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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 to prevent self-modifying A.I. from removing the "kill switch" itself without human interference?

All A.I. comes with a built-in safety mechanism that prevent their kind from ever doing harm to a human or humanity, it is the last straw should they pose any real threat to our safety. A century ...

8 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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What technology could cause a global black out?

In 2051 a Neo-Luddite movement known as "Amos"/"The Adherents of Amos" detonated some sort of weapon in LEO (low earth orbit) causing a global black out shutting down technology and to a extent mod...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭

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What injury would be of little consequence to a biped but terrible for a quadruped?

Let's imagine a group of people who can turn from human to wolf at will. Wolves are quadrupeds, and humans are biped, so I guess their weight is differently shared in their body, notably when they ...

15 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Spooikypok_Dev‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Spooikypok_Dev‭

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Climate and weather without obliquity and eccentricity?

Obliquity is the most important factor of seasons. Without axial tilt, eccentricity causes small temperature variations. What would climate and weather on Earth look like, if Earth doesn't have any...

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

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Could just a brilliant idea advance science by decades, or even centuries?

Inspired by this story, I started thinking. Let's say we have a person, from the modern day, who miraculously gets a superpower: He can rewind time, but retain his own memories. He can rewind all ...

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

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Propulsion Systems

In my world, 500 years in the future, my population fits anti-gravity engines to salvaged boats as a form of transport. These transports fly close to the Earth's surface and are powered by a highly...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Lucas A.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Lucas A.‭

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Planet with big axial tilt, but very close to its star

It is known that when a planet orbits very close around its star, the tidal effects will soon (on an astronomical scale) force the day and the year of the planet to have the same length, making the...

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

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Anatomically correct Triceraton

The Triceratons are a imperialistic race of, well, space triceratops' from TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). From what I can gather they breathe nitrogen and judging by their build come from a h...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭

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Could you engineer a baby for a same sex couple?

Kikazaru and Protogon have been fierce rivals in the designer baby industry/artificial wombs since time and memorial, but Kikazaru is looking to finally best its rival by introducing a new scheme: ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭

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How can I feed an entire population on corpses?

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. The world has become a barren wasteland that is inhospitable to the the human race, which has been forced to take residence in hive cities...

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

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Aliens englobed the Solar System: will we notice?

Around 100 million years ago, the Solar System was instantaneously encased in a massless, magical sphere centered about the Sun. The boundary is about 10,000 AU (.158 ly) in radius and behaves abno...

8 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by BMF For Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by BMF For Monica‭

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How do spaceships determine each other's mass in space?

Set in the distant future, space travel becomes prominent and cheap. I can imagine each spaceship would have a multitude array of sensors to track distance and relative position in space. Is there ...

20 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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How to Extend Female Fertility Period without Altering Current Pubescent Timing?

I would like to use CRISPr Cas9 technology to extend the life expectancy of my fictional civilizations. From what I understand, CRISPr could extend life by lengthening telomeres and improve quality...

7 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by C. Hess‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by C. Hess‭

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How do I explain that an interstellar spaceship still requires risky spacewalks?

It is the mid 22nd century A.D. Twenty men and women signed on a ten year space exploration trip to the nearest star system. There are robots to do ship maintenance and a powerful A.I. to monitor t...

28 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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What Would the Third Kind of Angiosperm Look Like?

To put this title into context, there are actually two basic kinds of angiosperms on Earth, showing here: These differences in characteristics serve their own adaptations to survive and thrive. ...

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

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How can I make a dense asteroid field?

Okay, so I'm working on a novel and I'd like to have a dense asteroid field, something akin to the old ESB Hoth field, though it doesn't need to match that exactly. The notion is there is an advan...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Tov Versh‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Tov Versh‭

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In the late 1940's to early 1950's what technology was available that could melt a LOT of ice?

In my story I've devised lore where Greenland becomes a US territory, and they begin populating the region. It initially just served as the hub for numerous military bases and airbases, but eventua...

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

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What's the minimum time that it would take for an advanced species to create an ecumenopolis?

In figuring out the rough timeline for my sci-fi, I've run into an interesting dilemma. As it stands right now, There are about 90 years in between one of my civilizations discovering space travel ...

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

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Is it possible for the remnants of a planet to be locked in orbit around another in a dual planet system?

I'm envisioning a double-planet system where both orbit around a central point. One planet is approximately Earth-sized, while the other is about one-tenth the size. One of the planets (the smalle...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Akash kapur‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Akash kapur‭

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How would a receding sea level affect cities along Asian & Australian coastlines?

To make a long story short, the previous ice age resulted in not just massive glaciers and building snow from appearing, but larger landmass as well due to most of the water being frozen from the c...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭

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How can a terrorist cult genetically engineer human bombs?

A nihilistic organization founded by a preacher, Solf J. Kimblee, has reasoned that human beings have fallen short of God's true purpose. Since the betrayal by Adam and Eve, all people are born wit...

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

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How to design an organic heat-shield?

When they started dropping from the skies.. or no, they landed. They were so similar to us, yet so different. Like nothing we would've ever designed or created - but so much like everything Ey...

7 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by dot_Sp0T‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by dot_Sp0T‭

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Optimal proportions for flying humans?

There exist humans on a world with 35% the gravity of Earth and air five times denser. These people have invented wingsuits with extensions that go past their arms and enable them to fly by flappin...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by 299 Neandertal Variants ‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by 299 Neandertal Variants ‭

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How could my hard telekinesis work?

So, in my setting, telekinesis is divided into two sub-fields: Soft telekinesis allows for precise manipulation of objects but doesn't pack a punch. Newton's third law is negligible for this type...

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

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What's a scientifically plausible method for cryopreservation?

I've been working on a project and I'm trying to make it as scientifically plausible as I can get it to be. Since space is large, and it's physically impossible in this universe to reach the speed ...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Averian‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Averian‭

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Can you create a living vehicle fueled by organic material?

In this world, the vehicles are effectively re-engineered insects; enlarged bio-manufactured nervous systems used instead of engines; factory grown lightweight chassis / [wheels]. The fuel station ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Aloysius Anise‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Aloysius Anise‭

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Can a human born & raised in zero gee survive on a earth like planet for a short while

I've been toying with an idea of a epic space fantasy where a certain area of the milky way is controlled by decedents of humanity that are born, live & die in spaceships, said "ngees" as the "...

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

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How could it rain oil?

It's 2019 in an alternate steampunk/dieselpunk universe. Population growth, dwindling resources, and the evil overlords have everyone cramped into big cities, toiling away in the hope of something ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by K. Price‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by K. Price‭

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How would you build a realistic Le Palm D'Orbit?

I was watching futurama yesterday and the Le Palm D'Orbit struck me as a fun concept. How would you go about building a orbital restaurant like the Le Palm? What kinda shape would allow the space n...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭

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What would Define Ecosystems in a "Frozen Moon with Ocean" World

What factors would influence ecosystem development in an ocean on an ice world? It is thought that several moons in our solar system (e.g. Europa) may have significant oceans under their icy crust...

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

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Geological Explanation for an Unusually Temperate Northern Mountain Valley

So I'm working on a home-brew D&D setting and I have this idea for the my campaign to take place in a large isolated Valley completely surrounded by mountains. I also had the idea to have these...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Beninja2‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Beninja2‭

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What are some of the reasons that a dwarf planet might be reclassified as a planet?

I am thinking of a scenario in which a dwarf planet, previously declared as a planet, is reclassified as a planet. What could possibly cause this? Could any possible mineral findings cause this, g...

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

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Determining Planet rotation period that would allow for global Wind Cell

I'm trying to figure out how quickly a planet could rotate while also having a single air flow cell, such as Hadley cells, that would circle from hot pole to cold pole, etc. as in the case of Tidal...

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

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Orbital Resonance & Tidal Locking

I'm building a habitable world tidally locked to a red dwarf star. In order to affect a tide and other weather patterns I was going to have another planet closer to the star that has an orbital res...

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

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If a civilization could plant only three crops, which ones would cover all nutritional needs?

For example, beans and rice cooperate to make a "complete" protein, providing all of the amino acids the body can't synthesize on its own -- in fact, most traditional dishes that combine legumes an...

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

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Weather and climate during the next Ice Age

I have a short story series, it is set thousands of years in the future during the next ice age. Humanity and their governments reside along the equator and in parts of the Southern Hemisphere. B...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭

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Feasibility of large and isolated swamp-like enviroment

For my world I would need a really large swamp (or similar kind of wetland). It should be about 200km in diameter, which should be quite possible given a large enough flat terrain and enough rain. ...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Nicholas Mazzer‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Nicholas Mazzer‭

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Can a space-faring robot still function over a billion years?

This short story, which I've already written, is set in the FAR, FAR FUTURE, where a robotic space probe is exploring as much of the known universe as it can, despite its AI not knowing if its crea...

11 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Nathan Hopp‭

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Increasing potential energy with ability thought experiment

While recently reading a physics textbook and thinking about magic systems, I tried to perform a thought experiment I had problems with concluding, so I thought of asking for help. Here I explain t...

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

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Regenerating Fuel Cell

I'm working on a powered exoskeleton design for my universe and I had an idea about how to power it. It works in this cycle: Water enters an electrolyzer powered by a massive betavoltaic batter...

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

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Dragon taxonomy

I am trying to taxonomize different species of dragons i made up, but am struggling finding correct phylum's and orders and stuff like that, would i have to make a whole new phylum for my dragons? ...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by InkGink‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by InkGink‭

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Earth like planet with two moon like satellites

I was thinking about this world with different ancient factions on war. The war caused both of them and most life on the planet to die, I was thinking about one of the moons getting shattered as a ...

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

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Does mass affect orbit size?

My question refers to a capital ship. Ideally, the ship wants to stay as low as possible. Does the mass of the ship affect its possible orbits? If so, what is the lowest orbit possible for this shi...

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

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Perpetual Volcanic Eruption

As the title says, is it possible to have a volcano that is perpetually erupting, and how would it be achieved? To be considered a "Perpetual Eruption", the volcano must emit moderate quantities o...

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

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What could trigger powerful quakes on icy world?

Imagine a planet orbiting a star some billions of lightyears away from us, the planet is 4 times the mass of Earth and is covered with ice 100km thick on average. It is believed that liquid ocean e...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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Infrastructure damage from sudden thickening of water

Deep in a laboratory far under the megacity of Exampleville, a scientist is experimenting on a new compound found in an alternate, magical universe. He accidentally knocks over a vial of Handwavium...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Redwolf Programs‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Redwolf Programs‭

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Forming a permanent ice cap by continuous hail precipitation

Permanent ice caps are formed when the rate at which water falling under the form of snow is higher than the rate at which the water is removed from a certain region either by evaporation or outflo...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica‭

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Life without Nitrogen

On Earth life has six fundamental building blocks for life with them being Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur. (1) Those elements of help make up more complex life through a...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Ferret Civilization‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Ferret Civilization‭

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What 4D shape could best fit a looping world?

I have an idea for a world such that the world itself is like a large loop. The best way I can think to describe it is going step by step through the "loop". Imagine a planet-like object; a sphere...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Iter‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Iter‭

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Fuel for a commercial space shuttle

The Aurora company has unveiled the new Interplanetary Airliner (usually simplified to space shuttle) offering both affordable and comfortable space travel to the middle and upper classes of the He...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Celestial Dragon Emperor‭