Questions tagged [communication]
For questions relating to the exchange of ideas and information between beings.
322
questions
2
votes
4answers
178 views
Are (near) instant data transfers feasible on an intergalactic scale?
Inspired partially by this comment on one of my answers, I got to thinking on what the quickest way to communicate would be on an intergalactic scale.
Say humans have colonised the galaxy, and use ...
3
votes
6answers
370 views
“Dragon amongst the sheep” How could a dragon avoid other animals registering him as a threat?
So, one of the less know abilities of dragons here is anivoice.
Anivoice allows dragons to communicate with birds, mammals, reptiles, dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Of course, the information, relayed by ...
0
votes
6answers
434 views
Designing a safe way to share location of a secret ship
There is a secret ship and it is used by pirates as a recharging point. It has a nuclear reactor as a power source and other ships are using electricity. Let's assume in this world stealth technology ...
19
votes
13answers
3k views
Communicating the idea of danger to an unknown alien civilization
An alien automatic "beacon" tries to warn us about some imminent danger. It does so with launching a succession of large "veils" in front of their star so we can detect them via the transit method. ...
-2
votes
2answers
93 views
Inter-Planetary Communication [closed]
In my universe humans have colonized Phobos, Deimos, the moon, and Mars. However, they have no fast way to communicate with each other. I'm looking for a fast and possible way for humans to ...
6
votes
2answers
228 views
So, magic is based on swarm robotics and nanotechnology. How can I have Anti-magic fields?
So, at its core, magic is using a swarm of tiny (50-100 micrometers), naturally occuring robots to deliver substances to a given location and initiate chemical reactions that lead towards the desired ...
2
votes
1answer
90 views
What factors affect how easy it is to understand a foreign language?
I'm making a homebrew D&D world where, among other things, there is no "common" tongue. I've always found that concept frustratingly unrealistic. Yes, it prevents a lot of problems for adventurers,...
5
votes
3answers
193 views
Ways for advanced civilizations to mask communications on an interstellar / intergalactic scale
Say we have a civilization on the verge of becoming Type II, and are in the process of building a Dyson Sphere. They are aware that in the process, and especially after completion, there will be ...
4
votes
5answers
213 views
Could a language based on absolute pitch develop music?
For those that are arguing that without vocabularly, it isn't considered a language:
From Wikipedia: Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex ...
4
votes
7answers
2k views
Why don't military spaceships use blockchain technology for ship log? [closed]
Straight to the point, cut out the backstory:
If blockchain is so secure and difficult to hack why don't the military spaceship use it for logging important and also non essential events, navigation, ...
2
votes
2answers
260 views
How to get attention when being shrunk to size of a flea? [closed]
One evening a group of teenagers got arrested for taunting a queen's guard and was brought to a temporary holding cell, all of a sudden a radioactive mosquito seemingly escaped from a nearby lab bites ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views
Could echolocated images be used for a language?
So I have this underwater echolocation using species. I'm wondering if they could have a language partly based on recreating sounds from returning echolocation waves to 'talk' images at each other. (I ...
4
votes
5answers
175 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
120 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
684 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
348 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
119 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
156 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
97 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: ...
asked Jun 23 '19 at 4:27
Celestial Dragon Emperor
10.2k4 gold badges36 silver badges79 bronze badges
5
votes
5answers
221 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
157 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
828 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
376 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
1k 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
572 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
407 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
259 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
480 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
224 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
288 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
143 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 ...
