Questions tagged [science-based]
For questions that require plausible (better than suspension-of-disbelief) answers based on Real World science that are not necessarily constrained to the known limits of Real World science. Contrast with the hard-science, science-fiction and internal-consistency tags. This tag may not be used alone. This tag may not be used with the science-fiction, hard-science, or internal-consistency tags.
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Critical animal species for temperate rainforest climate
On my terraformed exoplanet, the largest habitable land masses are primarily covered with temperate rainforests (average temperatures from 8 to 18 C)
Assume for this question that the bottom of the ...
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1
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How would a Larger Planet with a Thicker Crust than Earth affect Tectonic Activity
The basics are the planet is larger in both mass and size, but lower in density than the Earth.
In a previous question I asked about methods of reducing said Density which involved thickening the ...
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Making Sand with just Pure Quartz Sand and Magical Heat Powers
Okay, I've been researching how to make Glass for a character with powers that include Sand and Heat. But, I keep getting results about soda–lime glass/soda–lime–silica glass. Along with purities of ...
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Slime substance as glue [closed]
In my world there are human-like creatures living in wooden stilt houses. Hagfish-like creatures live near the coast (no reason to check the plausibility of that, at least for now), and they produce a ...
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Best way to generate energy from a reactionless thruster?
The IVO Quantum Drive is scheduled to be launched into space on June 10th this year, for realsies.
I fully expect that it will not work, because it would violate conservation of energy.
But if it did ...
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2
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Alternatives to electricity for energy distribution in a spaceship?
Basically, I want the aesthetics of "EPS conduits" without the soft-sci-fi handwaving of actual Star-Trekian EPS conduits. Is there some system for distributing large amounts of power around ...
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Climate types for large volcanic islands on tidally locked planet
My planet is tidally locked to a red dwarf, which itself orbits a yellow sun like our own. It has roughly the same atmospheric conditions as Earth (perhaps a slightly thicker atmosphere, but not ...
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22
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Non-electrical technology that pre-modern people would see as magic?
My world was colonized by spacefaring humans who lost the vast majority of their technology in an unknown catastrophe at least 12,000 years before the present. They have now redeveloped roughly up to ...
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12
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Is a "20th century" spacefaring civilization plausible?
This civilization has computational technology roughly equivalent to Earth's in the late 20th century. We're talking post-moon landing, but pre-Internet (roughly 1969-1983). They may or may not have ...
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Types of available ores and metallurgy on a "newly" terraformed planet?
I am developing a story set on an exoplanet that was colonized by spacefaring humans but has long since lost all contact with the homeworld due to some unknown catastrophe at least 12,000 years before ...
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Is there a NON-CHEMICAL weapon that can target the central nervous and/or muscular system?
There is research on nerve agents and gases, but are there any man-portable weapons that may be able to harm the CNS without gas? Thanks.
AMENDED: Results in symptoms like shaking, tremors that are ...
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What changes would be expected of Earth plants on a low-light planet?
I've read about plants on worlds orbiting red dwarfs potentially having black leaves due to the higher infrared radiation, but what kind of changes would be expected of plants on a planet like Mars ...
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How efficient would meat plants be?
Eating meat is inefficient. With each step in the foodchain you lose anywhere between 50 to 90% of the energy. So as a human trying to be efficient you want to have the least steps between you and the ...
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Geological activity and of superearth - cannonball moon system
I understand that this situation is hypothetical -- I just need a piece of advice to make it more realistic.
In my story, there is a superearth of 4,5 Earth masses and 1,35 Earth's radius, rotating ...
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What's stopping other rock layers from creating a karst-like landscape?
Context
I've reread a part of a book about geochemistry and it reminded me that just about any element can dissolve in water if the pH is right. Later an examples of aluminium or iron dissolving en ...
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How soon after first contact could an advanced civilization make large financial transactions on Earth?
One day, a portal, several hundred meters across, appears without warning above the Atlantic, roughly around the Bermuda triangle region. It hovers in mid air, immobile, 200 meters above the surface ...
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How feasible would it be if cockroaches no bigger than an inch (2.5 centimetres) took fall damage from around 6-7 feet in the air or less?
Ok, so I have an unfinished/W.I.P world (may turn it into story) about a sapient civilization of cockroaches called Roachins that are pretty much German Cockroachs, but most/many can fly and can stand ...
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What engineering complications would come from a species being giant?
In a project I'm currently working on, the primary species stands at roughly 19 feet tall on average. While there are advantages and disadvantages to such a size, this scaling would present a number ...
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What is the most important objective for survival in a post-apocalyptic society?
Let's say the world as we know it has been brought to an end by a nuclear apocalypse.
Our perspective centers on a small group of survivors in one area, benefiting from a shelter of some kind. These ...
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Interception of missiles in space combat
How to approach this problem!
Numerically. Trying to find some closed form equation to spit things out is extremely difficult, especially in the face of how well this lends itself to numeric methods. ...
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Can the mass of a rocky Super Giant be artificially reduced?
THE PREMISE:
Let's imagine a solar system with at least two rocky planets.
One is Earth sized "A" (or smaller) and the second is a Super Giant "B".
Both are in the habitable zone ...
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Carbon planet gardens [closed]
This is a restart of my previous question: let's say there was a carbon planet with life. That means it would use hydrocarbons as a solvent and since the molecules are more complicated, all reactions ...
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Plausible evolutionary path from modern birds to "dragons"
I'm interested in how you could get a creature that is broadly "dragon-like" to evolve from modern-day birds. Considering that some extinct early birds or proto-birds looked pretty reptilian,...
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5
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Could gene therapy become the new plastic surgery?
In an EXTREMELY near future (the story is set in June 2028 of the Gregorian calendar), there are some people that use the gene therapy because they want to change their physical appearance.
For ...
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How fast does a pineapple need to fly to kill?
Basically, spud guns use air pressure to shoot spuds. More air pressure, faster spud. How fast would a pineapple gun (ignore making it, say it just works) have to shoot the pineapple to be lethal?
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How fast can a cylinder spin, with a human on its inner wall, to NOT experience motion sickness?
Context
I'm working on an interstellar Ark made of a few (probably 3 to be more specific) layers of cylinders (modified O'Neil's concept), while trying to get the station to be as compact as possible. ...
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Conditions for my tower to be above the clouds
I want to build a tower on top of which I should see clouds below.
Example: View from top to be right above clouds (even temporary low clouds are fine)
Question : What conditions are required to get ...
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2
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Could fire use chemicals other than oxygen as fuel?
Could "fire" exist on a planet that has no oxygen in its atmosphere? If it was using some other chemical as fuel, how would that effect its physical properties, color/appearance, temperature,...
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2
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How can I have normal density matter in higher dimensions?
Background
The problem of sphere packing in higher dimensions is well known. In summary, the volume that equal-sized spheres (or hyperspheres) can fill inside a cube (or hypercube) decreases with ...
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Alternatives to a sapling for a small game snare trap
I'm working on a story where the main character is going to reap the majority of his income from "inventing" things that a semi-medieval alternate world doesn't have yet. Cooking oil, soap, ...
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Is there enough nitrogen in nitrates on Mars to create a thick atmosphere? [duplicate]
One idea concerning the terraforming Mars involves breaking down nitrates in the regolith, (which the curiosity rover confirms exist) into nitrogen and oxygen/ozone. These gases are key in creating a ...
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Aerial Combat in a High-Pressure Atmosphere
The world I've been working on has a higher gravity (1.4g) and a denser, more oxygen-rich atmosphere (33% O2, 4 bar). While this has a plethora of effects, this question primarily discusses the ...
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Is it possible to date this object?
I am writting a science fiction novel. In my novel, some scientists find an important object in an Earth-like planet: a bunch of spherical synthetic quartzites.
These quartizes are approximately 200 ...
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What to do so the sun (light source) appears to be following a daily cycle on a McKendree cylinder?
In my setting, a McKendree cylinder (a rotating habitat so large it holds its own atmosphere) is orbiting the sun, with the top of the cylinder pointing at the sun.
How do we make the sun appear to ...
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3
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Urban Planning on a Tidally Locked World
I'm in the early stages of a project involving a habitable tidally locked world, this one a fairly Earth-like (large ocean) around a K-class orange dwarf. And using this study for reference, where the ...
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2
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Could a sub-race of humans survive at 2 feet tall and live underground (occasionally going to the surface)
The faeren are an extremely short sub-race of humans that live underground in secret mounds called "barrows." Their males are chubby, but muscular, and are all capable of growing vast beards,...
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Could a 1-2 foot tall (30-60 cm tall) human fly with giant artificial insect wings attached to their back?
I'm creating a sub-race of extremely short and technologically advanced humans in my book. These humans, which are dubbed 'faeren' or 'faeries' have created backpacks that have insect wings attached ...
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6
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Bidirectional engineered rivers for long distance non-self-propelled boats
Building on my previous thread and taking into account suggestions Long distance travel by non-motorised rolling vehicles
I wish to consider two-way rivers that flow in opposite directions at the same ...
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2
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Would a rogue planet experience more asteroid collisions?
I'm working on a novel where the characters inhabit a rogue planet. Would that planet get hit by more asteroids due to the fact that it isn't orbiting a star? I have a feeling that the distance is ...
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Long distance travel by non-motorised rolling vehicles
Background
I have lush fertile mountains separated by miles of flat, barren desert. Each mountain is home to a community. The distances between mountains vary from 2 - 20 miles.
Every occupied ...
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1
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Can a species with the ZW sex determination system be viviparous?
I imagined a hypothetical species of squamate from the Anguimorpha clade. They are my dragons. They are a rare example of viviparous nonmammalian tetrapod. However, like all anguimorphan squamates, ...
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What feature of Earth would be most likely attract the interest of aliens?
What feature of Earth would be most likely to attract the interest of a curious alien intelligence searching the Milky Way marking the Earth as an unusual world and how close would they have to be to ...
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How can an object pass through a building without taking significant damage?
A kaiju swinging its arm through a building, a superhero that, locked in battle with a villain, flies through several buildings, a huge mecha that uses its ax on a skyscraper, like a lumberjack would ...
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4
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How feasible are my Gauss weapons?
Now, in my world, Gauss weapons are in common use for use in armor piercing where LP (low-powered) lasers and plasma fail. Using solid steel needles, slugs, or bolts, depending on the size, shape, ...
3
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5
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What vampires get from blood [duplicate]
My vampires eat normal food too, but if they don’t drink blood they get really hungry for it. If their hunger goes on for too long they become unhealthy and weak.
I figure that blood of mammals ...
3
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5
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300
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Justification for the cult of Tiamat (chaos deity)
While chaos might be well suited for raiding and pillaging, my world is to be in a sedentary setting. Indeed, chaos, in the true spirit of the term, seems to run counter to what a sedentary society ...
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6
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How deep underground could a city plausably be?
So I'm working on a planet for a Sci-fi RPG setting. The basic idea is 'an earth-sized planet, far from the sun, too cold to live on, but with very earth-like gravity, so people live in underground ...
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2
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297
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Where to find various metals from collapsed city after long enough timeline
Alright, so to set the stage: the setting is 3-5k years after civilization as we know dissolved. The dissolution happens about a hundred or so years from the present day (+/1 2123) after we have ...
5
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4
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409
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Is it plausible for constructed languages to be used to affect thought and control or mold people towards desired outcomes?
In 1984, newspeak is used to control thought, and to make certain ideas impossible to express, or even to think.
I'm imagining a future totalitarian state which develops custom languages which it ...
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7
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924
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Is this super-soldier possible in reality
Well, in my story both combat robots and super soldiers coexist alongside the actual armies, now
the enhancements that super soldiers undergo can be divided into three main groups: surgical,
...
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