Questions tagged [science-fiction]
For questions relating to worlds with a setting of common science-fiction.
-3
votes
0answers
38 views
What could a scientist in my Star Wars fan fic be working on? [on hold]
Im trying to write a story about a scientist who is working on something in the era of the New Republic. He does not believe in the Force. I just need something for him to be researching. It really ...
1
vote
1answer
84 views
Need help with details concerning non-conventional sci fi vampires
I would like to create a sci fi human faction that resemble vampires without many of the past tropes while reimagining some for a sci fi feel. I would like to avoid any magic and fantastical abilities....
0
votes
3answers
171 views
How can I alter humans to allow them the ability to choose the sex of their child in the ancient world?
Research shows that some creatures in the animal kingdom manipulate the sex of their child in order to maximize the number of grandchildren. Parents in good condition, based on health, size, dominance ...
0
votes
0answers
42 views
How would external fertilization change sexuality? [on hold]
In the current world I'm working on, my only humanoid species so far has external fertilization in bodies of water. I am wondering in which ways my species could develop a society which in-part uses ...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
Can Artificial Expansion of Space Facilitate Dark Energy [on hold]
Granted, not much is known about Dark Energy. Indeed, it may not even exist.
What we know is that something is driving the expansion of space (understanding we do not live in a Hubble bubble). This ...
18
votes
11answers
7k views
If the SUN of our planet was the same size and proximity of the moon, would it still work as usual?
I'm building the world of my story for my comics and I've come to a bit of a standstill with a particular idea.
Assuming there were no other planets in our universe, just a single planet Earth.
The ...
1
vote
3answers
83 views
What could result in a colonized Mars setting up a monarchy [on hold]
In the future after a nuclear war has ravaged Earth, leaving the Martian colonies on their own and without support...
Mars falls under the attacks of local militias, fragmenting. That is until some ...
4
votes
3answers
105 views
What practical forms can a “branch-tailed” organism have?
So, I made the slight mistake of worldbuilding by starting off with just a planet's local sentient species and working from there.
This species, the Trillek, have a more or less theropod appearance ...
8
votes
3answers
106 views
When I turn on my warp drive, where does the energy go?
I've just bought myself a shiny new spaceship equipped with the latest in FTL warp technology, the only catch is the fuel bill, this thing drinks the stuff like it's going out of fashion (still, it's ...
1
vote
5answers
81 views
How can a killer AI convince people to aid it? [on hold]
The Network is a ancient, advanced rogue military AI with only one goal: TO KILL!
Luckily for every species that has encountered The Network in the span of known history, it doesn't want to kill them;...
3
votes
6answers
189 views
How can a projectile resistant shield be susceptible to physical blows?
There is an ancient martial arts tournament called the kumite that takes place on an isolated island. This tournament brings together the greatest fighters of the various mortal realms to fight each ...
7
votes
7answers
166 views
Napoleonic Future Warfare: Technology for Ground Combat?
In a 'verse with Conveniant Interstellar Travel (in the scale of a few weeks to a few months for neighbouring star systems), the East Orion Company controls large swathes of the sector thanks to their ...
-1
votes
2answers
94 views
What could be a physiological downside of a permanently bonded symbiotic life-form that alters the host in profound physical ways? [closed]
Imagine a symbiotic life form like the Klyntar species from Marvel: a creature made up of an amorphous mass of cells and are, as a whole, sentient.
The species would have the following additional ...
7
votes
5answers
258 views
Shooting down an enemy ship at FTL speeds
In the story I'm currently working on an alien race holds the monopoly on FTL travel. They're using a modified Alcubierre drive system, powered by Negative Mass. Humanity stumbles on a source of ...
-2
votes
0answers
46 views
On the fate of the truths in the universe [closed]
Some context first:
First, there is this result that extends Gödel's incompleteness which states (among other things) that given the set $S$ of all true statements, the probability that a statement $...
4
votes
4answers
203 views
How long would it take a matter-antimatter GeV gamma ray laser photon rocket to get to Ross128b (11 light years away)?
I'm writing a colony story, and I want my ship to colonise Ross128b, which is 11 light years away from Earth. I need the characters to be alive when they get there, but it's okay if they've aged ...
1
vote
4answers
195 views
What is the “fullest” the universe could be in terms of living space? [closed]
Lets take a civilization that has surpassed the type III on the Kardashev scale. It has the following assumptions:
It harnesses the energy of entire Galaxies,
its populace did not transcend. If you ...
10
votes
2answers
322 views
What goes in, must come out - limitations of temporal displacement
I am plotting out a sci-fi setting, and trying to figure out the consequences of a non-conventional form of time travel.
In the story, time travel has been achieved by means of temporal displacement....
6
votes
4answers
808 views
Potential system to system travel?
So one of the ideas I've come up with for system to system travel, in the early colony stage of my world, is using fuel boosters to start the journey and then to reach the required speed for the ...
18
votes
8answers
6k views
Is a red sea on a habitable world scientifically possible?
I have an idea that the seas of a world are red, not blue. However, the world should also be the birthplace of an intelligent alien species. Would it be scientifically possible to have a world with a ...
4
votes
4answers
109 views
Hypothetically, should cultural/genetic Homogeneity in Aliens be considered the Exception, or the Rule?
Humans all belong to a Single Species, localized on a single small-ish planet... Yet we are incredibly diverse in both Culture and Individual Appearance/Adaptation to our environment. This also seems ...
24
votes
12answers
9k views
Why Laser “Guns”? [closed]
We all love laser guns (which are usually plasma weaponry) but why guns? It's not like we need the long barrel for making it more accurate or the stock to control recoil. So why guns and why not ...
3
votes
4answers
167 views
Defence against volcano?
Say I have a group of people who live next to a volcano for religious reasons. They will not move. This volcano erupts very regularly - almost once a week. What kind of defence or adaptability ...
10
votes
3answers
671 views
In extreme cases, can skyhooks or space elevators be used to funnel extreme planetary heating
Assume a world in a distant (2100+) future. Assume an exponential construction rate (1, 2, 4, 8 etc.) in skyhooks/time. Assume significant solar system exploration and industrialization. Assume ...
0
votes
4answers
114 views
Kingdom Takeover [closed]
There is an army that destroys and massacres most kingdoms (not all). It’s not for power, money, resources (including land) or slavery. Why would they do this?
15
votes
7answers
2k views
Would ground-based vehicles become obsolete in the age of space combat?
I'd think the future combat of planetary invasion (as in conquering, not destroying) would use space fighters/gunships with infantry for CQC support.
Realistically, in a universe where interstellar ...
25
votes
11answers
6k views
How do I scientifically explain a specific type of wood piercing through armor when not even bullets can?
I've created a monster with three weaknesses:
A soft spot in his belly that can be pierced through normally with objects, but the monster is so big and fast that hitting it is extremely hard and ...
2
votes
5answers
210 views
Lifting a spider mech
So, I have many of the infamous spider-mechs (such as in this question) roaming about in my highly futuristic setting.
My mechs are arguably huge: the main body is 7 meters tall, in a conical shape, ...
5
votes
6answers
150 views
Does a large population make sense in a galactic society with automation tech?
So I am writing a Sci-Fi novel where humans are currently spread out over 440 Star systems ( ~ 2000 Light years). There has been several breakthroughs in Automation technology and all manual labor ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Can I use another calendar in a Space Opera? [closed]
I'm creating a space opera (or a soft science fiction in space) universe, but I am trying to devise a calendar and I don't know if I should use the calendar of Earth (using the time before and after ...
2
votes
0answers
78 views
Catastophe inhibitor against WMD's [closed]
I want to have a catastrophe inhibitor (CatIn from now on) that reduces the effects of WMDs like nukes and kinetic impactors, but I do not want it to mess up other physics. It would be annoying if you ...
6
votes
2answers
206 views
Genetic modifications for the ultimate office drone?
In a dystopian future, genetic editing, stem cell research and cloning have become commonplace. Humans in embryo can be genetically modified and designed to a immense variation; some people can give ...
0
votes
1answer
104 views
In 1000 years, could a magnetic bottle-like plasma dome system protect a small city? [closed]
I've looked at the magnetic bottle (hydrogen plasma/fusion) idea as a potential basis for extrapolating what technology might be capable of doing with plasma fields 1000 years into the future...which ...
9
votes
7answers
2k views
Ways to detect lasers from afar
In my sci-fi universe, spaceship shields are generated by capturing plasma between two electromagnetic fields. Projectiles are evaporated by the heat of the plasma, and charged particles are deflected ...
5
votes
12answers
288 views
How would 'Normal' people stop/confound/hinder my telepaths?
The telepaths can read the minds of anyone with less Teep power than they have.
I.E. Weak Telepaths can have their minds read by stronger ones, and every telepath can read a 'normal' mind.
The ...
6
votes
8answers
276 views
How would an advanced civilization on a space station not be able to explore the planet they orbit without significant time between each expedition?
Extremely advanced civilization on a computerized space station orbiting a desolate uninhabited planet. There are no other known civilizations within this station's sphere of observation. Not many ...
5
votes
7answers
774 views
How to use a certain technology to communicate with colonies but keep the how-to a secret?
I'm building a world for a role-playing game campaign using the Stars Without Number system.
Some background information first:
Stars Without Number Original Setting: In the original story ...
18
votes
7answers
4k views
How can one individual have two different biological signatures?
A detective is investigating a series of grisly murders in New York. The bodies of the victims seem to have been ripped apart by a inhumanly strong person. He has narrowed down the list of suspects to ...
5
votes
2answers
161 views
Minimum percentage of immune when epidemic lowers IQ in the 80's?
I have an epidemic of unknown origin spreading across the earth. The effects are decrease in cognitive ability to around 80+ IQ. So we have a surgeons who don't know how to operate, engineers who don'...
19
votes
3answers
795 views
Could an astronaut manually land a reentry vessel in a specific location without any help from ground control or satellites or anything? [closed]
So, let's say an astronaut has crashed his shuttle into earth only to find that there are no cities or any signs of human-made objects left on earth.
Another astronaut is orbiting earth in her space ...
9
votes
1answer
355 views
Can someone help me with ocean currents? I'm really confused
I've been working on a constructed world which started out as the home of an alien race from a sci-fi story I'm writing but just became a pure world building project.
As you can see from the map it ...
0
votes
0answers
50 views
Universal Intergalactic Currency [duplicate]
This might be totally opinion based but I really need all the help I can get because I have serious writers block. I’m writing a story where the world is vastly advanced, set in the 24th century and ...
4
votes
5answers
236 views
Plausible explanation for how human beings might travel the multiverse (assuming other universes separate from our own exist)
Edit: Let me first thank all of you for being patient with me (I’m by no means a physicist) and for answering my question. This is an update to my previous question. I’ve done some research and to the ...
2
votes
2answers
98 views
Asteroid material that can cause signal distortion
I'm making a hard-ish sci-fi universe where humans colonized nearby star systems and found not one but two civilizations in Alpha Centauri, each at home on a planet orbiting one of the two main stars. ...
70
votes
35answers
14k views
Eternal space battle around a planet. But why? [closed]
The Setting
A planet (large continents, mostly steppes, deserts and plains) is settled by nomadic tribes (think Mongols, Tuareg or Apache). The tribes lack written history, but the legends speak of a ...
47
votes
3answers
20k views
Let’s say a 1 ton (US) sphere of tungsten moving at 99.99% the speed of light hits earth, what happens? As specific as possible
What kind of destruction would it cause? I’m assuming it’d be rather significant, could it shatter a tectonic plate? The crust? How would the oceans fare? Would the planet be able to catch the ...
35
votes
17answers
10k views
An object that is gold in one specific area but becomes worthless if you leave that area?
Let us pretend there is some "sacred city" created by gods, where gold is so common that it is the standard form of currency and everyone has lots of it. But once you try to leave the city with this ...
-1
votes
1answer
90 views
Could life be living in Europa? [closed]
The ice is so thick that no probe sent from Earth can detect life under the ice. Radio would not work well under the ice so we could not communicate with Europians if they are advanced.
What would ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Tanks in medieval age [closed]
If people of the medieval age or 14th century had knowledge over steam engines and decided to make tanks out of it, how would it work and how effective would it be? Since they would be big and heavy, ...
34
votes
4answers
5k views
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Ray - A Hyper-Scanning Doomsday Weapon
From what I know about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, one of its consequences is that when you learn a great deal about the position of a particle, you greatly increase the uncertainty of the ...
