Questions tagged [natural-resources]
For questions that deal with the natural resources found in the environment.
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World without oil? what is the quick replacement?
What will happen if just today we find out that no more oil left in the planet.
With the current infrastructures, how would that change, affect our lives? What is the fastest replacement?
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Fantasy/Medieval setting - materials to build when wood and stone aren't an option?
In my fantasy novel, I have elves. Unlike most elves, these do not use magic. The architecture of elves is usually depicted as trees that have been flowingly shaped into houses and graceful structures....
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Could Spore's Spice Geysers Exist?
Many people here have likely played Spore, a game where you design a species and expand its empire into space and beyond. It was one of those games that worldbuilders absolutely adored and after ...
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What materials are needed to build large structures, such as castles? [closed]
I am trying to understand what natural resources a city would need access to in order to build walls/castles. I am trying to place my cities in relative location to all needed resources, but I need to ...
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What size does a subterranean base have to be for "natural" weather?
Many planets don't have habitable surfaces, though at least Mercury has good temperatures underground (source: http://www.einstein-schrodinger.com/Mercury_temperature.pdf). So I'm wondering how large ...
Logan Streondj
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What are the limitations of silver?
In this world, a bunch of wizards colonized a new planet and are in the process of terraforming it (more details here).
This newly-created civilization has access to a reduced variety of materials. ...
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Is there a way to "poison" oil fields permanently without releasing $CO_{2}$ from them?
I have a group of eco-terrorists who want to limit the amount of $CO_{2}$ the world puts out drastically: by poisoning oil fields so that the oil becomes unuseable, or at least forever uneconomical to ...
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What would a receding seabed provide for human civilization?
In my world, the Straits of Gibraltar have been closed during a post-apocalyptic glacial period and the Mediterranean is isolated from the oceans. The result is similar to the Messinian salinity ...
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Entirely too much mana from the heavens
Time period is renaissance, with the most powerful culture being in a area geographically similar to the middle east. So a cleric was trying to combat a drought in his kingdom using the power of a ...
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Where in the galaxy would one find the most heavier elements?
I'm trying to flesh out the history of a fictional galactic society, specifically the initial settlements and inhabited worlds. Something that I thought would be important to settlers would be an ...
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What cultural traits are common across biomes? [closed]
My question is: What are the cultural commonalities between peoples living in these biomes/terrains? The biomes currently factoring in my world-building include the following:
Grasslands (including ...
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Space wizards city : Is it sustainable?
Context
Six thousand years ago, magic users from Earth managed to create a portal between Earth and another planet, far far away. This planet is Earth-like but developed no life forms whatsoever.
...
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What types of valuable resources would be available in a fictional swamp?
After doing some research to find natural resources in a swamp, I found that a swamp wasn't really able to do anything beyond it being good for fish growth, as a sort of natural water and air filter, ...
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How would books exist if there would be no wood available?
Based on this question I asked before and it being too broad, here's a more specific question related to it.
What would happen to books as we know them, if wood was not available as a resource?
I ...
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What would be the effects on daily life if wood was unavailable? [closed]
I'm am currently creating a world in which wood is not used as a resource because it is not available. People can use stone, reed or other plants, but not wood.
To specify; the world is in medieval ...
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Cutting down giant trees
Inspired by Nick Staab's recent work "Jack" (pictured below), how would you go around cutting down massive trees?
In this scenario the simpler the tools the better, as it would allow a primitive ...
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What should a landlocked country do if blockaded by neighbouring country [closed]
What should the landlocked country do if there is blockade on FUEL (cooking LPG, petrol, diesel, etc) /FOOD and people of that country are going to starve in near future?
I'm asking this in the ...
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What would a space elevator on the moon be made out of?
Okay, so some space miners fly into space to get Helium-3, and then fly it back to earth to sell to non-space people. Flying into and off the earth is rather expensive, so they want to simply take an ...
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Creating a realistic world map - Fuel
This Query is part of the Worldbuilding Resources Article.
Following the question Creating a realistic world map - Mineralogy , I realized that it was a very large topic to cover all the possible ...
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Creating a realistic world map - Mineralogy
This Query is part of the Worldbuilding Resources Article.
I know how continents are formed and how they evolve over time but what does it look like under the surface? The crust of the planet is ...
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Trading valuable resources
I'm designing a medieval/renaissance world economy but I don't know what resources to consider when it comes to medium or long distance trading. I'm not asking for specific resources that are valuable,...
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Would it be possible to excavate a planet and mine it without indigenous citizens' knowledge?
There is a more strict version of Prime Directive on a subspace traveling Empire. This empire (without the morale codex of the star trek crew, maybe more like Avatar) would like to get the resources ...
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Imagining a Solar-Powered Economy
For a writing challenge, I'm trying to create a near-future world (2030 or so) where the major Western nations have transitioned to a fully solar economy.
Hence the rub. The realist in me is aware of ...
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Is an earth plausible without vegetation but a select few city-sized vegetation biomes survive?
I was asked this question over a few beers; what would be the practical considerations for a world in which vegetation has died.
Humans exist in small, self-sufficient biomes representing city-...
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What resources would we fight over in space? [duplicate]
Obligatory Backstory*: In year, whatever the count is now, humans get their black hole ships in working order, and decide to venture into space. We colonize a few worlds, and start establishing some ...
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Are viable ore deposits likely to be found in the same area(s) as building materials?
Are there any valuable deposits (gold ore, iron ore, silver, copper, gemstones) which are likely to be found in or around excavation sites for building materials like limestone, sandstone, slate or ...
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What are the minimum set of physical characteristics to define an Earth like planet?
Introduction
I have a vague notion of building some sort of strategic space game. Similar to other strategic games, locations are assigned value based upon some abstract evaluation. Following in ...
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Is there an energy resource with such attributes?
Is there an energy substance, element, material, natural or artificial resource with attributes such that: When its moved it loses energy. When its intact, untouched and unmoved it contains energy.
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How can I explain a sudden abundance of naturally-occurring beer?
Researchers are scratching their heads, and Portland Water Bureau is furious.
In Portland, Oregon, a reservoir in one of the City parks has begun spilling out a river of naturally occurring beer/ale. ...
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What are mapping or diagramming techniques that would be valuable to someone mapping a planetary system?
Basically, it's a question about creating maps or diagrams.
In particular, we on Earth are used to maps showing variation over distance & location. The problem with space that is everything is ...
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Population of 2 million confined to one island [closed]
Picture this scenario: all of humanity in its beginning is on a single island roughly the right size to support 1/2/3 million people. For some reason (sea monsters, too much ocean, whatever reason you ...
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Aliens want our water [closed]
Aliens, for some unknown reason, want all the water (H2O) in our oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, (all large bodies of water on earth), and plan to steal it from us overnight.
Luckily for us, they don't ...
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Aliens steal our trees
Aliens steal all our trees. Nothing else happened, just all the trees are gone. Everything not part of the tree was left where it was (apples are stolen, termites are not.)
What would be the short ...
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What are the best Solar System locations for a human colony? [duplicate]
The answers to this question may be subjective but I am interested in other's opinions (I have some myself), so please include your selection criteria. Also let me bound the question:
You can only ...
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Resources to justify long-distance space mining missions
Earth is setting up mining colonies on Tau Ceti e. But how can they justify the enormous cost of sending people there? ...Because during the initial exploratory missions, it was discovered that in ...
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How feasible would mass scale metallurgy be for a post-apocalyptic civilization?
Let's assume that civilization is a total loss so after the initial die-off humanity has to rebuild itself from the hunter-gatherer stage. In a particularly harsh environment it may take a few ...
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The Desert of Ore, how would people mine and process ore sand
Based of my previous two questions, which respectively talks about the geography of a desert of metal ore, and how people would live in such a place, here comes the last and most important question.
...
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The Desert of Ore, how would people live in it
Based on my previous question over here, which starts up and talks about a desert which is full of ore sand instead of normal sand.
What would people need to be able to simply live in it, since ...
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Interstellar commerce: how accessible are oxygen sources in space?
The Background:
I am going to be asking a series of questions that will be relevant to forming some sort of a picture of human space commerce.
Let's say that Earth-based human civilizations have ...
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Would it be possible to smelt and craft things from salt
During a brainstorm session the idea of the ruler of a maritime empire sitting upon a throne made from worked salt came to me. Before I break out the handwavium there is something that I would like ...
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What determines distribution of natural resources?
I am currently creating a world from scratch, and while I have a map, I still need to figure out distribution of natural resources.
For resources like fossil fuels, while many do appear in deserts, I ...
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Most Energy Efficient Barricade
My story requires humans very quickly creating a ~5km barricade to protect them from the monsters that live in the forest. These monsters are between animals and humans in power/intellect.
Currently, ...
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Precious Materials in a Galactic Empire
Picture the future, where man kind has spread out across the galaxy.
What would be the most precious and sought after materials?
Today it is metals like gold and platinum that are most sought after. ...
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Iron-free metallurgy
Suppose an advanced technological civilization colonizing a planet/planetoid which has very little iron. Suppose the surface is mostly rocky with a lot of $\text{SiO}_2$. There is also some carbon and ...
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Where can a Victorian-level civilization find significant amounts of helium?
According to google
Although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe,
most of it in the Earth's atmosphere bleeds off into space. Helium
used for industrial purposes is a ...
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What would be the main societal changes if we invented a free and unlimited energy source tomorrow on earth? [closed]
In this setting, a scientist invents a method for free and unlimited energy that is accessible to each and every one (open source, easy to manufacture...). This happens on nowadays earth.
What would ...
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How can magic and the economy reliably stand together?
This question assumes that in any kind of magical world, any form of magi can create nearly anything, but especially -- using only magic, can create gold, silver, gemstones, other currency, etc. as ...
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What qualities are necessary for an effective herd creature?
What qualities about a land-dwelling creature are absolutely necessary to maintain an effective herd of that creature for food and/or resources?
Assume this is an earth-like environment.
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What would be the next technological step for a civilization after it has depleted all resources that allow for conventional technologies?
Imagine a world that reaches the end of its resources in silicon, petrol, coal, metals... everything that allows for conventional technology — even before it has found a way over it (renewable energy ...
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