213 votes
Accepted

Why zero tolerance on nudity in space?

Housecleaning in Zero-G Think through the amount of body hair and skin flakes a human sheds each week. On Earth, you take a vacuum cleaner or a mop. Still, fluff collects in hard-to-reach places. No ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 112k
124 votes
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Ugh, I'm stuck in an orbital spaceport. But why?

Someone detected an asteroid There are lots of small asteroids. Even in 2100, when the solar system is well mapped, carbonaceous asteroids with low albedo will be very hard to detect passively. ...
kingledion's user avatar
  • 85.1k
121 votes
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Is it possible to kill all life on Earth?

Not with the time constraint given. Let's start with the most destructive thing we've got: nukes. There are about 15,000 nukes worldwide, of varying yields. Sources: World Nuclear Weapon Stockpile, ...
The Square-Cube Law's user avatar
117 votes
Accepted

Is it worth sending a manned mission to a black hole?

What could be learned? There are so many things you could study by looking at a black hole. There are lots of open or partially unsolved problems that surround them: Does Hawking radiation exist? ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 99.8k
109 votes

How much damage to the US would a Yellowstone eruption cause?

EDIT: damn, this got me my first gold badge Here is a useful source, which is itself based off of this. Here is an ancillary source. WTL;DR: all the damage TL;DR: everything within 80 kilometers ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
  • 11.7k
100 votes
Accepted

Why buy tech from the future?

Yes, 100% Yes Just because the stranger doesn't know how to build it or how it was manufactured doesn't mean that you can't reverse engineer it. With 10 devices, you even have some spares so you can ...
Shadowzee's user avatar
  • 15.3k
95 votes
Accepted

What would happen to the internet if Google disappeared?

The impact on the Internet would likely be minimal. Now, don't get me wrong. There would be widespread disruption of service to a lot of people who use Google's services. But the Internet is designed ...
user's user avatar
  • 28.9k
89 votes
Accepted

How to monetize uploaded consciousness?

We give the minds some hobbies to do We have lots of people who have literally nothing else to do than think. That will probably be boring for quite a few of them. Why don't we put them to us-... I ...
Secespitus's user avatar
  • 17.7k
87 votes
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Is the concept of a biometric smart gun that will detonate when anyone besides its owner touches the weapon unrealistic?

A smart gun which only fires in the hands of an authorised individual -- which may include any soldier in your army -- is a useful and practical concept. It may have issues when transferring weapons ...
David Hambling's user avatar
86 votes

What would be the ideal power source for a cybernetic eye?

Batteries can be made quite small today, and batteries can be recharged wirelessly by magnetic resonance. So feasibly, the battery could be implanted in the temple near the eye and be recharged by ...
Klaus Æ. Mogensen's user avatar
83 votes
Accepted

Will social networking sites create fake people using AI?

Its already happening Hello dear, I can see you logged to this site and I want to tell you, that I am 18 year old girl and totally not experienced in Worldbuilding, giggles I am searching ...
Pavel Janicek's user avatar
80 votes

What's the most likely "post democracy" form of political government?

From what is currently happening, it seems a plutocracy (disguised as a democracy or something else) is the most likely next form of government. Advancing technology has freed most people in modern ...
Cyrus's user avatar
  • 22.4k
77 votes
Accepted

How many nanobots can I have in my blood?

For simplicity, let's pretend these are well designed nanobots that don't outright kill their host by blood clots or accidentally ripping holes in capillaries. So let's pretend these great scientists ...
BrianH's user avatar
  • 2,422
75 votes

How would fembots change society?

The economy of the world would collapse as business owners everywhere discover that they can fill most of their untrained labor needs for a one time fee of $3000. Those fortunate few who still have ...
Henry Taylor's user avatar
  • 69.1k
74 votes

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

A private network When it comes to flying, the truly rich do not fly first-class. That's incredibly inconvenient for them. The truly rich fly on their own personal jet to wherever they feel like going....
Halfthawed's user avatar
  • 40.4k
71 votes

How to monetize uploaded consciousness?

Crowley [a demon] had been extremely impressed with the warranties offered by the computer industry, and had in fact sent a bundle Below [to hell] to the department that drew up the Immortal Soul ...
The Square-Cube Law's user avatar
70 votes
Accepted

How do you power all the nanobots?

Why, glucose and oxygen! These have significant benefits: Fuel cells are already available technology, so you can get electricity from pretty much anything that would normally burn. Should be ...
Mołot's user avatar
  • 33.1k
67 votes

Ugh, I'm stuck in an orbital spaceport. But why?

People aren't there to transport Perhaps this space line has an agreement that it won't leave until all the customers have arrived. Given the time between each flight, this might be reasonable ...
Green's user avatar
  • 52.7k
67 votes

Is it possible to kill all life on Earth?

No. Most of the preceding responses have overlooked one relatively-recently identified home for life on the planet; within the crust itself. Researchers have found bacteria up to 4 kilometers down in ...
Keith Morrison's user avatar
64 votes

Why would a scientifically advanced future community believe in multiple gods?

Why does Hinduism not meet your requirements? From Hinduism.SE, neither the monotheistic nor polytheistic labels properly fit Hinduism. You can read the various answers yourself; some answers say it ...
kingledion's user avatar
  • 85.1k
64 votes
Accepted

Is it practical to make English the global language?

The Russians did it: the Russian Empire, and its successors the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation established Russian as the language for official and inter-ethnic communication. It worked. ...
AlexP's user avatar
  • 86k
63 votes

Advantages of "Spider Mechs" over Tanks?

Okay, so a did a bunch of research into legged robots for my thesis and they aren't going to replace armored vehicles any time soon. The most basic reason, they aren't as efficient in doing what ...
Shadowzee's user avatar
  • 15.3k
62 votes

Why would a scientifically advanced future community believe in multiple gods?

Because God or Gods are actually real. Just because some people assume in our modern world that objective proof is lacking, does not prove (or dis-prove) the existence, or lack thereof, of a God or ...
nijineko's user avatar
  • 4,330
62 votes

The world has converted to eating cheap vat-grown meat, what do we do with our current livestock?

There wouldn't be a huge stock left over as we transition unless the transition was extraordinarily fast. Instead, the transition would gradually replace livestock. In the beginning, carniculture (...
Brythan's user avatar
  • 25.3k
62 votes

Could an astronaut in a near-future space ship survive transit through our asteroid belt?

Yes they could. Very Easily. Contrary to myth, the asteroid belt is very nearly empty. (See https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/26712/what-is-the-average-distance-between-objects-in-our-...
Mark Olson's user avatar
  • 14.3k
62 votes

Why would an advanced civilization even want slaves?

One of the ultimate signs of wealth is being able to command services from other humans at your whim. The ultra wealthy have maids, pilots, cooks, drivers, guards, etc. and even if these jobs could be ...
Dragongeek's user avatar
  • 21.4k
58 votes
Accepted

Is there a hypothetical scenario that would make Earth uninhabitable for humans, but not for (the majority of) other animals?

Most disease suffered by humanity does not affect any other creature And the really cool thing about a plague that threatens to kill everybody if we don't get somebody off the planet (if the words "...
JBH's user avatar
  • 117k
58 votes
Accepted

What would be the ideal power source for a cybernetic eye?

Although I like the classic cyberpunk concept that states that nanomachines build a small turbine generator in one of your biggest veins (like the inferior vena cava), I understand you want something ...
Stormbolter's user avatar
  • 2,611
55 votes

Why zero tolerance on nudity in space?

1 - We're icky There is a hygienic dimension to clothing. As mammals, especially placental mammals, we're always secreting and shedding something -- sweat, oil, hair, dead skin, and many other ...
Thesaurus Rex's user avatar

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