Questions tagged [communication]
For questions relating to the exchange of ideas and information between beings.
310
questions
2
votes
5answers
139 views
Is it realistic to have a sound-based naval identification system?
I have a number of sea-faring races in my fantasy story. The world is relatively mundane i.e. no magic and the races are somewhere the Graeco-Roman classical period in terms of their technology, give ...
2
votes
3answers
97 views
How would black market stock exchange in a communist country work?
I have an oppressive communist country which doesn't have any free speech, secret police, a new supreme leader every few decades and obviously, a planned economy.
But somehow, the country is still ...
4
votes
6answers
2k views
Is elastic wiring feasable?
Since wireless does not seem to be the ultra-high-broadband solution of the future (according to recent 5G cellular network results), wires seem the only way to go for a data-intensive future.
The ...
34
votes
18answers
5k views
Lighthouse Alternatives
In my pre-electricity world, fast communication is achieved by means of lighthouses, each being able to direct strong and precise beams of light towards distantly visible lighthouses.
However a ...
10
votes
9answers
647 views
Is a Language with Two Phonemes Feasible?
In one of my stories, I have a race that communicates using only two sounds: "O" and "U". This can be strung together like this:
...
4
votes
14answers
4k views
Is there a reliable way to hide/convey a message in vocal expressions (speech, song,…)
Assume Bob. Bob wants to convey the following, simple message (an example) to Cassandra:
Walk 5 feet forward, turn around 90 degrees clockwise, walk another 4 feet and dig 3 feet into the ground.
...
8
votes
3answers
276 views
If an Alcubierre Drive is possible, can you communicate FTL without a vessel?
Assume that an Alcubierre drive is feasible. In fact, assume that one has been built. A superluminal starship can propel itself through space by distorting space in front of it and behind it. However, ...
2
votes
2answers
116 views
What would be the ideal “language” to control a complex machine via a human body?
Please assume the following scenario:
A spaceship in a dense battle situation, controlled by a human beeing. The bridge is basically an empty room, consisting of screen-walls (showing the outside and ...
18
votes
9answers
5k views
Non-visual Computers - thoughts?
TL;DR
Let's say that computers were invented at a school for the blind in mid-1800s. How would today's technology, based on these non-screen-based computers, be different?
ETA: To clarify and ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I differentiate a eusocial organism from a hive mind collective?
Are there specific writing ways to differentiate from the two (eusocial vs. hivemind)?
I would like to start writing more notes and lore upon something I've been working with, but it does seem hard ...
21
votes
12answers
5k views
Summoning A Technology Based Demon
I have a world where the "supernatural" is all sufficiently advanced technology. With examples like Gods, Demons, and Angels are AI's whose physical forms are swarms of nanobots/nanites. This being ...
2
votes
2answers
147 views
Injury to the lower jaw - what would be the consequences?
One of my characters suffers an injury where a spike pierced his lower jaw and severed his tongue. Ignoring the fact that he may not have survived this wound under normal circumstances (eldritch ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What frequency range would be ideal for audible communication on a planet with a thick atmosphere? [closed]
If you lived on a planet with a very thick atmosphere, and you communicated verbally, what frequency range would be best? What would you eventually evolve to?
Would their voices need to be high ...
53
votes
20answers
10k views
How would an order of Monks that renounce their names communicate effectively?
In my fantasy world there exists an order of monks known as the Noncara/Non Cara (haven't decided which form looks better). The Non Cara practice a theology based solely on works. By this I mean: ...
5
votes
5answers
207 views
Logical Location for my Secure Martian Datacenter
Minutes of the DatadyneTM board meeting, May 7, 2037
Members of the board called to order by Chair Mykyta Coetzee. Chair address begins.
…
There is no more lucrative opportunity ...
16
votes
5answers
3k views
Is it possible for underground bunkers on different continents to be connected?
In a scenario I'm thinking of, the Earth has been nuked bare and a few remnants of humanity are surviving in their underground bunkers. Let's say there is one in North America, one in Central American,...
-3
votes
1answer
154 views
What's the quickest way to get the President or equivalent authority on the phone? Life depends on it! [closed]
Scenario.
You have 30 minutes before a deadly cyber-virus will infect everything connected to the internet. The national security level is already high due to recent events. In this future, majority ...
26
votes
12answers
8k views
Humans meet a distant alien species. How do they standardize? - Units of Measure
Humans meet some distant alien species. They are mutual first contacts. After learning the languages of each other, they begin to share scientific and engineering knowledge with one another, but here'...
21
votes
10answers
4k views
Looking for a soft substance that doesn't dissolve underwater
I'm writing a story that takes place entirely underwater, mostly in a deep sea town and shallower city. Both are underwater and populated by beings who can survive underwater.
My thinking is that ...
1
vote
0answers
27 views
How do tongues affect speech? [duplicate]
If you had your tongue removed, would you still be able to form coherent words? What sounds would you lose the ability to make and why?
20
votes
17answers
5k views
How to make a language evolve quickly?
Imagine a world in which the language barrier is a means of propaganda defence.
In this world, one of the primary concerns of each country is the migration of natives, since they know their native ...
11
votes
5answers
2k views
Can radiation block all wireless communications?
Can radiation block all wireless communications?
My idea is that heavy meteorite storms are spreading radioactive dust around the atmosphere. I know that traces of radioactive elements can survive ...
15
votes
5answers
3k views
How could a civilization detect tachyons?
In an effort to work out a believable form of faster-than-light communications for my setting, I've ruled out a few things: wormholes (which are in use, but are too random in where they lead, to be ...
6
votes
2answers
375 views
Which sounds could a tongueless person produce?
In my world, officials dealing with sensitive information have their tongues amputated.
Naturally writing and a special, government-only sign-language are the main forms of communication, but ...
6
votes
2answers
353 views
How long would it take to eliminate the lovecraft mythos from the human consciousness?
Hundreds of years ago during the black plague, an individual named Howard Phillips Lovecraft started what would lead to the doom of humanity. Although a mediocre writer himself, his works of ...
7
votes
4answers
746 views
How can a person become completely mute without external indications?
I have searched for a while now, but I cannot find a definite answer.
A character I am writing has been captured by the antagonist, operated on and released, now completely mute.
I've looked ...
8
votes
4answers
522 views
How can a team of shapeshifters communicate?
There is a group of people who can shapeshift. They send out hunting parties, scout teams, etc. In a circumstance where a group of ten people can look like ten different species (one human, one wolf, ...
23
votes
13answers
6k views
Most bit efficient text communication method?
What would be the most efficient text communication method for a spacecraft operating on a super low bit rate (I'm talking something like 5 bits an hour, excluding error handling)?
As you want both ...
11
votes
8answers
2k views
Could an empire control the whole planet with today's comunication methods?
I remember watching a documentary some time ago and at one point they were talking about how empires were limited to a certain size since there was no way to communicate across the empire quickly and ...
7
votes
6answers
1k views
How could sorcerers who are able to produce/manipulate almost all forms of energy communicate over large distances?
Sorcerers possess the ability to sense, generate, and manipulate energy; however, their abilities are largely limited to controlling energy that they/other sorcerers have created, and not naturally ...
11
votes
9answers
2k views
Why would telepaths have difficulty communicating with each other? [closed]
Humans in this world are born with the ability to communicate telepathically. The range and skill grows with age and practice, with adults being able to communicate between 5 - 7 ft. An individual can ...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
Life on other planets via nuclear signal
A nuclear explosion in space? Directing a nuclear explosion is difficult even in theory, but is it possible to direct one in space, with a trajectory and width of a significant diameter and wavelength ...
5
votes
7answers
397 views
How can animals of various species organize themselves against a super-predator?
Cats in New York City are an invasive species that are a plague to the animal kingdom. It is well documented that these bloodthirsty psychopaths are responsible for the murder of billions of innocent ...
-3
votes
3answers
258 views
Keeping GHz wireless RF out of our heads without stopping the internet?
Premise: Neurologists found that GHz wireless RF had modest but quite negative effects on people's brains. Subtle collective effects in neuronal firing patterns across the brain due to interactions ...
12
votes
11answers
408 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
216 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
268 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
139 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
186 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
479 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 ...
35
votes
21answers
12k 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 ...
9
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
135 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
605 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
255 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 ...
