All Questions
37,486
questions
2
votes
4
answers
647
views
What would be evolutionary reasons for a humanoid species to develop multiple arms?
I have a species that is humanoid but has two sets of arms and I was wondering what reasons there could be for why they evolved that way?
24
votes
12
answers
3k
views
Other than tentacles and jointed digits, what methods of holding items are there that provide similar dexterity?
I'm trying to envision a creature that is highly dexterous, and adept at using tools, but every time I try to think of a possible grasping appendage, the only two I come up with are either tentacle ...
-4
votes
2
answers
150
views
How to hide autodidacts in college? [closed]
I'm writing about a US reality tv show, which takes famous autodidacts and sends them to study college in their own respective field. The comedy is to see how they will fair. What would their ...
8
votes
8
answers
560
views
How to balance my magic robots so they don't monopolize my story?
A setting I've been planning for a while involves a function of magic that can animate objects using the magical equivalent of programmable functions. A wizard/witch/magic-user uses a magic language ...
23
votes
23
answers
1k
views
How to make an alien game show be fair when hosting many different species?
Far, far away from Earth, near the center of the galaxy, is the planet Nebulous VII. It is the hosting planet of the universe's favorite gameshow, “Victory Nebula”. On the show, pre-type 1 species ...
3
votes
5
answers
515
views
Reason why the dystopian government would dress its policemen in civilian clothing?
You grew up in the fascist government of the UFS, under the complete control and surveillance of the NAF party. It’s government it tyrannical and unfeeling, but you would never know that. The ...
-7
votes
2
answers
417
views
The Best Arsenal : The Best Assault Rifle [closed]
I am trying to learn from my past mistakes on asking for too much at a time, while asking for the wrong things, and often forgetting about crucial details.
So here I am, in my quest of finding the ...
10
votes
8
answers
1k
views
Which part of the universe would make celestial navigation most difficult for a planet?
Premise
I envisage a world of would-be navigators with roughly Bronze Age technology, sailing on ships to explore their planet. In contrast to our history of navigation where we "cracked the code" ...
1
vote
5
answers
546
views
Is the evolution of my aliens realistic?
So, I have thought about the evolution of my aliens and how they could evolve things like lactation but still retain their reptilian characteristics.
Here is my best thought about it so far:
...
0
votes
2
answers
241
views
Mass Human Cloning - Could it be feasible?
Exactly what the title says : Could mass human cloning be feasible?
I have a two criteria :
Clones must come out as adult
Cloning process must take a maximum of 3 months
Optional : Clones must be ...
15
votes
27
answers
3k
views
Creature-Design: Unkillable save by sacrifice
In my fantasy story, primitive humans are going up against a single powerful creature. They must kill the creature to gain their freedom, but they soon realize that the only way to slay the creature ...
21
votes
8
answers
2k
views
How could humanoids master forge fire without using vegetal materials?
I'm building a fantasy world with a humanoid species (basically, "elves") which refuses to use dead wood.
Context
They don't use dead wood because they don't want to. Consider that trees are sacred ...
2
votes
2
answers
653
views
Can Mars work as a wildlife sanctuary for animals?
Suppose humanity manages to terraform Mars: we give it a magnetic field, an atmosphere, then Mars gains oceans, lakes and rivers and we plant forests there.
So now Mars looks like another Earth and ...
6
votes
3
answers
297
views
How far can civilization go without inventing the calendar?
While only counting seasons and years, but not weeks or months, how far can human civilization progress?
Can they reach the middle ages?
Or is the invention of the calendar such a cornerstone of ...
1
vote
0
answers
68
views
How would the centralization of world politics affect society? [closed]
How would the centralization of world’s power affect politics and society in general? The society should be set in a period where artificial intelligence is well advanced to supplement in areas such ...
3
votes
4
answers
731
views
Using an Alcubierre Drive to travel through the fourth dimension
Say there is a fourth spatial dimension ( let's call it the q axis as in x,y,z axis ) and that humans are still 3D beings. Could we use an Alcubierre drive to travel through the fourth dimension? As ...
5
votes
3
answers
714
views
Gravity being weaponized for its time altering properties
Physics isn't my strong suit, but I'm trying to understand if something could be theoretically possible in some highly advanced future:
Would it be possible for an advanced civilization to invent a ...
13
votes
9
answers
3k
views
Preventing the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire
In this alternative reality Constantine the Great never embraces the Christianity and the Roman Empire remains polytheistic.
So I would like to know what realistic change(s) could have prevented the ...
2
votes
3
answers
770
views
New Sources of Superhuman Ability [closed]
I am working to build a parallel Earth that is home to individuals with superhuman abilities (in addition to ordinary humans). This Earth has all of today's knowledge and technology (and perhaps ...
5
votes
1
answer
255
views
Would a nictitating membrane, eyelid AND eyelashes get in each other's way in the same eye?
Or would that eye be the most well-defended from external debris and whatnot in the entire world? Cats seem to get by just fine without eyelids and a membrane but no eyelashes...likewise humans with ...
10
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Hiding a handful of immortals on a Generation Ship?
I have a handful of immortals that have spent the last 6000 years stuck on planet Earth. They really, want to get out of here. They missed their chance back in Egypt before The Fall of the Pharaohs**. ...
0
votes
4
answers
362
views
Make money by bringing an invention back in time
I found a time travel machine. It can travel back in time very precisely.
I don't have any specific skills, except for my very good knowledge with programming languages and programming patterns.
I ...
1
vote
2
answers
182
views
Creating an earth-like planet without a tropical rainforest?
What I have
I plan to create an 'alternative timeline' for the earth, which means most of the earth's features are identical, the only major difference is, that humans appeared at another time, so ...
3
votes
2
answers
751
views
What would a recession look like in medieval times?
I'm working on a fantasy setting for a game, the gameplay of which includes trading and government in a fantasy world that is experiencing a negative trend in trade.
The setting is outwardly ...
2
votes
2
answers
204
views
How would giant penguins affect the arctic/Antarctic ecosystem?
So, I was reading about the Colossus Penguin and was wondering how adding them to my world might affect the arctic ecosystem in my world? Obviously, they would need to eat a lot of fish, squid, and ...
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Ammonia planet- atmosphere
On my previously asked question about the biochemistry of life on my ammonia. it leads me to my next question to ask.
First things first, the life on this planet is boron based. They breathe methane ...
2
votes
1
answer
490
views
Help designing which metals are associated with specific magical powers in my magic system [closed]
In my world, one of the magic systems involves people crushing special objects in their gauntlets to gain the dormant energy that exists within them. Essentially, imagine there are certain energy in ...
6
votes
5
answers
420
views
How might a medieval fantasy/magic-using society state the 2nd law of thermodynamics?
If a medieval-level society with access to things like magic (which itself follows the laws of thermodynamics) were to have some understanding of the laws of thermodynamics, how would the 2n law be ...
7
votes
1
answer
497
views
How high could a Lego tower be?
I just won the national lottery! I am a billionaire, and can do whatever I want with my money!
Tv interviewer asks me what would I do with this money. Then, come the Idea.
I remember this guy when I ...
32
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Which jobs could western geniuses, who lived between 1643-1900, have in the modern age related to their talents?
I'm trying to write a comedy where as a plot device I have:
Some of the greatest western minds of human history, who lived between 1643 and 1900, are transported into the modern age. I still haven't ...
3
votes
4
answers
695
views
What purposes could a technological ruin with a half-mile sphere full of water have served? [closed]
There is a soft sci-fi RPG called Numenera, set on the Earth a billion years in the future, where multiple technologically-advanced civilizations have risen and fallen, and a new human civilization is ...
7
votes
2
answers
519
views
Is a medieval spoon satellite realistic?
I misread an answer to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages?, thinking it was referring to a network of parabolic reflector dishes made of spoons orbiting the ...
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Could a habitable planet with lower gravity have a thick atmosphere?
I'm designing a habitable earth-like planet that has oceans, forests and life. Now this planet is a bit larger in diameter than earth but its mass and therefore its gravity is a bit lower. This lower ...
4
votes
2
answers
787
views
How long would it take oceans to evaporate if they stopped gaining water?
How long would it take for the oceans to evaporate if the following were true?
They suddenly stopped gaining water through rain/rivers/etc., and
External patterns (e.g. atmospheric humidity) were ...
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
Controlling Physical States By Changing Molecule Density
I'm developing a world where certain people have affinity to modify/control certain aspects of the material plane. In the early stages I'd included the good old "element control" premise, but as I ...
8
votes
4
answers
789
views
How many years should survivors wait before exiting a nuclear bomb shelter?
I'm writing a tale about a post apocalyptic world. I'm studying the timeline about the world history, I've planned that, using "clean" thermonuclear bombs, radioactivity should be quite lower after ...
-2
votes
1
answer
92
views
Use of magically Bound Bowls Pair [closed]
After years of research, MagicBowls create a new product:
The nearly indestructible Bound Bowls Pair.
Whatever happens to one is applied to the other as it was one object!
We just don't know how to ...
8
votes
2
answers
861
views
Could a planet, tidally locked with the sun, have molten rock on the side that faces the sun?
I am designing a solar system, with the first planet located very close to the parent star. This planet has become tidally locked to the star. Is it possible to have a molten lava ocean on the side ...
3
votes
2
answers
133
views
Batteries and resource restrictions
I've prefigured a specific setting as being middling in technological progress when compared with its neighbors.
This setting does not have access to hydrocarbons, has severe cultural and political ...
1
vote
1
answer
355
views
Building a Medieval/Victorian world. How should the architecture and culture be seen or visualized? [closed]
I'm thinking this new world should have Medieval tech, but with Victorian/Gothic architecture. I want to know a little about how a kingdom's capital might look and how the culture may be affected.
...
14
votes
10
answers
1k
views
'Magic' regeneration without breaking the 2nd law of thermodynamics
In designing a hard magic system, I would like to keep things consistent with the laws of thermodynamics (as many do) since, if I don't, I fear I may accidentally create a way for mages to create ...
1
vote
3
answers
220
views
How big does a moon have to be to have the earth locked to it?
I would like a earth-moon system like Pluto-Charon (but with earth instead of Pluto) where both will be tidally locked to each other within something like 3 billion years (before complex life appears)....
13
votes
13
answers
2k
views
What's a plausible-sounding technobabble explanation for Mars to be a forest world supplying Earth with timber?
In the story I want to tell, it's a thousand years in the future and Mars has been terraformed into a forest world (something like the forest-moon of Endor). It's settled in a few small towns and ...
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What was the weather like in the Eocene?
I was reading this question earlier today. It asks about the characteristics of global winds in a modern-day earth with Eocene-like temperatures. I'm here to ask about other kinds of weather in the ...
14
votes
22
answers
5k
views
Plausible hypothesis on why gravity might fail on earth
I've been grappling with a story for a while, involving a scenario where gravity starts to fail. The goal of the story is mostly how people react to the knowledge that the world will end. But, I also ...
1
vote
4
answers
277
views
What would happen if the quantities of silver and gold mined by humans were switched in a fantasy world?
Basically the title. What would happen if, in the world I'm writing, people have thus far found considerably more gold deposits than silver?
Specifically, I'm wondering how this might affect their ...
1
vote
3
answers
263
views
In a universe created by and controlled by malevolent or passive non-humanoid beings, what would cause the creation of humanoid gods? [closed]
Forgive me if a question like this is too general and isn't accepted here.
I'm currently working on creating a new universe to possibly be used in a D&D or RPG setting. I've been working on the ...
2
votes
2
answers
181
views
How can an android produce blood-like substance via food?
I just discovered one of my friend is an android! That's a big shock, as she looks, acts, reacts, eats and drinks like a human. She didn't even know herself she wasn't human.
While I partly ...
0
votes
1
answer
190
views
Could a planet's ecosystem function to serve the balance of all, rather than survival of each one?
I'm currently designing an alien world that has a rich biosphere.
Now, one thing about the lifeforms of this planet is that they have a completely different genetic code than us. Apart from being ...
26
votes
23
answers
8k
views
Why would surrounding countries not claim accessible, habitable, and unclaimed land?
I am designing a world for high-magic, epic campaign for D&D 5e. I really am feeling this map, and am trying to figure out how the different countries would interact. Right now I have nothing ...