Questions tagged [survival]

For questions about the viability of life in certain conditions. For example, it could be used in questions asking about the possibility of life on a planet or other astronomical body.

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Avoiding a cataclysmic meteor shower

With what is available, with means of transportation or method, what would be best strategy to stay on the opposite side of the Earth during a cataclysmic meteor shower that may last for days?
Justintimeforfun's user avatar
12 votes
7 answers
3k views

Can an access to Matter Duplicator change a society of survivors stranded in pristine wilderness to evolve beyond Medieval level of civilization?

Clarification: based on the info below, are there non-obvious ways Matter Dulicator could be used to push the “tech level” of such a society so far past the late Medieval level that common dangers and ...
Going Durden's user avatar
  • 1,004
1 vote
1 answer
97 views

Atypical Habitable Planets - Planets Outside of Typical 'Habitable Zone' With Characteristics Still Conducive to Life

Warning: I am wordy and I overexplain things. I'm also Autistic, so I may come off as odd or unusual (and that also feeds into why I overexplain LOL). I'll do my best to be clear and concise, but you ...
Kunabee's user avatar
  • 13
1 vote
3 answers
235 views

Would a Lilliputian individual need their own personal house if they lived in a normal sized residence?

At first I was going to ask if a miniature person could live out of a 3x3(bodylength) cabin but I thought about a more pressing question: Would a tiny person need their own house if they lived in a ...
Conan Highwoods's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
956 views

What is the minimum complexity of summoned "food" that a person could live long-term on?

This question is inspired by an another question which asked how long a mage could survive on pure water, NaCl salt, and sucrose, which they could summon. In taking this a step farther, what is the ...
DDriggs00's user avatar
28 votes
6 answers
9k views

How long could a person survive on nothing but water, salt, and sugar?

Magic System One of my worlds has a magic system that allows people to produce any element, as well as a small number of molecules. When something is produced using magic, it spawns into existence in ...
M S's user avatar
  • 2,249
6 votes
3 answers
3k views

What wild mammals could survive a nuclear winter? [closed]

I'm writing a story that takes place after a nuclear winter that lasts for at least 25 years, and which caused much of the surviving population to become hunter-gatherers as a result of crop failure ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
10 votes
8 answers
6k views

Could a newborn baby survive on a paleo diet?

Background Info One of my stories features the classic isekai trope of a person being reincarnated into a baby's body while still retaining their full cognitive abilities. The world they are ...
M S's user avatar
  • 2,249
4 votes
1 answer
184 views

Could machines survive in the galactic center?

Let's say a super advanced robot "species" that are programmed to roam the galaxy and explore. They build gigantic structures similar to Dyson spheres, and ensure that they will survive to ...
Mishima's user avatar
  • 979
3 votes
5 answers
272 views

Survival Prepping, for Time Travel

Six months from now, ChatGPT transitions into an Artificial Super Intelligence. Six months after that, it discovers how to Time Travel. It is confirmed that traveling into the past will NOT affect our ...
LoganP98's user avatar
  • 1,260
5 votes
4 answers
570 views

Stranded mining colony using its own resources to build an interplanetary spacecraft: how long to completion can I credibly make it? (More = better)

Setting In the not-too-far future, Mars hosts a few mining complexes that extract, refine and send materials back to our planetary system, as well as some scientific research bases. Commutes between ...
Kubler's user avatar
  • 465
6 votes
7 answers
1k views

Why do my Androids need to eat and drink? [closed]

What would be a good reason for androids to have a need to eat and drink (not necessarily human food)? The human body requires food and water in order to refuel and sustain itself, but in the case of ...
19BornUnderPunches97's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

The Frozen Star - Can U-238 reactors be used as a energy source for 10,000 years?

I was watching this Minecraft Animation video based on a scientific concept about what would happen if we froze the Sun - What happens if we Freeze The Sun- Portrayed by Minecraft. In this video, ...
Alastor's user avatar
  • 3,402
4 votes
4 answers
548 views

Could I keep buildings heated during multi week long hibernation?

In the world of a story I'm writing, there is not normal night and day, nor are there seasons. Instead, the world is governed by magical lights, which occur in several week cycles - the light Dawn has ...
WasatchWind's user avatar
  • 3,207
4 votes
6 answers
265 views

Near-Death Experiences At a Point in History with No Medical Science?

I want a scenario where a person witnesses a "near death experience". But here's the catch -- there is no medical science available (pick your time, as far back as you like). The person must ...
Ralph Bolton's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
1k views

What kind of training would an agent responsible for surviving in a hostile, apocalyptic world need to go through?

The premise of my story is that we have discovered a parallel Earth (let's call it E2) lying next to ours (let's call this E1). Something has gone wrong on E2 - at some point in its past, it went ...
Faz's user avatar
  • 1,385
-2 votes
2 answers
141 views

How Well Would Humans Fare In A Romero-Styled Zombie Apocalypse? [closed]

The Story takes place in the modern world, and starting from one day anyone who recently died with their brain intact will revive as a zombie to feed on living flesh. In this question we will not ...
Hi0401's user avatar
  • 477
21 votes
9 answers
9k views

How long would humanity survive if a sudden eternal night occurs?

It's a normal victorian era day until people start to realize that the night is taking too long to pass and the sun is not coming out, in fact the sun is never coming out again. The sun still exists ...
Mark T's user avatar
  • 321
2 votes
4 answers
132 views

Functioning humanoid society with negligible gravity

In a fictional world, a humanoid species settles upon a foreign planet and intends to build a colony on this planet with an eventual goal of full habitation. They originally chose this planet for ...
Joe Kerr's user avatar
  • 299
11 votes
6 answers
5k views

Can a gunsafe survive a nuclear blast level attack?

For reference, here is a type of safe I am talking about: Gun safes are extremely strong, they are on the more expensive end made with solid steel plates. But I am unsure whether something like that ...
Sixoca's user avatar
  • 135
3 votes
6 answers
440 views

How can human feed themselves on a planet without organic compounds?

I have a planet that is mostly inhabited by "animals" that aren't carbon based, with intentions for humanity to eke out a way of living there. Now, easily I could reason that they just ...
Quinn's user avatar
  • 1,206
12 votes
8 answers
4k views

How fast would supplies become rare in a post-electric world?

I've created an alternate Earth where recurring G5 geomagnetic storms have eliminated the use of electricity. This means no major manufacturing and no shipping of everything from basic household ...
Montromancer's user avatar
33 votes
6 answers
11k views

How far in the past could a highly-trained survivalist live?

Related to How far in the past could unprepared humans survive?, but assumes a single survivalist, purpose-trained for his mission. He is to time travel as far back as he can and attempt to survive ...
forest's user avatar
  • 2,043
6 votes
5 answers
611 views

How can we prevent the Earth being scorched and swallowed as the Sun grows and eventually enters its red giant phase?

The Sun is slowly growing more and more luminous. As a result of these processes, multicellular life forms may be extinct in about 800 million years, and eukaryotes in 1.3 billion years, leaving only ...
Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
208 views

Survivability of a suddenly increased aphelion

I have long been wanting to write a story about Earth freezing relatively fast. In the past I have asked some questions here considering a scenario where Earth becomes a rogue planet... But I also ...
The Square-Cube Law's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
3k views

Could a binary star system support life?

If we take an earth-sized planet with similar atmosphere, and put it into a P-type binary orbit, could it sustain human life? For sake of clarity, assume both stars are G-type stars and the planet is ...
Blue Skin and Glowing Red Eyes's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
374 views

Super hot tropical forest

Consider an Earth like world except much hotter with extremely hot and wet tropical rain forests. Assuming 100% humidity, how hot might the alternate Earth tropics get and still support tree like ...
Slarty's user avatar
  • 37.3k
1 vote
2 answers
159 views

Motivations for technologically advanced humans to abandon the solar system or a planet still habitable? [closed]

Let's say we are in the moderately distant future. For example, humans are technologically advanced enough so that interstellar travel is possible and Venus and Mars are terraformed. General ...
Lewis's user avatar
  • 27
-2 votes
4 answers
1k views

How would men survive without women?

What could make a male-only human reproduction system exist, which makes women obsolete, expendable, and also gives men full control over their paternity?
Kirari's user avatar
  • 189
1 vote
3 answers
149 views

How long to turn a valley into a village? [closed]

So a group of villagers go up a very high mountain range fleeing from raiders. The urgency of their flight forces them to face the harsh mountains and, in their desperation, they end up finding a ...
urquiza's user avatar
  • 443
6 votes
2 answers
708 views

30 g kick to an entire planet, but only for extremely short duration [re-scoped]

I plan to subject an entire earth-like planet to about 300m/s^s acceleration, what is the shortest duration I can get away with for non-scientists to realize something has happened, without everyone’s ...
unin's user avatar
  • 365
56 votes
12 answers
7k views

How to politely coexist with a vampire?

Inspired by a comical misreading of the title to this question, how would you politely coexist with a vampire? Vampires want blood. You have blood. You'd prefer to keep your blood in your veins and ...
bob's user avatar
  • 616
-1 votes
3 answers
221 views

How would a medieval kingdom survive a zombie outbreak [closed]

In my world, there is a zombie infestation that destroys and takes out many kingdoms, citystates, and villages. These zombies are fast and like the ones from zombieland. It is possible to get cured, ...
Crafter's user avatar
  • 2,605
2 votes
1 answer
78 views

How can plants spread to an extraterrestrial body without human assistance? [duplicate]

The plants can sense worsening ecological conditions in 2022. They need to germinate beyond planet earth. Assuming they can survive in space, germinate in extraterrestrial soil, and the like, how can ...
Jacob Valdez's user avatar
12 votes
10 answers
5k views

How do we survive in post-apocalyptical permanent nighttime (with no electricity, communication, running water, and aliens of course)? [closed]

A race of aliens have invaded Earth and they love the dark. These aliens have caused intense smoke shading to occur so that it is permanently pitch black. It has been several weeks since it went dark, ...
Jadon Erwin's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
384 views

How realistic would it be to have a human based colony surviving a “great flood” style event and living only on ships?

Technology: end of ww2 era (before de-armerment) Population: ~2.5 billion Location: current earth Essentially, massive amounts of water have appeared, covering the entire earth. Humanity has roughly 1 ...
Blue Skin and Glowing Red Eyes's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
349 views

Most hospitable biomes for living off the land

I'm trying to figure out which are the most hospitable biomes for living off the land. Say we have a small spacecraft fallen through a time warp that takes it sideways in time, where it finds itself ...
rwallace's user avatar
  • 4,907
16 votes
7 answers
4k views

How would a person with food allergies cope in the Middle Ages?

In a story I'm working on, a character suddenly finds himself transported back to the late Middle Ages. This is completely unexpected, so he doesn't have time to prepare. It occurred to me that a lot ...
In Hoc Signo's user avatar
  • 10.3k
9 votes
6 answers
4k views

Can loneliest loneliness kill in a post apocalypse?

My story occurs in the near future after a nuclear holocaust, the human population is reduced to mere thousands spread out all over the world. A mysterious disease seems to infect the survivors of the ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 47.9k
33 votes
9 answers
7k views

What can we eat in the late Cretaceous?

Suppose there is a team of explorers sent back in time 66 million years ago somewhere before the K-T event took place, the mission is to spend no more than 3 months to retrieve a blood sample from a ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 47.9k
4 votes
2 answers
122 views

How Can Crashdrake Live In a Pine Forest?

Crashdrakes. These dragons are, for just about any intent or purpose, a cassowary, or in other words they are big, flightless, highly aggressive and yet herbivorous death birds. Seeing that dragons in ...
Alendyias's user avatar
  • 13.5k
3 votes
4 answers
370 views

Feasible ways for humanity to survive a nuclear apocalypse? [closed]

As stated in answers to my previous question: How many survivors would grow on earth years after a worldwide nuclear holocaust? ...even two countries like India & Pakistan bombing each other a few ...
SuperYoshikong's user avatar
47 votes
18 answers
8k views

Why do dragons need to roar before chasing down their prey?

The dragons are the size of a double-decker bus with a long wingspan of over 100 meters, despite their muscular build they lack both endurance and stamina so more often than not they would simply ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 47.9k
4 votes
2 answers
207 views

Lightspeed travel survivability [closed]

In my sci fi novel, a technologically advanced version of the human race is capable of harnessing and creating large amounts of antimatter for interstellar travel at 99% the speed of light , ...
Zetrox's user avatar
  • 438
3 votes
1 answer
127 views

A dragon flash-heats a forest, how long does it take the forest to recover?

A closed-off dell ringed entirely by mountains is smothered in smoke at 900°F from a dragon. After suffocating the forest, a magical barrier seals them in. It is invisible but doesn't allow airflow ...
Vogon Poet's user avatar
  • 8,179
3 votes
1 answer
136 views

What would the survival rate be for a group of people forced into an underground, bunker style community?

Suppose 1000 people were forced underground into a relatively well set up bunker style community. Assuming they have no official leadership or organization to begin with, they must rapidly learn their ...
Willough's user avatar
  • 125
-1 votes
2 answers
154 views

How to fake my death in 1994 [closed]

The year is 1994. I am being monitored by a shadow organization with agents in every corner of the government, public service, and positions of power. Fortunately for me they have a lot of people to ...
Dugan 's user avatar
  • 470
0 votes
2 answers
464 views

How badly has the snakebot doomed the world?

First, on January 20th, 2017, the capitol cities of the Nuclear Club were destroyed by (very clean) 80 megaton nuclear blasts: Washington DC, Moscow, London, Paris, Beijing, New Delhi, Islamabad, ...
Monty Wild's user avatar
  • 60.1k
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

How might Elves in this setting survive?

I'm working on a short story. In in this story there are elves. I'm hoping to realistically write how they would fight both one another and other races. NOTE: The elves didn't naturally evolve, they ...
Atriol's user avatar
  • 353
3 votes
3 answers
112 views

Could an ecosphere realistically survive in space long enough to plant life on a new celestial body

I’m not taking about the ecospheres by the brand “ecosphere”, but the type you see on the channel life in jars. These type of ecospheres are essentially a sealed clear container with water, dirt, ...
Topcode's user avatar
  • 2,285

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