Questions tagged [electromagnetism]

For questions involving the fundamental electromagnetic force. This includes electricity, magnetism, light, and other phenomena.

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Could a magnetized chain work as a grappling hook?

Once the chain is swung and wraps around the desired structure could the magnetism be strong enough to support a person swinging from it?
Red Axer's user avatar
  • 121
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1 answer
87 views

Practical effects of Torchship-strength Magnetic Nozzles [closed]

In a sci-fi universe with high-end interplanetary torchship technology (think the Expanse), high-speed space travel is normalized, with ships of all sizes regularly traveling between planets on the ...
Ciac32's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Minimal inductance vs Superconductors and Unintended Consequences

I have a setting with railguns. To make them more feasible I have some particles that can be applied to metals, wirings etc.. These particles can change the properties of the metals/objects or the ...
FIRES_ICE's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
145 views

Could Mages which can control London Dispersion Meaningfully Control the Air [closed]

Alright, so I've been trying to figure out my magic system for my story, and I'm trying to figure out how I could have water mages that were actually powerful. My fundamental idea behind the magic ...
skout's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
161 views

Using Neutron Stars to Generate Electricity

Quick question In my world building project I have a civilization that lives on a planet that orbits a Neutron star. Neutron stars have an extremely powerful magnetic field so I was wondering if it ...
Venik Hue's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
182 views

Stop all mobile phones with EMPs

In this question, I found out that a single EMP is not enough to stop all mobile phones from working. So as a follow-up question: how many EMPs would you need, and how expensive would this be? To be ...
Riemann's user avatar
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1 answer
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EMP that causes all mobile phones to stop working

I know that there exist nonnuclear EMP weapons, but these do not influence the entire world. Could someone build a device that creates an EMP that is powerful enough to make all mobile phones on the ...
Riemann's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
318 views

Can EM waves naturally create sonic waves?

Q:Can EM waves naturally create sonic waves? For example, could a natural antenna (e.g. a seam of conductive metal or the right kind of rock)receive em radiation and through thermal/mechanical or ...
Toby Weston's user avatar
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4 answers
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If I move momentum from someone's body to the ground, creating thrust, am I violating the laws of thermodynamics, even though I conserve momentum?

I'm trying to create flight by mathematical adjustments that don't actually violate the laws of thermodynamics. The obvious thing to do would be to neutralize gravity, but that doesn't create ...
Robert Rapplean's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
151 views

How much diamagnetic levitation can a human handle?

One of the limitations to human space travel is acceleration limits. We'd really like to just shoot spaceships out of a cannon to 99% the speed of light, but the resulting pressures on the human body ...
PyRulez's user avatar
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4 votes
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Can ultra-low-frequency photon rockets be "safe"?

Your typical photon rocket is imagined as being an antimatter-powered, gamma-ray laser. A flashlight of extremely lethal ionizing radiation, capable of sterilizing a planet if pointed the wrong way. ...
BMF's user avatar
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Would a ferro fluid cloud work as a "force" field for space combat?

Bit of a weird question, but lemme explain. I want to make shields that block lasers but don't block projectiles, As lasers in my world are very powerful. I heard that military grade lasers can be ...
procrastanator's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
274 views

Would the magnetic fields of double-planets clash? and what would happen then?

I will take the basic properties of a previous post "To make it easier, assume both planets have same mass, radius, and atmosphere as Earth, they orbit each other at a very close distance of 30,...
Khalid's user avatar
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-4 votes
1 answer
76 views

Thermoelectric-powered electromagnets to render Mars habitable

The answers to my latest question on restarting Mars core have finally convinced me; I have abandoned the concept of doing so. However, whilst morosely browsing other questions on giving Mars a ...
user98816's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
414 views

How could a man-portable EMP shotgun generate a pulse?

The Story (this starts playing) The reactor core room is coated in black inky sludge, dotted with glowing blotches of cyan, with black tendrils laced up the hydraulic shocks and all around the reactor ...
Sam Kitsune's user avatar
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2 votes
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How can we move the Moon into a more distant orbit by using electrostatic charge?

Earthers wish to change the Moon's orbit in order to adjust the length of a lunar month. They intend to do this by giving the Earth and the Moon equal electrostatic charges thereby pushing them ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
701 views

Could an electromagnetic pulse be made directional?

Reading about Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NNEMP) weapons that generate high-intensity electromagnetic bursts to frazzle electronics. Now, when other kinds of electromagnetic wave are generated (...
wokopa's user avatar
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6 votes
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What effects would a Jupiter-like gas giant's magnetosphere have on a human civilization on its habitable exo-moon?

Background: Like many others here, I'm building a world for a story I'm writing. I'd like it to be taken for granted that a moon roughly the size of Earth that is habitable for humans could exist in a ...
bnbaum's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
189 views

Effects of Superconducting Rings to create a magnetic field around a planet

Continuing along my oft-contineud series of questions relating to terraforming, I return to an idea of giving Mars a magnetic field which I had hitherto dismissed. The idea is that a huge ...
user98816's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
136 views

Could ferrofluids give humans magnetic properties? (Part 2 of Magnetic Gravity Series)

In my previous question (Could magnetism work in place of gravity for large bases in space?), @JBH brought up that ferrofluids in the diet of people on these stations could keep them magnetically ...
Jobah_HigherMind's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
135 views

Why does my chaff like particle cloud reflect or "jam" enemy radar?

I have a hover tanks zipping around in my setting. None of these vehicles utilize physical optical view ports. All information is gathered from sensors. As such there are a multitude of cameras, ...
FIRES_ICE's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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Is a planet-sized magnet a good interstellar weapon?

(Same universe as Saturnian Cloud Cities and Quazar Power Plant) In this setting, humans (Earthborn) are the first intelligent life to emerge in the Milky Way. They have now unified and became a grand ...
Furious Arcturus's user avatar
4 votes
6 answers
744 views

Could magnetism work in place of gravity for large bases in space?

So, in my sci-fi future, humanity has spread across the universe, made contact with many sentient races, and advanced technology greatly. However, very few bases in the vacuum of space can use ...
Jobah_HigherMind's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
196 views

Terraforming Mars by making Ceres orbit it

So, Mars is a stubborn planet that refuses to be terraformed. No matter how much air you import in order to create a atmosphere around it, it will be blown away in a short time. And there is one ...
Furious Arcturus's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
124 views

How strong would a planetary magnetic field need to be in order to lighten the weight of ferromagnetic metals? [closed]

I am writing a fantasy/sci-fi where humans crash-land on a somewhat earthlike planet (continental distribution, great masses of water, similar element's abundance), however, I would like for one of ...
Carlos A.'s user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
700 views

How many magnetic monopoles are needed to disable an aircraft carrier?

Once upon a time there was an interstellar kingdom with access to hundreds of planets through wormholes. Geniuses or luck gave them magnetic monopoles. They exist!!! The next bit is somewhat magical ...
Tusky Emonay's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
154 views

Biological Electroreception/Electrogenesis (Electrolocation) In Air Medium

So i got inspired by the electrolocation senses of some water animals that can be passive like sharks that only detect the electric signature of other animals, to active like electric eels that ...
Paulo Raposo's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
131 views

would this Lenz law based inertial dampener work?

Basically this "Inertial Dampening" systems works like a magnet falling though a cooper pipe https://youtu.be/5BeFoz3Ypo4 But replace the falling magnet with a crew capsule surrounded by a ...
spaceamoeba1010's user avatar
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0 answers
42 views

Railguns vs coilguns in the field [duplicate]

I am developing a sci fi mod for a game called armored brigade and a faction present in this mod will use either railguns or coilguns as crew served anti armor weapons similar in form to something ...
Boo Radley's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Abiogenesis of solid-state organisms that reproduce through rock melting and magnetism [closed]

When looking for alternatives to the classic carbon-based life I often found replies on why carbon is still the most likely element to base life on because it can create complex molecules, it can ...
Lordoazza's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
332 views

Is a Bussard Ramjet for collecting water possible

My spacecraft's propellant is water, so an idea I came up with is that it would melt icy bodies in the rings of gas giants into water vapour. Is it possible to collect water vapour with some sort of ...
spaceamoeba1010's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
70 views

Ferrovolcanism on an asteroid caused by rotating induction heating

I found out about Ferrovolcanism on asteroids and its a pretty neat idea for a space sci fi setting. Moreover, I have come up with a hypothetical way that an asteroid could be heated by induction ...
spaceamoeba1010's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
154 views

Using Diamagnetic repulsion to help negate the affects of weightlessness

I had an idea of a chamber that an astronaut would use when they would sleep that would allow their body to experience a gravity-like force to negate the negative effects of weightlessness, (Bone or ...
spaceamoeba1010's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
220 views

How do I shield my calcium bio-electromagnet's wiring?

I'm attempting to design a creature whose internal anatomy includes a powerful electromagnet so that it can do things like pulling guns out of people's hands at close range. Like many electromagnets, ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
323 views

How much energy it would be required to propel a projectile with sound? Would it be lethal to its user?

Context: in a scenario where batteries suddenly became extremely energy dense due to some events between the main characters, I was thinking about which electromagnetic weapons I could use, such as ...
Fulano's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
101 views

Can a habitable world function like a Tesla Coil?

I am trying to come up with a fun planet with "advanced" but primitive tech. We all know Tesla missed some critical physics when envisioning his global transmission network for power. But ...
DWKraus's user avatar
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9 votes
5 answers
1k views

Infantry portable coilgun power sources

I am envisioning a weapons team that can carry around a coilgun about the same size as a recoilless rifle. The L55/12.M Crew Served Coilgun from Kaelo Engineering is the newest advancement in ...
Boo Radley's user avatar
  • 1,154
4 votes
2 answers
102 views

How much salt juice does my bioelectric pulsed field magnet need?

I'm making an organism which generates its own magnetic field - specifically, a magnetic field which pulses on and off repeatedly. Said organism uses said magnetic field to communicate with other such ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
178 views

What material do I use to make a biological electromagnet?

This is rather simple: I want a biological electromagnet capable of producing a weak magnetic pulse when electrified. I recognize what an electromagnet is: a coil, spiral, or helix of conductive ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
124 views

How would it feel to sense a magnetic field reversal of one's planet?

The idea is for my story to begin at the end of a magnetic field reversal of the planet where it takes place. Certain characters have the ability to sense the direction of the magnetic field, not ...
Panthalassic's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
123 views

Using nanoparticles to give people blood clots for fun and profit

Some background: this question concerns iron oxide nanoparticles. Iron oxide nanoparticles are approximately 1 to 100 nanometers in diameter, as opposed to, say, a red blood cell, which is 10,000 ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
  • 11.3k
7 votes
3 answers
656 views

Is it possible to induce prions/protein-folding diseases via a magnetic field of sufficient strength?

This logbook entry from Destiny 2 states that WARNING. Novel prion detected in body collagen. Hypothesis: Jovian magnetosphere promotes highly abnormal protein folding. Prognosis: massive sloughing/...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
181 views

Would a monopole magnet be pushed away from the ground if its polarity was the same as the planet's hemisphere's pole it found itself in?

In my quest to make liftstone make as much sense as possible with regards to how it functions, I'm considering the possibility that it might be a substance that is (1) naturally a strong magnet and (2)...
Lemming's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Physical effects of strong magnets under skin?

I should preface this with "I'm a fiction writer." If someone were to implant extremely strong magnets under their skin and attach an attracting magnet to the outside, how would that affect ...
Jay Dee's user avatar
  • 492
3 votes
1 answer
142 views

How to write character who was the ability to manipulate diamagnetism?

I am trying to adapt a character who has Diamagnetic Manipulation abilities (https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Diamagnetism_Manipulation) into my own universe. Although I know superpowers do not ...
Anthony Fallone's user avatar
14 votes
6 answers
2k views

How would one go about making a subdermal Faraday cage?

Exactly what it says on the tin: how would one go about making a subdermal (i.e. under the skin) Faraday cage? Specifically, are there any physical or biological principles that could be applied to do ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
  • 11.3k
4 votes
1 answer
124 views

How good is a magnetite sand defence really?

I've been considering filling my alien world with a plethora of magnetic creatures, all of which use magnetism in unique and creative ways. Of course these creatures are only going to be one genus, ...
LiveInAmbeR's user avatar
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19 votes
12 answers
4k views

Potential workings of a device that makes the area around it appear in greyscale?

Basically I'm thinking of a strategy game, something like starcraft, and you have a unit that emits a field that causes the area around it to appear in grayscale. Is there any kind of potential ...
Java Revengeance's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
122 views

Could a slow rotating planet be protected by another's body magnetosphere?

I'm working on a slow spinning planet whose rotation period lasts around 24 Earth-years (about 8766 days). It would be a rocky planet similar to the Earth in size and mass orbiting a K- or G-type star ...
MoholyNagy's user avatar
  • 1,097
2 votes
2 answers
192 views

Possibility of Space Magical Electromagnetic Gun in Bronze/Iron Age

Background This is a quasi-magical world where sapient species inhabit a range of biomes in a stellar system, from asteroids to gas giant moons to earth-like planets. These bodies have compositions ...
RedMoon's user avatar
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