General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.
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To make it short, time-space shenanigans transported everything in a 60 kilometers circumference around an old space-based particle collider to the year 1855. The particle collider was in geosynch...
I would like to give my imaginary earth-analogue planet multiple (natural) moons. Is the orbital period of such moons at all related to their size (or apparent size)? In other words, am I free ...
The subterranean nation of Glot has developed the ability to "thermally link" two equally sized diamonds, such that they are always the same temperature, regardless of spatial separation. We can c...
PREMISE The zone will make all electrons disappear. QUESTIONS If a person walks in that zone with his whole body, would he die from heart failure? What happens if he just sticks his hand in? H...
Airships are a hallmark of countless steampunk and dieselpunk constructed universes. Of course, in our world, they were around for a short while. I want to know what effects geographical circumstan...
I have a species of humanoids that spends a lot of time around fire. They are able to spark their own fires, and they have a reasonable fire resistance. One problem presenting itself is smoke inha...
In marine mammals, there are two different body types for two different niches: A long, strong tail for all-marine whales... ...and all four legs modified into flippers for pinnipeds that fee...
I am wondering if it would be possible to make very lightweight and small steam engines for airships. Said airships engines are actually electric, but the boiler generates the electricity (via a ge...
You already know the drill: Dragons stand 195 centimeters at the withers, normally 2,95 meters at the top of the head when standing still They can't fly They weigh: 1179 kilograms You're not allo...
This follows another question that brought me some curiousity about the general state of an earth-like moon tidally locked to a gas giant planet. There's been questions about a world tidally locke...
We do not know how exactly it happened, but poor John Doe made a space-time trip along a three dimensional analog of a Möbius strip (a Klein bottle). He is now back on Earth, but he is now the mir...
I was trying to figure out the early geological/biological history of the world I'm creating, and I was wondering about the development of early life. Basically, I've envisioned a world where Eukar...
So on a planet with a chlorine based atmosphere and only a small amount of oxygen, here is my proposed mechanism for chlorine based photosynthesis. Carbon tetrachloride, since it is a liquid at 7...
Kjør bestillingen 92 umiddelbart. Frøhvelvet skal åpnes, skyttelbussen skal tilberedes. (Execute Order 92 immediately; the seed vault is to be opened, the shuttle prepared) ...
I ran across this article today about how moons might have moons. In Daniel Keys Moran's universe, an Earth-sized planet named November orbits a gas giant named Prometheus. November is inhabited,...
Very narrow question: assuming an immortality treatment keeping people at a biological age of a fit 30's, free of infections and cancers & ruling out death by aging, how long would people live ...
Making the following assumptions: 1. The three moons of the Gas Giant are safe enough distances from and massive enough not to pull each other apart or send themselves careening into the void. 2...
On planet Dalia, there exists a creature that supplies Dalians with horrific fear. The Tayan. Tayan is similar to the Earth pitcher plant, and employs similar methods to capture prey. XENOBIOLOGY...
So, in my research and preparation for the question I asked immediately before this one, I was introduced to the concept of "fluffy" gas giants, gas giants with significantly lower density than wou...
Ko'dor are an octopus like species that arise from the swamps of the planet Luvwa. They have the ability to transform their bodies into any form or shape they want. When a Ko'dor wants to infiltr...
Reading questions of How much TNT needed to blow up Mount Everest and the Moon - and especially the comments below it, I have to ask it: Can we blow up the sea? Detonating atomic bomb undersea ma...
How large, referring to weight, could a Dandelion seed become before the wind was no longer able to carry them away? Assume the physiology of both the seed and plant remain the same besides being s...
I'm creating a post-apocalyptic world several centuries into the future. After the nuclear war whatever is left of humanity has regressed into the dark age. Society: The offspring of those few w...
Obviously, current oxygen levels should last us years, so we are talking about a long-term solution. Also, in this hypothetical scenario, plants have stopped releasing oxygen but haven't stop prod...
I saw a movie where oil companies stumbled upon these fictional underground aquatic deep-sea animals that survived on eating and digesting the oil where they lived. They had squid/octopus-like bodi...
I have created a species that is basically a sort of land coral covered in a thick carapace made of rock. They live on an Earth-like planet (Class M as they say in Star Trek) and behave like cora...
So some magical human-like creatures called Altum come from another continent (in my book) to this human populated continent (both are about the size of Europe). They want to help humans become a b...
Imagine a small primitive humanoid civilization that developed independently in caves under the surface of Ganymede. We can assume there's enough light that filters through the crystalline surface ...
I am interested in the concept of a chitin endoskeleton (rather than exoskeleton). In the role of a humanoid internal structural skeletal system, how would chitin compare to bone? Would it be as s...
Disregarding how battleships are really big targets and not really viable in the modern era anymore, I would like to ask how big a battleship can be built before it starts being so large it sinks. ...
I'm trying to create plausible scenario under which we could colonize Venus. Is it possible that Venus could be hit by a planetoid and the impact strips its atmosphere and makes it spin faster? ...
This is the first question about colonizing an alien world; the second question on agriculture on this planet is here. So here's the idea: human beings travel to and land on an Earth-like world wi...
What would be a valid reason for human blood/sweat/body fluids being toxic/harmful/caustic to an alien species' skin? What would the aliens' organic biochemistry be like and what would their DNA b...
[EDIT: this question is about life on Earth surviving, not the physical destruction of the planet] Could the Earth survive a gamma ray burst if that burst occurred in our galaxy and the Earth is ...
This is a second question about the same world described in this question about human reaction to an alien world. So here's the idea: human beings travel to and land on an Earth-like world with th...
In the world of this question, ants and especially termites are the dominant herbivores by mass. There are no large grazing mammals competing with the bugs for the siliceous grasses and thorny tree...
I'm building a setting in a fictional Latin American country which is under military rule. The junta starts a breeding program in the late 40's with help from unscrupulous escaped Nazi scientists....
For my world I was thinking of there being a domesticated creature that is able to swallow humans whole and keep them in a second stomach which acts as a prison. I figured it would need to be tall ...
I have a scenario which I am too poorly knowledgeable to address, I'm hoping for some expert input. I'm currently writing a novel, in which a large section of Russia/EU continents were blown up i...
So recently I got slated for missing some glaring obvious flaws in my story on here, which I really do appreciate. I'm approaching the question from a different angle though, in two parts. What w...
Connected too this question: Possible propellants more potent then gunpowder (16th-17th century) The Sanguine King wishes to build a Grand Bombard unlike any other. For this purpose he needs his f...
In my story there is a full size (Island Three) O'Neill cylinder, 5 miles in diameter and 20 miles long. It doesn't have windows, but is lit internally down the center of the cylinder with a 20 mi...
How would evolution have changed without the "reflex arc", if all reflexes had to go through the brain instead of the spinal cord? Would intelligent species be able to evolve?
In a fantasy world I'm developing the kingdom of Andalus is seeking a more potent propellant for a grand bombard planned by the sanguine king. The size and composition of the bombard is saved for ...
Background Hi all, I'm revisiting my musings on plausibly strengthening the human skeleton to better withstand the stresses of combat, melee in particular. If y'all don't care about background, sk...
Explanations for fire setting are easier to come by than explanations for fire resistance. Being able to set fires with nothing more than their hands, my 'fire-setters' need protection from the fla...
Premise: Earth has a magical cataclysm that pulls up new mountains, pushes down parts of landmasses, and generally reshapes Europe enough to make it unrecognizable (to the average person looking at...
Tangentially related to The evolution of neon kittens Is is possible for a star to radiate in the ultra violet spectrum but not much in the visible light spectrum? If not, is there any mechanism ...
If you notice the part two, yeah I had one before this. Please read it before reading this one: Metamorphosis Lycanthropy Edit: just figured out it was closed. Sigh . . . Edit 6 You have been rel...
Aliens are very rarely portrayed as being furry, at least in proper xenobiology worldbuilding. They're virtually never depicted with feathers, and only sometimes with scales. Currently, there are...
