Erythro (Asimov)

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Erythro is the name of a planet in the science fiction novel Nemesis, written by Isaac Asimov. The planet is apparently barren, apart from a covering of microorganisms. After several people who venture out onto the surface of Erythro are mentally damaged by the experience, the book's main character, Marlene Insignia Fisher, is drawn to go out onto the surface.

She discovers that the others suffered injuries because the planet was trying to make telepathic contact with the humans, and only her own brain is suitable for communication. The planet is not alive in itself but the micro-organisms covering the planet form the consciousness. Asimov hints in Foundation's Edge that Erythro may be Gaia, or the inspiration for R. Daneel Olivaw to create Gaia (as in the Foundation novels Gaia is nowhere near earth, though Nemesis is very close to Earth in stellar terms).