General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.
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Imagine a world with a dead core, like Mars, but covered in water. This world has managed to hold on to its atmosphere and quite a bit of its water as well. I'm sure the prodigious life there would...
Let's start with these assumptions: We're 300 years in the future. The laws of physics are the same as our world, although new rules and understanding have been discovered. (i.e. not quite "hard ...
Meaning, cause a seemingly normal winter to suddenly take a turn within hours or a day/two into a completely frozen territory? From what I've read, abrupt climate change happens from ocean currents...
Is it possible for humans to live on a world with the following conditions? Atmosphere: 50% nitrogen; 30% oxygen; 20% carbon dioxide. Climate: The rain in some areas is acidic. (Is there som...
What would happen if a powerful explosive went off in the core of a planet? On Earth, you have several layers of the planet, the crust, the magma, the outer core, and the inner core. Right now, hu...
In a system where 2 planets of similar mass are orbiting around a common barycenter, would the following configuration considered stable on the long run? They orbit at 1,6 AU from their star The ...
Currently I am working on how to explain a character that can "phase" through objects in a similar manner to Martian ManHunter. His abilities are negated by certain (rare) metals. His ability cou...
Is there any software tool for quickly prototyping a planetary system? Ideally this should: Allow for placement of planets of different sizes and masses around a star. Allow for examination of th...
I am creating a fantasy world where a given race is mystically tied to the planet. Predominately this race will be earth-dwellers, quite happy and content to burrow underground, but I'd like some o...
A generation ship was sent out a long time ago, to colonize a far away planet. However the ship failed to reach its goal due to navigational issues (which also means they didn't have any clue where...
In a relationship between two species, could a certain relationship become harmful to both involved species? Keep in mind, I am looking for a relationship between two species, preferably of the ki...
I want to know about the plausibility and required parameters of the following scenario: Take an Earth-like planet, about the same size, composition and gravity. It has no plate tectonics to speak...
A top secret organization is planning to introduce a New World Order and replaces every human being (homo sapiens sapiens) with the evolved form of sub species of homo sapiens. Meaning we are sub s...
I've been told that if I raise the axial tilt from 23.5 degrees to 25, I'd end up getting hotter summers and colder winters. That's great, except that Earth's diverse climate makes that statement ...
The setup: Near future (maximum 50 years in future) where "only" thing changed is, that company SpaceX together with NASA and ESA found out, how to get cargo and people to space very cheap USA dec...
Take a modern nuclear reactor complex. Now picture a catastrophic meltdown, not unlike Chernobyl. But this time there is nobody around to do damage control, and all control mechanisms do fail. Th...
I did some quick research on DNA and I know it can be damaged by different sorts of mutagens. I also know that this kind of damage can lead to cancer. Though I'm not entirely sure of where exactly ...
For the sake of this question, let's say that there would be a space mission that would send one man on a 40 year journey that will require him to be in a completely self sufficient habitat for the...
How could an organization force solar energy to be bought from them? Something like: A large structure (in space presumably) fully/partly blocks sunlight reaching Earth, so anyone here wishing to ...
Could a Dwarven society as described by Tolkien mythology actually work? Dwarves for the purposes of this question are short, stout, bearded men and women who live primarily underground. They have ...
Building from this and this, given an aquatic civilization somehow manages to forge tools and build computers, could it build space-faring devices? Also another development that would come earlier...
Recently I had an idea for a world setting. A large part of this world focuses around a habitable satellite the size of Earth orbiting a Super-Jupiter. The fact that it's a moon is pretty integral ...
For a species I am working on, there is a specific genetic trait that I want to introduce into the population. The exact nature of either is not important for the purposes of this question, but the...
There have been several discussions about mechs, and the general consensus is - whilst cool, they're not actually a very good design. Plausible Reasons for usage of Combat Mecha What I was wonder...
Scenario: Earth men colonized Alpha Centauri. Barnard's Star is at range. There is a huge fleet of fission bomb pulse propulsion cargo ships. Given Enough time and space they can reach 0.8C. Qu...
Imagine aliens dropped a small black hole (say, 1% of the moon's mass, so you wouldn't notice the difference in gravitation) into the sun (from the far side of the sun, so nobody on earth can see i...
Suppose an intelligent species evolved on a large rocky planet, one with sufficient mass that the species had little hope of developing anything anytime soon that could achieve escape velocity. The...
What conditions would have to happen to re-animate a mummified person to come back to life with consciousness fully restored? What would the conditions of the mummification be and biological/techni...
In my world, daytime lasts for 9 years. I am trying to make this as realistic as possible. How would life live on this planet? How would they sleep etc.? My own theories are that they would mig...
Hello again :) My first questions had some wonderful answers, but brought me to the following problem: Although (in my eyes) really dull, the Cpt. Geary series (the Lost Fleet) tends to depict the...
1350 AD. A secret society is recruiting adepts in Rome, Florence, Paris, Wien, Prague and London; well-educated people in high ranks of nobility, catholic church, engineers, professors and knights....
Say you have a planet and the planet has a moon: could the moon have visible satellites as well? I don't mean a gas giant planet, I mean something habitable by humanoids or humans. Will the moon'...
If humans were to vanish completely from the Earth rapture-style, other primates would possibly slowly evolve and eventually take our place (in a few million years?), since they have both the basic...
*By complex life, I mean something more complex than microorganisms. Something closer to what we have on Earth. Similar to this question: Is it possible for life to evolve on planets without water...
There are a couple of stories where humans gain chloroplasts. Here's a clip from one story: They are also infused with bacteriorhodopsin, allowing photosynthesis. It is now possible for a huma...
I am looking for a tool that can be used to create worlds with a realistic (= physically plausible) climate and surface given general terrain shape, or can at least assist in such a task. My ideal...
Picture the future, where man kind has spread out across the galaxy. What would be the most precious and sought after materials? Today it is metals like gold and platinum that are most sought aft...
Linked What would the flora on a methane world be like? What would animal life on a methane world look like and how would it evolve? What would the conditions on a methane world be like? How wo...
I was planning a short story that focuses on a rainy day in a city, and I realized that there's one interesting feature of it: Even though the weather seems bleak, and it affects the actions of tho...
Let's say that somehow, Earth suddenly acquired a computer with ridiculous speed. This computer can run a program described in a language of your choice, which can be described by a readme file tha...
The fantasy creature I am imagining (planning a short story or two around) satisfies the following analogy: Human is to Chimpanzee as "This Thing" is to Badger. That is, the creature has a cl...
One way, I think, is if the gravity is exactly correct. However, while I think the water might be in a unstable equilibrium, I have been unable to work out the mathematics. Let's assume that such a...
This question may be a bit broad, but I'm basically wondering what minimal things humans need to have in an atmosphere in order to survive. Let's assume we have Earthlike gravity, and are only deal...
Could life be sustained only by a gas? Humans need food, water and air but can a ET or Alien could just live off gas.
When doing some research for some of the resent questions proposed, I ran across an article that pointed out a danger of traveling at extreme speeds in normal space as a high percentage of c I was ...
The government of Futurestan has finally decided to hear the voice of her people. It would seem that the protriotors access to malware, EMP-otovs, and weaponized angry glaring (and thermite. Lots o...
Maybe it was a trick of the light or a strange cloud, or just not enough sleep. A couple nights ago I could have sworn that thin crescent moon flickered. Which led to an interesting question - wh...
Here, I asked if it's possible to terraform a hot planet. But now, if we have a volcanic active planet, can we use the same techniques to cool it down? Normally, the planet cool off slowly after...
The other day I was watching my 8 year old grand-daughter run on the playground. She was running like a girl - like Jackie Joiner-Kersey to be precise. It appeared that her form was perfect - that...
I'm trying to find explanations for a strain of beans (or any other food-producing plant) that have become large, maybe as large as most trees, and about as wide in girth, that overgrows countries ...
