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Q&A

Posts tagged biology

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Q&A What might be the climate inside a "sky abyss" on a tidally locked planet?

Ok, assuming a planet that's tidally locked to its sun, but is otherwise roughly similar to earth in gravity and atmosphere. Classic tidally locked planet: one side is covered in ice, the other is...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Monsieur Nauru‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Monsieur Nauru‭

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Q&A Would a life-bearing Earth-like world with 3g average gravity produce more or fewer flying creatures than Earth?

On one hand, heavier gravity would make flying more difficult, owing to greater weight restrictions on the flying creatures' bodies. On the other hand, the greater density of the atmosphere on ...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by James Grossmann‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by James Grossmann‭

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Q&A What's a possible justification for Giants not taking over the world?

An extension to another question about Why would humans be the dominant species? In my story Giants, humans, and a bunch of other fantasy races live along side each other and i'm curious as to why...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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Q&A Humanoid Bioweapon: what can stay and what has to go?

I'm working on a bioweapon created by an extraterrestrial agent. The being is 2.5 m tall, humanoid, digitigrade, intelligent and mostly predatory. However, it does not require water, food or oxygen...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by ProjectApex‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by ProjectApex‭

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Q&A Can a perpetually darkening atmosphere exist and yet still allow life to evolve?

I am creating a science fiction worldbuilding project, in which humanity has colonised distant exoplanets. One such planet is a Venus-like planet in the sense that it has a perpetual cloud cover, a...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by QUESTER42‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by QUESTER42‭

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Q&A How did aliens on a habitable planet hide themselves during the recon and scouting stage by human colonists?

We've found a habitable planet orbiting a red dwarf star some light years away and conditions are Earth-like enough that a colonization project was initiated. Before any humans landed on the planet...

12 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Faz‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Faz‭

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Q&A How would pinchers have to evolve to better manipulate tools?

I'm thinking about an alien race that evolved from large terrestrial crustaceans and has developed a somewhat large brain. Like crabs on earth, these creatures have pinchers wich they use for self ...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Johnara‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Johnara‭

Question biology evolution
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Q&A How large could sea creatures grow on a terraformed Ganymede?

If we assume a terraformed Ganymede has a global ocean roughly 800km deep, that food is bountiful, and that it has been populated by a variety of life from Earth, how large could these creatures gr...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Wax‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Wax‭

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Q&A How can antibodies induce a demigod transformation?

The Greek gods were sufficiently advanced aliens with access to powerful technology. In the begining of our worlds formation, Zeus created mankind from his own flesh. These mortals were made in the...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

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Q&A Genetics and Population Dynamics of a 7-sex system

One of the respondents in this thread suggested a 7-sex system with the following features: An idea I came up with years ago was a variation on the male/female/carries-offspring idea. This spec...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Ettina Kitten‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Ettina Kitten‭

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Q&A Genetically engineered bionically enhanced insects in lieu of robots

For context, I was reading about various research groups installing implants and cameras onto insects to use them as reconnaissance drones in high risk areas. I'm wondering how feasible it would ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Rusty‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Rusty‭

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Q&A Do dead human bodies have a particular smell?

I'm working on a story where there is a crime scene where the protagonist (who has a superhuman sense of smell) notices a scent that smells like human corpses due to their abilities. I'm wondering ...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user2352714‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user2352714‭

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Q&A Could a centaur eat something that is poisonous to humans but not horses?

I know theoretically the human stomach is above the centaur's stomach so the obvious answer would be no. But seeing as centaurs aren't real and we don't know what their internal biolody would look...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by AshaC33‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by AshaC33‭

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Q&A Life develops on a moon left in darkness?

In the deep, outer reaches of our galaxy, there is a rogue gas giant which, due to an unfortunate event, was flung from its native orbit into interstellar space. It has a mass 12 times that of Jupi...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭

Question biology xenobiology
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Q&A A Mammal with Electrical Defenses

I'd like to create a land-based mammal that uses its electricity NOT for navigation or hunting, but only as a defense (enough to stun creatures approximately its own size or marginally larger, with...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by user3556983‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user3556983‭

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Rigorous Science Relentless Super marathon?

Humans are not the fastest mammals on the planet, but for very long distances (more than 40 kilometers) we can overtake any species living on land. Except some dogs. The best runners on ultra-long...

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

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Q&A A tiny fire-breather

My postulated creature will look something like this: or like this: Its description is as follows: it's a non-obligate carnivore its height is, on average, about two feet it lives in arid h...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user3556983‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user3556983‭

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Q&A What would happen if a black person used genetic modification to turn off the MC1R gene?

The MC1R gene turns pheomelanin into eumelanins but there are another kind of pehomelanin called pheochromes. So if a brunette or black person used a cosmetic gene therapy to turn off this gene how...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Sabrine Crystal Santos‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Sabrine Crystal Santos‭

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Q&A Adjusting to the Sound of a Waterfall

Suppose, for instance, you lived in a world filled with nasty monsters and other creatures of the night, all of whom wanted to kill you and eat you in various ways. Now, the good news here is that ...

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

Question biology waterfall
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Q&A Werewolves and sense of smell, what is reasonable for them to accomplish with it?

I was thinking of a story with a Werewolf as a detective, using mostly conversational skills and his sense of smell to solve crimes similar to many of the UK types of detective stories (Morse, Lewi...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Demigan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Demigan‭

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Q&A Hematophagic Organism Body Size

So how large of an organism can a diet of strictly of blood support? In a modern Earth setting it might be a bit hard for a large hematophagic organism to find a suitable group of prey that it won'...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Thalassan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Thalassan‭

Question biology evolution
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Q&A Possibly of achieving prolonged immortality

Death, most if not all of us fear it. However, it may be possible to postpone death for a while, and hopefully entirely. One major way of postponing death for awhile is through the biological route...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RotNDecay‭

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Q&A What's the largest a canine could realistically get?

Giant dogs aren't uncommon in works of fantasy. Sif from Dark Souls comes to mind. What I want to know is: what's the largest a canine could realistically get, what differences would they need c...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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Q&A What aquatic life would utterly deplete the soil of a specific nutrient?

In my story an area was formerly beneath an ocean or lake. Some form of life leeched the soil of a specific mineral or substance. Technology level is that of ~1700 Spain. Now that the water has ...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user72058‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user72058‭

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Q&A How can elves prevent specialization among their species?

Genetic chimerism is a condition in which a single organism is composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. Elves inhabit this world, but do not possess magic in this reality. Instead, t...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

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Q&A Could my Triclops exist?

Around 5 million years ago, a group of primates diverged from early Baboon ancestors migrated into Sicily becoming Triclopes (here's a rough mock up of what a Triclops skull might look like): som...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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Q&A Effect of Prolonged Egg Diapause on Species

I have a species of megafaunal carnivore that are extremely mobile with territories spanning hundreds of square miles and lifespans of 120-150 years. They lay clutches of 2-3 eggs every 20-30 years...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Thalassan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Thalassan‭

Question biology genetics
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Q&A Could a red tree exist?

I recently started to wonder what a tree would be like on an alien world, and one thing that popped in mind for these trees was their color. The hosts star and environment would have a effect on sa...

6 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RotNDecay‭

Question environment biology
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Q&A Can an animal develop a facial disk through muscle and bone alone?

In some birds especially owls, we can observe a structure called facial disk, which is mainly composed of feathers and helps to direct sound to their ears. While being more common in owls, adding u...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by ProjectApex‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by ProjectApex‭

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Q&A How big does a pelican type creature need to be to carry a grown up human inside its mouth and still fly?

as the title, my question is how big a pelican like creature with its pouch mouth need to be in order to carry grown up human and still fly. since as far as i know hollow bone is to fragile for hu...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Li Jun‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Li Jun‭

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Q&A Biology behind a monster that is able to remain invisible

This is a post-apocalyptic setting I'm working on. The world has been overrun by invisible monsters from another parallel universe. They can be heard and smelled, and they can form claw prints on t...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Space_Cadet‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Space_Cadet‭

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Q&A Anatomically Correct Diclonius

The Diclonii are an evolutionary offshoot of modern homo sapiens from the Elfen Lied series. Most Diclonii can get distinguished from humans thanks to small bone and cartilage horns resembling cat ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Arbiter Elegante‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Arbiter Elegante‭

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Q&A Biological reason for organically formed crystals in or outside of body

So, it is relatively common to have various creatures grow crystals. This generally happens outside of the body (at least partially), but internal crystals aren't unknown either (see for example, e...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Mark Gardner‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mark Gardner‭

Question biology xenobiology
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Q&A is it possible for creature to have loose jaw like snake but also has enough bite strength to bit off big chunk like most predator or human do?

I want to create a glutton creature that can open its mouth wider than the prey item like snakes do, but also can bite through that big hard object and even chew it; this creature doesn't swallow p...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Li Jun‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Li Jun‭

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Q&A Could a species be able to be impregnated by anything?

Is there a way for a species to essentially become a living incubator of sorts? Not the other way around, as in Plausible ways for the alien species to be able to impregnate every and any species?,...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by FelisMiscellaneous‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by FelisMiscellaneous‭

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Q&A If it could be shaped, would chitin from giant insects make decent body armor?

I found a previous question on using chitin from giant insects to make weapons and armor, but the answer left out something I had considered for the medieval fantasy setting I'm developing. The ans...

6 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Arvex‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Arvex‭

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Q&A Alternatives to amino acids

Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and, therefore, one of the key components of life as we know it. There are many amino acids in nature, but they all stem from the same basic structur...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Aezyc‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Aezyc‭

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Q&A What attributes can fathers pass on through their spirit?

In this world, humans have a strange way of reproducing. When partners decide to conceive, A female must be inseminated at specified intervals by a male in order to pass on her genes. However, male...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

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Q&A How do you explain a "brooder" sex evolutionarily?

I've seen several people independently come up with the idea of three or more sexes where one sex is responsible for brooding the young (pregnancy, pouch, feeding, something along those lines) but ...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Ettina Kitten‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Ettina Kitten‭

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Q&A How could an ability to project fire from your body occur plausibly?

Imagine the ability to shoot long streams of hot fire like a USM2 flamethrower from the palms of your hands. or shooting them out of your feet so you can push yourself off of the floor. An answer w...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by DEMI‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by DEMI‭

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Q&A 2 elbowed forelimbs: advantageous or detrimental?

On plain Pilar forest biome of planet X, you have mostly 3 types of vertebrates: those who burrow under the ground those who run through the widely separated trees those who live above ground le...

6 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by ProjectApex‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by ProjectApex‭

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Q&A How would a species be unable to produce steel?

The antagonist of my story trades steel with a non-human, and non-humanoid, race, in return for a magical substance. They place great value in steel as they cannot manufacture it themselves. That i...

21 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by SealBoi‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by SealBoi‭

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Q&A Why are my Lovecraftian puppetmasters afraid of fire and light?

We played with technology too powerful for humans to wield and opened a gateway to a parallel universe, on a dark world with a dying sun. The dominant lifeforms on this world are semi-sentient flyi...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Space_Cadet‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Space_Cadet‭

Question biology
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Q&A How can I increase brain processing capabilities without overloading it?

The human brain is a jackass. Your senses are capable of processing large amounts of information to the senses. However, the brain blocks most of this out of the consciousness in order to allow thi...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

Question biology species
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Q&A How Would Victorian-Era Firearms Fare Against Dinosaurs?

In a world that takes place during the Victorian era (1837-1901), how effective would period-accurate firearms be against something similar to a dinosaur? As a brief aside, I will accept weaponry f...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Ely Miller‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Ely Miller‭

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Q&A Could marsupials convergently evolve sapience?

Marsupials in the majority of the world are overshadowed by their placental cousins, with the notable exception being Australia. There they have convergently evolved many similarities to their plac...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by icewar1908‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by icewar1908‭

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Q&A creatures that uses sounds/vibrations as a defense mechanism

is it possible for certain creatures that can use infrasound or even vibrations as a defense mechanism, like: - causing them to get a severe headache or even weaken them - temporarily stunning its ...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by user3556983‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by user3556983‭

Question biology fauna zoology
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Q&A How can a species predictably guide its own evolution?

When elves decide to conceive, a male must add his genetic material at different intervals over several years to the female. Genetic material could come from a single male or various ones with no c...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

Question biology
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Q&A In what conditions could whales fly?

I am wondering if it is possible for whales to fly. I'm considering two different cases. How could we alter earth conditions (thickness, gravity) so that whales could actively fly (without changi...

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

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Q&A How can natural chimerism be advantageous to a species?

Genetic chimerism is a condition in which a single organism is composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. In animals, this means an individual derived from two or more zygotes, which c...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Incognito‭

Question environment biology