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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 would a society evolve if some people are immortal?

The setting is as follow. In a planet like earth, one day, 10% of the population suddenly becomes immortal. The "immortals" are not physiologically different from the "mortals" and initially it is ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Arkadipta Sarkar‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Arkadipta Sarkar‭

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The new Space Race - Racing!

Pretty much every vehicle ever invented has been used for racing on at some point, so it seems likely that people would want to do the same in space. However in space it doesn't really work the sa...

8 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Tim B‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Tim B‭

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If a human body was self sustaining

If a human somehow managed to change their body in such a way that self sustaining was possible and they did not need any outside sources to maintain themselves, does that mean that they cannot gro...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Deuxz‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Deuxz‭

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How might a highly intelligent aquatic species (mermaids) communicate underwater?

I'm trying to create basically realistic mermaids, and working on developing body language and vocalizations. I have most of the vocalizations I can think of (suggestions are still appreciated), bu...

11 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Guest‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Guest‭

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How Fast Can A Weightless Human 'Swim' On Air Using Medieval Tech?

This world has gravity, air, and clouds. If humans are weightless yet still has mass, it's gonna take some force to accelerate them. How fast can they move on air, say, if they had fins like divers...

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

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How quickly do prehistoric populations grow?

I am working on a species that ressembles humans beings and that, although slightly engineered in the sense that the evolutionary leaps are aided by genetic modification, they are left to go throug...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Nierninwa‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Nierninwa‭

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Blood for hydrogen breathers

Some follow-up thoughts on this question... Hydrogen isn't very soluble in water. Oxygen is more so, but still sufficiently insoluble that most oxygen-breathing Earth creatures use special oxygen ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Logan R. Kearsley‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Logan R. Kearsley‭

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Justification for predominantly late-medieval style buildings in a modern world

So, my setting operates with some futuristic tech, which turned out to be pretty lame (especially nanomachines, they're just fancy pants medicine). Therefore, to spice things up, I encased it in a ...

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

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Stabilizing Synchronized Orbit

The planet in my story, Ser, is actually in reality a moon orbiting a larger body called planet Rea. Ser is located in the L1 Lagrangian point, which means it takes the same amount of time to orbit...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by overlord - Reinstate Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by overlord - Reinstate Monica‭

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How much would a 1 foot tall human weigh?

Trying to figure out how much a 1 foot tall fairy would realistically weigh using these 2 guidelines Fairies are just scaled down humans. Their bones are not hollow because their flight is assist...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Samirah‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Samirah‭

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A semi perpetual gloomy climate is possible?

I'd like to know if a climate with snowy and gloomy winters and rainy and cloudy summers is possible. Because the climate of Russia in summer is sunny enough and the Icelandic ones isn't so snowy....

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Ontan‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Ontan‭

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Would it be possible for my fantasy creature to have black blood?

A friend of mine has a race of creatures in her headworld and has been wondering about a biological answer to justify the color of her race's blood even though magic is a bit sprinkled in there. ...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by trash_cat‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by trash_cat‭

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Would it be possible to build a submarine-like city?

I mean as in a city that is not situated at the bottom of the ocean but is not floating on the surface of it either. What would a plausible size and population size be for this kind of construct? C...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Toma‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Toma‭

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How would gravity and centrifugal force interact in Dyson constructs?

I am developing an alien race whose homeworld is a Dyson sphere planetoid (they used collected planetary and asteroid matter to construct a "hollow planet" around their sun, along with "night" sola...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by HA Harvey‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by HA Harvey‭

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Human colonies beyond Pluto (on a potential ninth planet)

To be able to colonize another world, there are some requirements; the harvesting of energy, enough recourses, handling of the environment (pressure, temperature and gravity and so on) and availabi...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Tim Hansen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Tim Hansen‭

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How could a creature derive energy from radioactive elements?

Have a creature that doesn't really need vitamins or minerals, it only requires energy which goes through a energy-matter conversion to build what it needs. Radioactive materials would be great sou...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭

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Harvesting Energy from Gas Giants

In my world, humans live on a moon of a gas giant that has extreme weather conditions. They also: have crystals that can store energy. possess the ability to make floating islands (on which they...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by AIwithstick‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by AIwithstick‭

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What color would plants orbiting a white dwarf have?

So, let's say there's a white dwarf star that has recently been born (by recently, let's say about 3 million years ago) Now around that time, a rogue planet, about the same size and mass as earth, ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Johnara‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Johnara‭

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Is there a reason a flying creature would evolve "wings that act as hands" instead of "wings with hands attached"?

A rare design I have seen in fantasy games is a wyvern or humanoid being with hand like wings to fly I'm curious if this is in any way a practical design and the reason something like this would ...

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

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Mass extinction because of too low CO2-lewels

We have all heard what too much CO2 can lead to, but so far the biosphere have never been exposed to too low levels of CO2. But what if it did? And please, this topic has nothing to do with the ong...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Tim Hansen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Tim Hansen‭

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Which gas giant of the solar system could humanity mine and for what resource?

In a close future (in 100-200 years), humanity is in an energy/resource crisis and seeks new resources in the solar system. In my story, humanity, still in need after colonizing the moon, sends a m...

10 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Binson‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Binson‭

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What could be a plausible scientific explanation for a man with radioactive skin that acts like a nuclear reactor?

A bit outlandish, but here me out: I'm trying to make a villain for my story who's essentially like DC's Fallout in powers. Attribution: January 2015, dc.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout That being said...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Strivs‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Strivs‭

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Creatures that intentionally blow themselves up

How could a creature explode itself? Why would it? We see example ideas of these all the time (Scourges, creepers, etc.) but nobody ever said how or why a creature would intentionally explode. I...

5 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Caleb Woodman‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Caleb Woodman‭

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What is my breathable atmosphere composed of?

This planet's atmosphere has oxygen at a partial pressure that is breathable to humans, and the rest of the atmosphere is, at least, not made up primarily of Nitrogen (that is, it's not just Earth'...

6 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Michael Stachowsky‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Michael Stachowsky‭

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If we were to assume the shape of planet Popstar from Kirby is kept that way artificially, how would the shape affect its day/night cycle?

Making a semi-realistic Kirby Alternate Universe (AU) here. Popstar's shape is a result of a member of this powerful race using secret magics to alter reality in this AU. What would its day/night ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭

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Can a planets magnetic field be strong enough to make floating continents?

I have a planet similar to Venus(similar size and atmosphere) that has floating continents in the atmosphere due to strong magnetic fields. If it is possible, what would the continents need to be m...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Chickenpeep Chickenpeep‭

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Is it realistic to have a livable planet with a quarter the size of Earth, but with the same gravity?

So in theory, I would want this planet to have the same everything as earth besides the radius (and anything that affects how radius plays into gravity). I know the density of this Planet X would h...

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

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How to get earth like conditions with a Hollow-World?

For my space-fantasy setting I'm considering using the concept of Hollow-Worlds. I devised in-universe reasons for the presence of a day night and season cycle. The Hollow-world's "Inner-sun" cy...

5 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Trismegistus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Trismegistus‭

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A medieval fantasy adventurer lights a torch in a 100% pure oxygen room. What happens?

Exactly what it says on the tin. Kleeber the warrior is wearing a gambeson and carrying the standard adventurer's gear (leather backpack, 100ft of hemp rope, bedroll, spare clothes, waterskin, dry ...

7 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Mindwin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mindwin‭

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What are the size limits on an spin-gravity space station?

A spin-gravity space station, a ring-shaped structure that creates a faux gravity on the inside of the ring via inertia, has been depicted as no bigger than a house and as massive as a solar system...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by 17482‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by 17482‭

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How would the skin color of white Europeans change over 1,000 years in subtropics?

I am building a country in today's Argentina (32°-40° latitude) where Europeans would have settled in 10th century. Would their skin color change over that period?

7 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Martin L‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Martin L‭

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How could a planet have traveling geographic poles?

I want to build a world that has its geographic poles travel like the Earth magnetic poles do. What is a plausible way to do this? (besides giving it two suns that is)

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Victor S‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Victor S‭

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Humans as Pets?

Related, and in continuation to The Challenge of Controlling an Advanced AI. At this point in my story, I'm assuming a got-out-of-the-box-AI scenario, where no singleton (a single self-coherent dom...

18 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Serban Tanasa‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Serban Tanasa‭

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How to figure out that you traveled 570 million years into the future while in space on a small shuttle craft?

I want a character to get sucked into what she thinks is an FTL-wormhole-gate. While it turns out that the gate is indeed a traversable wormhole, it does not allow for FTL travel. The gate transpor...

6 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭

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What could make an insect race intelligent?

TL;DR: I want a society which behaves as a hive. Is it plausible and how to achieve this? The setup: Different planet in our universe. In other words: Normal, physical rules apply, there is no mag...

7 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Pavel Janicek‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Pavel Janicek‭

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Is it possible for a multicellular organism to evolve a capacitor?

Is it possible for an organism to evolve a capacitor if the conditions were right (carnivore that stuns fish, living in complete darkness, etc.)? What kind of challenges would there be to evolve so...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Pyrania‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Pyrania‭

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What plasma temperature range to expect from Earth atmosphere common elements?

I intend to write a character that has the ability to turn nearby gasses into plasma for combat and utility purposes. However, I've been studying how plasma works and (as someone who is not as savv...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Necrikus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Necrikus‭

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What would be needed to scientifically be able to stand on cloud?

Inspired from people walking on water using cornstarch plus myths such as monkey king, several gods in heaven/celestial palace, and other fiction works. (image from Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama) ...

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

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How could a race of humanoids have grey skin?

Gray skin and red eyes is a common look for Dark Elves, and I have a similar race in my own world. But what would physically cause such an appearance? Hard Requirements: Must not be the result o...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Maddock Emerson‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Maddock Emerson‭

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What would a pair of Death Stars do to Earth?

Y'all should know by now that I want to build a Death Star ;-) Let's assume that we did that already -- and against the odds, we've built two of them, and they're currently in orbit around a plane...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Shokhet‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Shokhet‭

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How Would Weightless Creature Steer Itself In The Air? (Can It Sail?)

Gravity does exist in this world, and so does air and clouds. But this creature only has enough weight to stay in the air without falling or being lifted up. It's big like a whale and it does have ...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by brendt‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by brendt‭

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If every star in the universe except the Sun were destroyed, would we die?

If every star and planetary system and blackhole"”all mass (not sure whether to include dark matter or not) except what directly makes up our solar system"”in the Universe except the Sun were wiped...

12 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by theonlygusti‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by theonlygusti‭

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How could you build an artificial planet-sized magnetic field?

I'm conceiving of a world where humans can readily terraform worlds that were once considered "dead" due to the planet's magnetic field being long gone. In such a situation, what could humans do t...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Richard Boone‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Richard Boone‭

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How big could dinosaurs get with super strength and durability?

On this parallel earth all vertebrates received the ability to efficiently produce super strong materials from readily available minerals/nutrients in the mid Triassic. The specifics of these comp...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Vakus Drake‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Vakus Drake‭

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How would red eyes occur in a human (without underlying medical conditions)?

The main character in my setting is a human with red irises. I know that severe cases of albinism can cause somebody's eyes to appear red, but that's actually caused by light reflecting off the blo...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Philip Rowlands‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Philip Rowlands‭

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Why would one hemisphere of a planet be very mountainous while the other is flat?

Background I just read this question about how to get a planet to have one hemisphere with tropical climate and one with polar climate. The (not yet accepted) answer with the highest score recomm...

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

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How to create Matrix-like simulation?

Movies like The Matrix and video games like The Evil Within have popularized the idea of a simulated reality. I'm talking about a human connected to a computer and able to experience similar thing...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by michael smith‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by michael smith‭

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Preventing Blindness from Microgravity

According to a recent National Geographic article, astronauts returning home after longer missions suffer permanently impaired vision. This is a problem that must be addressed in hard-science world...

5 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Zxyrra‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Zxyrra‭

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Is a gas-mask as a spacesuit possible?

I'm writing a short story about space faring race of people. I want to emphasize how technology has allowed a casual approach to space, making it seem like only a minor inconvenience or hazard. O...

8 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by BB ON‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by BB ON‭

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How large would a space station have to be to hold one million people indefinitely?

A moon-sized asteroid approaches Earth in the near future, where space tourism has become normal. The Earth has a few satellite structures above Mars conducting research, as well as successful terr...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Alex‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Alex‭