Posts tagged engineering
In my world, taking place sometime in the near future, scientists decide to mess around with genetic engineering. The goal is to create hybrid supersoldiers with animal genes ad have them perform e...
In theory organisms derived from birds through genetic engineering could resemble theropod dinosaurs. So my question is what animals would serve as the basis for the other two groups of dinosaurs (...
I'm writing a story about a company similar to Google, i.e. which wants to know everything about everyone and which wants to trace everything that is traceable out there. But which, at the same tim...
In my world, one of the main methods of transportations is via hot-air balloon. These balloons are propelled by aluminum(or other lightweight metal, it doesn't really matter) steam engines, and the...
The wizards of Magitechia have discovered that the deflagration or detonation of certain chemical compounds have beneficial supernatural effects, that are useful for powering magical apparatuses. A...
In my world, electricity has not yet been discovered, and many advancements in society progress on a purely chemical or mechanical basis. Lasers are incredibly useful and multifaceted tools, and I...
In my pre-electricity world, fast communication is achieved by means of lighthouses, each being able to direct strong and precise beams of light towards distantly visible lighthouses. However a pr...
I know that DNA can be used to encode information, using ACGT as a quaternary instead of binary encoding. Could a functional genetically-modified human walk around with a lot of information store...
Once upon a time there was a world called, "The Gone, but not Forgotten Realms", ran by #GamerGate Garry and #ClintonBodyCount Anon. One day, Anon got tired of Garry taking his work for granted and...
Could I, purely in quantity of material only, build a solid bridge to a star? Ignore anything like strength, relative motions of systems, that is all taken care of, using lalalaicanthearyouium - t...
I mean as in a city that is not situated at the bottom of the ocean but is not floating on the surface of it either. What would a plausible size and population size be for this kind of construct? C...
According to a recent National Geographic article, astronauts returning home after longer missions suffer permanently impaired vision. This is a problem that must be addressed in hard-science world...
As conclusion of this question it seems that under a dense atmosphere it would be a good idea to place the main city in mountains. Just there is the inconvenient issue that top of mountains lack fl...
In my world, Rhino's have mutated and evolved to become larger than elephants. If I wanted to put some sort of dwelling on one (assume its trained) how would I go about doing that? EDIT: The dwel...
How would you design a saddle for a giant turtle (think rhino size) and a bridle, and how would you make it go, given that spurs or whip wouldn't really be an option with the shell?
So basically, humankind was t the pinnacle of technological greatness. We had a massive network of floating cities all around the globe. During "The Fall", all the massive spire-like buildings fell...
What would it take for humans to survive on mars, without shelters, akin to the Martian, in terms of genetic engineering? Is it even remotely viable, or would some mechanical assistance (oxygen tan...
Say we're in a world where it is possible to tinker with biology as easily as it is to tinker with programming nowadays. For feasibility, refer to How soon will tinkering with biology be as simple ...
Given an arbitrarily long time to do so, what is the maximum depth too which a dwarven civilization could practically extend their mines / cities? And what would be the final limiting factor preven...
What would cause a nuclear power plant to break down after 2000 years, but not sooner? The setting is a society in a dark age. Their ancestors were considerably more advanced than earth currently...
If person A has had the genes dictating their sight/ the internal structure of their eyes, replaced by say, eagle eyes or cat eyes. What happens when they reproduce with person B who has regular h...
Could a perfect mirror/s be made to reflect one side of the Earth from the edge of the solar system and viewed with an optical or radio telescope that is in orbit? The targeting mirrors and telesc...
I'm working on a hard sf novel about humans being forced to survive on a metal-poor planet. They have to take dietary metal supplements at first but eventually a bio-engineer rigs the biochemical p...
What would it take to build helicopter blades that can fold in several parts? This is the continuation of a question on Aviation. Unfortunately, there have been no use case for this for existing h...
As far as I know airships, specifically rigid-airships, do not have an upper size limit other than what is required by practicality and how willing you are to build gigantic airship sheds. But one ...
I'm a supervillain. I have no name, but you can rest assured my intentions are dubious and always result in general harm. My biggest problem these days are these pesky superheroes keep finding my ...
As a way to travel fast, my Earth-like planet is going to have a special train, circling it (the axis of the 'tracks' is aligned with the planet's axis of rotation). The thing about this train - i...
Suppose that there is a substance that is produced in nature by an organism. This substance is rather desirable. The reason this substance is desirable can be anything: Whether it is because it is ...
How can I protect a ringworld (which creates 1g artificial gravity and has an earth-like atmosphere) from the things that earth's magnetic field protects us? (using real-world physics)
So based on the question can pumice stone be use as castle material on water? I wanted to take pumice and use it to construct a floating road, so my Lava People can safely travel from one volcanic ...
In my late-Victorian world high-precision clockwork is highly available, but I am having trouble finding out exactly how precise their work could be. I have done some research on the subject, but ...
Suppose that for some reason gravity magically changes, but only for people. While this goes on, instead of gravity pulling people down, it pushes them East. To be clear, it's just people. Not anim...
In a near future setting I am working on, humans have built space-habitats and have established colonies on celestial objects such as Luna. Their spaceships cannot go faster-than-light and have the...
I am trying to design a single seat fighter capable of achieving (or getting close to) hypersonic velocities at high altitude. In this universe I am assuming compact fusion is a common technology. ...
In my world, law enforcement is dispatched from the capital to places around the island. The reason for them being dispatched in this fashion is due to there being few officers and the capital bei...
A big problem with Steampunk airships is how to propel them. Steam engines tend to be too heavy to be useful. And sails cannot be used, because unlike sea-going ships, airships are in contact with ...
I would like to use this scenario in writing a book. Using only countless balloons that permanently hold hydrogen made from water could a city be built in the sky? Workers from the ground can rai...
In my world there are mechanical semi-humanoid automata. Would it be possible to make them speak in a fashion that sounds natural (i.e. human)? How might it function? The mechanism should be capa...
I'd like to create a story in which a genetically modified man has Aromatase Excess syndrome. For example, if a man has a genetic mutation where he produces a lot of aromatase that turns 10% of hi...
The Question of the Tunnel through a Planet grinds my mind. How could you dig a Hole through the fluid mantle of a planet? Would your walls not constantly break and collapse on you after the 15-...
This question is about the Cube Prison as seen in the 2012 film The Cabin in the Woods. My question is not about the film or its lore, but how the cube prison can be constructed. Specifically, ...
In my world, both lighter- and heavier-than-air craft exist and are rather useful devices. However, problems tend to occur when confronted with storms. Steering through a storm is not a problem in...
Insects and other land-based Arthropoda are stuck at the size they are due to how inefficient their respiratory system is. They were able to reach the size they did in the Carboniferous period beca...
Flame lickers work by sucking hot air into a cylinder and then relying on the cooling of the air by the cylinder wall to create a partial vacuum to pull the piston back. see video In an alternat...
I want to put a story in place where a country lived underwater, and I am wondering of its viability. Here is the world description: It is a square of 100 km*100 km on the ocean with the weather ...
I have a very large developed (relatively rational) fantasy game world which mostly has medieval technology with some Renaissance technology, and some low-powered magic. In it, when I was much you...
If you have miles of steel pipes 10m thick, could you pump water from the sea to the centre of Antarctica, then pump it into the air like a geyser so that it falls around the pipe. As the fallen se...
In my conworld I've got heavily armoured airships majestically floating through the skies with help of a science-defying lighter-than-anything material. While I don't mind introducing a pinch of p...
In my late-Victorian world there are independently moving automata that may act as pets or servants to those that can afford them. They require a fair amount of energy to run at full capacity, eno...
This question is a different version of other questions that I have found here discussing a similar but different problem. The problem I'm facing here is about the excess or waste heat that an adv...
