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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How would computers develop in a society where a Cherokee-like language is the dominant lingua franca?
I am writing a book set in a parallel universe where English is not the dominant language and the dominant language is a complex polysynthetic language that makes use of a complex system of word ...
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How would Mathematics and Sciences had developed in a strongly non-Euclidean universe? [closed]
The geometry of our universe is, on human scale, Euclidean. This means that our everyday experience gives us a good understanding of $\mathbb{R}^2$ and $\mathbb{R}^3$, which in turn is of great help ...
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Potential, ethically-questionable advancements in science [closed]
I'm creating a futuristic dystopia in which a religious sect decides to shun advancements in technology and science.
The reason for this is that science has evolved in ethically questionable ways. ...
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Fuel for vehicles in an abruptly abandoned world
The scenario: in September 1985, almost everyone abruptly disappears. Humans, domestic animals, carried/worn possessions, and vehicles currently in motion, vanish, while everything else stays as it ...
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Can there be an Underwater Advanced Civilization? [closed]
After watching Aquaman and, most recently, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which features Namor and his underwater empire, I got curious about the feasibility of an underwater civilization composed of ...
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Under what conditions would a society be able to remain undetected in our current world?
So hypothetically, what would be the best "hiding" locations for societies/organizations that seek to avoid contact with the rest of humanity? In other words, where would be the best place (...
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Can my aliens develop their medical science, in spite of their strict ethics?
There's something I need to get out of the way in my sci-fi. Do the aliens also possess medical technology or is it a science exclusive to humans? Because in this scenario the aliens are the more ...
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Cooling body suit inside another insulated suit
So in my story the protagonist is a genetically enhanced vigilante that uses a full bulletproof jumpsuit in her activities.
But because of her accelerated metabolism, dealing with the heat of getting ...
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Genetic engineering for "natural selection" in a single individual [closed]
Yes, I KNOW that evolution is a process that occurs through many generations via random mutations and natural selection, but in a world where humans have found a cure for aging and have mind backups ...
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How fast can technology be brought from 11th century to 21st century?
In my story, there is a man who has an incredible memory. He lives on Earth for the first seventy years of his life, during which time he can recall everything he reads. Through a complicated series ...
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Which numeric base should I use for universal measurement unit prefixes? [closed]
I'm developing a story where Earth is obliterated by an asteroid and the small mars colony collapses into chaos shortly after.
The last survivor enters a criogenic chamber for indefinite amount of ...
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Simulation Computing Loophole? [closed]
The story i'm working on is set on a near future where brain-computer interface has evolved enough for people to control virtual bodies in real time and feel every physical stimuli from the virtual ...
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Factors to why a civilization is not using past technology that is more advanced [closed]
In my world, there have been past ancient civilizations and empires who had better technology. Not just infrastructure, but also mechanical machinery, better inventions, and technics.
As the years go ...
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Chemistry without oil
I looked through some posts discussing worlds without oil. Those posts mainly focus on fuels and transportation. But I realized that the distillation of oil produces lots of organic compounds - ethene,...
user94201
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When is the earliest possible opportunity for earth to create an absolute unit of measure?
Throughout history we have used units of measure that were defined by arbitrary standards; things that were conveniently around when whichever government needed something measured. “How much tax does ...
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Alternative reasons for inventing blackpowder
I'm working on a small personal project. I've hit a bit of a roadblock though, that being the question why someone would bother inventing blackpowder in my world.
Blackpowder isn't something that was ...
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Aliens exist on the other side of the nearby wormhole, but we don't know wormhole exists yet. How might they be detected and communicated with?
Scenario: Humans have setup an observation/research station close enough to study the super blackhole Sagittarius A*, which in this world is a wormhole. Aliens exist on the other side. (I am flexible ...
user93359
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Realistic sensor array capabilities?
This is a follow-up to an as of yet unanswered question: What would the local effects/affects be of a ring spinning near luminal velocity?
If you can, please take a look at this question as well!
...
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A perfect filter spell. What knowledge could it bring? [closed]
I am only asking about knowledge. What things can be learned more easily now that this item can be used. I know that it could result in a faster scientific advancement due to it creating an abundance ...
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How would asexual reproduction (via mitosis) affect human cultural development?
I’m writing a humanoid race with perfectly symmetrical bilateral anatomy. This trait is shared by almost all complex life on their world and has shaped the way they reproduce; via mitosis. I’ve ...
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How would a world with limited access to modern technology work?
The setting is a semi-modern fantasy world with pockets of population separated by huge expanses of wild land where monsters and other predatory creatures live, keeping civilization from expanding too ...
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What kind of Alien artifacts or minerals could advance the human race?
Let me explain what I mean.
Let's say an Alien civilization left a lot of devices on a planet or moon (in our solar system or wherever). They had a colony, want/wanted to Terraform (or "Xenoform&...
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If people had different views on biology/nature since the 1600s, would scientific and technological development be different or would it be the same? [closed]
I was reading this article, https://aeon.co/essays/can-animals-be-usefully-described-as-clockwork-machines, and was wondering if people kept viewing animals as machine like would technology and ...
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Humans in a world without trees [closed]
How do you think humans would develop technologically in a world without trees? If all the other requirements of basic survival like food, oxygen, etc are met? There are animals around but no ...
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How feasible is it that aliens would use a number field other than the standard real numbers?
I will begin this with a disclaimer that I barely understand the p-adic analysis beyond very general ideas of what the p-adic numbers are and how they are constructed. But this is a question I've been ...
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Without biological research, would be people ever able to come to an idea of neural networks? [closed]
Without biology, would people come to an idea of computer neural nets?
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Could a self-consuming rocket be useful or cheaper than regular ones?
Technically speaking, all rockets are self-consuming, since they are basically tin cans with fuel. And to carry even less weight with then, they have stages. Allowing not only the rocket to go farther,...
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Cheap and Efficient material (real or not) to power thrusters that could be used for space ships that work in and out of atmospheres
Takes place in an advance sci-fi setting where old alien races have found new laws of physics. (aka the mcguffin to make this work)
I need some sort of material that is theoretically possible,
but we ...
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How can you create non-centripetal artificial gravity and apply it to propel a spacecraft by riding the gravitational space time warp?
I like the idea that it is possible to use the warping of spacetime as a propelling force to move spacecraft through an independent non-centripetal artificial gravity drive.
This drive uses the ...
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What are the technologies which has a prerequest of quantum mechanics [closed]
I'm thinking about a world where the planet was wrapped by a force field that experiments which lead to quantum mechanics and special relativity gives the false result. I'm wondering what technology ...
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How to have a religion that would not impede scientific development
The world setting is as follows:
The main species is human and beastoid(animals that walk on two legs and have hands capable of dexterity, mostly like dog, wolf, cat, bear, rabbit, goat). Half-blood ...
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How do you make scientific progress happen in the presence of superpowers?
With superpowers, people would lose the desire to build machinery as superpowers can perform most purposes, and people would be less interested in studying the environment than wielding superpowers (...
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How to incorporate scientific development into fantasy/sci-fi?
In the Avatar the Last Airbender manga/comic and Avatar The Legend of Korra, scientific advancement took over industrial work replacing bending. Eventually nuclear weapons would be found (as well as ...
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Could a pre-modern civilization make a gas canister with rough valves and pressure regulation?
I wanted to have a gas cylinder that would hold up to about 10 litres of gas (oxygen, mainly) at 20 atmospheres of pressure. Or, if that's impossible, 7 atmospheres would suffice.
The setting is pre-...
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Could you develop Electrolysis with Pre-Modern technology?
Electrolysis was a popular idea for how mermaids would generate oxygen for their guests. This leads to another question: Is it possible to perform electrolysis with pre-modern technology?
Electrolysis ...
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What technology would mermaids excel at?
I regularly see people speaking about the difficulties of technology underwater, and see questions about whether underwater civilizations could produce fire, electricity, etc.. But I haven't seen any ...
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Complete graph (DAG) of prerequisite relationships of human technology
There are a bunch of questions here that require knowledge on ''which technology is a prerequisite for which'' (for example here, here or here).
I was wondering if there was ever any attempt to ...
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In an alternate universe in which humans can live, how to encourage emphasis upon the life sciences
Let us presuppose a universe adjacent to our own, that has collided non-catastrophically with our own on a number of occasions, causing an exchange of matter including humans in the most recent ...
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Evolution of biotech [closed]
So, I want to write a realistic alternate timeline where people switch to biotechnology in the 21st century, assuming that the technology to make it it already there. I have postulated several reasons ...
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Putting together a research expedition to an alien planet - what kind of scientists am I taking with me?
It's the 22nd century and we have discovered a derelict alien craft somewhere in the Oort cloud. The craft contains a star chart showing its origin on an alien planet some 30 light years away. Let's ...
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How can early people prove that their planet is a cuboid?
Imagine a cuboid planet with a thick atmosphere orbiting a star similar to our Sun. The inhabitants are as intelligent as humans and recently discovered the universal laws of gravitation and motion ...
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What problem in classical physics can a computer solve that a human doing calculus cannot?
So in my setting there is a small and exclusive group of people that have access to devices that work like computers (but which are not the same as computers. They do not use semiconductors and ...
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Building a formula 1 car within one month?
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One of my characters wants to participate in a medieval chariot race. The catch is, they use magical chariots that can go at significant speeds, similar to today’s street cars.
So he and his ...
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How to evacuate an entire planet?
Setting: An Earth-like planet except all the continents are joined together like Pangea.
The locals are in the medieval era and have the ability to use magic. Magic can level buildings at best, ...
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Which is easier to develop: a piston prop engine or a jet engine?
I’m writing a novel where people from our universe move to another.
The other universe is a fantasy one with medieval technology.
These people have the help of an advanced AI that contains the ...
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How a character from the future, reincarnated in the medieval times, could use their knowledge without being accused of witchcraft? [closed]
The setting: more or less our regular medieval times, no magic or magical creatures, but religion is big and most people believe in folklore and superstition.
The plot: character from the far future ...
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Did people have an idea of DNA in the 17th century? [closed]
I know that DNA was discovered later in time but during the 17th century, specifically around 1620 and onwards, would people have known anything about the idea of DNA? If so then how much would they ...
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The solar system is open for exploration. What fundamental research will we do first? [closed]
In the near future, technology and budgets for space flight have advanced considerably, with lots of uncrewed probes around and crewed missions as far as Mars. Notably, there's a significant ...
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Advance human society by time-transporting a book. Which to choose? [closed]
Humanity has done it - the first time-machine was built! However, the machine's capabilities are very limited as it is very costly and fragile, which means we only have one shot. Building another one ...
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What are some difficulties in synthesizing desirable substances produced in nature?
Suppose that there is a substance that is produced in nature by an organism. This substance is rather desirable. The reason this substance is desirable can be anything: Whether it is because it is a ...
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