Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Posts tagged natural-resources

This tag doesn't have any usage information yet.

This tag doesn't have a detailed wiki yet.

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Could present-day humanity survive on Antarctica alone?

Tomorrow morning, an apocalyptic event wipes humanity off the face of the earth - except for in Antarctica. The nature of the catastrophe is unclear, but it seems that any human will die within a f...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Tom Hosker‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Tom Hosker‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Generating breathable air on Europa?

Humans have colonized the subsurface oceans of Europa - building large cities embedded in the icy crust, hanging beneath it, and resting on the rocky seafloor. These colonists mine metals for const...

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

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How would iron smelting work in a planet with no oxygen?

Imagine a small planet, rich with iron, but with a negligible atmosphere, mostly devoid of oxygen. Once harvested, how could iron ore be smelted and refined into iron? And would the ore itself be d...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Oedipus Rex‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Oedipus Rex‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Imagine a well functioning atmosphere on the terraformed moon

Just assume we are long into the future, all other parameters have been met and we have the technology, will and money to terraform our moon and keep it so. Atmosphere, as commonly agreed on, would...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by Backup Plan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Backup Plan‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is there a way to "poison" oil fields permanently without releasing CO2 from them?

I have a group of ecoterrorists who want to limit the amount of CO2 the world puts out in a drastic way: by poisoning oil fields so that the oil becomes unuseable, or at least forever uneconomical ...

18 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by RemcoGerlich‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by RemcoGerlich‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What is the smallest land mass to support human civilization?

Let's say we have an Earth-sized planet and the same general solar activity and climatology. However, the continents are much smaller, and it's effectively impossible to accomplish travel between t...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Daniel R. Collins‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Daniel R. Collins‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Closest Proximity of Oceans to Freshwater Springs

I am trying to wrap my head around the geography of a settlement in my world. The settlement is situated along the coast, along a river roughly 500m wide with temperate mixed forests surrounding i...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by A Lambent Eye‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by A Lambent Eye‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What plant life and resources could humans consume if colonies were established on the ocean floor?

I'm interested in creating some construct of a society in the Twilight and Midnight zones of the ocean. By what means could they mine, farm, and trade in what is suppose to be a more futuristic so...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Francis Moon‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Francis Moon‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Where do I put diamond mines on my map?

I've got a home-brewed D&D setting. Diamonds, in D&D, are needed for resurrection magic, so access to diamonds is literally life and death for any country with clerics capable of casting su...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Ettina Kitten‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Ettina Kitten‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Important resources for Dark Age civilizations?

In a time period with medieval technology, what would be the most important local resources? I've put together a small list and broken it down into categories, but I'd like to know if there's anyth...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Olin Kirkland‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Olin Kirkland‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A MacGyvering medieval poison

Does anyone know of any compound/substance one could have access to in a stone prison cell (From food? The rocks? The metal bars?) that could be processed through rudimentary means into a quick act...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Mario Garcia‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mario Garcia‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Would planting trees across an earth-like planet to reduce the CO2 and produce O2, be enough to keep it in balance?

An IPCC report of Oct 8, 2018 indicates - to keep the world temperature rise at or below 1.5 C, we need to reduce our CO2 emissions globally from the 2010 level by 45% by 2030, and a further 55% r...

6 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by P Lloyd‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by P Lloyd‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What qualities are necessary for an effective herd creature?

What qualities about a land-dwelling creature are absolutely necessary to maintain an effective herd of that creature for food and/or resources? Assume this is an earth-like environment.

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Maximillian‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Maximillian‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How can I explain a sudden abundance of naturally-occurring beer?

Researchers are scratching their heads, and Portland Water Bureau is furious. In Portland, Oregon, a reservoir in one of the City parks has begun spilling out a river of naturally occurring beer/a...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Mikey‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mikey‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What is the strongest glass that can be formed from nature?

tl;dr What is the strongest glass that can be concocted from a single reasonably abundant, natural source? (Without nuclear or quantum manufacturing) So I am developing a character for a story. He...

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

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Where in the galaxy would one find the most heavier elements?

I'm trying to flesh out the history of a fictional galactic society, specifically the initial settlements and inhabited worlds. Something that I thought would be important to settlers would be an a...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by DaaaahWhoosh‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by DaaaahWhoosh‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Harvesting lightning from within the thunderstorm with a Faraday Cage

Lightning is abundant in some places in Earth. Attempts had been made it collect it. Laser triggered lightning below is the closest attempt. By the time it reaches the ground most of the powe...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Muze the good Troll.‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Muze the good Troll.‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A There's no oil in space?

On earth, all sorts of machines require heavy oils and lubricants in order to function correctly, be it bearing grease, engine oil, transmission fluid or hydraulic oil, the majority of which are pr...

6 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by AJMansfield‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by AJMansfield‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Precious Materials in a Galactic Empire

Picture the future, where man kind has spread out across the galaxy. What would be the most precious and sought after materials? Today it is metals like gold and platinum that are most sought aft...

16 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Jimmery‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Jimmery‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How do I build my Space Fleet?

So, if Humanity wants to conquer the galaxy one star at a time, it is going to need a massive fleet. This fleet will require massive resources to build. If I want to build a fleet to take over the ...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Tezra‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Tezra‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What determines distribution of natural resources?

I am currently creating a world from scratch, and while I have a map, I still need to figure out distribution of natural resources. For resources like fossil fuels, while many do appear in deserts...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by kuwaly‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by kuwaly‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What resources do I need to feed a hippogriff squadron?

I'm working out the back story of a flying castle run by a king who has a squadron of 200 air cavalry. All the knights ride hippogriffs: head and wings of large eagles, bodies of horses. Horses ea...

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

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How plausible is this as a corporate motivation?

250 years in the future, humanity has colonized Mars and the Moon, and built thousands of orbiting outposts and hundreds of O'Neill cylinders in the zone between Venus and Jupiter. The key enabler ...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Z.Schroeder‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Z.Schroeder‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is a habitable desert planet with large fossil fuel deposits possible?

I'm working on a sci-fi Western scenario on a habitable desert planet along the lines of Tatooine from Star Wars and Arrakis from Dune. For it to be habitable there has to be water below the surfa...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by H3R3T1K‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by H3R3T1K‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Could Inuits survive in Antarctica?

Imagine that a group of Inuits from Greenland settled in Antarctica; let's say on the Antarctic peninsula, if there is no better place in Antarctica. Could they survive there with their traditiona...

5 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Milchar‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Milchar‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How can I get enough food into my underground empire?

I'd like to have a large underground world. Imagine the "Underdark" which will be familiar with DnD folks. A huge network of large and small caverns connected by winding passageways. The occasio...

7 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by akaioi‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by akaioi‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What fossil fuel may be found on a carbon planet?

My scenario is a civilization on a carbon-rich planet. The planet has a hydrocarbon atmosphere, oceans and clouds. Most rocks are carbides. The only flammable substance in such an atmosphere is oxy...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Christmas Snow‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Christmas Snow‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Generate electricity using altitude and pipe

A present day society has had to relocate from their coastal community and have taken refuge at the top of a very high mountain roughly 10,000 feet above sea level. This mountain is the most promin...

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

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is there a way to have coal but not oil?

Reading this answer I realized that for my purposes I don't really want a fully steampunk world. All I want is lack of cars and planes as we know them, and lack of oil, or inaccessible deposits of ...

10 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Mołot‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Mołot‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Resources to justify long-distance space mining missions

Earth is setting up mining colonies on Tau Ceti e. But how can they justify the enormous cost of sending people there? ...Because during the initial exploratory missions, it was discovered that in ...

16 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Seth‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Seth‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Where and how can we mine diamonds outside of Earth but within our Solar System?

Edited to give a reason why synthetic diamonds wouldn't work instead. In the distant future, all the diamonds are gone. While synthetic diamonds are an excellent sollution for technology - as @...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Zxyrra‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Zxyrra‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What's the easiest way to locate resource deposits on a new planet?

If I've recently started a colony on a somewhat habitable, but uninhabited planet, what's the best way to determine the location of any ore or other subterranean resource deposits? The planet is E...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by ckersch‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by ckersch‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is there any way to artificially produce a nebula?

There is an intergalactic war going on in the Milky Way, to get more resources. My company have been called upon to mine nebulae. There is no nebulae in the vicinity but I have got a few high mass ...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by user6760‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What are the occupational hazards for mining the nebulae?

As a high mass star which have already burnt through all of the lighter elements and is now building up iron, the fusion reaction will no longer produce sufficient energy to counter its own weight....

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by user6760‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Which Natural Resources Go Where? (Medieval Fantasy Setting)

I am creating a fictional fantasy (Medieval-ish era) world. The area covered by my map is fairly large, and contains an ocean, mountains, plains, lakes, forests, swamps, etc. It's pretty much all t...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Thomas Myron‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What size does a subterranean base have to be for "natural" weather?

Many planets don't have habitable surfaces, though at least Mercury has good temperatures underground (source: http://www.einstein-schrodinger.com/Mercury_temperature.pdf). So I'm wondering how la...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What would a receding seabed provide for human civilization?

In my world, the Straits of Gibraltar have been closed during a post-apocalyptic glacial period and the Mediterranean is isolated from the oceans. The result is similar to the Messinian salinity cr...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Travis Christian‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Travis Christian‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Entirely too much mana from the heavens

Time period is renaissance, with the most powerful culture being in a area geographically similar to the middle east. So a cleric was trying to combat a drought in his kingdom using the power of a ...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Vakus Drake‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Vakus Drake‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What are mapping or diagramming techniques that would be valuable to someone mapping a planetary system?

Basically, it's a question about creating maps or diagrams. In particular, we on Earth are used to maps showing variation over distance & location. The problem with space that is everything is...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Jim2B‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Jim2B‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What are the minimum set of physical characteristics to define an Earth like planet?

Introduction I have a vague notion of building some sort of strategic space game. Similar to other strategic games, locations are assigned value based upon some abstract evaluation. Following in...

6 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Jim2B‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Jim2B‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What types of valuable resources would be available in a fictional swamp?

After doing some research to find natural resources in a swamp, I found that a swamp wasn't really able to do anything beyond it being good for fish growth, as a sort of natural water and air filte...

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

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Cutting down giant trees

Inspired by Nick Staab's recent work "Jack" (pictured below), how would you go around cutting down massive trees? In this scenario the simpler the tools the better, as it would allow a primitiv...

5 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Whitcomb L. Judson‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Whitcomb L. Judson‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What would be the next technological step for a civilization after it has depleted all resources that allow for conventional technologies?

Imagine a world that reaches the end of its resources in silicon, petrol, coal, metals... everything that allows for conventional technology "” even before it has found a way over it (renewable ene...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Sheraff‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Sheraff‭

50%
+0 −0
Rigorous Science What would a space elevator on the moon be made out of?

Okay, so some space miners fly into space to get Helium-3, and then fly it back to earth to sell to non-space people. Flying into and off the earth is rather expensive, so they want to simply take ...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by PyRulez‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by PyRulez‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Would it be possible to excavate a planet and mine it without indigenous citizens' knowledge?

There is a more strict version of Prime Directive on a subspace traveling Empire. This empire (without the morale codex of the star trek crew, maybe more like Avatar) would like to get the resource...

4 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Magic-Mouse‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Magic-Mouse‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Are viable ore deposits likely to be found in the same area(s) as building materials?

Are there any valuable deposits (gold ore, iron ore, silver, copper, gemstones) which are likely to be found in or around excavation sites for building materials like limestone, sandstone, slate or...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by esckelbröd‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by esckelbröd‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is there an energy resource with such attributes?

Is there an energy substance, element, material, natural or artificial resource with attributes such that: When its moved it loses energy. When its intact, untouched and unmoved it contains energy.

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by undulationer‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by undulationer‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Aliens steal our trees

Aliens steal all our trees. Nothing else happened, just all the trees are gone. Everything not part of the tree was left where it was (apples are stolen, termites are not.) What would be the short...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by PyRulez‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by PyRulez‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Interstellar commerce: how accessible are oxygen sources in space?

The Background: I am going to be asking a series of questions that will be relevant to forming some sort of a picture of human space commerce. Let's say that Earth-based human civilizations have ...

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user89‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by user89‭