Questions tagged [communication]
For questions relating to the exchange of ideas and information between beings.
6
votes
7answers
168 views
How might a highly intelligent aquatic species (mermaids) communicate underwater?
I'm trying to create basically realistic mermaids, and working on developing body language and vocalizations. I have most of the vocalizations I can think of (suggestions are still appreciated), but ...
5
votes
4answers
188 views
How does my spell ignite the sky?
For years, humanity and nephilim have battled (more or less) together to staunch the unending flow of demons and angels wrecking havoc on Earth in their unending wars.
Now, we are finally in ...
9
votes
1answer
198 views
How can people adjust spoken language to adapt for the discovery that they live on a non-orientable surface?
Follow up to How can orientation-discriminating people keep their views when it turns out they live on a non-orientable surface?
To quickly summarize the world, their are rightie and leftie people ...
0
votes
5answers
124 views
Is that possible to make a world in which no one needs to speak? [closed]
In my ideal world, everyone will be very very Intelligent. By that I mean everyone can think and feel what other people around them think and feel, so no one needs to talk with each other. Everyone ...
7
votes
10answers
2k views
In a world with multiracial creatures, what word can be used instead of mankind? [closed]
So, I've been trying to find a word which means all the people in the world. One would think of humanity, humankind, mankind, or just people, but I want something that can express the meaning properly ...
17
votes
10answers
5k views
Is there a technology capable of disabling the whole of Earth's satellitle network?
Machine-based communication (and navigation) relies extensively on satellites. In the future, with the massification of 5G, more and more reliance will be put on satellites (e.g. the Internet of ...
4
votes
5answers
144 views
How can AI distinguish conscious and subconscious instructions? [closed]
In the near future everything is connected and can think. Robots walk the street but only to control traffic and pick up rubbish, etc. Nowadays, robots don't simply execute an instruction given ...
6
votes
3answers
450 views
Is a more visual language possible using spoken words?
I once participated in a contest. People grouped in pairs. The two members of each pair sit back-to-back. They can neither see each other nor what the other is doing. I was the one who opens an ...
33
votes
20answers
11k views
Lying is illegal. How to make joking not an offence?
In the society I am building it is illegal for a government official to lie (this isn't a reaction to real world politics; I've been building this world for a while), while speaking/acting as ...
8
votes
8answers
7k views
Why bother programming facial expressions for artificial intelligence if humans are bad at recognising them?
Set in the near future, robots and mankind coexist amicably due to the great technological advancement in robotics and artificial intelligence. They are everywhere and some took a human form. All of ...
2
votes
10answers
4k views
What kind of near-future technology would enable extremely quick, mostly silent, communication between soldiers?
My book is about a near-future socialist insurgency. Think Che Guevara. Che Guevara won with only 22 men by garnering support of the local population. I've read his books and can't say I see many ...
-2
votes
3answers
108 views
How could a creator develop from pure energy to a conscious all knowing being [closed]
Let's assume the purpose of life is to reproduce to survive and on the quantum level for sub atomic particles to bond for longevity.
Could an unknown force of energy throughout the ages of time ...
7
votes
4answers
440 views
What does my dragon sound like?
My dragon
So to give a quick description, this is a 2 mile long, nuclear powered dragon of doom. I think I’ll going with a fission/fusion hybrid creature for this beast. Another piece of relevant ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Ancient Roman Pneumatic tube Postal Service
The Romans had pumps, aqueducts, water wheels (which were used to grind flour, saw wood & stone etc), valves & pipes (they are known to have used stone, clay, lead & copper for pipes).
...
5
votes
2answers
176 views
Verbally communicating with a no-lips, no-nosed, spiked tooth alien
In my world, humans encounter an alien species. They want to communicate verbally with each other, so I'd like to know what sounds could be shared by both species.
The species has no/very thin lips, ...
18
votes
8answers
3k views
Ancient-Roman-type Postal Service with Rats as Couriers
Background
In the Great City the underground sewers extend to all but the most impoverished households. Most dwellings have an outside privy for their needs as indoor toilets are relatively new.
The ...
23
votes
14answers
6k views
Is it possible for a planet’s climate to block, or at least make wireless communication irrelevant?
So, I’m writing a sci-fi story, which has a setting which involves human colonists crash landing on a massive, icy hellhole. The weather is extreme on the surface, and because of it, wireless ...
13
votes
3answers
330 views
Could you carry a wormhole through another wormhole?
Okay, let's assume that travel between star systems is done through stable, stationary wormholes on the outer boundaries of each system. This alone is slightly magic for now, of course, but let's roll ...
6
votes
3answers
391 views
How must computers/telecommunication deviate from reality for a retrofuturistic setting?
.
I love the aesthetics of retrofuturistic settingsand I aim to build my own.
A mixture of a fantastical, Thundercats(2011),Outlaw Star x Star*Drive.
How yesterday saw tomorrow is quite fascinating ...
9
votes
5answers
935 views
What would make radio transmission unfeasible on a planet?
I am looking for a good reason to make radio communications on a planetary scale unfeasible or impossible. Short-range use is acceptable, but no transmissions should make it to orbit or over the ...
6
votes
1answer
104 views
Digital communication in pre-transistor era
Recently I have read about radioteletype devices capable of sending text messages via radio waves already in the first half of 20th century. Unfortunately, these teletypes used Baudot code, which is ...
6
votes
7answers
815 views
How to use a certain technology to communicate with colonies but keep the how-to a secret?
I'm building a world for a role-playing game campaign using the Stars Without Number system.
Some background information first:
Stars Without Number Original Setting: In the original story ...
8
votes
2answers
373 views
Could an alien evolve to speak through its anus?
Humans can speak making precise movements of our tongues, teeth and vocal chords.
I want a sentient creature whose carnivorous mouth-parts are completely unsuitable for speech to be able to ...
4
votes
4answers
150 views
Can any kind of public-key encryption hold up against a logically omniscient oracle?
"Logical omniscience" can be defined for these purposes as a form of hypercomputation in which all Turing-computable functions can be computed in constant time. Practically speaking, this means that ...
22
votes
21answers
10k views
How long can my small American city be without Internet access? [closed]
Let us say that I want a somewhat isolated farming city to lose Internet access for an extended period of time. The requirement is that all Internet access into the town have been cut off by some ...
7
votes
6answers
793 views
Time Travellers And The Roman Empire, Part 1: Transport and Control
I am a time traveller from the not so distant future. I have gone into the past to the Roman Empire (specifically the Nerva-Antonine period) and via -handwaving magical mumbo-technobabble- have become ...
7
votes
2answers
961 views
Natural gas based communication
In the faraway land of Backeye, people have developed a secretive language called Pasgas. Rather than enunciating words, or forming them with gestures, Pasgas speakers communicate by passing wind. ...
-1
votes
2answers
122 views
Space colony in isolation due to Kessler Syndrome [closed]
Earth sent some colonist to a earth-like planet, interstellar distance away, a long time ago. This colony is very sustainable and growing. No need to worry about that. The problem is: Due to Kessler ...
1
vote
3answers
292 views
How would an alien telepathic race attempt to communicate with Earth on first contact? [closed]
I have been asked to clarify "effective".
"I have an alien contact concept running where they are telepathic. Right now I have imagery being sent mind to mind, but the only thing I can think of is ...
6
votes
2answers
164 views
Is this radio communicating creature viable? (Volutus sapiens)
I have already reviewed a few questions about the feasibility of a radio communicating creature. Like these:
How would organic EM transmitters/recievers be different than our mechanical ones
...
67
votes
29answers
12k views
How to monetize magical mirrors in today's world?
This is kinda a followup question to my earlier question about magical mirrors: Magical internet - unique addressing system
Two months ago, I discovered an ancient house in the middle of woods. As I ...
24
votes
10answers
7k views
How could you create a 95% effective global emergency broadcasting system?
THIS IS A TEST of the Galactic Emergency Alert system
No action is required.
Type: Milkyway Empire
The World
In the near future:
we discover FTL
we run into some friendly aliens that are ...
0
votes
0answers
68 views
How fast to become “most wanted” in medieval world? [duplicate]
This is the question every RPG player or D&D player had in mind: "What happens if I kill them all?" So, lets ask the question:
Imagine typical medieval fantasy kingdom. There is some magic and ...
7
votes
6answers
875 views
Getting Past Phonetic Limitations [closed]
For the sake of making things much, much simpler, most worlds I'm familiar with have a defining feature of language: there is a common language. This allows for universal communication and overcomes ...
8
votes
8answers
3k views
Would room phones work in a hotel during a blackout? [closed]
I'm writing a story about people being stuck in a large hotel. One character wants to call a loved one, but I'm trying to think of a reason that they can't. My initial thought was that the front desk ...
24
votes
10answers
5k views
How to improve TCP/IP for an interplanetary WAN?
Background
It is the near future. After a major world war and limited nuclear exchange, the nations of Earth have consolidated into a few blocs. The threat of further war and the cumulative damage to ...
5
votes
6answers
413 views
How Could A Very Complex Language Arise?
Many efforts have been made to construct simpler languages that are easier to learn (e.g. Esperanto), and relatively simple language arise naturally in the form of pidgins and creoles, when people ...
2
votes
1answer
109 views
What would happen if all (higher) life magically became sentient and reached human-level intelligence? [closed]
Overnight, all higher life, multicellular life forms from trees and grass to dogs and elephants reached a level of intelligence similar to that of humans. For example, they can communicate effectively,...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Self-sustainment [duplicate]
In world I am talking about everyone vanished but two people. Everyone just dissapeared, like no body has been left. I have them contact via internet but then I realize; there is noone to tend servers....
165
votes
23answers
36k views
If everyone in the world disappeared except 35 random people, how long would it take for one of them to realize they're not alone?
Everyone suddenly disappears from earth except 35 people randomly scattered wherever they were before everyone disappeared. How long would it take on average for 2 or more people to meet? What other ...
0
votes
6answers
328 views
How does tulpa communicate with his owner?
A Tulpa is a concept in mysticism and the paranormal of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers.
The Limbo is like internet, a vast information network made of dreams ...
3
votes
2answers
121 views
What phonemes are most recognizable underwater?
In my fantasy world, there has been a longstanding presence of underwater civilizations, both alongside and independent of surface-based kingdoms. In the style of Tolkien's Beleriand, various ...
9
votes
8answers
402 views
Pre-electrical fast long-distance communication using Acoustic Mirrors
It takes a lot of work, but it can be done. The Mongol Yam, a horse-based mail system, is probably the best example that has been done before. But after visiting the local science museum recently, I ...
1
vote
5answers
252 views
With light years between us, why talk?
Let's say in the year 2000 we launch a ship to some distant part of the galaxy. If the ship travels with a constant 1 g acceleration for like 28 years (accelerating halfway then decelerating), then we ...
25
votes
20answers
7k views
Self-destructing messages
I need a way to send messages that can only be viewed once, and then become permanently unreadable (physical media destroyed, encrypted, any method as long as the message cannot be feasibly recovered ...
10
votes
4answers
3k views
Is a network of spoon-launching trebuchets realistic?
On a comment to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages? I joke about creating a network of trebuchets to launch spoons.
Is it realistic?
My concerns:
How far ...
116
votes
21answers
19k views
My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages? [closed]
Yup. All my pigeons are now spoons. I knew my court alchemist was a sore loser, but I still think it's inappropriate to do that for a chess game. He vanished and I no longer have any means to ...
14
votes
7answers
3k views
Quick solutions to a modern warning placed on the surface of a planet for future generations
In response to Write once perpetual storage, is such a thing possible? Separatrix pointed me at How could an ancient race warn the future in a universally understandable way? and How might modern ...
42
votes
11answers
11k views
How to avoid the language barrier when there is no time to learn the other language?
In my medieval world, population A and population B have not had any contacts for thousands of years. But pressing events will make them look for each other.
However when they meet... how are they ...
10
votes
9answers
3k views
How to justify that people forgot the past and that they have neighbours?
Let's say that there are 2 countries with very different inhabitants. Country A has no idea that country B exists. Country B may or may not know about Country A. Country A is surrounded by large ...
