Questions tagged [scientific-development]
For questions about the process of developing scientific discoveries and what prerequisites are needed for different types of discoveries.
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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 ...
4
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8answers
1k views
How to make variable super-soldier size the norm versus a single size
Imagine you can build your soldiers in a lab somewhere. You can control everything, and you've found a the ideal humanoid form (ignoring potentially better forms here). You could build them in all ...
2
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0answers
103 views
Implications of phlogiston theory? [closed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory
Assuming experiments in the 1770s had proven phlogiston theory correct instead of invalidating it, what would the implications be for the development ...
3
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0answers
89 views
How much longer would it take to reach technological parity without access to energy dense resources like fossil fuels to bootstrap development? [closed]
If the only difference in our hypothetical world is where fossil fuels like coal and crude oil are nonexistent, the advent of an analogous Renaissance Era, subsequent Age of Enlightenment, and ...
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3answers
230 views
The muscles of these humanoids stay the same size as they get stronger: what false theories would they have about strength?
The muscles:
They have muscle tissue that can grow stronger with exercise and can atrophy with neglect just like our muscle tissue. But their muscles don't grow larger when they get stronger, and ...
2
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2answers
192 views
Earth evacuated - what advancements would an early civilization gain from what they left behind?
Here's the scenario: living deep underground, far from any influence of modern humans, is a civilization of what can essentially be considered early Sumerians (from 3000 BC). Disregard how they got ...
13
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15answers
5k views
How might a Professor of Mathematics Change History?
A professor of mathematics is sent back in time to a post-Neolithic farming village. They accept him as their wise man, and he spends 30 years teaching them all he knows about mathematics until he ...
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3answers
310 views
Oligarchy as a form of government
Can a country with an oligarchy as an offical form of government be successful and have prosperous citizens?
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2answers
166 views
Could a species develop the tech necessary to land on their own moon without comprehending light?
Inspired by a brief comment converstaion found here.
I would like to investigate the design and development of an alien species whose technological development did not include an understanding of ...
1
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0answers
84 views
What consensual human experiments would provide the most geopolitical value? [closed]
In the world I envision here, some countries take a much less fundamentalist stance on human rights (maybe a more extreme version of China) than we generally take for granted.
For the purpose of ...
2
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4answers
190 views
Reasons why AI/mind-uploaded humans would run long-term anthropological experiments on biological humans?
I’m having a bit of trouble with this one. I’m trying to justify why a once scientifically advanced human outpost on an alien planet went the way of the Planet of the Apes and became a schizophrenic ...
0
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2answers
95 views
How would the lack of nukes/fission technology affect warfare and conflicts between 'great powers'? [closed]
(First time poster, but I don't shy away from receiving criticism :) )
Let's assume that there are two great powers that are vying for dominance over the planet, but neither of them has discovered ...
8
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3answers
728 views
Deriving a system of scientific units
The dominant society on my conworld is at a level of technological and scientific development not unlike our own, with minor differences here and there. Scientific standards are decided by Academy of ...
1
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0answers
165 views
Is it possible to build a Science-based medieval fantasy world? [closed]
For instance, I'm currently building a fantasy world set in medieval times in a fictional world. I'm very keen on Science and I would like to combine the two. I thought that the characters could ...
17
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6answers
4k views
What scientists would go on an research expedition to an alien world?
In my story, a team of scientists are sent to an alien world similar to Earth to conduct general research on its environment, ecosystem (that is: its animal- and plant-life), and weather.
It is the ...
8
votes
3answers
259 views
Might a ritually cannibalistic society gain a head start or have an advantage in the study and development of the sciences?
This is largely inspired by two questions that @dsollen has asked over the past year or two. The first: Would ritual cannibalism of the dead lead to issues with disease? The second: Cultural beliefs, ...
6
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2answers
504 views
Is a habitable desert planet with large fossil fuel deposits possible?
I'm working on a sci-fi Western scenario on a habitable desert planet along the lines of Tatooine from Star Wars and Arrakis from Dune.
For it to be habitable there has to be water below the surface ...
5
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6answers
538 views
How to explain why a human society's state of technology on another planet might be locked?
I've become interested in sci-fi / science-fantasy / weird Westerns.
Building upon what I asked here I would like to be more specific and ask if there's scientifically sound ways to explain why a ...
11
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2answers
765 views
How far would science advance if we lived in a cave? [closed]
In the book The Quantum Universe, the author suggests that:
If the human race evolved in an underground cave system, never to see the sky, it is possible that they could have imagined a ball of ...
0
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2answers
139 views
Is a nanocomputer something a civilization would strive to create? [closed]
I've recently been very interested in the concept of a nanocomputer for my future sci-fi world; as of now it's purely hypothetical/sci-fi esque. It seems cool, but I still have trepidations with it a ...
1
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2answers
199 views
Can haptic holograms be used to make something akin to a holodeck?
If the holograms are really advanced like the hologram of Snoke in The Force Awakens and they are haptic, which means you can feel them, can they be used to make an immersive virtual reality ...
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7answers
1k views
Pumping blood turned into power
How could we use our own heart which pumps our blood, to potentially charge devices such as a cell phone?
2
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2answers
196 views
How can one convince someone from the past that one really can transmute elements at-will? [closed]
The alchemists of legend and yore sought to transmute elements, among other things -- the classical "lead into gold", for one. Nowadays, we've figured out the nuclear physics required for ...
0
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1answer
445 views
What primitive and gun-based weapons would non-human species develop? [closed]
Pretty much the title, but I'll explain more below.
I am currently working on creating a plethora of alien species for my universe. However, I am also unsure as to what kinds of weapons some of these ...
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1answer
396 views
What technology could I expect to exist in the year 3000 A.D.? [closed]
A list of different technology would be nice
3
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1answer
140 views
How would a world with different timescales behave [closed]
Let's immagine time is like water or wind, it is uniform as of now, but it can also move and be uneven. So where there is more time, you'd complete a one-hour task earlier than if you'd have done it ...
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1answer
122 views
Can someone help me with creating a list of sci-inventions? [closed]
I'm trying to make a sci-fi RPG and I can't decide what technology I should use. Also all I can think of are overused cliques. I need some unique, really cool ideas. Can someone make a list for me of ...
54
votes
13answers
6k views
Crucial and unlikely discoveries in history [closed]
I'm trying to come up with an alternate reality where some specific invention or discovery was never made.
Many inventions or discoveries in (mainly European) history were not a 'miraculous event,' ...
4
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2answers
220 views
18th century zombie scientists
How would the Royal Society react to news of walking corpses and would germ theory or other medical sciences be advanced due to the study of them? What theories and conclusions about the cause and ...
54
votes
15answers
11k views
Most useful knowledge from the 30's to understand current state of computers & networking?
Human-vampire hybrid wakes up from hibernation that started in the late 30's and finds that world has changed.
What kind of knowledge from the 30's would be best starting point to learn computers &...
7
votes
6answers
805 views
What would be the last magic to disappear from the world
This is slightly based on Babylonian/Summerian myths where gods gave man perfect knowledge of every art and craft at the beginning of time and since then the knowledge has slowly been lost, making ...
8
votes
2answers
533 views
Under what circumstances will magnetic levitation kill Average Joe?
After the WorldBuilding community helped Average Joe start his own
microstate, Joe has become scientifically inclined, and uses his
money to conduct somewhat dangerous research projects from his ...
4
votes
4answers
294 views
How to speed up development during medieval times
Let K be a king at the end of dark ages. Let his realm be mainly a big castle and vast cultivable lands, surrounded by other realms and access to ocean. Beyond some of its councilors and subordinates, ...
49
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13answers
8k views
How to explain centuries of cultural/intellectual stagnation?
I'm moving a ton of people (asteroid miners and affiliated personnel living in the Asteroid Belt) onto a generation ship which will take years to reach its cruising speed of .1c, and which is part of ...
3
votes
3answers
267 views
Ancient Slingshots? Ancient (Vulcanized) Rubber?
This, unsurprisingly, is also related to mermaids.
Spearguns using rubber bands and the like are popular underwater weapons, so slingshots would be useful to mermaids. The problem is, these require(?)...
8
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12answers
5k views
Instant reloading bullets
I have a hero who uses a pair of handguns as weapons. As he progresses along his journey he's obviously going to become better and better with them as well as run into tougher and more numerous ...
28
votes
14answers
7k views
Can singularity be achieved in a PC without any external information?
I am developing a highly advanced AI, but I am paranoid about creating a super-intelligence, so everything I do is in a computer not connected to anything more except the obvious electric plug and ...
5
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4answers
323 views
Is there any way to improve chemically-propelled ballistic weapons?
Or have we reached the limit of what we can do with kinetic energy weapons without resorting to, for instance, electromagnetic propulsion?
Futuristic settings usually depict chemically-powered ...
7
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6answers
438 views
How to create precise measurements from scratch
You are stranded on Earth as it was ten thousand years ago. You have access (say, through a brain implant) to all of current human knowledge. Assume that basic survival is no issue.
Starting from ...
4
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4answers
216 views
Why might humans abandon the surface of their planet in favor of a subterranean existence?
In a future with great scientific advancements in architecture, engineering and science (where all three work together to create solutions to many problems that city planners, architects and civil ...
3
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1answer
512 views
Is it possible to create a giant biological “mech”?
Is it possible to create a giant biological "mech" similar to the ones in the anime Evangelion?
Its properties are:
Has no soul, just muscle, bone and a metalic exoskeleton to support their weight.
...
3
votes
4answers
264 views
Near-modern (pre-digital) society without photography, TV or other image-capture technology
Would it be possible for a pre-digital society to have evolved naturally to the same level as post-industrial-revolution Europe, without the technology of photography and, by extension, moving ...
2
votes
1answer
183 views
Utilizing oil as an incendiary weapon
During medieval age and earlier in Earth's history, oil was used as an incendiary weapon to burn animals, people, wooden fortifications and well anything that could burn.
It's speculated that one ...
3
votes
4answers
299 views
How might the emergence of intellectual traditions change the use of magic in my world?
I’m attempting to keep the magic in my (earth like) world from impacting the speed of mundane technological or scientific advancement too much. The argument for this is that ability to do things with ...
0
votes
1answer
937 views
What if the speed of light was not constant? [closed]
How would the laws of physics change if the speed of light was not constant and the Michaelson-Morley experiment was instead proven to be true?
Obviously relativity would not be true, but on a small ...
4
votes
4answers
639 views
Would it be possible to a world to have multiple ages across itself, but in the same time?
I mean, would it be possible to a single world to have different historical time periods depending on the location? Like a village/kingdom that have a middle-age-like knowledge and technology, but a ...
3
votes
1answer
211 views
How long does it take for science and technology to become mutually non-intelligible?
Let's consider a multi-polar world where exchanges between the differerent poles are nearly in-existant (the other sides are considered decadant, too far away and previous interactions often escalated ...
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4answers
687 views
How can I incorporate a nuclear weapon in a fantasy middle-ages world?
I am continuing with my novel.
Well, the Prologue itself is about the successful test of a new nuclear weapon. So, the questions are pretty straightforward-
How can I portray its management?
How ...
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8answers
2k views
Is the scientific method viable in a world with a god that can and does bend reality by will?
Consider our world at 18-19 centuries. Our civilization knows how to print books, build steam machines, we have made first experiments on electricity. And one day the Mad God Sheogorath is emerged. He ...
6
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6answers
706 views
When would a species with 100% correct intuition cease all inquiry?
Given a species that did not rely on the scientific method for discovery, but rather a 100% correct intuition (essentially they correctly guess how the universe works, every time)... under what ...
