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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5357345" data-attributes="member: 177">Well, we don't as yet know if natural satellites large enough to do that are common, in general, much less whether they're likely in this particular sort of case.  However, since you can get all that from a satellite that's in a resonant orbit, it is at least possible.Well, it is specifically a pretty crappy fiber-optic cable.  Yes, some light does make it over the horizon, but not by much.  I thought you were talking about having light reach great distances toward the dark pole, sufficient to drive heating and growth there, and that's unlikely.  We know the mass of the planet, but so far, we don't have a good handle on its size - so, we don't know yet if the surface gravity is higher.  It is probable to be higher, but not a surety, and not necessarily higher by much.Doesn't matter - the point is that life can use a variety of energy sources.There's no particular reason why life can't use a heat engine, if that's all that's available.  So long as you have a temperature gradient, you can have  a heat engine.  You could imagine huge heat-engine beds of moss-like material blanketing the surface, using a gradient across hundreds or even thousands of miles... classic D&D brown mold!Or, perhaps more simply, if there's significant atmospheric (and/or oceanic) mixing from one side to the other, the dark may get significant influx of complex organic material (or the equivalent, if they aren't carbon based).  So, the dark side could then use chemosynthesis like an undersea vents ecology, or be essentially saprophytic like a cave ecology.Or, since we are talking about a fantasy world, you can have a system based on arcanosynthesis - magic as the underlying energy!  Ah, got it.  Sorry, I thought you were referring to links more specifically about those models.</blockquote>

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