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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How long until two planets become one?
Two Earth-like planets collide at a (relatively slow) speed of about 1,000 kph. For all questions regarding the size and composition of these planets, just think about Earth - and these two planets ...
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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 ...
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World of (nearly) identical snowflakes
In a lab at Caltech Ken Libbrecht has been simulating snowflake formation and under absurdly exact laboratory conditions, they have been able to create almost identical snowflakes.
Clearly, in the ...
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Malign Science: Counter argument for KT boundary
Premise
This is a world in which humans are blissfully unaware of their own vulnerability. Needless to say, there are many vulnerabilities to address, however, this question deals only with the ...
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Breathable Mars?
I'm working on a far-future SF story taking place on a terraformed Mars and would like a fact check. Current estimates (see here and here) are that the CO2 on Mars could be released in gas form to ...
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What could explain this unique “fruit” tree?
Our protagonist lives on one of a group of remote islands where she makes her living harvesting a peculiar fruit. The edible part grows in the middle of liquid-filled sacks that hang near the top of ...
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Where to place an artificial gland in the human body?
An artificial endocrine gland is cultured in the lab and is to be inserted in a person. This gland functions by secreting special substances in the blood stream.
It needs to be placed in a position ...
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The Sword in the Stone
I am trying to recreate King Arthur's the Sword in the Stone using chemistry.
I have a couple ideas how this could be done Would any of these work or how it might work?
Arthur removes the sword from ...
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How close to each other can Earth-mass planets plausibly form from the protoplanetary disk?
We occasionally get questions and answers that discuss how close to each other planets can be and still meet some criteria. For example, this answer to the question ''Habitable'' planet close to a ...
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Could a planetary nebula obscure the presence of a black hole/neutron star?
I have a civilization that lives on a planet located inside a nebula (and orbiting a normal, sun-like star).
Would this nebula somehow interfere with/ obscure the sight of a rogue neutron star/ ...
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Would it be possible to make an alloy of metal and amorphous solid?
I would like to know if there'd be any way to forge a metal with an amorphous natural glass such as opal or obsidian into an alloy. Could such a thing be crafted into tools? Would it be conchoidal ...
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Plausibility Check: Territorial Trees?
Background
In case you haven't heard: there are places in the Amazonian Jungle called Devil's Gardens. The gardens are large swaths of land composed of almost entirely one single tree the Duroia ...
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What is a plausible power source to indefinitely sustain a space station?
I'm allowing for approximately 150 years of technological advancement. This is in Earth's future, so I want to be realistic based off of what we are capable of now and projections for declining ...
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How could an engineer advance human civilization by time traveling to the past? [closed]
Earth in the near future (in 2081) is invaded by aliens who are just "a bit" more technologically advanced than humans. The war is not a one sided extermination of humans, but humans are about to lose ...
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A fictional island on Earth with "longer" springs and autumns
I want to write a story on Earth as it is now, with the sole exception of one large island nation. I plan to introduce elements of mysticism into the story as well, but I would like to keep these ...
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What's the largest an Earth-like planet can be and support Earth's biosphere?
For certain reasons I decided to not set my story on Earth. However, the planet is meant to host an Earth-like biosphere (including humans, most of Earth's species (perhaps some that didn't evolve ...
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When will the last unambiguous evidence of mankind disappear?
Humanity just disappears tomorrow, let's say it is like the Thanos-snap but it kills everyone. How long until the last unambiguous evidence of our existence disappears? What was this last relic?
The ...
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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?
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How can powerful telekinesis avoid violating Newton's 3rd Law?
Characters with powerful telekinesis are portrayed as being able to exert a superhuman force using only their minds. For example, they can throw a car.
Based on what I remember from high school ...
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What are some artificial Augmentations to stop the Illuminati's Army? [closed]
I am creating a future world where augmentations, all limbs and organs are the newest weapon by bolstering the natural human ability. For example, arm augmentations allow for a strength twice the ...
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Post nuclear apocalypse fauna
The chicxulub asteroid impact caused climate change, and the climate change caused a mass extinction. But many land-based animal groups survived, crocodillians, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, ...
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Conditions of a more ideal version of earth
What would be the specific conditions required for a planet to be a more ideal version of Earth?
I want the world to have a much larger proportion of land covered by lush jungle and forest ...
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What kind of Gas Giant has a "safe zone" between the radiation from a star and the radiation from a gas giant planet?
This is a progression from my first question, here
(if this is too similar to my original question, please let me know of a better way to address this, as I am not getting the answers I need on that ...
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How can the artificial womb be made affordable for the common people?
The artificial womb has become a reality, freeing many women from the 9 month burden of carrying a child. Unfortunately, it was not the liberating game changer that feminists hoped it would be. These ...
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Is it possible to build weapons that shield the RF frequencies pre-cogs use to send their memories back in time?
TL;DR: The antagonists in my story have made nearly unstoppable soldiers who, through nanites embedded in their brains, are able to experience the future and send memories back in time. Since the time ...
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Would using carbon dioxide as fuel work to reduce the greenhouse effect?
I'm trying to find a plausible way to reduce global warming in a world past the tipping point.
I recently read this article : https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171127173225.htm. It ...
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Aerosol CRISPR Agent?
I will keep this short:
I am writing a story about a Society with lots of Superheroes, and I want them to discover that they have powers after inhaling some sort of chemical. I want this to be pretty ...
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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 ...
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How can high-level awareness resulting in telepathic radar be made possible in the human mind?
The humans in this setting are telepaths who are able to communicate with each other through their minds. This form of telepathy transfers simple phrases, symbols, or emotions to the designated person ...
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Mobile/Deployable Space Elevator? [closed]
Would it be possible to have a space elevator that could be coiled up stored in a ship during transport and then deployed from orbit down to a planet upon arrival?
Additionally,
About how much ...
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Aliens to play a mischievous space-time practical joke on Earth
Premise
Suppose an earth-like world in the near-future. Then aliens come and decide to play a mischievous trick on this world on an epic scale. The goal is to disrupt Earth's time by 18 minutes. ...
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How would a very old biosphere differ from Earth's "young" one?
On my world, the equivalent of the Cambrian/Avalon explosion happened 5 byr (2 byr after formation) ago as opposed to 0.5 byr ago on Earth.
The planets rough parameters are:
mass between 0.4 and 0....
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Can a human eat alien food for the tastiness? And vice versa [closed]
Would it be plausible for a human to eat an alien's food (and vice versa) not because said being needs nutrition or such but purely to enjoy alien cuisine. Assuming the species is fairly compatible; ...
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How would basic and complex life evolve in a gas giant [closed]
Obviously the chances of life arising in such inhospitable and unlikely as a gas giant are next to none. Instead let us theorize that a local orbiting moon of a Jupiter-like gas giant which contains a ...
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Is Santa taking off risk creating a black hole, and will the good kids receive presents survive it? [closed]
Santa has to visit roughly 822 houses a second on Christmas day. At each house he has to stop, go down the chimney to deliver toys, then take off for the next home in a millisecond's time.
As the ...
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Humans returning to tribalism
I'm working on setting in which a prison ship crashes on an unexplored/unknown planet, and due to infighting and environmental factors the prisoners return to tribalism at best or feral animals at ...
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The Hadean Explosion?
In recent years, the search for the origins of life is becoming complex. It turns out that oxygen is NOT a requirement for multicellular life to thrive. As stated in this BBC article, poriferans (...
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Aside from low gravity, what conditions favor dramatic terrain?
Fantasy and sci-fi works often are set in worlds of dramatic terrain, because, well... it's dramatic. A few examples of the kind of thing I'm talking about:
I understand that Earth has some ...
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How can I hide my island?
I'm a supervillain. I have no name, but you can rest assured my intentions are dubious and always result in general harm.
My biggest problem these days are these pesky superheroes keep finding my ...
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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 ...
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The universe is in a long, slow decline to darkness (the stars are going out) - What can we do about it?
The universe is in a long, slow decline to darkness
Sorry folks but it's true, read the article! Here's a much edited-down version:
The universe is cooling down, its stars pumping out about half ...
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Requirements for race that lives close to a sun [closed]
I have an idea for a race that lives on a planet that is extremely close to a sun (similar to ours), just far enough away to not be pulled in.
So my question is, what would be the requirements for a ...
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Is a Jupiter-sized planet plausible in a habitable zone?
We lived through loads of questions regarding aquatic races, so buckle up, I am going to gather some ideas around insectoids.
The homeworld and race
This race lives on a planet which has lower ...
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What's the climate consequences of a planet with these characteristics?
I'm designing a new planet, but I'm having some troubles figuring out the climate.
The planet's rotation axis is at a 45° angle relative to its orbital plane, and each rotation takes 24h.
The planet'...
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Are you able to mix amber with different elements to give properties beyond encasing and preserving? [closed]
Is it possible to mix it with other elements to give it properties beyond preservation? Like strengthen a sword, or enhance a person's muscles.
I've been looking around to see, however I've yet to ...
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3
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How could I scientifically explain a world with day/night cycle only on the equator?
I'd like to build a world that has one pole where it's constantly day (all year long) and the weather is very hot, and one where it's constantly night (all year long) and the weather is freezing.
I'd ...
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How many people are necessary to maintain modern civilisation?
Modern Earth; a series of connected events (natural disasters, mass migration, drug-resistant pandemic, collapse in biodiversity, armed conflict) have led to a significant reduction in human ...
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An infinite train circling the planet that never stops
As a way to travel fast, my Earth-like planet is going to have a special train, circling it (the axis of the 'tracks' is aligned with the planet's axis of rotation).
The thing about this train - it ...
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Can a human survive getting back stripped down blood?
Could a humanesque creature derive all its nutrients from drinking blood?
One of the linked question's answers talks about the vampire becoming a filtration system from humans, could the vampire ...
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Kinetic weapons - establishing an upper limit when dealing with grey goo
This answer to my last question suggested, rightly, that there are targets dangerous, and large scale, enough that there is neither overkill nor spillover damage when it comes to attacking a planetary ...
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