Questions tagged [light]
For questions concerning electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum.
116
questions
14
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5answers
4k views
How to create electric light with 1300s technology
I would like to have electric light bulbs. One should be at least as good as a candle.
What we have:
The technology level is generally early 1300s
But we can create copper wire
We have a ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
How much sunlight can I get into my O'Neill cylinder and how much light needs to be artificial?
The cylinder is 32 km long in total, 8 km in diameter, with 3km long endcaps, resulting in a habital area with a length of 26 km (= and an area of cirka 754 km2). The main body of the cylinder is ...
3
votes
2answers
119 views
How well would a planet in orbit of a star above the Galactic bulge see?
I am making a story of a species who lives on a planet several light-years above the Galactic Bulge. With advanced technology, how much could they see from their vantage point? Could they carry out ...
3
votes
4answers
211 views
What effects would we see on Earth if the speed of light universally increased? [duplicate]
Traveling faster than light poses all sorts of physics problems, so most hard SF has had to handwave FTL. But if light were faster, then ships could be commensurately faster without violating ...
4
votes
4answers
132 views
Would living on around Alpha Centauri change how our eyes see color?
I am writing a sci fi novel in which one of the primary factions is a lost space colony sent to Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri C) roughly 350 years prior on a generation ship. The trip took roughly ...
8
votes
3answers
181 views
Anatomically Correct Color-Adjustable Eye
I'm providing an interesting twist on the Anatomically Correct series by focusing on a single body part instead of an entire organism.
The following image depicts the average range of the cones of a ...
4
votes
3answers
199 views
What Should This Phenomenon Be Called? [closed]
I've been searching for over a week now, and I haven't found anything to describe the following:
A floating spherical area of space that reflects light over a gradient. This is exclusively specular ...
3
votes
2answers
88 views
Simulation or API to get sun light spectrum on earth given the position, time and day of the year
Does anyone know a site, software, public API (or formula) to get the solar light spectrum on earth given the time of the day, day of the year, and earth meassurement position (lattitude, longitude)?
...
6
votes
4answers
194 views
Visible light from the brain
I'm building a magic system where magic isn't just controlled by human brains, but is actively produced there. As a byproduct, when casting a spell, the brain generates a large quantity of visible ...
6
votes
3answers
274 views
How impossible would a bioluminescent plant-based lifeform be?
Looking for alternative sources of lighting for my current worldbuilding project so I couldn't help but wonder if a bioluminescent plant-based lifeforms could be realistically feasible. I'm just ...
21
votes
13answers
8k views
Metal that glows when near pieces of itself
First question! I'm excited to see if anyone can help me. Any missteps are unintentional, but feel free to tell me so that I may learn.
So, I've recently started brainstorming over a possible story, ...
3
votes
3answers
184 views
Which Stars Would Best Suit For the Habitable Zone of The Nine Norse Earths?
In an alternate universe, the nine realms of Norse mythology--Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheimr, Jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Hel, Nidavellir, Niflheim and Museplheim--are actual, real-life "Earths", in the sense ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Deflecting lasers/plasma bolts/blaster bolts with lightsabers [closed]
In Star Wars, there's some shots where Jedi deflect lasers with their lightsabers. I know there's a law that says you can't go faster then the speed of light and lasers are light, so what is the ...
4
votes
1answer
147 views
Mesas of hard(solid) light
I searched the site and found answers saying hard light can't exist. Apparently in the three years since the last question was asked, scientists started making inroads on making solid light a reality, ...
5
votes
5answers
879 views
Creating Darkness
Can we create any electrical equipment which works in the opposite way to a bulb, such that is whilst it is switched on all the light in the surrounding area gets absorbed creating darkness?
1
vote
3answers
217 views
In Search of a Super-Bright, Super-Stable Star
Long ago, I asked a question on how to make possible turning the nine realms of Norse mythology--Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheimr, Jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Hel, Nidavellir, Niflheim and Museplheim--into nine ...
21
votes
18answers
6k views
Are there any medieval light sources without fire? [closed]
In a world of my story, which is loosely based on medieval times, fire disappeared. Are there any sources of lighting without fire that would be possible in a medieval setting?
It is a fantasy book ...
7
votes
3answers
239 views
Could people harness the bioluminescence of a firefly?
The world I am creating is in a swamp that contains larger than life bugs; this includes fireflies. What I ask is, could the bioluminescence of their glow somehow be harnessed or used as a light ...
33
votes
13answers
7k views
What does the view outside my ship traveling at light speed look like?
World Rules:
Travelers are able to move at the speed of light without disruption of their lives. Time passes "normally" for them. They think, breathe, love, cry, and steer the ship as if they were ...
21
votes
11answers
5k views
Could there be a material that inverts the colours seen through it?
I had a vision of a creature that touched things, and wherever it touched, it left a mark opposite to the original colour.
For example when it walked across the grass the grass had red footprints, ...
7
votes
6answers
319 views
Can there be substantial darkness?
OK, OK, I know, darkness is nothing but absence of light, so there can be no substantial darkness. Darkness, on its own, doesn't exist.
But, can we not get pretty close to this?
Can there be ...
4
votes
6answers
234 views
How would organisms adapt to survive darkness beasts? [expansion to my old question]
[This is an expanded/refined version of my old question:
How would animals adapt to darkness-made beasts? ]
Premise:
'Beasts'/Seraphins are other-worldly intangible beings (you can't touch them, but ...
0
votes
1answer
111 views
Speed of light, Motionlessness, and Time Travel [closed]
i want to ask something
I quote from some web and got this :
'According to Einstein’s Special Relativity Theory, time is affected by speed. It’s already been proven in the lab that subatomic ...
9
votes
3answers
3k views
Is it possible to create light that imparts a greater proportion of its energy as momentum rather than heat?
This is yet another question concerning lasers as employed by sorcerers in a particular fantasy setting, but this one pertains to the momentum that photons possess and whether it's possible to ...
4
votes
2answers
274 views
How to explain day is 10 times as bright but no warmer?
Set at the present day Earth, the daylight on average is ten times as bright as today, approximately 111,000 lux at noon for example and subject to geographic and the air quality etc. I am looking for ...
19
votes
8answers
12k views
Car headlights in a world without electricity
In a world like ours in the 1980s, but which for whatever reason does not use any form of electricity. (Either it does not exist or batteries and generators etc have not been invented.) For purposes ...
5
votes
6answers
373 views
How could a silver sword give off a golden glow in the light?
Now, I am not talking about a golden glow that overtakes the sword itself. I'm not looking for a Lightsaber. I'm talking about a sword that is silver in color giving off a golden reflection (or ...
4
votes
3answers
136 views
How can the interior of temple lit automatically during medieval time?
In the 1400AD, there was a temple built to honor a late king somewhere in the middle east. The temple can house a thousand people and have many facilities from amenities to entertainment plus an ...
9
votes
6answers
345 views
What light would my cloudy planet receive from a red dwarf star?
What light spectrum would hit the surface of a planet orbiting a red dwarf star?
The planet is a humid greenhouse with a cloudy atmosphere and a strong ozone layer. Over 80% of the surface is water. ...
7
votes
5answers
315 views
Describing what the world looks like in UV and IR [closed]
In my world I have introduced two super powers, and both can be accidentally acquired by an otherwise normal human: one is to see infrared and the other is to see ultraviolet. I am aiming to have that ...
19
votes
5answers
4k views
How much light is too much?
A mage has created an amulet of light. It shines light from one side, and the user is capable of controlling the color and intensity of that light.
In an effort to avoid abuse, the mage has limited ...
-4
votes
1answer
81 views
What would be the most viable form of lighting in future bladerunner-esque cities? By viable, I mean widespread and efficient [closed]
Neon has been around for a very long time in cyberpunk narratives. LED seems like the way to go according to some of the responses - any other viable candidates?
6
votes
3answers
326 views
What would it look like in the accretion disk of a feeding supermassive black hole?
I wanted two characters unaffected by the heat and gravity to be close to a super massive black hole within the accretion disk, at times moving in orbit and at times completely still.
Stars and ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
Full-body bioluminescence
A creature I am imagining is a small mammal about the size of a domestic cat which - through symbiotic bacteria which live in its fur - is covered its whole body over in blue-white bioluminescence, 24-...
12
votes
8answers
3k views
Trap light in a cage [closed]
Is it possible to build a mirror cage in order to catch light in it?
Let's assume the surface of the mirror reflects absolutely 100% of the light.
Which shape of cage is the best to do this?
Is it ...
3
votes
5answers
288 views
How to create a sunny atmosphere without an actual sun?
I have a large underground fantasy world which is only accessible through the Mariana Trench. I'd like to do a day/night cycle and have have a bright, sunny atmosphere part of the time, but I'm not ...
15
votes
5answers
5k views
Using light as a barrier to block people without grilling them
We know that light exerts pressure upon matter.
I'm imagining a hallway where an intense light source on one end shines towards the other end. The goal is to have the beam of light exert so much ...
3
votes
3answers
173 views
Mechanism to slow down the light emitted by an object such that it will result in inaccurate position of the object to the observer?
Let's say that there are two people named S and C. They are not far apart; less than 10 meters. Let's also assume the scenario takes place in late evening or in the night, for simplicity.
Normally ...
13
votes
3answers
2k views
Is it really possible to see across a ringworld? [duplicate]
Almost all illustrations of ringworlds that I've come across tend to show off the shape of the ringworld from the surface.
This doesn't seem realistic to me, because the ringworld's radius would ...
22
votes
13answers
4k views
Always a full Moon for the Emperor - Can this be achieved with solar panels and LEDs?
The Emperor of the World wants there always to be a full moon. His Scientific Advisor (the SA) comes up with a plan.
He plans to cost out the venture, hand it over to the Keeper of the Treasury who ...
4
votes
4answers
338 views
Purple plants on a planet orbiting a green star?
Before I continue, yes, green stars don't really exist visually. Although stars like the Sun are green stars, they appear white (and are known as yellow dwarfs) because it doesn't only emit green ...
8
votes
3answers
614 views
The Complicated Nature of Photokinesis
I am currently working an a magic system that involves Photokinesis. However, I am having difficulty understanding its limits and its capabilities.
Visual example
The best definition for this type ...
12
votes
1answer
215 views
Would Rayleigh scattering (blue skies) be noticeable in an O'Neill cylinder?
In my story there is a full size (Island Three) O'Neill cylinder, 5 miles in diameter and 20 miles long.
It doesn't have windows, but is lit internally down the center of the cylinder with a 20 mile ...
5
votes
3answers
183 views
Determining the energy efficiency of a Light Wand
So, I'm working out some of the types of wands people can purchase in my flintlock fantasy setting, and I'm having an issue with one of them. Before I get to that, let me explain how Magic in my ...
22
votes
6answers
6k views
What does a solid, 1 mile diameter subterranean glass sphere look like?
There is a solid glass sphere that is 1 mile in diameter. It is completely covered in dirt and rock, except for one small room that is built adjacent to the sphere. One of the four walls of this ...
35
votes
6answers
6k views
What light colors/bulbs should be used inside a spaceship?
I've noticed in recent scifi shows/movies such as the Expanse or Star Trek that the lighting inside spaceships have two characteristics:
Punishingly blue lighting
Dark/dimmed miscellaneous lighting ...
-3
votes
1answer
209 views
What if light didn't decay by a square law, but instead by an INVERSE square? [closed]
I want to build a character that can control a light source's brightness in different ways. I want to see if instead of proportional to $1/r^2$, my light and darkness controlling character could make ...
6
votes
2answers
158 views
Vision on Titan/Early Earth and the technicalities of a creature seeing in near infrared
I am trying to develop an alien species that could live on Titan and at first I supposed it would be easy with the species being able to use yellow, red and near-infrared wavelengths of light to see.
...
3
votes
2answers
199 views
Albedo of a planet like Crait
If a planet like Crait existed and was covered by (mostly) white sand, what would its average albedo be? Crait is a planet from Star Wars that has a thin layer of white salt on its surface.
2
votes
1answer
151 views
How bright does this planet look from its neighboring planet?
I have two planets that share an orbit around a pair of stars at a distance of 2.05 Earth-AU from the Barycenter of those two stars. (I can provide more details about the two stars, if needed)
Using ...
