General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.
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The United States (as well as many other countries) is covered in a vast network of tubes: These tubes vary greatly in diameter. Some could hardly fit a baseball, while others are large enough ...
I'm building a world which has, apart from the 'usual' stuff, 2 types of stones (haven't really decided on a name yet). Stone A holds some form of energy but when prompted by Stone B it will rele...
Ideally using today's technology, or that of a few decades in the future, how might scientists engineer an island, floating in the sea1 fulfilling these criteria? it is large enough for humans to...
The most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group, responsible for the HIV pandemic, dates back to the Belgian Congo city of Léopoldville (modern Kinshasa), circa 1910. And the genetic history ...
I found an interesting Wikipedia article, quoted in an answer here. I'm looking into writing a story where someone has built a Death Star. The purpose of this craft is important to the story (and ...
The 'Before' Picture Imagine if African Wild Dogs developed the ability to float. There is no scientific explanation to how they can float; it's just happened and we do not need to know why. The d...
What environmental effects (if any) would ever cause blue to be a colour that a plant would choose as an evolutionary advantage? Bonus: I'm looking for light blue plants as a preference. EDIT: T...
What properties of a species of plant would make it the ideal choice for taking it on a year-long trip through space as both an oxygen source and food source? We should assume that the amount of ...
My dragons all develop in similar ways. There are 4 developmental cases depending on what limbs the dragon has. First case: All limbs If the dragon has all 4 limbs here is how it develops. First,...
This is my first post on these forums, sorry if I've accidentally overlooked any rules or etiquette. Please let me know if more detail is necessary or would be helpful. This question is about a spe...
I have some large, megafauna level amphibians inhabiting a temperate rainforest with naturally high levels of humidity. Would my large amphibians have any problems maintaining a classic amphibian t...
I came up with a pretty creative idea: An alien life form having an organ near to the brain that translates information out of the blood stream into feelings. My questions: The medium of communi...
How much force, momentum, and energy would be needed to have an object pierce through the Earth? I've tried to research this, but I could not find results for a mathematical value. Assume the Eart...
I'm designing a mission to a planet orbiting 61 Virginis (27.9 ly distant), and want to stay within physics that we're aware of (e.g. no warp drive). I've asked questions here and here, and the an...
I have a race of mountain giants (who stand roughly 10-15 feet tall) and have long worship the storms and more importantly the lightning that is cast from them. Long have they sought after a way to...
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...
So we all know that the majority of sea creatures use fins that move either from side to side or up and down to propel themselves. But our boats don't do that. Our boats use propellers - a rotatio...
We are creating a world of floating islands, these vary in size from small outposts that are little more than a Dock and Watchtower, through independent farmsteads, to full Nations in which the maj...
For sentient avians, knowing the location and behavior of currents in the air would be vitally important. Jet streams, thermals, downdrafts, and shear layers would all be important in their daily l...
There is a background planet in this story that is important due to character back story however we never visit it in this book. It is describe as a mostly jungle planet, with regular heavy rains ...
Based on various methods of geological dating, particularly radiometric analysis, Earth is estimated to be around 4.5 billions years old. This is around the time the Earth's Moon was thought to be...
Just as a disclaimer, I have very little knowledge on the science on all of this and have a very poor grasp on what is plausible and what isn't, but I suppose that's why I am here. I have a concept...
We all remember the iconic alien genetic experiment from "Lilo and Stitch", correct? Well, I was wondering what kind of biological traits Jumba might have used to give him his various abilities, li...
I'm working on creating a world with three moons, all with different sizes and different orbits. I'm wondering what effects this would have. How would the tides be affected, obviously, but also wou...
Consider a planet identical to Earth except that it has no moon. How long is the complete day-night cycle on this planet? I've heard that having no moon would speed up the planet's rotation, resu...
Simple question I think, I have some Idea of the answer but would like the ol' second opinion. Vertebrates use olfactory glands in their nostrils (or thereabouts) to sense smell, as well as the roo...
In honour of the full moon an odd moon question for you all. The idea is to create a situation in which the inhabitants of a world believe utterly that the moon only exists at night. I'd also like...
An advanced civilization collects enough Magnesium and Oxygen, from all over the Galaxy, to equal the mass of a star, and then reacts the Magnesium and Oxygen to produce Magnesium Oxide. The civil...
I imagined a creature that would have an expanded lifespan thanks to a regular production of stem cells that would replace the damaged cells. During its very long lifetime, when it eats food (the ...
Here is another planet question for you planet enthusiasts. I have this planet... It's called Barahecio. The Mars-sized sphere's average temperatures hover near the freezing point of water. Of n...
I have wanted to write a story before about people on an arctic planet and other animals, particularly reptiles metamorphosing into polar bear people who hibernate through the winter. But is it po...
I was wondering if two bodies could be physically connected to each other such as the ones in the art I have attached. Is there any realism to it? Original art by Dave Melvin
In my world my protagonist is stuck in a city that is being lain siege to. The city needs to get a message to a fleet. Messages are delivered by sharp-skinned hawks (actual bird), but the problem...
The only such media I've seen is Fallout, which is obviously highly fantastical. I mean, they mutant animals and irradiated zombies running around! But realistically, is there anyway that life cou...
Having looked for a few days I am pretty sure I do not have an answer on this question: My intended planet will have the same density but double the mass of earth. I know this will increase the su...
Is there any solid, scientific counterargument against the hypothetical explanation that attributes dark matter as matter in hidden planes of existence? I am trying to construct a world in which t...
I am interested in creating a reality based version of a creature from Greek mythology called a Siren. Sirens were believed to combine women and birds in various ways. In early Greek art, Sire...
Suppose that a planet whose size was somewhere between the sizes of Mercury and Jupiter impacted the Sun. Would such an event change local stellar activity sufficiently enough and for long enough ...
The origin of Superman is fairly well known. A baby is sent to a planet and gains super powers from being in the environment (technically the sun, but I believe you catch the gist). I'd like to mak...
So I was reading this article recently, titled Stellar Outburst Brings Water Snow Line into View: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1626. In short it's about a protoplanetary accretion disc around ...
Is it possible for massive clumps of algae to evolve and survive in deep space? Let's say there is an expanding red star in a system with asteroids and planets once containing organic molecules, ...
I have a world inside a Dyson ring with a radius of ~1 AU, complete with humans, animals, plants, clouds, and Earth-like atmosphere. The ring is spinning at a particular angular speed, giving the i...
On earth, the skeletons of Osteicthyes and all their descendants are made of a mixture of collagen and calcium. We can do this because Earth contains food sources for all these animals containing v...
I'm creating various artificial Time Bubbles in my universe where time flows faster or slower inside a specified area, typically depicted as a semi-transparent bubble. Before developing any more st...
Premise On Earth the seas have numerous filter feeding species, large and small, sustaining themselves on the microscopic nutrients and organisms that drift in the current. The largest animal evol...
I'm writing a short story that takes place on an imaginary planet that is 88% ocean. The planet has two moons and one continent that is regularly flooded under 500 to 1500 feet of water. The tides ...
What planetary conditions would have to exist to make computers and other complex electronics useless or at least difficult to maintain? Would ionised atmospheric conditions, constant solar flares...
This is my first question so any feedback is appreciated! I basically have an Earth analog that has an axial tilt of approximately 12 degrees instead of Earth's 23, and I wanted to find out how I c...
My question has to do with living inside a spaceship, which is mostly made up of a force field containing a breathable, earthlike atmosphere. There is a constant outward pull of something like 0.3 ...
