Questions tagged [humans]
For questions about humans as we know them or slightly changed, their physiology, psychology, politics, society and goals.
915
questions
4
votes
1answer
83 views
How Developed Would Baby Mwindo Be?
In real life, humans get pregnant for only nine months. Once born, the baby has a long way to go before it can stand, walk and talk.
But don't tell that to Mwindo!
The African saga of the hero ...
4
votes
6answers
402 views
What sort of psychological changes could be made to a genetically engineered human
I'm in the rough outlining stages of this story, and found myself a bit stuck trying to turn this particular corner.
Firstly, here are the basics of this world:
In the future, it's a common ...
46
votes
30answers
6k views
What is my malfunctioning AI harvesting from humans?
The scenario described below is for a role-playing game. The setting is Earth-like but with a healthy dose of sci-fi. Even though the setting is sci-fi I would prefer answers be largely based in real ...
8
votes
7answers
392 views
Where to Put Self-Reliant, Rugged Individualists?
In fiction that tries to provide a wide diversity of cultural stances on the collectivism-individualism stances, there is often a trope that self-reliant, no-nonsense, rugged individualists (as a ...
5
votes
2answers
195 views
Humanity with the Ears of a Fox--What Differs as a Result?
In this question, we're looking at a humanity that has adapted one of the most conspicuous ways of keeping cool--larger ears. Desert animals usually have larger ears to have more room for blood ...
22
votes
9answers
3k views
How to check what is edible on an alien world? [duplicate]
You've landed on another planet. There are some forms of plants and animals on this world but how do you know what is safe to eat?
Obviously we went through this on earth, finding the right berries ...
8
votes
4answers
285 views
How would a 4th trimester affect human development?
Newborn humans are born in a very undeveloped stage compared to other mammals. This is because if they stayed any longer in the mother, their head would become too big to fit through the birth canal. ...
3
votes
5answers
178 views
How can royal families preserve the nobility of their bloodlines if children can be mass produced?
A powerful empire rules this world, which is divided into several sections. Each section is ruled and governed by various noble families, under the rule of the royal family led by the king and queen. ...
1
vote
2answers
279 views
How can you eliminate dreaming without affecting REM sleep?
The Dreamlands are a vast, alternate dimension that can only be entered via dreams. They are divided up into several sections, all of which are inhabited by monsters who serve the idiot elder god ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
How to hide your own body? [closed]
It's the perfect locked-room mystery: the police find the victim murdered, but the room is locked from the inside. How did the killer escape? He didn't. After committing the murder, the killer ...
2
votes
2answers
209 views
In a stable medieval fantasy population, what should be the yearly birth rate per 1,000 people? [closed]
For a human or human-like stable, small settlement population, living in medieval fantasy, how many yearly births per 1,000 inhabitants are expected?
Assuming:
There is no major epidemic.
There are ...
8
votes
1answer
193 views
Can a person who gained immunity to a disease become an infectious carrier?
If a person is sent out of their hermetically sealed community and in the process becomes immune to a deadly disease. When the person returns will the immunity make them a carrier and infect/kill all ...
9
votes
15answers
3k views
What could make large expeditions ineffective for exploring territory full of dangers and valuable resources? [closed]
Some sort of cataclysm suddenly creates a territory full of deadly monsters and other dangers, but also valuable resources.
Trivial example: a magic volcano suddenly erupts and the mountain is now ...
18
votes
5answers
2k views
Bone Decomposition
I'm writing a story taking place in the semi-recent aftermath of a period of Human-Dragon warfare. The main character falls into a pit used during this period by dragons to trap/store/dump prey (...
6
votes
3answers
247 views
Is it possible for thermophilic viruses to infect humans?
I'm writing a short story that focuses on an area with high thermophile activity, like a hot spring. There are known thermophile viruses, but thermophiles aren't able to transmit these to humans ...
4
votes
3answers
176 views
How can monsters affect traditional fantasy worldbuilding? [closed]
I just watched this video from Shadiversity about implications of monsters and magic in a fantasy setting. Ha said a lot about how society could be, but it makes me think: how can the society "...
5
votes
3answers
293 views
What would humans look like if their blood were silver?
I have a species in mind that I want to write about for a book I'm planning, and they look exactly like humans (minus the 'unnatural' hair and eye colors they can posses). However, they have silver ...
1
vote
5answers
173 views
In a future post-scarcity civilization, how would evolution change humans when survival is longer a challenge? [closed]
Let's imagine a post-scarcity society where everyone has unlimited access to food, energy and the aging problem has been solved so people are practically immortal.
Now my understanding is that, our ...
2
votes
2answers
132 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
2answers
186 views
Ultimate fate of someone falling out of a skyscraper in warped gravity
At the climax of my story, most of the people on the planet have the way they interact with gravity magically altered. Until a week passes or they die (whichever comes first), instead of being pulled ...
1
vote
3answers
98 views
Aliens want to do science experiments on humans [closed]
If humans encountered an alien species, what would we do? Probably kill some and put them in plastic bags to take back to earth. We would probably capture some and put them in cages and do all sorts ...
2
votes
4answers
207 views
Is there a scientific explanation for mental manipulation? [closed]
I have a character who can suggest things to people, and what she says, they believe to be true. Is there a way to scientifically explain this, even vaguely? I was wondering if perhaps a form of ...
5
votes
2answers
167 views
The impact of an intelligent and (mostly) hostile flying race on weapons and armor
A race of dragon-like humanoids - for brevity's sake just think of the Dragonborn of D&D, just with wings - were the first species to achieve sapience, and have had lots of time to establish a far-...
4
votes
1answer
201 views
How would their children look?
My story takes place in a medieval/fantasy setting. The main part plays out on a locked-off island with a fairly uniform population I'd call Asian to keep this question to the point (look Asian and ...
7
votes
2answers
194 views
What's the disease?
In a near-future sci-fi world, I described a disease with the following characteristics:
Affects human female children (not necessarily exclusively).
Is a neurodegenerative or similar disorder, ...
6
votes
5answers
443 views
How long can a human survive inside a dark box?
I am toying with an idea which requires a human to be stuck in a dark box for the rest of their life.
They receive regular exercise of the arms and legs, air, food and water and their bodily ...
16
votes
5answers
5k views
At what temperature should the earth be cooked to prevent human infection?
Humans are the equivalent of bacteria to planet-eating monsters. And since, as we all know, eating humans is dangerous business, these monsters have decided to cook our great planet Earth before ...
5
votes
3answers
345 views
Mega-human: What are the largest possible dimensions of a human? [duplicate]
How big can a person be while retaining all the functions of all their organs (including bones)? I am wondering if it is possible for large people to exist without compromising some part of their ...
6
votes
4answers
259 views
How can sex lead to a boost in performance for competitive sports?
Many believe that sex before a competition can have a negative impact on performance in combat, speed and strength sports in males. Athletes from strength and speed sports showed decreased performance ...
5
votes
2answers
475 views
Can Apes (Including Humans) Be Naturally Patterned Like Felids?
For visual reference:
Apes are visual species who rely more on their eyesight than any of the other senses. As a result, they see the world in three shades of color, whereas other mammals see in one ...
2
votes
3answers
287 views
The Ancient Guardian
In my world there is an old human guarding something of great significance.
All chemical reactions in their body have been slowed down to a microscopic fraction of what is deemed usual*. Once the ...
5
votes
4answers
219 views
Military academy in geostationary orbit
Say a novel is set 100 years from now, when a confederation of nations establishes a unified military force. (Yes, I know, but this is fiction after all) Would a military academy, training astronaut ...
2
votes
7answers
247 views
Alternatives to War [closed]
In this world, violence has developed to be perhaps most definitive, means of action. Not just humans, but many other species face the harshness of battle, be it to defend their young or gain ...
6
votes
5answers
374 views
How Are Humans Special? [closed]
Setting: Far future space based science fiction. Think Star Trek: Enterprise levels of tech with more consistency and more resources if that helps.
There are 4 sentient species in my setting:
Homo ...
-1
votes
3answers
270 views
How many babies can a human women safely be pregnant with at once? [closed]
Most pregnancies result in 1 baby, sometimes there are twins. Every now and then there are triplets. My guess would be that 4 at once has happened before too. But 5? How about 6? Surely not 7.
How ...
1
vote
0answers
24 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?
27
votes
7answers
3k views
What city and town structures are important in a low fantasy medieval world?
I've been working on a procedural map generator that draws cities and towns on continents and islands and I've gotten to the point where I'd like to add lists of structures to the settlements.
I know ...
5
votes
2answers
195 views
What non-primate animals have similar blood to humans?
I am writing about a blood magic cult, and they drink/paint with collected blood to preform rituals and bursts of magic. Most of their supply is garnered through the use of human cattle, but in a ...
30
votes
11answers
4k views
Half of living beings in the universe die: Does society survive? [closed]
Some purple person, somewhere, collected the Eternity Baubles, clicked their heels and suddenly, half of all living beings in the universe just go poof.1
The effect isn't restricted to sentient ...
9
votes
6answers
415 views
How long would it take for a group of humans to travel across a continent by foot?
Think a Lord of the Rings-esque quest to save their kingdom. This quest would also involve detours, but I can just factor those in later. The continent is around the size of Australia, with a lot of ...
4
votes
2answers
174 views
What cultural nuances and customs might a medieval, largely agrarian society with a strict caste system have?
I apologize in advance, because this will be pretty long. I already have a vague idea of some customs, so I need to include both the sociopolitical aspects of this as well as those customs.
The ...
14
votes
5answers
3k views
What is the minimum required technology to reanimate someone who has been cryogenically frozen?
As part of the story I am writing, an individual has been frozen with relatively crude cryogenic technology, then preserved as well as possible. Given the constraints of biology, what would waking ...
2
votes
0answers
178 views
If a boy was tattooed on his back, would the tattoo more-or-less sruvive into adulthood intact? [closed]
If a child, say, a white, ten year old boy, got a big tattoo on his upper back (read: shoulder to shoulder), would it change a lot as the child grew into adulthood?
Since the early-ish industrial ...
6
votes
2answers
331 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
141 views
What accommodations would a giant need?
I'm making a human female who's size was multiplied by 10. I need to know what sort of accommodations she'd need to make up for any disadvantages. This is in the modern day, so 21st-century medicine ...
6
votes
2answers
342 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
176 views
How long to recover from muscle atrophy?
For context, I'm currently working on a short story series centered on a young man living in a dystopian America. This U.S. government keeps its 'undesirables' in medically-induced comas (long story ...
3
votes
3answers
343 views
Could a person replace half of their body with gold and still live? What technology would be needed in order to be successful?
My character is male and eighteen years of age. He has no health issues.
'Gold' can be replaced with any type of metal - silver, bronze, steel, iron, it doesn't really matter to me. The ideal type ...
1
vote
2answers
100 views
How can existing methods of plumping, genetic modification, and gmo feeding be altered to accommodate the need for plumper, meatier human food stock?
I am an orc warboss called "The Beast" who has invaded earth and enslaved humanity. You humies are a worthless sprcies that have accomplished nothing of note in your civilizations throughout history. ...
8
votes
1answer
256 views
What is the maximum size of a tribe living off of one whale per year?
A small village of ice miners has popped up in the Northern Territory. They are a mix of southern workers who integrated with the native tribes. The group subsists on the meat of a single humpback ...
