Questions tagged [electromagnetism]

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

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What's the maximum mass for an Iron Planet to have a magnetosphere like Mercury's?

I'm designing an iron planet which migrated into its habitable zone. Basic research told me iron planets cool off too quickly to have a magnetic field, so initially I was looking for ways native life ...
4 votes
1 answer
92 views

Space station maglev junction design

I'm designing a city building game in a huge 3D (without any notion of "top" or "bottom") space station (or rather, a space city). There are various functional buildings (vertices) ...
3 votes
2 answers
284 views

Can magnetic fields be used to either strengthen or weaken chemical bonds? [closed]

My understanding is that magnetic fields compress atoms slightly. Could this conceivably be used in combination with certain substances with very specific properties to strengthen them in the presence ...
5 votes
4 answers
2k views

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 ...
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

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?
-1 votes
1 answer
151 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 ...
3 votes
2 answers
138 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 ...
0 votes
1 answer
90 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 ...
2 votes
1 answer
77 views

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 ...
2 votes
1 answer
179 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 ...
3 votes
2 answers
211 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 ...
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

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 ...
6 votes
1 answer
323 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 ...
3 votes
1 answer
155 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 ...
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

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. ...
1 vote
3 answers
235 views

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 ...
1 vote
3 answers
283 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,...
-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 ...
2 votes
4 answers
481 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 ...
2 votes
2 answers
57 views

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 ...
6 votes
2 answers
239 views

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 ...
4 votes
2 answers
1k 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 (...
5 votes
2 answers
223 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 ...
5 votes
9 answers
520 views

Technology to see an invisible being

I have a world where there are two types of beings. One type, let's call them X, exist in our "dimension," and the other, let's call them Y, exist in another "phase" or dimension. Only 10% of X ...
1 vote
2 answers
157 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 ...
2 votes
3 answers
4k views

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 ...
2 votes
4 answers
140 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, ...
4 votes
6 answers
768 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 ...
-3 votes
2 answers
235 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 ...
4 votes
2 answers
187 views

How fast can an alien laser cannon be charged with a magnetic field?

I have some alien laser cannons that I pulled out of a perpetual hurricane. They're cylinders that are two feet long and one foot across. They can only be charged by magnetodynamic coupling - that is, ...
1 vote
4 answers
713 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 ...
1 vote
1 answer
126 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 ...
1 vote
3 answers
134 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 ...
0 votes
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 ...
1 vote
1 answer
105 views

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 ...
2 votes
3 answers
334 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 ...
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 ...
1 vote
2 answers
159 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 ...
3 votes
1 answer
224 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, ...
105 votes
9 answers
18k views

What could make a star green?

Stars are never green. When a star's spectra "peaks" in the green range, it also releases a significant number of waves of the adjacent colors - so "green" stars appear yellow or ...
4 votes
3 answers
343 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 ...
8 votes
5 answers
707 views

How can I weaponize solar flares?

Could a solar flare be coaxed from a star with a magnetic weapon, possibly by manipulating magnetic reconnection? Could the resulting flare be aimed at a planet (or space fleet) with any accuracy? I ...
1 vote
1 answer
105 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 ...
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 ...
4 votes
2 answers
112 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 ...
2 votes
1 answer
186 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 ...
4 votes
2 answers
125 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 ...
0 votes
2 answers
127 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 ...
7 votes
3 answers
662 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/...
3 votes
1 answer
193 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)...

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