Questions tagged [interstellar]

Used for questions asking about interstellar (non-nebula) issues other than planets and travel. This would include interstellar (or multi-stellar) civilization, communication, combat, and the contents of space between solar systems NOT relating to potentially habitable planets. For planets in the interstellar medium, use the interstellar-planets tag. For travel, use the interstellar-travel tag. Questions that involve nebula should use the nebula tag.

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5 votes
1 answer
170 views

How much energy would a collapsing wormhole release?

In my fictional universe, after experimentation with quantum field manipulation, a way to open, expand and stabilize wormholes is developed, requiring an immense flux of energy (as manipulating ...
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4 votes
5 answers
216 views

Why does an interstellar civilisation use outdated weapons? [closed]

Backstory In a distant galaxy, humanity once had an empire sprawling hundreds of thousands of stars. Then it collapsed. Now humanity is beginning to spread again, absorbing its old colonies into a new ...
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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
3 answers
221 views

Would it make sense for an Interstellar government to use the half life of common radioactive elements as a measure of time? and to make calendars? [closed]

For example, can we use the half life of Polonium or Uranium to measure time and produce something similar to a calendar?
10 votes
14 answers
4k views

What reliable source of power is best on a newly colonized interstellar planet?

I have been working on a hard Sci-Fi narrative of a first-time human colonization scenario on an interstellar star system like Alpha-Centauri. My narrative though uses NO FTL drives or other fictional ...
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5 votes
3 answers
108 views

Moving Ceres to a new home?

Is it possible to use Ceres is a generational garden ship? The idea would be to tunnel out a Stanford torus like set-up under the regolith in the ice layer around the equator: underground but ...
13 votes
4 answers
2k views

Best star for a Dyson sphere?

Whether solid or a swarm, a problem that occurs to me long-term in building a dyson structure are damaging flares and magnetic storms from the host star. It seems like the absolute best option would ...
2 votes
8 answers
590 views

Time keeping across several star systems [duplicate]

I'm working on a storyline where humanity has spread across a handful of star systems via a device that basically teleports a ship from one system to the next. I have worked out some scientifically ...
7 votes
2 answers
274 views

Aliens pressure cook the Solar System, do we notice?

550 million years ago, aliens erected a spherical barrier 1/6th of a light-year (~10,000 AU) in radius around the solar system, centered on the solar barycenter. Things outside the barrier can enter, ...
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27 votes
12 answers
3k views

Deflecting an incoming star, railgun style

A friend of mine, ɹɐqooɟ, lives in a large globular cluster where stellar encounters and collisions are very common. His civilization is a Type 1.8 civilization, having built half of a Dyson Sphere ...
0 votes
11 answers
3k views

Despite proliferation of graphene, why is gold still so expensive in the future?

Right now I can think of 3 important factors determining the trading value of gold and why is it so expensive: Factor 1 is longevity; this element rarely if ever reacts with anything, particularly ...
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8 votes
2 answers
305 views

How to Build a "Believable" Fall of Civilization? [closed]

Nice to meet you all. Inspired by Star Trek: Discovery's Season 3 and "The Burn", I've been re-reading materials where there has been a "Fall of Civilization" scenario and it seems ...
6 votes
1 answer
214 views

Surveying the Barrier

This question is linked to a couple other SE:WB questions of mine, which focus on my current worldbuilding project. The setting is essentially this: aliens encased the Solar System in the very distant ...
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7 votes
2 answers
463 views

Could habitable planets form in an ultracompact galaxy?

I am wondering if habitable planets could form around stars in super dense dwarf galaxies. There are some super dense galaxies such as M60-UCD1 and M85-HCC1 which can have a typical distance between ...
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6 votes
7 answers
1k views

An effective way for interstellar communication?

Radio waves travel at the speed of light. Communication across vast interstellar distances is difficult due to weak signals and slow multi-year duration. I honestly imagine it to be like old times ...
3 votes
4 answers
207 views

Feasibility of a black-and-white FTL drive?

I have an idea for a faster-than-light spacecraft that I would like to run by the expert minds in this community for a plausibility check. Basically the interstellar ship itself is of unspecified ...
3 votes
5 answers
1k views

Interstellar war tactics with no FTL capabilities?

I have tried to conceive the most realistic hard sci-fi human/alien conflict scenario without invoking FTL magic. By realistic, I mean “War is the wrong answer but we do it anyway”. Diplomacy has ...
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2 votes
2 answers
217 views

Would there be artificial gravity on a spaceship that undergoes constant acceleration?

One way of creating artificial gravity is acceleration- gravity by inertial mass. So in theory, if we would find a way to travel interstellar space by accelerating, reaching near light speed, would ...
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3 votes
2 answers
191 views

Humans meet a distant alien species. How do they coordinate? - Computers [closed]

Part of a series addressing the challenges of a mutual first contact. Previous question here Humans meet some distant alien species. They are mutual first contacts. After learning the languages of ...
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25 votes
12 answers
8k views

Humans meet a distant alien species. How do they standardize? - Units of Measure

Humans meet some distant alien species. They are mutual first contacts. After learning the languages of each other, they begin to share scientific and engineering knowledge with one another, but here'...
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28 votes
17 answers
6k views

Justification of physical currency in an interstellar civilization?

I have seen a similar-ish question on here, but it doesn't quite match my inquiry. Suppose you have an interstellar civilization (the means of travel between stars being stable two-way wormholes on ...
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