wouldn't need them. So perhaps it evolved the secondary use for them because their first hosts (the Unas) had only primitive vocal abilities, so it learned a way to improve upon it. Once they got to humans, it made a convenient means to distinguish its host from other humans, and incedentally also seemed impressive too.



So... what do you think? Is it okay... or does it need more work?

[aironoeus]

Ok. Hey. I'll play along.
Along time ago the symbiotes used to get their basic bulding block molecules of their form of "luceferin" from the phytoplankton in the ocean that they inhabited. They ingested these buiilding blocks and converted them to their own version and it was stored in two sets of photophores near the head of their body (those are tiny complex light organs that can be rotated). Since they started parasiting (if that's the word to use) humans, and their diet changed to nutrients derived from humans, they had to come up with a different version of "luceferin" to incorporate into their photophores. One that does not emit any "damaging to the human eye" blue light.

The symbiote is able to make the human host grow an additional alternative route for the humans optical nerve, which is solely used by the symbiote. It leads over to where the symbiote is. It is connected in tissue, but not in nerve path form until a light signal is produced by the symbiotes photophores directed at this channel.

The symbiote is able to grow an additional optical nerve channel for itself that is connected to its regular one which it can expose and then attach to the humans extra nerve channel. On the symbiote side it remains connected as it serves an additional purpose which is ......the symbiote uses its path as a means to monitor the condition of the eyes and maintain a very high rate of activity for the humans "retinal pigmented epithelium cells" which are the nursemaids of the photoreceptors in the human eye. It also uses it to send plant pigments/molecules such as Zeaxanthin and lutein (which are eye fat antioxidants so to speak) and ones that we still don't know about yet to the retina.

Bottom line they still need the photophores in order to trigger the optical nerve in the human host to switch over to the path which leads into the symbiotes optical nerve input which the symbiote is able to grow. There is a layer of porphyrin nanotubes that run along the outside portion of this "extra optical nerve channel" that the symbiote has made the human grow. The symbiote easily assembles the porphyrin nanotubes by using the porphyrins that are already in human blood and diet (heme and chlorophyllin).

When the symbiote emits light from its own photophores the whole path of porphyrins flouresce and stay lit for a short amount of time as a byproduct. The light is a switching mechanism. Maybe some symbiotes don't give a crap about blue light and just use some less energy intensive luceferin which emits blue light. Possibly the alternative path is able to be made very quickly when forced to and the symbiote keeps a ready supply of antioxidants and porphyrins on hand knowing this. You are just seeing backlighting of this which is passing through the various tissues behind the eye.
The "switch off" mechanism doesn't require light, instead only an electrical impulse sent through the center of the nerve channel.
Howya like me now?

Bamb
human eye
http://webvision.med.utah.edu/imageswv/draweye.jpeg

Bamb
Krill morphology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krill

[section31]

No, no, no, you're all way off. The answer is, the Wizard did it!

[aironoeus]

Ok. I'll play along with the voice thing.
A long long time ago when the majority of the gouald jumped over from the Unis species and started conquering humans, the first set of humans they conquered used a large amount of helium as a buffer gas in their space ships. These humans decided to genetically alter (lengthen) their own throats so as to still sound normal when talking in the helium atmosphere. The frequecies were slightly changed and the throat lengthened so as to have the resonances stay the same.

These humans prefered helium for some reason (I'm leaving that open) based on their own physiology. This was back when the gouald were still "green" (green means - new at something) and this was their first society to conquer which consisted only of two planets of humans.

The idea of conquering and taking over control of these humans was new and exciting to them. It was so much fun to them! It served as the beginning of the Gouald culture that we now know. This is where they first started being competitive with each other and practicing cruelty towards humans and eventually using them as slaves.

They quickly adapted to these "long throated humans." After conquering these humans and running around the galaxy on their ships (after killing almost all of them off) they started going after additional planets and competing with each other but in a very friendly brotherly way as their confidence [ego] was still not sky high as it is today.

They gathered together on each others ships and showed each other different kinds of "fun" they could have with humans. Eventually they started using them a lot instead of killing and torturing them. This was a form of competition between the different goaulds. Once one or two of them did it, the rest figured out that they better do it too.

At this point it was still friendly competition but not hostile, more like "keep up with the Jones." They would smirk and grin and laugh at their human servants and purposely make them talk in front of the other goualds so that they could enjoy how stupid they sounded talking in the helium atmosphere. It was a funny arse thing that they enjoyed to do.

The psychology behind it is, it's a "role reversal".
It's cultural vengence.
In reality symbiotes are small things and when they first encountered humans (back before they figured out that they could enter and control them) the humans would pick them up and talk down to them. This was back on their planet of origin when an expedition of these long throated humans landed and found the gouald swimming around and took samples of them back for study to their home planet. You can just picture the humans holding them and remarking on how cute their little squeaks are and then dissecting them.

The way it made them feel is very little. They did not like that at all. So having these human slaves talk in helium and sound stupid and just killing and torturing them is a reality reversal. They felt fully justified in every way back then. They were doing back to humans what humans did to them; experimenting on them, killing them, torturing them. It served as a way to unite the gouald together in a brotherly sort of way in the beginning.

This is the foundation of the role reversal psychology that you see on that one SG episode with the trial of Clorel on the Tollan planet.

They kept the deep voice thing as it was convenient for various reasons which have already been stated in this thread. They manage nowadays by increasing the diameter of a portion of the throat using muscle and they also screw with the vocal cords.
They still like sounding "bigger". It still makes them feel superior.

[Seastallion]

^ Huh? Humans in space that breath helium?!? What the frack!? Uhhh... Ra was the first Goa'uld to use a human as a host, and at the time, the only humans around were the ones on Earth. Humans didn't get spread all over the galaxy until the Goa'uld started taking them through the stargate to serve them as slaves. The Ancients were pretty much dead and gone by the time the Goa'uld got around to conquering the galaxy. Except for the Atlanteans... and we have no idea what happened to them after they came back to Earth.

[Qasim]

I dont think Helium is very useful for respiration

[iLemon]

I love helium!!

But you guys forgot about the time when the Goa'uld used Dinosaurs as hosts

[aironoeus]

Buffer gas. Buffer gas. Buffer gas.
Did you pay attention to what deep sea divers breathe in order to avoid the bends.
With so many symbiote's more than one thing can be occuring at the same time. Another G'oauld could have took another course and who is to say that Apophis was the first.

[cozzerob]

helium is lots of fun for respiration - your voice goes funny, then your face goes a nice shede of blue, quickly changing to red, and then, after an hour or 2 you lose all the colour from you face. Jack wasn't kidding when he said it takes a little time to get the colour back in your cheeks after being revived...

Yes, very useful for diving too. And floating. Helium is good fun allround.

Hydrogen's fun too - especially when it goes boom - just be careful where it does that tho - there's a time and a place...

[Ollock]

Eyes explination: I like the electrical field theory, despite the fact that such a powerful field might damage a human brain, but what the Hell, if the symbiote can fix his own damage . . .

The voice: I would presume that, being an alien in a human body, the Goa'uld aren't as limited by the discomfort and pain associated with forcing oneself to go beyond one's vocal range, thus they would be able to pitch their voices much lower than a human would deliberately go, repairing the small amount of damage they cause later.

Sex theories: Uhm . . . digging deep in host brains, I imagine? I can't think of any other reason why an asexual creature would enjoy sex.

Helium-breathing stuff: Sorry, helium would (1) never occur on a planet where the symbiote could live and (2) would not sustain life (unless there was a highly reactive gas, such as oxygen, to do that job; but oxygen does not occur in great quantities in helium-rich atmospheres)

[aironoeus]

Holy friggin crud!
Ok, look. Right now you are breathing NITROGEN!
AS A BUFFER GAS!
UNDERSTAND BUFFER GAS.
You have no use for the NITROGEN THAT YOU ARE BREATHING RIGHT NOW AS YOU ARE READING THIS.
It is a buffer gas for peats sake! You only have a use for oxygen. Air is 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen.
I never said anything about a planet full of helium. I said that these fictitious long throated people would use it in their ships only. Get that? No?

Ok picture this. Somebody walks over to a big metal SPACE SHIP on the ground that has NO GAS IN IT, IT IS A TOTAL VACCUUM. Ok, now he plugs a hose up to the ship and squirts oxygen into it for thirty seconds and says, "OK......SEE YA LATER."
WOULD YOU GET IN THAT SHIP?

No you wouldn't because IT IS STILL ALMOST A VACCUUM. Your eyeballs would start getting sucked out of their sockets, and your veins on your arms would swell up until maybe you bumped up against something and one of them bursts open and almost all of your blood would get sucked out of your body BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ENOUGH PRESSURE.

Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you find it? Are you going to walk around with a magnet next to your lips and hope you attract enough oxygen molecules to your mouth (oxygen is slightly magnetic)? Maybe it fell to the bottom on the floor? Maybe you can walk around with your mouth next to the floor at all times with a magnet next to your lips? Think it'll work?

Oh I get it you want it to be scattered all over the ship so that you can have it everywhere. Ok so what will do is fill the rest of the ship with your favorite drink... fruit punch.
Oh wait, that won't work! The oxygen is going to float up to the ceiling and now you have to swim around with your mouth up at the ceiling.
Oh, you say, you want something lighter, something thinner. Ok, will fill it up with acetone that's a light liquid.
Oh wait, that won't work! The oxygen is still up at the ceiling and acetone is pretty toxic.
Oh yu-yu-you say you'd like A GAS. OH. Why? Because you want the oxygen to mix in with the gas so that it can be equally scattered everywhere in the ship?
OH! Ok we'll give you poisonous gas. Oh ah yu-you don't want posionous gas?
You'd like nitrogen because that's what you breathe anyways and the plants you brought on board are used to having it around?
Ok. That's fine. Except remember you got to be careful with the pressure.

Don't pressurize the ship too much with nitrogen because you know how nitrogen likes to stick around in the body and if you get off the ship onto a planet with a thinner atmosphere your likely to form nitrogen bubbles in your veins and if one reaches your heart or brain your dead buddy.

Oh you say you'd like an inert gas. One that won't do anything to you at all.
OH!
We'll here's your choices.
Argon, helium, krytpon, halogen, xenon.
But the thing is I don't think we're gonna be able to get any halogen, xenon or krypton cuz they're pretty darn rare and expensive to extract from other sources.
Oh. You say you'd like helium. Ok, that's a good choice but rememeber sound travels much faster in helium. So the sound in your throat is going to travel faster from end to end and you'll have a higher pitch when you talk. You'll sound funny.
Oh you say you'd like to genetically engineer that out. Ok we can write up a contract for that. If you and your family agree to get these alterations and perform the work that we've asked you to you will be granted full ownership of any habitable planet that you find out there that you choose that is unknown of as of yet.
By the authority of the president of this company authorized by the leader of this planet etc, etc,..

You get the idea.