Worldbuilding

Questions tagged [technology]

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For questions about the creation, use, and application of all types of technology.

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4
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3answers
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I want humans to discover alien communication after they arrive in our solar system, is that possible? If yes then how?

The backstory is that aliens arrive at the edge of our system, somewhere beyond Pluto. This is because around the sun is a 3d bubble of anti FTL travel, no need to explore this now I just want to add ...
2
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3answers
76 views

Lava projectiles

I have a civilization that lives near an active volcano. For battle, they use the lava to their advantage, and one of their projectile weapons is a small sphere with lava inside. When thrown, it ...
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3answers
3k views

Would a smart phone work on an alien planet?

Assuming it has a full battery would a smart phone and some of its apps work on an alien planet? The environment on the planet is similar but not the same as Earth. In other words a human couldn't ...
2
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2answers
149 views

How fast would this gravity engine let planes fly?

My advanced civilization has finally managed to get gravitational engines to a smaller and more effective state. With this new technology, planes will now fly by 'falling' in the direction they are ...
4
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1answer
119 views

Space station design for long-term safety and durability

Notes: I am not using the hard-science tag for now because I do not want to restrict your imagination. However, I will add it if I get mostly speculative answers with no support in actual science. ...
6
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4answers
1k views

What is a material that might be missing on a planet that the inhabitants of said planet need to go pick up on a gas giant nearby?

I have this Earth-like planet that is running short on materials, like minerals and gasses, and they have a big spaceship that is able to gather materials from a gas giant that orbits the same star ...
13
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4answers
1k views

Would pressurized vehicles operating near the surface of Venus float?

So the setting is that we are several hundred years in the future, and scientists are sending humans to the surface of Venus in reinforced vessels similar to submarines or whatnot. We will assume that ...
2
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4answers
324 views

What plausible history allows a society to adopt Dark Age weaponry and reject “modern”-ish weapons?

Let's consider some highly civilized/organized, free-thinking world akin to the Medieval/Dark Ages: Technology is fairly rudimentary, reduced to — for the most part — two-handed swords, halberds, and ...
5
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6answers
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In a world without fossil fuels, would air travel ever really be developed?

In a world without fossil fuels, would air travel ever really be developed? Without fossil fuels, the most likely path that could lead to the development of a proper industrial revolution would ...
5
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4answers
181 views

Are dead tissues easier to preserve for extended period of time compared to living organisms?

When I asked about food preservation for 2-3 centuries, some commenters insisted that if I have technologies to preserve living humans for that long I should have no problems preserving food (with ...
37
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13answers
9k views

What would America lack if cut off from World trade for years?

North and South America totally cut off from world trade for years in modern times. No intercontinental except between the two. Would there be any current technology that couldn't be made due to lack ...
34
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5answers
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LEGO™ as a defence against barefoot warriors

LEGO™ as a defence against barefoot warriors In the far future, after the collapse of civilisation, there is an ongoing war between two tribes. The tribes have only the ability to make neolithic ...
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2answers
84 views

How to track a kidnapper's phone [closed]

I'm writing a novel, in which one of my characters is kidnapped. Fortunately for her, her kidnappers aren't extremely good at the whole kidnapping thing. She manages to gain access to one of their ...
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19answers
5k views

How could primitive people destroy or severely damage a very large very modern building?

In my story, there are a large group of technologically backwards Earthmen who wish to remove a futuristic Martian arcology from their ancestral land. The Earthmen do not have any 20th or 21st century ...
8
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6answers
243 views

Alternates to silicon electronics for a Von Neumann Probe?

Disclaimer: this is a modified cross-post of my post on the Space Exploration SE site, adapted to better fit the Worldbuilding community. A Von Neumann Probe (VNP) is a sci-fi probe which explores the ...
3
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6answers
675 views

Never-Ending EMP [closed]

For plot reasons, I need to cut off a planet from all possible means of conventional electromagnetic communication with the rest of the universe. I would also like a impose a "knockback" on ...
15
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8answers
3k views

How could I make cameras fit in with a middle ages inspired culture?

One thing I've always admired about The Legend of Zelda series of video games is how fairly modern technology and even groundbreaking futuristic technology is intertwined into a fantasy setting so ...
2
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2answers
153 views

How do I make international standards for future technology?

In my world, a civil war was fought between a united human government, and the human colonies that felt alienated from the republic. Despite lacking in conventional weapons, the colonials used ...
1
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1answer
50 views

What kind of combat situation warrants the use of frequency modulating phaser? [closed]

I'm comparing 2 modes of modulation: amplitude(AM) and frequency(FM). My understanding is if the phaser is set to stun I can lower the power which is exactly what AM phaser is preferred but what about ...
5
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1answer
200 views

In a Gunpowder Fantasy world, would shorter/taller races be able to use muskets just as effectively as a Human?

I just recently started my first proper worldbuilding project and I've encountered an issue. Most of the races in my world are pretty standard height, but some of them are pretty short or even very ...
6
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5answers
232 views

How could a small group pre-apocalyptic people prevent the breakdown of an advanced nuclear-based power source generations later?

I've been toying with the idea of a world that was once hyper-technological, where body modification and nanotech-based body modifications were the norm such that society practically couldn't function ...
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13answers
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How could you disable a chip within your own brain?

Let's say that we all have digital chips implanted into us as babies which are embedded deep into our nervous system and hooked into our senses- short of surgery, which isn't an option in this world, ...
12
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8answers
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Are there advantages to using a quad-treaded/split tracked system for a vehicle?

All real military ground vehicles use a continuous caterpillar track or tank tread, but quad-treads/split tracks are often seen in sci-fi, with their futuristic tanks and settings. (Halo scorpion, C&...
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2answers
96 views

Realistic Top-Speed for a circumplanetary Mass-Driver

Mass drivers for launching cargo or spacecraft can be improved in two ways. Either one increases acceleration (which the wetware can't handle so well) or one increases the length of the mass driver. ...
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18answers
5k views

What are plausible faster than light methods for a far advanced civilization that aren't a warp drive

Hopefully the title sums it up well, but I'm looking for potential faster than light travel (hoping for real or pseudo-real science here, as much as possible) that doesn't involve a warp drive, which ...
6
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2answers
190 views

Is it possible to make a catapult with bronze & wood instead of iron/steel & wood?

I've read that Roman catapult were made out of iron and I was wondering if it was possible to replace that iron with bronze instead. In a world where bronze is readily available, copper and tin..etc ...
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6answers
243 views

Just how big of an advantage would an army with bronze weapons & armor have over another more primitive army armed with stone & bone made weapons?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm building a fantasy world where iron/steel is exceptionally poor and the materials necessary for bronze (copper, tin...etc) are super abundant and readily available ...
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9answers
2k views

how could an alien species with modern technology communicate at long distances when their language is made up of sign language?

Let's say that these aliens have recently sent up a manned satellite into their orbit. Let's say these aliens mainly speak through sign language. How will these alien astronauts communicate with those ...
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2answers
218 views

Hypothetically or Theorethically can ancient to medieval periods technology make non biodegradable plastic bag?

To make it clear, I mean the period or timeline, so this include the entirety of the world during up to 1500, not just specifically the technology of ancient/medieval Europe, ancient/medieval Japan, ...
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20answers
10k views

Could you run a CPU at a much higher speed, as a disposable item?

I have a magitech system where instantaneous processing power is much more important than long term processing power. In my world, magic is cast by using compute power to communicate with a ...
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2answers
77 views

Measuring weight before the invention of scales [closed]

Background Let us go back to 3000 BC. Assume that scales have not yet been invented for measuring weights. (if they have, then please choose a time and/or place where they haven't) For the purposes ...
2
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6answers
205 views

Could firearms realistically have RFID reader built into them so they could be tracked?

Firearms on their interior are very lacking in space, and putting an RFID reader on the exterior takes up the space that could be used by attachments like a CornerShot or vertical foregrip. It would ...
12
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3answers
949 views

Aliens took out our satellites, what military technology stops working or impacted to be almost useless?

Aliens arrive today (2020) and are not completely peaceful. The aliens destroy all Earth satellites instantly. So that means a lot of the more advanced military technology like guided missiles and ...
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7answers
611 views

What would it take to make a “true” universal translator? [duplicate]

In Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy I know you put the Babel Fish in your ear and it telepathically translates any language, and the one from Star Trek could translate languages that the Federation ...
3
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1answer
83 views

Could Atlanteans harvest energy from brine pools or convert them into dump sites?

Imagine there is a race of highly intelligent merfolk - let's call them Atlanteans. Both the mussels and the Atlanteans lived together amicably around brine pools. The brine pools, found about 200 ...
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1answer
52 views

How do 3D manuver gear works? [closed]

After watching an anime, Attack on Titan I became annoyed by the devices used by those scouts tasked to protect civilians and the tall walls against the giants. I wonder how strong are these cables ...
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17answers
5k views

Is the concept of a biometric smart gun that will detonate when anyone besides its owner touches the weapon unrealistic?

This is basically an extension of the idea of the smart gun, a gun that will only fire when in the hands of its biometrically linked owner, but two steps up. The idea is that someone won't dare to ...
3
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3answers
119 views

Should my mechs have an artillery gun installed onto their back? [closed]

I’ve decided to add mechs into my world to act as a force multiplication unit as well as an anti-[zombie] horde asset. Yes, I know that mechs are unrealistic and impractical at best but I just want to ...
5
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2answers
189 views

Feasibility of sourcing fuel from air

Is it feasible to modify a combustion engine to source fuel from air and oxidizer from a tank, in an atmosphere that has significant amount of flammable fluids, such as one found in Titan? If so, can ...
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11answers
3k views

Can FTL travel be achieved with mid-20th century technology? [closed]

Let's say that the FTL system is based upon that of Star Trek, but deviations can be made. FTL technology was discovered through the reverse-engineering of a starship that crashed on the civilization'...
4
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9answers
1k views

What era would find today's technology overwhemling? [closed]

(note I believe this is not a duplicate of Would relatively primitive people really confuse technology with magic? - that person's question is if there were precedent for primitive people finding ...
42
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25answers
5k views

How would travel classes be delimited in a world where teleportation is omnipresent?

The year is [Random number between 2100 and 3000], and Earth is now covered in a tight network of teleporters that have replaced all other modes of planetary travel. Only those wishing to travel to ...
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1answer
164 views

A Modern Knight [closed]

I am an eccentric billionaire with a strong preference for all things medieval. However, my company happens to produce state-of-the-art modern military technology. Fascinated by stories portraying ...
3
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4answers
136 views

Could an obligate relationship between a sapient species, and a species with appendages for manipulating its environment evolve?

I was thinking of a situation, in which there are two species, one with similar intelligence to humans, but no appendage for manipulating the world around it, and another species that is not sapient, ...
13
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17answers
4k views

In a world with a single operating system, how can we avoid user tracking?

This is a world where all devices run on the same OS and which requires a unique login of everyone using the device. That is, each person has a single account and all devices log in with the same user ...
2
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6answers
131 views

What essential operation had to be run on autopilot in a manned combat powered armour?

In the near future, the military deploys hundred of thousands of combat ready powered armours for peace keeping purpose around the world, they carry heavy weapons and an array of sophisticated sensors ...
-1
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1answer
96 views

A Good Gift for a Medieval Worker? [closed]

I'm a time traveller, and on my last trip back to the 1300s I befriended several of the locals. One is a fairly wealthy farmer, and the other is the village blacksmith. Now, since they helped me when ...
3
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1answer
141 views

Could the use of von Neumann probes by some precursor be a possible solution to the Great Filter? [closed]

I was thinking about including von Neumann probes as the Great Filter in my setting where humanity discovers that there are planets all over the place that have been turned into hollow bodies, ...
5
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11answers
3k views

What explosive mines discriminate against hovercraft?

Tech level is post WW2 era. Hovercraft is often loaded with tons of explosives which is then set off within the proximity of an enemy vehicle or infrastructure, they can cover a large distance in a ...
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2answers
190 views

How would a desert civilization develop their battlesuits and powered armors efficiently?

I had did one for a jungle civilization How would a jungle dwelling civilization utilize powered armor efficiently? , so I decided to do another one, but this one for desert dwellers. Since desert ...

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