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Q&A

General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.

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I want ten Earth-years long day on my planet. Can I have it?

I need ten Earth years long day-night cycle on my planet. Hemera is a world I am creating as a setting for my story. Name comes from Greek deity - personification of Day. Needs of storytelling hav...

6 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Zjerzy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Zjerzy‭

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Stability in Lowering a Space Elevator

First question on stack exchange I've been lurking and learning for years and finally decided to pose a question for a novel I'm working on. Given the appropriate advances in material sciences an...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Rusty‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Rusty‭

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I'm formulating a planet that has silver dust on its surface, and ideally has rivers of mercury flowing on it, possible? Human survival not necessary

I'm new to this and my scientific knowledge is massively lacking in this area (so please take it easy on me!) I'm writing a historical science-fiction novel. Parts of it set in the past (1977) and ...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RJ0001‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RJ0001‭

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Keratin biosynthesis and human hair straightness/smoothness

Some people straighten their head-hair with what's named: Keratin straightening Keratin smoothening Keratin rebonding Keratin treatment It is an external hair straightening procedure in wh...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by deleted user  ·  last activity 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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What would the sky view be like of a final stage massive merged galaxy?

What will be the view of the sky and the distances between stars, living on a planet or in a habitat in a super galaxy that has merged with all its nearby galaxies in its cluster, at a time in the ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by RandySavage‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Exploration of a 50 mile high mountain [duplicate]

My friends and I are building a world with a 50 mile high volcano on it. The mountain is the result of some bored god deciding to play a joke on everyone. Or, some other god got angry and decided ...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Green‭  ·  closed as duplicate 3y ago by Canina‭

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Planning intra-city public air transport

I want to have air transport as the dominant means of public transportation in my fictional city. But how would such a system operate to handle many commuters with maximum efficiency? Specifically ...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by PentalimbedP‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by PentalimbedP‭

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What are the possible ways of explaining the limits in cognitive abilities of evolution driven species?

For a story, I need to find a way to justify the limited cognitive capacities of an entire race that thrives on biomass, capable of eating anything that is inherently biological. This race is dri...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Fireww‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Fireww‭

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What problem in classical physics can a computer solve that a human doing calculus cannot?

So in my setting there is a small and exclusive group of people that have access to devices that work like computers (but which are not the same as computers. They do not use semiconductors and ele...

5 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by urquiza‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by urquiza‭

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Effect of Prolonged Egg Diapause on Species

I have a species of megafaunal carnivore that are extremely mobile with territories spanning hundreds of square miles and lifespans of 120-150 years. They lay clutches of 2-3 eggs every 20-30 years...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Thalassan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Thalassan‭

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How large could an aquatic humanoid get?

Vertebrates on land are limited in size by various factors. However, in the water, they can get much larger. How large could an aquatic humanoid creature (like cthulhu) realistically get, and what ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Praearcturus‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Praearcturus‭

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How to plausibly reanimate a person?

What hypothetical scientific procedure could be used to reanimate someone who is brain dead. I am aware that it is possible to bring someone back if they are clinically dead which is where a vital ...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by DEMI‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by DEMI‭

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Is it possible for a moon to stay on the same side of its planet relative to the sun?

I'm building an earthlike world that has a moon orbiting a gas giant. Is it possible for the moon to always be between the planet and the sun? Also, is it possible for a moon to rotate around its o...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by LonelyCryptid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by LonelyCryptid‭

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Would human civilization develop at a slower pace if Earth was 5.8x larger?

EDIT: Calculations were incorrect, the earth in my comic is not 5.8x larger, it is 2.4x larger. Its surface area is 5.8x larger but the diameter is 2.4x larger. Anyway I'm working on a comic tha...

11 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by JordanTheCynic‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by JordanTheCynic‭

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Could a Species Survive Getting Nutrition Only by Smelling Things?

In Greek and Roman mythology, the Astomi, also known as the Gangines, are an ancient legendary race of people who had no need to eat or drink anything at all. They survived by smelling apples and f...

5 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Capillary Cumorah ‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Capillary Cumorah ‭

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Observing a planet without contaminating it in anyway?

There is a planet called Galileo with life on it. The life is getting extremely complex, in fact, with some of the life on Galileo beginning to form tribes and clans and learning language. Humans w...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by DT Cooper‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by DT Cooper‭

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What problems would arise for the human species making itself into robots

In modern day society, few or many people have been fascinated with integrating robotic parts to their bodies. But sometimes that idea is taken to the next step, in which people want to have their ...

14 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RotNDecay‭

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Natural ways to acquire gravity and heat for a colony on earth's moon

Is a colony on earth's moon must be deeply underground to ensure more natural gravity (by getting closer to its core) as well as more natural heat? By natural heat I mean "without the need of arti...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by deleted user  ·  edited 3y ago by deleted user

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How could space life deal with the cold?

I am workin on an ecosystem based on life within the rings of a planet. I will create creatures from single celled organisms, to algae/ lichen, plankton/worms and scales of predators leading to lar...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RandySavage‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RandySavage‭

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Technological "dungeon" designed to last for millennia

You are Alien McGee. For some reason ( don't ask why ) you need to hide an artifact in our solar system for roughly 20,000 years before coming back and taking it. Said artifact is a magical vase ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Bogdan 705‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Bogdan 705‭

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Would "land assist" technology be possible in real life?

In the game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, characters wear exoskeletons with an ability called "land assist", which allows them to slow down their fall using a jet of compressed air (or some speci...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Raleigh‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Raleigh‭

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What effects would large-scale hydraulic mining have on the landscape?

Premise/question Hydraulic mining is the process of spraying high-pressure jets of water into the ground to dislodge sediment and rocks. The muddy water from this is directed into sluices where va...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by pg4919‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by pg4919‭

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Rifle and Bullet Technology

I'm currently working on something where breechloading rifles and cartridge shot are developed very quickly over matchlocks and flintlocks. What major technological hurdles need to be overcome for...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Csraves ‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Csraves ‭

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Anatomically correct quadrupedal arthropod?

Most arthropods have at least six legs. Some mites have four and some insects have none, but for the most part, they have six or more. What would the anatomy of a large quadrupedal arthropod be li...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Praearcturus‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Praearcturus‭

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What would days and nights look like on this cylindrical world?

This is yet another "literal worldbuilding" question, as in, building worlds. Inspired, in part, by this question. What if this world is a very long (effectively infinite) hollow cylindrical cavit...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Yuriy S‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Yuriy S‭

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How would normal colors be affected if a planet's atmosphere was green?

Good day everyone. I've recently finally gotten around to writing a sci fi novel but need help on some of the science of a few concepts I would like to incorporate in the novel. I'll start with ...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Primordial‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Primordial‭

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If the Earth would break apart, how likely would the large debris stay in orbit?

In the story I'm writing, Earth gets destroyed and the few million humans that survive go to live on another Earth-like planet. Since the destruction of the planet, the humans do visit their star...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by SKKennell‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by SKKennell‭

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Possible explanation of amphibious abilities

Okay so i have this world that is inhabited by an alien race that outwardly is basically undistinguishable from an ordinary earth-human. Due to the specifics of this planet they live on they can br...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Blue Devil‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Blue Devil‭

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Can You Evolve a Second Pair of Pectoral Muscles Without The Need for Flight?

Somewhere on DeviantArt, there is an insightful tutorial by someone named "Uzlo" on how to create anatomically believable angels. Among the instructed details is the possibility of developing a se...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭

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How Different Would the Outcome of the Fall of the Dinosaur Empire Be if Chicxulub Hit at a Different Season?

After 150 million years, the most successful empire in the history of Planet Earth finally collapsed 66 million years ago. A five-mile-wide space bomb--there's still disagreement as to whether it ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭

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Mountain Destruction by mining

I have a mountain in a story that basically needs to be taken down (inadvertently) by human action in a world with premodern (so mediëval/ early renaissance at best) tech levels. I have been thin...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Blue Devil‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Blue Devil‭

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Does the humanoid body plan necessitate sapience to be viable?

in most science-fiction stories that include alien races, said aliens have a roughly humanoid appearance (being an erect bipeds). now while it's likely that the vast majority of sapient life (being...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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Could my a highly advance species exist without a written or spoken language

One thing that nearly every multi cellular organism and complex thinking species is communicate, either it be pheromones, chemicals, chirps and sounds, symbols and shapes, to even complex sentences...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RotNDecay‭

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How could an underground city hide its existence for potentially thousands of years?

After the fall of the lizard empire, most of the lizard people fled to Node to avoid genocide (This is in the Lovecraft universe, racism is mandatory). In short order, this former bomb shelter beca...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mephistopheles‭

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Carbon Monoxide Rich Atmosphere

I want to make an atmosphere rich in carbon monoxide, but as it doesn't stick around for very long, it will need to be replenished. I'm looking for concentrations comparable to those of carbon diox...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Aezyc‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Aezyc‭

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Putting together a research expedition to an alien planet - what kind of scientists am I taking with me?

It's the 22nd century and we have discovered a derelict alien craft somewhere in the Oort cloud. The craft contains a star chart showing its origin on an alien planet some 30 light years away. Let'...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Faz‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Faz‭

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How would a creature like this work?

This lifeform is a carbon based humanoid that uses ammonia instead of water, breathes chlorine gas, and its body uses the mineral olivine to toughen its skin. Its blood is blue; apparently an ammon...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭

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Effect of high frequency of impact events on geography,climate, and environment

Earth sized planet in the goldilocks zone. Similar mineral composition and surface water. Photosynthetic life evolves and thrives on land and sea. Atmosphere and climate comparable to the beginnin...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Eloc‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Eloc‭

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Space station scenario feasibility

I have settings with orbital colonies around the earth. First off my idea is, if it is not profitable we would not fund it en masse. Therefore I came up with the idea that in the future we discover...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Prahara‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Prahara‭

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Improved lungs?

What needs to be improved or added to the structure (device) of human lungs to be able to filter toxic chemical compounds in the air (for example, in mines the air may contain nitrogen, methane, ca...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by French Thompson‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by French Thompson‭

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How to Make This Alternate Earth as Black as The Dark Knight

"The Dark Knight" is a nickname given by astronomers to the exoplanet TrES-2b, a gas giant with an albedo of one percent, blacker than paint, blacker than coal"”in fact, blacker than anything on Ea...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭

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How might someone live for thousands of years?

A long time ago during the last ice age an early hunter gather human encounter an unknown entity (likely a alien) who granted him the power of immortality with him living at least up into the middl...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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biologically or anatomically is there a problem with this type of double mouth or jaws?

i am not talking about xenomorph or moray eel type of jaws or multiple mouth or lower jaw inside the mouth. but this type of mouth/jaws or i called it double chin jaws where the chin also work as ...

5 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Li Jun‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Li Jun‭

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A Seafloor of Ice and Rock: Ice VI / Water Boundary

Many planets out there will be water worlds. Those generally come in two flavors: either the oceans are so deep that the water turns into high-pressure ices like ice-six, -seven, -ten and -eleven o...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭

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How could 3D Bioprinting and Synthetic Biology be used in the future for reproduction?

I think it will be possible in the far future to take a single person`s cells, genetically enhance and change them using genetic engineering and synthetic biology using new genes, and put it in a 3...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Sabrine Crystal Santos‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Sabrine Crystal Santos‭

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Why would my species expose their brains through a glass dome?

The species I have created looks eerily humanlike, practically indistinguishable from human except for a reptile-like tail and an exposed brain. The top portion of the skull is replaced with a gla...

30 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RotNDecay‭

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How to explain a planet around a K-Type star with Orange/Red/Purple plants?

Basically, in a sci-fi roleplaying group I am apart of, I have began to work on a long-standing human colony world. The tech-level is pretty much bog-standard sci-fi, and such, colonisation is poss...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by McGerridae‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by McGerridae‭

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Do seasons occur on a tidally-locked planet?

I have done some research and so much contradict one another or I simply fail to understand. Do seasons occur on a tidally locked planet that isn't tilted on its axis?

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Mister Onion‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by HDE 226868‭

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How do I explain the evolution of slug people?

I got motivated to write a novel after reading about ocean slugs that managed to evolve into fish. In my fictional world I'm writing how a few fish shaped slugs made their way on land and managed t...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Pierre ‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Pierre ‭

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Dragons and fall damage

You know, dragons like myself are no strangers to falling. It's a natural part of flight and I used to do it a lot when I was a tiny and very adorable wyrmling. The problem is it hurt, and sure it...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mephistopheles‭