General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.
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So I'm just wondering about something that was on my mind. I am writing a story that is inspired from the comic book genre and takes place in a hypothetical Marvel Universe. Now let's say one of th...
How would I future-proof a complex machine or set of machines so that they will still be running 2000-3000 years from now? Is this possible with our current level of engineering and we just don't d...
In a future with great scientific advancements in architecture, engineering and science (where all three work together to create solutions to many problems that city planners, architects and civil ...
A common thing we see in zombie movies in the ability to remove the infected area (usually the arm or leg) despite the fact that a blood borne illness would travel throughout the body. How could I ...
Let's say you're an alien and you want to make sure your species outlives your planet or whatever disaster you currently face, whether it be natural or engineered. You load up a bunch of self-repli...
Currently coming up with a race that lives on floating islands. They are a still primarily stuck to the ground and I intend for them to be able to fly. Or else they are really gonna be stuck on tho...
Gliding is a relatively simple trait to explain in a species' evolution, much quicker than flight or becoming aquatic. But what environments support an animal in the evolution to flight? For exam...
In context, I need to transport a package that has gotten very close to the sun, and I've chosen to use a wormhole. What I need to know is if there is a certain distance that needs to be considere...
In this context, my world assumes an infinite universe so parallel Earths are possible and probability isn't an issue. My planet has half the gravity of Earth but an atmosphere 12x denser, although...
Certain aphids and mites reproduce by telescoping generations, but do so in different ways (parthenogenesis and intercourse in utero, respectively), Hypothetically these methods could be combined....
In the never ending quest to get elves to live in trees, I am taking things one step further and attempting to get the entire city in a tree. Magic is not in the equation. The tree would start out ...
I am writing a story set in a fantasy world, with an atmosphere similar to Earth's. Would it be possibly to have a forest situated near wetlands which create radiation fog at night, which drifts in...
There is the strong theory that the Earth and the Moon were part of the same core at one point. This would lead one to believe that there are precious minerals under the surface of the Moon. Metal...
This is assuming that the direction of the gravitational gradient remains the same ("down") - it's just the magnitude that's varying. I don't need an accurate figure, just a ballpark one, which is...
Suppose there was a giant star at the centre of a system. It had managed to catch several smaller stars in its orbit which had in turn also trapped planets and their moons in their orbits. Would th...
Some background information: in this world there are races that are ageless. Meaning they stop aging at what humans consider age 30. This of course means that both men and women remain fertile, ess...
I'm trying to design a species that is largely aquatic and yet capable of walking / running (loosely) on land. I've already figured out a gill and lung type respiratory system to allow them to brea...
As I'm sure anyone reading this knows, our body parts move via the brain signaling the appropriate muscles to contract or expand. Now, for hair to function the way it does - its texture, malleabili...
One thing that a few science fiction films seem to get wrong: it is extremely unlikely for two civilizations to evolve completely independently and yet be within a few hundred years of each other t...
Positing a high (c. 35%) Oâ‚‚-level on a roughly Earth-equivalent planet (atmosphere about like the early Carboniferous), what types of lifeforms would flourish? Obviously, giant insects could be ...
An earlier question here concerning a cube-shaped planet got me thinking. Suppose an artificial world-sized engineering project as described in this answer The K-II civilization that built it ...
Forget about how we get it there, some kind of top secret experiment on mars gone wrong in all the right ways. If somehow Mars's core was mixed with some amount of antimatter, and assuming 100% of...
For any reason, a human heart is replaced with a pump that instead of pulses provides a continuous stream of blood. It varies the pressure, as a heart does, as needed. Ignore such technical issues...
Charmspeak is defined as mind control through the medium of speech - that is, the user tells the target what to do, and the target has no choice but to obey. Is there a way to explain such a phenom...
A genius programmer (someone with initials PJ) created a neural network aimed to provide the best results in running marathon for human. Thanks to Google deep dream project, this programmer also r...
I'm beginning to build a world for a story I want to write. The world consists of a planet, roughly earthsized, with a couple of natural satellites (moons), and roughly same orbit and a similar sta...
Imagine a species almost identical to humans, with one exception. All sperm contained both X and Y chromosome, and every child has the potential to develop as either sex. However, the mother has ...
We have talked about hive minds a lot here and relatively recently, a new idea of hive mind has become popular; the collective consciousness. The basic run down is that a collective consciousness s...
The idea of a collective consciousness (Or Anthill) is pretty simple: instead of cells you have small sentient animal that make up a larger creature. This is different from a hive mind in that the ...
I am creating a map for a story set in a pre-industrial world, and have made the basic physical geography. My main concern now is the development of culture, centred around urbanisation. There ar...
Given any kind of living organism (plant, animal, silicate, gaseous, energy, etc.,) what logical reasons (natural, environmental, evolutionary selection, nurtured, artificial) could result in more ...
So in my world, there is something called magic energy: a form of energy that can be control and, you know, do magic stuff. Like normal energy, they can not be created or destroyed, but only change...
So, this world I've got in my head is inhabited by plant-beings, all of whom are constantly connected to the Garden, a kind of physical heaven, through an all encompassing web of roots, tree brains...
I'm trying to create a habitable planet but with a low atmospheric pressure, similar to Mars. But instead with 15 percent of Earth's atmospheric pressure, what traits can I give my animals so they ...
I'm wondering if it is possible for a planet to have one pole always facing its star, the other always facing away (by rotating as if a tidal-locked planet), but style have a day and night cycle on...
I'm piecing together the biology and ecosystem of a Titan-like cryoplanet. And I want it to have clear or nearly-clear skies instead of Titan's complex hydrocarbon haze, so that my ethane-based lif...
What would the weather conditions be like if earth was covered in a layer of clouds and pollution for 300+ years? there is still light in the day but it is minimal and the nights are pitch black. ...
I'm working on a sci-fi/fantasy world set in a solar system with a few habital, currently-being-colonized planets. Most of the action will be taking place on the surface of one of them, but I want ...
In my world there exists a planet called Solara Prime. The planet orbits a large yellow star, healthy and capable of sustaining the system. There is one planet and 4 moons whose orbits are roughl...
Is it feasible that such a race can exist within the following constraints? Body: Humanoid design Average heights at maturity between 2 metres (females) and 2,5 metres (males) Live ...
North America's largest and perhaps most popular volcano is the plume of mantle situated right beneath the surface of what we arbitrarily call Yellowstone National Park. This image shows the two...
Proxima Centauri may have a rocky, earth like planet close to its dim sun. Tidally locked, the sun facing side may have a temperature up to 30 degrees Celsius and a dark side of -30 C. This would m...
Two vastly dissimilar organisms turn out to be the same species upon gene sequencing. In this hypothetical animal species one or more components of the life cycle is a fungus, algae, plant, lichen ...
Major William die in a combat versus aliens. Now he have the capacity to wake up on the same point of time every time he dies. (Movie: Edge of tomorrow) He uses this power to win the war, but he h...
In the last few decades there has been a lot of progress in the development of prosthetic limbs. They can be operated by the user's nerve pulses, they can be fitted with simple touch sensors, and c...
Short version: 1 million people were left to fend for themselves (a.k.a. there's no room at the inn scenario) through what amounts to a storm of asteroid fragments pulverizing the United States (l...
I am asking if a planet with shades of gray only is scientifically possible in our universe. Basically everything on the surface of this planet would seem black and white to the human eye. Here ar...
And I mean faaaaar future. Like, twenty thousand years minimum. 13 million years at maximum. Let's say the Earth is doomed and to avoid the impending extinction of the human race, we throw most o...
I'm building up a world with floating islands. They don't move much and generally stay around the same area. However, would this affect the weather? Essentially, I have giant floating rocks in the...
(Before anyone asks, this is related to the Sahara, Makgadikgadi and Himalaya questions.) The Sahara may take credit at being the hottest desert, but the Australian Outback is hardly a pushover by...
