All Questions
20,141 questions
0
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0answers
9 views
Reality check; minimal axial tilt = minimal seasons/mild weather right?
Included is a picture of my climate map and several perspectives of a paper model I made of the planet. The ocean covers over half the planet, which is rather small. It has nearly no tilt, and 2 moons;...
3
votes
1answer
30 views
Effects of Red Dwarf CME (Flare) on Biological Life and Atmosphere
I have a planet circling an M-Class star (M3/M4). I'm trying to figure out what the effects of flaring on the planet's biosphere might be.
Background: As some of you may know, M-class stars are ...
6
votes
2answers
67 views
How would a legal system deal with random groundhog day events? [on hold]
I have seen similar questions about groundhog day but they were about either a single unique groundhog day or a permanent one.
In this case, each day may or may not repeat. There are no limits so ...
3
votes
3answers
332 views
Is it theoretically possible for the human body to not excrete?
Assume that I have some way to introduce nutrients into the body of a healthy human but I do not have any method of changing their biology. No surgical procedures nor special "drugs" that would affect ...
3
votes
3answers
83 views
What weapons would nanomachines use?
So, the strongest of my current characters is a happy little cloud, that's compromised of nanomachines (well, not exactly nano, it's well in the micro prefix, but individual parts obviously require ...
3
votes
0answers
46 views
How would a fantasy world respond to repeated near extinction events?
I am working on developing a campaign setting/world history for something akin to Dungeons and Dragons so medium/high fantasy magic with a medieval flavor. I am trying to get a grasp on expected ...
5
votes
3answers
75 views
How could a hive-mind without true individuals create technology?
Imagine a species in which the ego never developed. There is no self-direction. This species is always making noise, however, and it is through this noise that the society itself experiences the ...
4
votes
1answer
38 views
Fortifications capable of withstanding atmosphere-clearing blast
On the Atomic Rockets site, there is a series of handy tables, the first of which is aptly named "The Boom Table", providing examples for a wide range of energy releases (in both Joules and TNT ...
3
votes
2answers
141 views
Possibility of an alliance between Rome and China
For plot reasons, I need there to be global-ish peace by the 1700's. Obviously, the easiest and best way to do this, is union under the system of Pax Romana.
However, at this particular time (about ...
6
votes
2answers
79 views
Is it possible to make Asteroid Concrete?
In the far future, man is trying to build a small colony in the asteroid belt - on one of the bigger asteroids. All the materials are to be mined from asteroids, and it is assumed the colony will have ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Could domesticated mammoths sustain a group of nomads
In a fantasy world I have planned, I wanted one of the nomadic groups to live on a frozen steppe. They would primarily subsist by herding and domesticating mammoths.
Would mammoths be comparable to, ...
7
votes
2answers
174 views
The Worldkillers - Method I: Oceans
This series will focus on a Worldkillers: a group of interstellar outlaws who specialize in destroying worlds.
Each question has the objective to explore a different way to kill a planet - a word ...
8
votes
1answer
249 views
Mathematics of monsters
Researching for a science fiction novel. My character loves math + I have dyscalculia = Problem. Therefore, I need your help.
In my story, there are aliens we can see, but we can't hear or touch. ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views
What color should the snow be in this chlorine world?
This question is in the same context (the same world) proposed by Steven L. Gillett in his book: "World-building".
And actually there have been some other questions about this same chlorinated world. ...
7
votes
2answers
354 views
What would define kingdoms in a fantasy setting? [on hold]
Preface: This is a very abstract question since it really would depend on the worldbuilder, and the type of setting they are trying to build.
In Established Works
In works such as Lord of the Rings, ...
2
votes
2answers
127 views
Life in the Northern Hemisphere if Beringia Never Drowned
When one hears the name "Beringia", we most often think the land bridge that formed as a result of a drop in sea levels during the Pleistocene, resulting in a connection between Alaska and Russia. But ...
0
votes
6answers
639 views
Stone-age air-force
Story-based background (not essential for question)
The Helawi live at the top of a small plateau with steep cliffs all around. There is a carved stairway from top to bottom that allows only one ...
8
votes
3answers
158 views
Symbiotic Assassin Vines
I have an idea for an encounter in my world that goes like this...
A weary group of adventurers are trekking through a great ancient forest. This forest is avoided by most due to strange tales of ...
5
votes
2answers
144 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
143 views
Evolution adapted to technology
...kill every protohuman who tries to leave the African continent.
This comment made me think about one question.
Suppose you have robot guards, like futuristic lasers, who just shoot at any landing ...
5
votes
2answers
262 views
Does crossing a wormhole happen instantaneously, or with the course of time?
I have seen many science fiction movies that depict traveling in space through wormholes. The appearance though, and the time it takes to cross a wormhole, tends to vary:
• On one hand, we have the ...
7
votes
2answers
136 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 ...
0
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0answers
59 views
Pulse jet helicopters [on hold]
Is it possible for these pulse jet helicopters to be made into the size of an apache or perhaps the chinook? And how long would they stay airborne?
1
vote
1answer
65 views
Worldbuilding Materials [on hold]
When you create a religion, organization, or any other object within your world, can related materials be useful for realizing the world?
For example:
If you create a religion, will an excerpt of a ...
2
votes
1answer
246 views
Can a black hole be turned into a white hole?
Following the Schwarzschild metric, we could consider that a white hole=black hole with no angular momentum (no spin?) or electric charge. Would be enough to slow down a black hole and somehow remove ...
8
votes
1answer
208 views
Bouncing Beads of Blood - Just how cold would it have to be?
My heroine has been stabbed - run through the abdomen by a foot-long dagger - and is bleeding to death. She is currently crawling toward her salvation through a very cold place. She is magically ...
5
votes
1answer
117 views
How do humans with electric organs prevent self-electrocution?
In my world, a small population on an isolated island were bitten by radioactive electric eels while fishing. I read that the eels can send out carefully timed signals through their nervous systems ...
18
votes
8answers
6k views
Everyday tasks on a space ship
There is a space ship, flying from planet to planet for multiple years. It is a science vessel, so, once they reach a planet, they do research. But what do they do if they are in transit between ...
8
votes
1answer
92 views
Carbon cycle in a sulphur-based biochemistry
I'm designing a world with advanced life forms that use a sulphur-based biochemistry (see this link for context). I would like to create a carbon cycle analogous to Earth, where:
Photosynthesis ...
25
votes
16answers
10k views
Lying is illegal. How to make joking not an offence?
In the society I am building it is illegal for a government official to lie (this isn't a reaction to real world politics; I've been building this world for a while), while speaking/acting as ...
4
votes
3answers
125 views
Cooking using nuclear bombs [on hold]
This question is completely just for fun! :)
So in one of my classes, some boys on an another table were debating whether you could toast a marshmallow for smores using a nuclear blast from a nuclear ...
0
votes
1answer
85 views
If the earth suddenly had a new axis of rotation, would the tendency be for it’s new axis to align itself perpendicularly to its orbit over time? [on hold]
If the earth suddenly had a new axis of rotation (due to catastrophic events - humor me), would the tendency be for it’s new axis to align itself perpendicularly to its orbital plane over time? For ...
-1
votes
2answers
101 views
What would a Scientific based way of making a person Similar to Marvels “Spider-Man” [on hold]
The Question
How would someone scientifically emulate Spider-Man powers without altering the human genes?
The Limits
No genetic engineering (except on spiders for their silk)
Technology level is ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
How vulnerable are the undersea internet cables to deliberate sabotage by one of the major powers (US, UK, Russia, etc)? [on hold]
Over 99% of the transcontinental internet traffic goes through a network of 280 sets of undersea cables.
How vulnerable are these to deliberate sabotage by the major powers?
I'd rather not focus ...
-3
votes
1answer
126 views
Gadget: Insect wings
(Related to Human Dragonfly wings)
Context
The mutant thread is back. For more context, see my previous questions.
One of my character is a "subtle" mutant (no outward sign) that has an affinity ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
What are the economic effects of an electricity shutdown that lasts weeks in big city? [on hold]
How this affects the economy of the big tech industries like factories and the media like radio stations and television?
What are the effects that this brings in the life of normal people?
6
votes
2answers
1k views
What are the best weapons and armour for fighting underground? [on hold]
First off assume that the technology is roughly that of the High Medieval age circa 1100 AD.
The combatants are assumed to be humans in this case adapted to life underground after around 3000 yrs of ...
5
votes
2answers
108 views
Reducing atmospheric pressure on Snowball Earth
A Snowball Earth is a global condition (which may have occurred many times) in which the temperature everywhere on the surface was, for extended periods (up to tens of millions of years), below the ...
8
votes
8answers
7k views
Why bother programming facial expressions for artificial intelligence if humans are bad at recognising them?
Set in the near future, robots and mankind coexist amicably due to the great technological advancement in robotics and artificial intelligence. They are everywhere and some took a human form. All of ...
4
votes
5answers
210 views
Terraforming via rapidly growing organisms, is it a good idea?
Terraforming and maintaining a biosphere suitable for humans is tough, but no worries, Protogon is here! Collaborating with Providence, our scientists have created Hygiea, a series of rapidly growing ...
-2
votes
7answers
258 views
How can genetic enchancements allow male and female sports leagues to intertwine with each other?
The human race is divided into two variants: male and female. The former is generally more dominant physically due to its size, making them bigger, stronger, and faster. They are predisposed to being ...
0
votes
3answers
221 views
Controlling personal gravity – how would it affect a warrior's combat style?
So I have a character in a fantasy setting who is basically a human for the most part in terms of physical limits. They do have slightly stronger bone structure and greater endurance, along with ...
5
votes
1answer
116 views
Realistic alternatives to oxygen-based respiration? [on hold]
Background
I'm developing 6 to 10 sapient alien races for a short story.
Basic Story Setting
The short story takes place in the Milky Way sometime in the next 1000 years. These races will be at ...
9
votes
2answers
112 views
How to design an electrical grid for a flare star planet?
The most popular type of stars are red dwarves, which regrettably tend to be flare stars. Yes, I know that geomagnetic storms and power lines do not like each other.
Technology level: More or less ...
5
votes
3answers
211 views
What animals would a sedentary centaur civilization domesticate?
The first in a series of questions on building a realistic sedentary centaur culture.
From what I have encountered, centaur civilizations are usually modeled on (semi)nomadic cultures from the ...
1
vote
10answers
4k views
What kind of near-future technology would enable extremely quick, mostly silent, communication between soldiers?
My book is about a near-future socialist insurgency. Think Che Guevara. Che Guevara won with only 22 men by garnering support of the local population. I've read his books and can't say I see many ...
23
votes
11answers
6k views
Nuclear magic: Surviving your own spells
TLDR: Portals to other places; wizards use them to make nukes-as-fireballs/anti-personal level attacks, how do they survive?
In a system of magic that functions around opening portals, what ...
6
votes
5answers
879 views
How do I create conditions to lead to a benevolent dictatorship? [on hold]
In my world a nation currently involved in a civil war between multiple warring factions is nearing an end.
The man who has appeared as the victor is a blood thirsty tyrant, who continually ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Superluminal signal to past (alien technology) [on hold]
With our current understanding of physics it is not possible to send anything into the past (although GR mathematically allows it).
Could an intelligent alien species with a 100,000+ year head start ...
9
votes
15answers
2k views
What natural phenomenon could lead to greatly varying season lengths? [duplicate]
I'm intrigued by the topos of varying season lengths brought to us in the Game of Thrones universe. I think it makes for a brilliant and versatile backdrop for the story, and it is something I'd like ...