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Questions tagged [earth-like]

For questions regarding planets similar to Earth in most respects. This tag should be used when describing a planet that follows the rules of Earth with exceptions outlined in the question. Usually questions using this tag will be about the differences and the impacts of those differences.

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How to plausibly delay the creation of the telescope

I have an alternate Earth with the caveat that outer space is an eldritch horror. If a human peers at the starry sky closely enough, they lose their mind and become a part of it so it'd be game over ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
6 votes
4 answers
1k views

Do cities usually form at the mouth of rivers or closer to the headwaters?

I'm building an earthlike fantasy world, set technologically in the late bronze age. I'm placing major hubs of civilization, and for cities along river valleys would it make more sense for cities ...
Alan Schneider's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
1k views

How would Earth's plants change in this speculated Earth-like planet?

In a revival of one of my older questions, A Habitable Zone Within a Habitable Zone, this Earthlike planet orbits a binary of yellow suns, which by itself orbits a binary of red giants. (Lifespan is ...
JohnWDailey's user avatar
  • 14.8k
0 votes
1 answer
128 views

What's the maximum size limit for an Earthlike shellworld?

While the title does look similar to this one, it's actually not. For anyone not in the know, a shellworld is a popular sci-fi megastructure in which a hollow shell envelops a planet, a star or--in ...
JohnWDailey's user avatar
  • 14.8k
6 votes
5 answers
1k views

My world has a god who appears regularly to inflict punishment on wrongdoers. Is long-term sinning still possible?

The god Boff! visits his Earth-like planet every four weeks to exact punishment on breakers of his commandments. These punishments manifest as an opening up of a sinkhole beneath each sinner who then ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
424 views

How would tunneling mold tunnel?

I've recently been reading up on mold creating subway networks and I thought that it would a neat thing to add to my world. So I have giant subterranean slime molds in my world that creates tunnels as ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
4 votes
1 answer
214 views

Can gigantic boulders resemble mountains given a long enough time?

As a human mage, Mountain Slinger is infamous for one spell: creating boulders thousands of meters big, putting it in a gigantic sling-like mana structure, and hurling it at her target after building ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can modern civilization maintain itself under an Earth constantly bombarded with lightning?

I have an Earth unknowingly tainted by a drop of blood shed from a Lightning Deity. The divine blood corrupted the world such that it is always experiencing lightning strikes at an omnipresent scale. ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
0 votes
3 answers
96 views

Day-to-Night observable Sky on a Orbital (non-Niven, small ring) [closed]

I'm assuming a lot of things here, but trying to visualize some characteristics regardless. What would the skyline look like? Day/night, seasonally, etc. I'm imagining a structure that is a ring, but ...
Thomas F. Webber's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
621 views

What color would the sky be in a multi-star system?

In this scenario, an Earthlike planet is situated in a quaternary solar system clumped into two binaries--a Parent, in which the planet orbits, and a Grandparent, in which the Parent binary orbits. ...
JohnWDailey's user avatar
  • 14.8k
5 votes
6 answers
2k views

Natural mechanism behind burning oceans

I have an alternate Earth with no humans where massive patches of the oceans are supposed to be burning. The fires do not come from artificial or man-made causes. The flames themselves: have lasted ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
0 votes
0 answers
78 views

How will the monsoons work in this boomerang-shaped supercontinent?

Back and forth, I have created a fantasy supercontinent shaped in the likeness of an asymmetrical boomerang, with its elbow enlarged to resemble a fish’s head pointing westward, its lifting arm long ...
JohnWDailey's user avatar
  • 14.8k
-1 votes
1 answer
123 views

How could small animals survive a decade in this world?

Short version: Living beings in this world take a decade to reach true diversity; how could the beings from rat to fox size live long enough for this? Is hibernation viable? Long version: In this ...
Phoenices's user avatar
  • 101
5 votes
8 answers
3k views

Why are metal ores dredged from coastal lagoons rather than being extracted directly from the mother lode?

Why are metal ores dredged from coastal lagoons rather than being extracted from the mother lode? I want to arrange a situation where the easiest /cheapest way of obtaining metal ores is by dredging ...
Slarty's user avatar
  • 38.3k
-2 votes
1 answer
91 views

Can a planet without a satellite be suitable and how will this affect its climate and appearance? [closed]

I want to create a planet where there will be 2 suns (small races nearby) and without the moon, so that it is very dark at night. But because of this there are many problems with water and geography, ...
Astra_ Rey's user avatar
9 votes
6 answers
11k views

Would killing 444 billion humans leave any physical impact on Earth that's measurable?

Setting is modern day Earth. North Korea has been secretly mentally corrupted and assimilated into the collective consciousness of the Chthonic Hivemind. Wishing to manifest itself into Earth for ...
Dmyt's user avatar
  • 2,051
1 vote
1 answer
44 views

Estimating energy of tidal friction in alternative moon scenarios

The moon loses kinetic energy due to tidal friction. I would like to quantitatively explore the energies involved in alternative earths in which the moon is larger or has a different orbit. I asked an ...
spraff's user avatar
  • 2,269
3 votes
2 answers
115 views

Causes of extreme seasons on an Earth-like planet such that humans need to migrate

I am thinking of an Earth-like planet that has extreme seasons (temperature) such that the humans (or other lifeforms) living there need to systematically migrate (probably twice per year) from one ...
Blair Nangle's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
508 views

Where should my currents go?

I'm trying to figure out how to place currents in the green area. There doesn't seem to be anywhere for them to come from, and I seem to have backed myself into a corner with the geography of this ...
www's user avatar
  • 1,614
3 votes
0 answers
86 views

Roughly how big could the tidal range be on a human habitable Earth analogue world?

The Gravitational tidal forces can be supplied by any orbiting moon(s)/twin planet(s) of any mass and any orbital radius, inclination or orbital radius, but the system must be stable for at least 10,...
Slarty's user avatar
  • 38.3k
3 votes
5 answers
206 views

Would things engineered to work on earth work ok in 1.25 times earth gravity? [closed]

A while ago I asked this question about if a planet 1/5th larger than earth could remain earth like. The top answers all seemed to agree that while the planet could be that much larger and still only ...
OT-64 SKOT's user avatar
  • 5,165
2 votes
2 answers
170 views

What's the effect of increasing the Earth's rotation on climate?

The Earth's rotation speeds up slowly but without limit. How does this affect the climate? I am thinking that day and night temperatures would even out so that there would be less wind, but I don't ...
spraff's user avatar
  • 2,269
2 votes
2 answers
238 views

A calendar/timekeeping system based only on the stars?

I'm playing with an otherwise earthlike world where I have handwaved away the visible sun and moon: anytime you look at a cloudless sky, you see stars, and only stars. How can the people of this world ...
RLoopy's user avatar
  • 1,000
4 votes
6 answers
290 views

How quickly can a continent split and separate without an Extinction Level Event occuring

Consider an Earth-like planet. I want a large (Europe/Africa) continent to split in half, with the halves separating in a reasonably short time (by geological standards). The halves need to separate ...
spraff's user avatar
  • 2,269
2 votes
1 answer
193 views

Is my climate map plausible?

I've created an Earthlike planet and spent a lot of time trying to get the climate right. I have included a map of elevation and currents. Are these climates possible, given their surrounding factors? ...
www's user avatar
  • 1,614
4 votes
1 answer
176 views

Weather and climate of an Earth-like planet orbiting an orange dwarf

I am creating a solar system with fictional planets as a setting for my space novel. Luckily I have some nice tools for creating quite accurate astronomical data. The planet where my protagonists live ...
Alessandro Miletti's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
149 views

Am I placing high and low pressure zones correctly?

I'm using Geoff's Climate Cookbook to try and make the climate of my world, but I'm really struggling and I don't understand much. I've put the high and low pressure zones down on my map, but I feel ...
eggsalad's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
174 views

How would a supernatural boiling sea in the Southern Ocean affect Earth's climate? [closed]

How would a boiling sea in the southern ocean near Antarctica affect Earth's climate? This boiling sea was caused by supernatural forces providing the energy to boil the water while also keeping it ...
TheGoldenBoy2188 The Coolest G's user avatar
18 votes
6 answers
6k views

How long would it take humans to notice a civilization on Venus?

Now I know this is a very weird and impossible question, there is clearly no civilization on Venus. But for the sake of the story I'm cooking up in my head, Venus remains habitable and develops life ...
Dono's user avatar
  • 181
2 votes
2 answers
294 views

How would sensible waste disposal be accomplished for terrestrial creatures in a primitive society? [closed]

Necessary context: Various real animals like birds, foxes and snakes plus fictitious ones like qilins/kirins, gryphons and gloomstalkers (raven-like birds with some minor serpent features) possessing ...
KeturiosBlue's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
152 views

What is the lowest reasonable density for a Super Earth with earthlike living conditions?

A large planet roughly 3-4 times the mass of Earth. Trying to keep Gravity between 0.75G-1.25G for Earth-like Conditions. I've looked into certain materials such as Silicon Carbide, which is ...
Spoon's user avatar
  • 163
1 vote
2 answers
216 views

Could humans live on a cylindrical celestial body?

Let's imagine a roughly (or perfectly?) cylindrical celestial body. Other than it's shape, everything about it astronomically (distance from sun, orbit shape, etc.) is the same as Earth. Is it ...
Mocascoolai's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
42 views

Can nature adapt to life without constant access to sunlight? [duplicate]

I create a world where the sun's rays no longer reach the planet, due to the clouds completely covering the sky. Nature must therefore adapt to life without constant access to photosynthesis. I haven'...
batatich's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
187 views

If Earth were located at 1.1 AU from the Sun, would this affect the two zenithal passage days in the Tropics?

I am designing calendrics for an Earth-like planet located 1.1 AU from a Sun-like star. On Earth, on April 30th and August 13th, the Sun appears to pass directly overhead between the Tropics of Cancer ...
JM Yaden's user avatar
  • 305
2 votes
1 answer
89 views

Feasibility of a moon-planet orbiting an F star [closed]

I'm building an earth-type planet with typically human-like people, but a few differences. The human's particular area won't have much in the way of seasons being a large equatorial island. I'm ...
RedFrog's user avatar
  • 21
6 votes
3 answers
293 views

What technologies would be useful to a society trying to attain elevation?

Setting This question is about a human culture, with conditions essentially the same as Earth's with technology roughly comparable to early middle ages. The climate is roughly Alpine, although the ...
Jamie Lear's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
171 views

In the rainshadow of an equatorial mountain, would savanna (Aw) or hot desert (Bwh) replace rainforest?

This is a map of the area in question (pink/brown = mountains, lime = savanna, and dark green = rainforest). The top line is the equator, and lines are 10° apart. Would the area in the upper area of ...
nearsighted's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
46 views

How could I make an earth sized planet with 3 moons work? [duplicate]

Im world building an earth sized planet with 3 moons. These three moons are symbolic in my world with many religions on this world celebrating the number 3 and saying the best things come in 3. I was ...
Tonythundergod's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
682 views

Do the mountains formed by a divergent boundary form on either coast of the resulting channel, or on the part that has not yet separated?

The lakes and the bay are formed by the rift where the right chunk is diverging away from the main plate. I've put mountains on the land part of the rift a la Ethiopia's Great Rift Valley, but should ...
SkyDivingTortoise's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
167 views

Environmental triggers for evolving broader visible spectrum

Taking some inspiration from the finding that a small proportion is able to perceive significantly more colors than the rest of the population, I would like to explore to what degree similar traits ...
Arash Howaida's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
430 views

How could an Earthlike planet have two moons, one similar to the Earth's moon and the other primarily composed of carbon? [closed]

I am building an Earthlike planet that possesses two moons, one similar to the Earth's in terms of chemical composition and one primarily composed of carbon. How could these two moons form? Which moon ...
Galactic's user avatar
  • 4,454
2 votes
1 answer
71 views

What stellar temperature, orbital distance, and eccentricity is needed to create an Earthlike orbital planet with a last glacial maximum climate?

I am creating an Earthlike planet with a year length of 515 Earth days and 9 Earth hours. I am aware that Kepler's third law of planetary motion states that warmer stars are needed for longer orbital ...
Galactic's user avatar
  • 4,454
3 votes
2 answers
198 views

How can I hide a flying city? [closed]

In my writings I've created an island I need to hide. The island itself is around 100-200 square miles in area and the island rests around 12,000 feet in the air and is surrounded by a mountain range ...
Pyroking's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
291 views

How early can some kind of nuclear reactor resonably be invented or stumbled upon?

The physics of this world work practically the same as our own. All these nuclear reactors need to do is make a somewhat usable amount of heat for power generation, possibly ship use. They have to be ...
OT-64 SKOT's user avatar
  • 5,165
8 votes
5 answers
4k views

Would My Planet’s Blue Sun Kill Earth-Life?

I’m creating an Earth-like world where the sun appears blue to people from the planet’s surface. I think I’ve narrowed down the cause of this effect to the presence of 1 micron particles in the ...
Kal Madda's user avatar
  • 1,851
4 votes
2 answers
392 views

Is there a general rule/formula for the length of an ice age?

Right now in our worldbuilding project, my friends and I are working on the history of the world with respect to evolution and tectonics. Recently (322 mya) I was pretty sure an ice age would be ...
nearsighted's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
307 views

Would this atmosphere be habitable to humans?

I have been creating a world, but I'm not sure if the atmosphere would be breathable for humans. (I'm kind of worried about the xenon levels) The planet is made of 62% Nitrogen (N) 21% Oxygen (O2) 15....
Neil Iyer's user avatar
  • 1,554
5 votes
9 answers
2k views

Long distance travel by non-motorised rolling vehicles

Background I have lush fertile mountains separated by miles of flat, barren desert. Each mountain is home to a community. The distances between mountains vary from 2 - 20 miles. Every occupied ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
95 views

Can someone tell me what a world with a radius 1.2 times that of earth’s would be like? [closed]

I want to make a world larger than earth for a story I want to write. Please can someone tell me about the different characteristics a world with a 20% larger radius would have: How much gravity it ...
Rohan's user avatar
  • 21
10 votes
6 answers
3k views

How to safely contain dinosaurs in the early 1900s?

A nation has found a large island containing dinosaurs! Primarily those of the late Cretaceous. A nation willing to pour pretty much any amount of money into the project needs a way to safely contain ...
OT-64 SKOT's user avatar
  • 5,165

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