All Questions
88 questions
6
votes
9
answers
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views
Would it be possible for a living being the size of a planet to survive? [closed]
I've been thinking what is the theoretical size limit of a living being? I asked myself this question:
Could a living being grow to the size of a planet?
This super massive organism would have its own ...
15
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Life on a planet with never-ending rain
I'm intrigued by the notion of life on a planet where rain is a constant presence. Imagine a world where precipitation never ceases, where the skies are perpetually gray, and the sound of raindrops ...
- 521
12
votes
9
answers
7k
views
Is it biologically possible for one species to need another species to reproduce?
I'm writing a speculative story about a planet in another Solar System. On this planet, there are five types of reproduction strategies amongst the sapient species. There are androgenic, gynogenics, ...
- 5,390
2
votes
3
answers
225
views
Could a planet 2 times the mass of earth have floating organisms in its skies
Can a planet 2 times the mass of earth have floating animals in its skys? I watched the netflix documentary series ailen world's and one of the exoplanets atlas was high gravity but was very dense so ...
0
votes
0
answers
147
views
Can there be habitable moons despite heavy changes in axial tilt of their mother body?
Ok so i created a gas giant with 10 Jupiter masses and like 9 moons between 0.8 and 1.5 earth masses. All exept the most distanced of those moons are tidally locked to the gas giant and their axial ...
- 173
10
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Would humans on disparate planets with little to no contact with one another continue to evolve along different lines?
Would humans on disparate planets with little to no contact with one another continue to evolve along different lines?
In this universe, humans left Earth a hundred thousand years before. Or if it ...
- 4,948
10
votes
2
answers
337
views
A planet with acid rains but its atmosphere is breathable
I am trying to create a planet that rains acid, and that has acidic oceans of water, but a breathable nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere.
This planet has native lifeforms that have evolved to withstand these ...
- 147
5
votes
1
answer
93
views
Could any photosynthesis occur at 5.5 AU on a warm planet?
I'm designing a habitable planet orbiting an M-dwarf, which is orbiting a G star at 5.5 AU. The orbit around the G star keeps the "night-side" (not technically an accurate term in this ...
- 985
6
votes
6
answers
603
views
What physical effects would 3000 years have on the physiology of humans on Mars?
This is my first ever question on here.
I've seen a few posts on Martian physiology but since the answers on here are answered so well and by so many I thought I'd be more specific.
How would human ...
3
votes
3
answers
293
views
If we accidentally spread microorganisms to other planets in our solar system, could they evolve into complex life?
Is the following story plausible: a spacecraft transports microorganisms from Earth to another planet or moon in our solar system. Those microorganisms survive, and eventually, evolve into complex ...
- 133
2
votes
2
answers
373
views
How colorful would plants and animals in a habitable planet orbiting a F main sequence star would be?
F main sequence stars are hotter and brighter than the Sun and therefore they emit more UV radiation than sun-like stars. Many scientists think that complex life could develop in planets orbiting such ...
- 1,899
7
votes
1
answer
144
views
Could a lake be seeded on Mars and sustain an ecosystem, including fish?
The temperature, pressure and radiation are all not optimum on Mars for life. But if the pressure were several fold higher (20-30 mbar instead 6 mbar), the temperature 5C higher, and with less ...
- 466
5
votes
1
answer
277
views
Are there any big showstoppers for this cold planet having a large ecosystem?
I have a question: what is the best way to get a outer habitable zone planet to have liquid water on its surface (and a complex biosphere) without having lethal amounts of CO2 or greenhouse gases in ...
- 1,206
6
votes
1
answer
244
views
Largest possible biomass on any given exoplanet
Suppose you are the hypothetical architect of a new exoplanet, who's been handed the job to maximize this exoplanet's biomass.
Given the current knowledge of life as it is, and thus leaving any sort ...
- 171
3
votes
4
answers
212
views
What atmospheric conditions would be needed produce intense heat, weather and wind that could fry a human in less than 5 minutes at sea-level? [closed]
first time poster here.
The premise:
I’m trying to design a planet in where sea-level / lowlands are an uninhabitable wasteland with temperatures that would fry a human in less than 5 minutes. In my ...
- 617
-2
votes
1
answer
90
views
Alternative biology/Xenoforming 3:any ideas how to xenoform Mars? [closed]
So i have an idea of an super advanced being that travels around the galaxy and spreads life on every planet that has any potential for it.By "life"i do not mean only "Carbon based"...
- 1,019
6
votes
1
answer
349
views
Alternate Biology/Xenoforming:Could the moon have a Chlorine atmosphere?
So I have this idea that a super advanced being travels across the galaxy and is terraforming/xenoforming every planet that CAN be modified for life, not just Carbon based Earthlike lifeforms but ...
- 1,019
8
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Is a planet sized creature possible?
Now, I have started working on a game called In The Flesh, and I have decided to use this site to work on it.
The Game Itself
In any case, the main idea of In The Flesh is that it's a sci-fi ...
- 83
2
votes
3
answers
192
views
Telepathic octopi influencing other species [closed]
Let's imagine humans are somehow controlled by a smart telepathic species that make themselves invisible to them, say everyone has an octopi on their head and are unaware of it. Every time the ...
- 47
1
vote
2
answers
271
views
Is This Living Planet Plausible?
My idea is an planet that is one living organism wrapped all around an rocky foundation. It orbits an sun of one solar mass, and has an Earthlike radius. Its albedo is about 20%, so it gets 1098.4 W/m^...
- 2,380
4
votes
1
answer
662
views
Acute Radiation Poisoning on Io
I am trying to develop story about the colonization of Jupiter's moons. Io is assumed to have a background radiation of roughly 3600 dayrems. I would guess that other factors such as lunar ...
- 2,441
1
vote
2
answers
435
views
The Effects of gravity on humans and animals on a world 4x the size of Earth
I am Building a world over 4 (about 4.7) times the diameter of earth. It's made of the same elements as earth. It rotates on an axis same as earth so it has the same seasons as earth. But it rotates ...
- 189
6
votes
4
answers
669
views
What would be the consequences of an Earthlike Planet retaining helium in its atmosphere
So I did the numbers using atomic rocket's page on worldbuilding and it appears my super-earth would retain the helium gas in its atmosphere from its early formation. What effects would this have on ...
- 63
10
votes
6
answers
2k
views
How could a breathable ultra-high pressure atmosphere form?
Some background: I'm developing a world that could, theoretically, be inhabitable by humans (with a high enough recruitment success to at least keep a stable population), randomly determining ...
- 837
2
votes
1
answer
286
views
Is it possible to have a greenhouse effect this strong and still have an atmosphere breathable by humans?
An Earth mass terran planet is orbiting a sun-like star at 2AU. I understand the limit for CO2 greenhouse effects is 1.67AU for whatever reason (giving a conventional habitable zone limit), but ...
- 1,206
4
votes
2
answers
185
views
Effect of brighter suns on eyes on a creature on a world orbiting a red dwarf
I know that red dwarf stars are dimmer than ours. But I also know that red dwarf stars emit a lot of infrared light, so creatures on a world orbiting it would have eyes that see infrared light.
If a ...
- 2,523
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How would sulfur-based lifeforms behave physically and anatomically?
This is completely ignoring the fact that lifeforms that aren’t based on carbon are entirely hypothetical. Could these lifeforms breathe oxygen like us, or would they need to use some sort of ...
- 2,071
3
votes
1
answer
149
views
Climate in an hypothetical Planet [closed]
Let there be absolutely none, exactly 0 axial tilt. Let the earth's orbit around the sun be a perfect circle with 0 eccentricity and a surface to surface ( constant) radius equal to the harmonic mean ...
- 131
6
votes
4
answers
714
views
Cool way to see through fog and darkness
My planet is frequently set with thick fog. What is the best way to have its residents see accurately?
One species called Hell Fires fall from the sky, landing on top of prey and killing it. How ...
- 620
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Super earth habitability
I'm trying to build a super Earth that's capable of sustaining human life for space exploration in a way that's close to reality. So far I'm lacking some understanding of planetary science and human ...
user66066
7
votes
4
answers
569
views
Would storms on an ocean world harm the marine life?
On a habitable world completely covered in water, with no land above sea-level, there would presumably be storms of biblical proportions. Suppose this world has oceans so deep that the deeper layers ...
- 14.9k
5
votes
1
answer
319
views
Origin of life on a waterworld
Take a planet like Gliese 1214 B, which has no land, an ocean 100s of kilometres deep and a seabed of Ice VII. For the purposes of the question, let's assume that the pressure and/or temperature near ...
- 14.9k
7
votes
2
answers
347
views
Dead on Mars: Surviving Bacteria
I'm interested in the introduction of bacteria on Mars. If a small base were set up with attempts to maintain some sort of sterilisation protocols, but all the humans died on that base a) what would ...
- 71
11
votes
3
answers
690
views
What would be the human physiological reaction to an alien biosphere?
This is the first question about colonizing an alien world; the second question on agriculture on this planet is here.
So here's the idea: human beings travel to and land on an Earth-like world with ...
- 371
5
votes
2
answers
316
views
What are reasonable rotation rates of an Earth-like world?
I have the radius, volume, mass and density figured out. It does not have a moon. I do wonder how that will affect the rotation. The Earth's rotation was considerably faster before the creation of the ...
- 163
20
votes
13
answers
6k
views
How can a portal that connects two planets affect the environment?
In my world there are two planets within the same solar system, which are connected approximately every seven cycles through a portal that opens for a few days.
The planets are very similar.
The ...
- 363
2
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How long could an ecosystem survive without sunlight?
I am designing a terraformed Venus, where the planet has been given an Earth-like atmosphere but keeps it's original rotation rate. Colonists are importing Earth life to Venus to add a biosphere to ...
- 1,085
1
vote
0
answers
127
views
What gravity/atmosphere would be needed to allow chunks of land to float inside a planet's atmosphere like in the Manga "One Piece"? [duplicate]
It's a fantasy setting, and the world is crazy, but has anyone tried to science it? Weather patterns that are unstable only around what are essentially the Equator and the Greenwich, that change ...
- 487
2
votes
3
answers
143
views
Plants grown in planet’s soil allow colonist to adapt to atmosphere
Is there a toxin which could plausibly exist in the atmosphere of a planet, which could make people sick but not too sick?
Is it possible that plants grown in the soil from this planet might be able ...
- 37
0
votes
2
answers
158
views
Reptiles and Humans co-existing in high oxygenated world? [closed]
I'm world building a planet dominated by reptiles (they are around the size of dogs) for a sci-fi story of mine. I figure that in order to have larger reptiles, I'll need the planet to have a higher ...
- 854
16
votes
8
answers
3k
views
How would a free floating ecosystem on an ocean world function?
The world in question is an Earth-sized planet with a deep global ocean and core of water-ice.
Given the lack of an accessible sea floor to root oneself to, how would a complex free-floating organism ...
- 495
5
votes
2
answers
223
views
Looking to optimize the atmospheric gas mix and pressure for humans for minimal cellular degeneration
To build another world, I would want a perfected atmosphere that would sustain the air cycle and yet optimize a decreased cellular degeneration. i.e.: increase quality and length of life. Would we ...
- 51
5
votes
3
answers
482
views
Lizard-like creatures "swimming" through the sand?
I have been designing a whole solar system for my story, and I am finally able to come down to creatures on the planets. I have already asked a question about one of the planets, Veynerth, so there is ...
- 419
0
votes
1
answer
96
views
What kind changes can be found on Earth if we have a red giant as our star [closed]
Let's suppose we have a red giant as our star, what kind of climate would be on Earth and will there be any change in plant, animal and human life both physically and mentally. What about the ...
user48594
0
votes
1
answer
160
views
How would a planet sized monocellular organism behave [closed]
in many american comics such as dc and marvel they have living planets and even stars. If we could live in a world where cells have sizes that range from planet wide and still function under its own ...
- 25
0
votes
1
answer
117
views
How would be an earth-like planet with its axis pointing to its sun-like star? [duplicate]
I have noticed that the planet will have a perpetual day zone, a perpetual night zone, and a ring, in its equator, with different grades of perpetual "twilight".
Am I right?
If I am, how will be ...
- 1
4
votes
3
answers
255
views
Sandalphon: A Machine that Copied Gametes
Obligatory Premise
In the year 2201, Diego OfeAde has been in control of Mars for 50 years. He has moved mankind into Valles Marineris and his aggressive population expansion program has seen the ...
user15036
1
vote
0
answers
92
views
What would the likely color of an exoplanet's plants be depending on the combination of atmosphere & parent star? [duplicate]
This could be construed as a too broad question, but some examples is all I'm asking for really. An answer based on any combination of atmosphere and star would constitute a good answer.
(Or better ...
- 1,261
1
vote
5
answers
349
views
What changes to a planet would be necessary to allow the realistic flight of a gryphon with a human rider?
How would a planet need to be changed (gravity, air pressure, air makeup, etc) to allow for the realistic flight and take off from a small hill of a gryphon with a human rider? You can assume the ...
- 11k
30
votes
17
answers
6k
views
How can I have a habitable world on which life can not develop?
For my story, I need there to be a planet close to the home world of my species (in the same star system) that the species could easily get to and easily colonize, but that does not have its own life ...
- 4,868