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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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How could humans control a body made of nanobots?

My species lives on a world that is filled with very few storms, lush environments, and naturally forming metallic monoliths. The species are like humans, but one thing that sets them apart from hu...

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

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Could Reptiles Be Simultaneous Hermaphrodites?

Reptile reproduction, it turns out, is more flexible than our own. Whiptails, a girls-only species, can lay unfertilized eggs without the need for a male. And Komodo dragons have recently been di...

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

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Are Geologically Dead Planets Habitable?

One of the planets I'm thinking of for my book series has all of its landmass in the northernmost half of the northern hemisphere (it is thus mostly a water world) and is completely geologically de...

9 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by The Weasel Sagas‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by The Weasel Sagas‭

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Fusion- or antimatter-powered propulsion: Which one will we likely develop first?

In terms of scientific and engineering challenges, which one is closer to fruition? Specifically I am looking for the feasibility of using one of these systems for space-only travel between the orb...

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

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Could a species evolve to the point were they cause their own extinction

We know that in biology, a species evolves to better survive its planet and its various climates and geography, which is mainly a result of natural selection. But, sometimes, this natural selecti...

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

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How can human evolution adopt to the changes of multiple births being commonplace?

Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye is a woman in Uganda who has had 44 children in her life due to her bearing many children at one time. This unusual situation is because of a rare genetic abnormality that ...

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

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How does an intelligent race which can only perceives microwave develops written language?

Imagine a race of humanoid alien living somewhere in the universe evolves weird sensory organ which can only picks up frequency of light ranging from 800MHz up to 2.5GHz which is in the microwave s...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user6760‭

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Silent Planet: Effects of Natural Psionic Evolution on Communication Tech?

"Imagine that. A planet teeming with life, entwined with one another with mere thought and nothing more. A silent harmony, a quiet world." Context Through some still unknown science, and on this ...

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

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How would multiple minds control a single body?

One trope seen in movies is mind control. This trope involves a person or thing taking over another person's body, whilst visual or auditory cues and friends try to help the original person regain ...

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

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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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How fast would strange matter conversion go?

Background: So this Kurzgesagt video talks about quark stars, and how two of them colliding could send strangelets flying towards Earth or the Sun. Now it's been said that since, theoretically (as...

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

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How can floating limbs work?

(I'm new here, so if I'm doing something wrong please let me know) I have an idea for a world where most fauna (and potentially flora) have floating, disembodied limbs that hover in place. Think R...

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

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Minimal mass of an Earth-like satellite to seriously deter space travel?

I want to write a story taking place on the natural satellite of a gas giant, with said satellite being massive enough to prevent, or at least strongly deter, space travel, such that the resources ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Udon Nomaneim‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Udon Nomaneim‭

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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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Could my species exist naturally

The species I have created, are a species of gliding reptiles. They look primarily like horned lizards and measure up to 20 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 5-6 feet tall. however, they posses wings tha...

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

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Anatomically Correct Vanara

Apart of the Anatomically Correct Series Vanara The Vanara is a group of people who lives in the forest in the Hindu epic "Ramayana." In there, it describes them as human-like, with reference to...

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

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What is the science behind a wave that changes the laws of physics?

So I remember reading a long time ago about how a theoretical "wave" could exist, as the laws of physics suddenly changed in one place and then this rippled across the universe, basically at the sp...

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

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Anatomically Correct Yara Ma Yha Who

This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series Residing in Australia, the Yara Ma Yha Who is a creature of Aboriginal folklore being depicted commonly as: being 3-4 ft tall having re...

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

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How can sapient beings engineer transportation and building when they can only count 0, 1 and many?

Imagine a species of humanoid beings living on an Earth-like planet somewhere in the universe; they have developed complex spoken and written languages and they can study their own anatomy and the ...

6 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user6760‭

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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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UHT Ceramic Geology

Earth rocks are largely silicates, combinations of silicon, oxygen, and various other trace elements. What would a planets geography look like if the crust was primarily composed of ceramics like...

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

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Could a creature evolve a cubic brain?

One thing that is fairly common amongst nearly every macro-scale living thing on this planet is the brain. The brain controls when creatures breathe, move, talk, etc., but the brains of said living...

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

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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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Walking Moisture Farms

JordanTheCynic here again with another question relating to my Eosi Humans. Most of my questions are NSFW by the way so just a fair warning. I made a post in the past which discussed how Eosi h...

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

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How/why could dragons develop six limbs?

In many fantasy worlds, dragons are depicted with six limbs: four "legs" (two front limbs and two hind limbs) and two wings. In the real world, we don't really see vertebrates with more than four l...

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

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Why would men suffer from toxic masculinity?

Since the 1800s, the levels of testosterone has been steadily rising in males across the world. The increase in male testosterone has increased strength, speed, height, energy, and aggression. The ...

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

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How would Humanoid Insects Molt?

I am writing a story that has insects the size of humans, but I am having a little trouble with the biology. When you look up why there are no large insects on Earth, the most popular answer is th...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by E Tam‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by E Tam‭

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How to design a species that matches the following critera

This is another question that seeks to provide assistance in the design of ''Eosi Humans'' an alternate human species which makes up the population of my fantasy world ''Diggoran'' ( Pronounced Die...

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

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Which natural resources could warrant interstellar conflicts?

Imagine a distant future in which humans' descendants have scattered throughout the stars, settling wherever they can. Some planets and moons are resource-rich paradises, while others are barren w...

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

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What kind of lunar orbit would cause a total solar eclipse to happen once a day?

The eclipse needs to be visible from at least one region on the planet every revelation and last about one hour.

7 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Double_S‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Double_S‭

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Could a hypothetically big enough planet, with an earth-like atmosphere, be big enough so that you cannot see its curvature from above?

I want to know if a planet with an atmosphere identical to that of Earth could be big enough so that from no point in the lower atmosphere it would be possible to appreciate the curvature in relati...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by D3lf‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by D3lf‭

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A bulletproof super Soldier who can Dodge bullets?

I also need to combine two suggestions about changing a person's muscle fibers so that my genetically modified person has both of them. The first sentence refers to the modification of human muscle...

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

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Super-strong genetically modified super-soldier?

My question is: What needs to be changed or improved in the structure of human muscle fibers so that my genetically modified person can lift several tons ( from 2700 to 7000 kilograms), taking into...

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

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What Prevents Gigantic Monotremes From Evolving?

Monotremes are the oddballs of the mammal family, the echidnas and especially the platypus are absolutely absurd creatures with their bizarre anatomical features and mishmash of reptilian and mamma...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by NixonCranium‭

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Are Orbital Rings feasible to construct in another star system?

In this universe, Earth had a couple orbital rings during the construction of the colony ships that were sent to Alpha Centauri. Humanity has achieved fusion power and efficient space flight (1g ac...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user72655‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user72655‭

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Could Vocal Mimicry be a Viable Tactic for a Predator?

Vocal mimicry for this question refers to the ability to imitate the sounds of other animals, exemplified in this video of a lyrebird mimicking several species of birds, a chainsaw and even a camer...

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

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Individualist Intelligence

Under what circumstances could an inherently individualist species become intelligent and advanced? Usually, animals require social interaction for intelligence to develope. Or at least that's wha...

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

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Is there a plausible way to change the appearance of the surface of a planet, and have it immediately reform?

Basically a world that cannot be mapped.

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

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Could present-day humanity survive on Antarctica alone?

Tomorrow morning, an apocalyptic event wipes humanity off the face of the earth - except for in Antarctica. The nature of the catastrophe is unclear, but it seems that any human will die within a f...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Tom Hosker‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Tom Hosker‭

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A drinks party underwater?

Landia, a land based civilisation, has recently established diplomatic relations with Aquatica, a civilisation of fish people. The two peoples exchange gifts to each other - including from Landia, ...

9 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Fhnuzoag‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Fhnuzoag‭

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How to prevent crew from accidentally teleporting oneself outside a spaceship with portal gun?

Set in the year 3020 CE, every crew on board has a personal issued portal gun to easily get around the interior of the spaceship. The handheld portal gun can instantly teleport the user along with ...

9 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user6760‭

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How to calculate the furthest an animal could fly?

In my story several flying mythical creatures have been brought in a more realistic world. some creatures like Gargoyles can only fly for short distances while others like the heavenpiercer (a type...

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

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How could a portable handheld weather machine work?

Intro: As some of you may know, the character shown in this picture is none other than the Weather Wizard, one of the Flash's most dangerous adversaries. With the help of rod-like device in his h...

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

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Climate Map Climate

My friend and I are working on this world called Roia. It shares many terrestrial properties with the real life earth: composition, axial tilt, distance from the star, presence of water, etc. You c...

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

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How quickly could a rogue Earth return to habitability after a deep freeze?

Background A large star makes a relatively close approach to a solar system like our own and the orbits of many of the planets are badly perturbed. A planet similar to Earth is in the wrong place a...

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

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How would a dragon's neck be optimized for the most force output for the least amount of weight?

Basically I wanted dragons to be able to efficiently finish off armored opponents by chomping on one of their arm then batting them around and against hard surfaces until they're no more. If you n...

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

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What biological trait could make (certain members of) an insectoid species good at astronomy?

This is a science fiction intelligent alien biology question. I'm imagining a race of large (around 2m in height) insect-like species on a distant planet who discovered astronomy VERY late in thei...

12 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Iroh‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Iroh‭

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Who is likely to die because of a prolonged power outage? How long does it take?

My antagonist is going to cause a widespread blackout to flex on the protagonist, but the unexpected consequence is that some folks are going to die as a result. This will cause the protagonist to ...

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

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How Would the Multituberculates Survive Longer Than in Our Timeline?

In exploring likely candidates for an alternate Earth without rodents, someone suggested multituberculates to me. Here's a little summary as to who the multituberculates were for anyone not in the ...

0 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by JohnWDailey‭

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What would happen to a gas giant during a supernova?

Fairly straightforward question. Imagine a gas giant planet, like the size of Jupiter, in orbit around a massive star. The star goes supernova. What happens to the planet? Is the energy of the su...

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