Questions tagged [science-fiction]
For questions that allow fanciful, creative or imaginative solutions based on or rationalized by real world science, but not necessary limited by real world science. Entirely magical solutions must use the magic tag instead. This tag should not be used with the science-based, hard-science, or internal-consistency tags. This tag should never be the only tag on a question, because this tag frames how a question should be answered, not the topic.
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How many years it is going to take to retain technology if Aliens attacked earth and destroyed every machine on earth?
Situation:
Aliens attacked earth. They used a weapon which produces waves, say "destorymachinewaves". It destroys the machines and takes them to space. So every machine on the earth was Destroyed. ...
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Efficient sublight propulsion (for "dogfighting")
Researching efficient methods of no-FTL methods often turns up engine solutions that are efficient in the sense that they have a higher specific impulse, but most such solutions seem to have a ...
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energy based super weapons in space, realistically possible?
So I'm already knee deep learning about science stuff for what I'm working on, but these two questions seem to have snagged me.
Of note, I am looking at these issues from a highly technological ...
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Handheld weapons, plasma vs. laser
Assume a fairly futuristic scenario where we can deal with the energy requirements of handheld laser weapons and the realistic creation of plasma ammunition etc.
From what I understand a plasma gun ...
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Space weaponry?
So in the sci.fi world I am currently building, I am trying for a fairly technical approach to space combat. Movement is cumbersome and you're strafing more so than performing maneuvers that aren't ...
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Fission vs. fusion as a heavily-restricted sci-fi power source
In a sci-fi setting I'm working on, the power dynamics between two civilizations are maintained by one civilization ("captives") being completely dependent on the other civilization ("captors") for ...
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Unintended implications of using a celestial object as a "weight" for a digital currency?
I have a sci-fi universe that's meant to be astronomically accurate, scaled around cataloged stars and known open clusters/nebulae like the Orion Complex or the Hyades. Space faring civilizations ...
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We finally have a weapon to win the war against the aliens. We don't know how to deploy it
2234, April. Region 932 A.E.D.
It's a hot day on Xenaas-891, and the fight isn't going well for our soldiers.
"Sarge, our exosuits are going to run out of oxegyn soon! There are 2 class 3 aliens ...
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Pronounce an unknown language just by reading it
If while exploring the galaxy, we were to encounter an alien script, would we be able to decipher the pronunciation of the language without actually hearing it?
Assumptions:
The language is ...
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How would three moons that were equally separated effect the planet?
So I have a fictional world where I have three moons orbiting this planet. I've used this web site to try and figure this out but I wanted to ask this question myself.
My planet (a little bigger then ...
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Most powerful sublight engine for spaceships? [closed]
Please assume the following:
structural integrity is not a problem, accelaration will not damage the ship/ the passengers
There is a source of abundant energy on the ship, consider it enough for ...
user6415
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How might a lost alien re-connect to a hidden secret base
In an earlier question I shared the idea of Bill, the stranded alien that has a challenge getting the attention of local humans because he's the size of a mosquito.
He needs to re-establish contact ...
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Dwarf raising a battalion of dinosaurs [closed]
Set in alternate parallel universe where reality mirror ours with one big exception, the cunning dwarfs. The male adult is less than the length of an iPad but weights 50Kg, their technology is far ...
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Revealing your religion to be false at the end of a Generation ship trip, or not
Following up on how-might-a-religion-be-used-to-help-maintain-a-generation-ship and what-society-might-survive-the-3-generation-rule.
Assume:
Your ship is a generation ship that has traveled to the ...
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How might a religion be used to help maintain a generation ship?
Starting with this question, in which I wondered what a society might look like that could survive the 3 generation rule...
Assume you have a crew and colonists on-board a generation ship headed to ...
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Ways to make contact with aliens on a much larger size scale?
One answer to the question of "Why don't we see any aliens?" prompted me to consider:
The computer was a comparatively simple design, what the natives would call “single core” Von Neumann ...
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Would keratin, spider silk, and bone make good bio-engineered armour?
So, setting is an extremely advanced race who use bioengineered tech in many applications, although most commonly in warfare. Their combat troops are large exoskeletal creatures ranging from hand ...
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How might skeptics and scientists explain chi elemental manipulation?
I'm trying to build a world that blends science and manipulation of the elements through chi based powers, in a modern society. However, I'd imagine in a world like our own many scientists and ...
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What society might survive the 3 generation rule
A not widely accepted psycho-social phenomenon but one our descendents might sometime face, the Three Generation Rule states:
that the degree of social discipline needed for a space habitat to
...
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Is something like the AI from the movie Ex Machina close? [duplicate]
So I watched the movie Ex Machina. I started thinking and started wondering. Is something in that level of AI possible in the near future? Maybe not her body, but her mind.
And how far off is her ...
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Death from old age stopped, with expansion to new worlds to handle population growth
One of the biggest 'immortality sucks' issues has always been the question of what to do with the new people being born. Without death, a world's limited resources can't keep up with a never ending ...
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Deep transcendence traveling [closed]
To those who does not know what transcendence traveling is, it is when you move from one plane to another to move a distance across that plane just to pop in to your own again.
To free your self of ...
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What measures (and appropriate countermeasures) would be used for sensing and target acquisition in far-future space warfare?
I've never been satisfied with how this has been handled in any sci-fi story I've read, watched, etc. It always seems to get handwaved away with "we have sensor packages of various powers" and "they ...
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Is it possible that the world will end in near future from a natural disaster? [closed]
Can any of these apocalypse dates be true?
Is there any possibility that the human race will become extinct in the next 1000 years due to a natural disaster?
More Latest Findings:
Earth entering ‘...
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May an AI civilization grow peacfully with organic civilizations?
Imagine a sci-fi world where many organic civilizations would have raised and have an empire between many planets and systems. Even if there is some political tensions, they all live in peace together....
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What would be the most valuable part on a spaceship? [closed]
In a star wars or star trek-esque universe where FTL space travel is pretty bog standard and not that big of a deal anymore what would be the most valuable part of a space ship? I was thinking except ...
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How might it be possible to move a star?
I'm imagining a super-powerful spacefaring race which has the capability to build or modify a star system or even galaxy by moving stars around, but I wonder if it's really feasible.
Is it ...
user10287
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What if Earth was eaten by a giant slow moving alien creature?
I'm coming up with a science fiction world for an assignment.
Would it be possible for a planet like Earth to be eaten by a giant alien creature that moves through space at a relatively slow speed ...
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Melting the core [duplicate]
I have suggested that you could use antimatter to melt the core of Mars and restart the magnetic "dynamo", but it occurs to me that I never really considered exactly "how" you could do this. Melting ...
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Could someone please share what they know about, or references on, a computer running a government (ethical implications etc) in a work of sci-fi? [closed]
I'm looking for any work that looks at a computer in some future or alien civilization which is designed to govern its civilization or sectors of it at the administrative level.
All references ...
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Witnessing the death of a star that would go supernova
Death of stars are fun and make for a great premise, but the actual dying of stars that are conducive to intelligent life aren't so interesting. Stars that can go supernova are too short-lived to ...
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Marchetti's constant vs. Supercities?
In the far future, cities are spreading across continents, some cities are as large as france (~1000 km across) after smaller cities have grown together - Into Super Cities.
Now Marchettis Constant ...
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How might one explain (pseudo-scientifically) the generation of a "projected," guided darkness?
The Details:
We have ways to generate light and direct it with our own technology. Humans have had the ability to do this for even longer. Within the last number of decades, we have begun ...
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