Questions tagged [humans]
For questions about humans as we know them or slightly changed, their physiology, psychology, politics, society and goals.
2
votes
10answers
214 views
How could a same sex couple have children?
In my current work, I want same sex couples to be fully integrated in society. As it is set in a medieval fantasy world, survival of the human species relies on having children, so same sex couples ...
3
votes
4answers
140 views
What would a bioengineered human-predator look like? [on hold]
Read (and watched) 'After Earth', where humanity has fled a dying Earth to colonise a new world. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, some intelligent aliens decide to periodically send waves of ...
0
votes
0answers
56 views
If magic existed how would it affect our timeline? [closed]
[First time hear so please bare with me. So the world I'm trying to make is partly similar to ours but with just magic.]
So my case is how would it affect our timeline if it happened in our world. ...
-5
votes
4answers
155 views
What would happen if everybody received $1B? [closed]
My wife is an accountant and she refused to listen to my stupid idea. Before I go and ask economists, I would like to ask Worldbuilding :)
CONTEXT:
As we hopefully are aware, increasing automation ...
30
votes
6answers
6k views
Physiological effects of huge anime eyes
Anime, Disney, and many, many other works feature human characters with ridiculously oversized eyes. This is usually just a stylistic choice, and had little to no effect on anything in-story or in-...
2
votes
2answers
110 views
Calculating the weight of different sized humanoids
In my world, I have relatively robust humanoids as the focal human sub-species, and a number of other human subspecies that are more gracile in build. I wanted to work out roughly how much they would ...
15
votes
7answers
3k views
What kind of footwear is suitable for walking in micro gravity environment?
Set in the near future, the interior of the spaceship is coated with thin layers of Teflon approximately 10mm average thickness on top of titanium alloy which in case you are wondering it is weakly ...
52
votes
11answers
7k views
How can an organ that provides biological immortality be unable to regenerate?
After Cain killed his brother Abel, he was cursed by God to wander the earth forever. On his travels, he met a sympathetic woman named Lilith. They discovered that they had a mutual beef with their ...
0
votes
3answers
300 views
How long can a human stand to be underground?
How long can a man survive underground without going insane?
A traveler is buried under stones in a cave system. His only sources of food are mushrooms and creatures that live in the caves. Some of ...
2
votes
3answers
162 views
Men only world downsides [closed]
It's year 2156 and humanity as we know it is drastically changed by alien radiation. Six years ago an alien ship teleported above Earth and emitted what we later found out to be radiation that causes ...
3
votes
3answers
300 views
Is there any advantage to have A.I. being able to experience loneliness?
Let get this straight being lonely is different from solitude, human is arguably one of the most successful animals ever to walk on two. The secret lies in social interaction, the early humans hunt in ...
6
votes
3answers
575 views
Humans have energy, but not water. What happens? [closed]
Suppose that through a "hand-wavium" genetic engineering coupled with nanotechnology the humanity was able to develop a body battery.
How does this work? It provides enough energy for the human body....
18
votes
9answers
3k views
Gravity alteration as extermination tool viable?
An alien race was rubbed the wrong way by humans being humans and decided that humankind has to go. However, unlike many other science fiction stories, they do not intend to give the humans even a ...
0
votes
1answer
147 views
Could another species overtake us technologically? [closed]
Is it possible for another of Earth's species to catch up and overtake us technologically over the next million years or so? Assuming we survive that long as a species and our technology stagnates ...
4
votes
3answers
163 views
How would one communicate with the hive mind of the human race? [closed]
Imagine each human is like a neuron in a brain. Then the totality of all humans communicating together would create some kind of hive mind.
But a single neuron isn't "aware" of the mind of the brain ...
3
votes
1answer
124 views
Could a human grow up larger by manipulating their endocrine system?
In my world there are a group of female warriors with an unusual ability: the resources of their bodies are fungible. For instance, they can make the muscles in one part of their bodies stronger at ...
2
votes
4answers
224 views
What use is growing body hair in space?
It is important to tie up loose ends especially when in micro-gravity environment, we sure do not want to accidentally damage the delicate pieces of equipment crucial for keeping the spacers alive and ...
2
votes
3answers
246 views
How long could humans survive only on other humans?
A tragic event strikes the Earth, killing all living plants and animals except humans. With no other food source, humans turn to cannibalism. Assuming fresh water and oxygen is still available, how ...
4
votes
3answers
145 views
Performance enhancing drugs (mostly realistic)
I have a character in my story who is immortal and heals very quickly (think Wolverine). Ignoring physical side effects (but keeping in mind psychological ones) what sorts of drugs could he take to ...
3
votes
2answers
174 views
Why would artificial general intelligence fear death? [closed]
Set in the immediate future, artificial general intelligence (AGI) has attained sapient equivalent of a 15 years old teenager, these humanoid robots are hardwired to obey the robot penal code which ...
-5
votes
1answer
99 views
Can more exercise alter human genes? [closed]
I want to know if exercise can change genes or not, if yes then what is process behind it and is it permanent or temporarily.
55
votes
14answers
35k views
Why zero tolerance on nudity in space?
Set in the immediate future, mankind visits Titan, moon of Saturn for the first time. A manned space station goes into orbit around the moon once every 4-5 hours. Actually there have been many people ...
0
votes
5answers
125 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 ...
21
votes
17answers
8k views
Would life expectancy increase if we replaced healthy organs with artificial ones?
Can we increase life expectancy by replacing important organs for life such as the heart, kidneys, young blood, etc. (but not the brain)? Most organs can fail and, for the ones which we already have ...
8
votes
6answers
5k views
Would humanity go extinct if pleasure ceases?
In the near future, the human population is overcrowded and food and water becomes scarce. Every preventative measure failed to address this issue and the world falls into a turmoil and panic is ...
4
votes
5answers
152 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
154 views
How do humans with electric organs prevent self-electrocution?
In my world, a small population on an isolated island were bitten by radioactive electric eels while fishing. I read that the eels can send out carefully timed signals through their nervous systems ...
8
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
293 views
Effects of Explosive Decompression on the Human Body?
Many science fiction stories, movies, and shows involve characters undergoing explosive decompression, the technical term for a rapid drop in pressure, usually all the way to a vacuum. Frequently, ...
13
votes
13answers
5k views
What would be the difference in the reaction between trained and untrained people during an emergency situation?
For those who've read my previous questions, you might begin to see a "subtle" recurring theme.
Context
You can skip this part if you're just interested in the problem.
Question
Let's set the ...
6
votes
4answers
756 views
Literal light infantry, are these advantages and disadvantages feasible? [closed]
I'm trying to determine the feasibility of some advantages and disadvantages of literal light infantry. This type of infantry is basically the same as the rest but weighs much less.
To truly ...
7
votes
3answers
563 views
Aliens selectively breed humans to be bigger. How big could they get and still look human?
Can we go from this:
to this:
Suppose over millennia (or as long as it takes) humans on Earth are artificially selected by aliens to be big and healthy.
Is there any theoretical reason that they ...
2
votes
4answers
179 views
Optimal placement of a pocket dimension? [closed]
The main character of one of my stories just met a person specialized in magical tattoos, my character has chosen a tattoo which is linked to a pocket dimension.
But where should the protagonist ...
19
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the minimum number of staff members of each role to keep a Medieval estate running?
Before we begin, I know full-well that the answer changes based on the time-period, size of the estate, number of people being taken care of, amount of money available, and so forth. A correct answer ...
44
votes
8answers
10k views
Is it harder for an intelligent octopus to live on land, or a human to live in space?
I have a race of octopodes with the same intelligence distribution as humans. I want them to “colonise” land to a similar extent as we have “colonised” space; have regular transport between the ocean ...
1
vote
4answers
495 views
A society wrapped in cotton wool [closed]
In the future, rich people live in gated communities with armed guards. They are so concerned that anything bad will happen to their children that they literally wrap them up in cotton wool.
As ...
4
votes
1answer
197 views
Is sleep exercise possible? [closed]
Is is possible to put someone to sleep and, while they are sleeping, attach muscle stimulating pads, causing the muscles to do work and causing exercise to be done without consciousness?
1
vote
3answers
130 views
War between human/animal shapeshifters and humans
In my story, set in medieval times, shapeshifters exist who have a human form and an animal form (only one, which they are born with). The majority of the population is human, many of whom hate the ...
0
votes
2answers
148 views
Is running away from 'the humans' a good way to go in terms of survival or just delaying the inevitable of being found? [closed]
In this context related in terms of my last question.
I've seen this lots of times in fiction and TV shows where sub-species, such as Marvel's Mutants and Inhumans or anything considered 'super' or ...
8
votes
2answers
140 views
Tolerable range of surface gravities for interplanetary colonists?
Human physiology is adapted for life at 1G, but planets colonised by future humans will likely have different surface gravities.
What is the range of values for surface gravity that humans can ...
2
votes
3answers
274 views
Explosive joints that allow people to jump really long lengths
How does a joint need to operate and be structured in order to allow a person to do leaps of 10 meters in length with ease and without taking a long run first? Here's an example of what I'm talking ...
8
votes
6answers
338 views
Biological healer, how does it work?
How can a species force an external body to heal itself and speed up the process without the use of magic and technology but by biological means?
Sanators are creatures who can force the body of a ...
1
vote
2answers
131 views
How Do You Start a War? [closed]
TLDR: How would you start a war between allied nations?
A little bit of background. My story takes place in world where people have the ability to use life force much like electricity. Three main ...
4
votes
9answers
344 views
Could this planet exist?
I've been thinking of a planet where the day/night cycle is way off to where there 30-35 hour long night period, while there are only near 8-4 hours of daylight. The local biological environment is ...
1
vote
0answers
88 views
Is it possible for the Ancient Chinese to have used itching powder as a means of torture? [closed]
I was thinking about Chinese water drop torture, and other forms of torture that do not cause direct physical damage. I was wondering if a form of torture where the victim is made to feeling itchy was ...
-2
votes
3answers
101 views
The Stone-age Limbo People - How do they hunt wild boar?
The Limbo People (who are hominids with intelligence somewhere between chimpanzees and humans) have long survived by hunting wild boar. They use spears with wooden hafts and flint tips. They are a ...
2
votes
2answers
102 views
Fighting by human cannonball - medieval kamikaze (part 1 - steering)
Kamikaze pilots were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of
military aviators who initiated suicide attacks for the Empire of
Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of ...
3
votes
4answers
161 views
Designing the Scipmylo - The Low-jump
This is a follow-up to The running-backwards Olympics
The designer of the backwards Olympics (aka The Scipmylo) is making good progress but there are some difficulties with the Low-jump.
To be a ...
24
votes
8answers
9k views
What would happen to a human body subjected to extreme water pressure?
First of all, I tried to look if this wasn't answered before. Found this and this but neither is exactly what I need.
Some Context
There's this race of humanoid fish people. They live in cities ...
9
votes
2answers
613 views
The running-backwards Olympics
In a future world that is obsessed by not repeating the so-called errors of their fathers, there is a backwards Olympics, or Scipmylo.
All the usual disciplines are featured in reverse where it is ...
