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Q&A

General Q&A about worldbuilding and other speculative developments that can be extrapolated from science.

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How to make an invisible planet from its stratosphere up?

Is there a way to make a planet invisible naturaly? I dont want the entire thing to be clear, but have a natural "field" or something that prevents the planet from being seen (or makes it much hard...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Shadow Z.‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shadow Z.‭

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Wouldn't building down make more sense when colonizing a dead planet?

Most science fiction stories has humans building large domes on the surface of planets like Mars or the Moon. But wouldn't it make more logistical sense to dig down and build down into the planet?...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by bowlturner‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by bowlturner‭

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How can I make rapid recovery from prosthetic arm surgery more plausible?

Near the beginning of my story, my main character loses an arm, and is going to get a prosthetic replacement. I've done some research on prosthetic limbs, and as one might expect, you're not good ...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by grymble‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by grymble‭

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Is there a scientifically sound faster-than-light travel system for a spaceship?

Recurringly in Sci-Fi spaceships manage to make it to lightspeed and above. Is there a scientifically plausible explanation of such capacity? How does it impact the spaceship's design and its passe...

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

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Hydra regeneration explained with science

The Hydra is a mythical creature with the ability the regrow severed limbs, including the head(s). According to the dungeon and dragon 3.5 version of the hydra : each time one limb is separated fro...

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

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Is a rocket dragon possible?

So, just read a good number of the answers over at Is a jet dragon possible?, and it seems that a jet dragon doesn't make much sense due to supersonic flight pre-jet engine being required. Rocket ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Shishire‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shishire‭

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Does Intelligent life require oxygen?

This question is related to the following question on whether complex life is possible without oxygen but is not a duplicate. I was doing some searching and found this and this link, the first on w...

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

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How do I prevent my turtle from collapsing under its own gravity?

Suppose the universe contained a species of planet sized turtles1 that can travers at least interstellar space. How can I explain (without invoking magic) that these turtles are not spherical? If ...

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

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Would a gelatinous mass be possible?

In the world I have been working on my planet has a gelatinous mass of cells coexisting but not a technical single creature. It bridges the gap between single celled and complex and it grows in siz...

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

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What percentage by mass of the earth's surface is water?

I am creating a fantasy world where a given race is mystically tied to the planet. Predominately this race will be earth-dwellers, quite happy and content to burrow underground, but I'd like some o...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Brian_Drozd‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Brian_Drozd‭

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What would the reaction times and or cognition speed of an alien with a photonic or partialy photonic nervous system be?

In my reading of sci-fi I came across a fascinating concept: an alien race called the Chromatics that had a partially photonic nervous system. They were described as having very fast reflexes. Now ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Trismegistus‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Trismegistus‭

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Could a Species Use Tools (and Build a Civilization) Without Thumbs?

If humans were to vanish completely from the Earth rapture-style, other primates would possibly slowly evolve and eventually take our place (in a few million years?), since they have both the basic...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭

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Habitable zone around a Class O hypergiant

Suppose we have a planetary system in orbit around a Class O hypergiant star of 225 solar masses (larger than all but R136a1, the largest star we currently know of), 32,000 times as bright as our s...

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

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Could a third of the world's population be on another planet in 100 years?

With the technologies that we have got, is it possible to completely migrate 1/3rd of the world's population to another planet which has characteristics similar to those of earth ? Possibly it will...

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

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Commonly-occurring clouds below a forest canopy

What physical attributes of atmosphere and flora could cause clouds to form on a regular basis below the canopy of a forest between one-fourth and one-half the height of the forest, without impacti...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Frostfyre‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Frostfyre‭

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base-12 numeral system

What could drive a human civilization to use base-12 system? As far as I know there have been such civilizations and they probably used their phalanges to count (instead of their fingers). I have f...

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

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Transportation across a liquid metal lake

TL;DR then scroll down, genius This question is set in a planet with a human population, about the size of Earth with earth-like formations, that has appropriate lifeforms to the conditions follow...

11 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by blaizor‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by blaizor‭

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Global Warming, Gravity, and Space - The Fate of the Earth

Guns, Germs and Steel is a very thought-provoking book. One of it's theorems is that certain cultures - largely due to geographical reasons - were incapable of getting past certain technological a...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Dan Smolinske‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Dan Smolinske‭

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Physiological effects of living on a world close to a black hole

Let's say you were living on a planet near (but not too near) a black hole. I'm thinking of the planet Miller in the movie Interstellar. Obviously there are some strong tidal forces. But at this d...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Coomie‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Coomie‭

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What is the technical feasibility of DNA-altering drinks in a fictional bar?

I am interested of a fictional future world where people can walk into a bar, order a drink with the flavors they want, and as that drink flows through their system, their DNA is modified. An exam...

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

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How would nanobots consume objects?

I've been thinking about a cyberpunk universe where nanobots are a universal force capable of achieving many things, examples include: Biological and medical modifications of the human body Const...

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

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What if the Empire State Building were buried to the roof in snow?

I recently wrote a silly little flash fiction piece in which some party-goers go hide in a bunker under an apartment building in NYC because of a "megablizzard." In said silly flash fiction, I buri...

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

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Can an atmosphere englobe a planetary ring?

Would it be possible for the atmosphere of a planet to reach beyond its planetary ring so that earth-like biology could develop on some of the asteroids there? This question is mainly about whethe...

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

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Life on a Venusian world?

I define "Venusian world" to be high pressure, thick atmosphere, and high temperatures. Assume the atmosphere is similar to Venus, but whatever gets the same effect and supports life is fine. I'm ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by System‭

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Would dinosaurs render a planet unfit for colonization?

So an amazing thing happens and we locate an Earth-like planet and we also achieve the technology that enables us to travel there. Upon arrival we discover that dinosaurs are roaming on the entire ...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Peter U‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Peter U‭

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Maglev transportation without tracks

A frog has already been levitated without any magnetic object attached to it. I'm wondering if it's possible to reverse this for transportation purposes, by having a vehicle levitate itself using m...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by mjr‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by mjr‭

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Could there be an ecological relationship in which both parties are harmed?

In a relationship between two species, could a certain relationship become harmful to both involved species? Keep in mind, I am looking for a relationship between two species, preferably of the ki...

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

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A continent lost underwater?

So I've been trying to create a world and I've been planning on the continents being drowned out almost completely in water from a terrible tsunami, storm, earthquake or an act of one the gods or s...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by cedes‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by cedes‭

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Is it possible to animate a statue?

Could one construct a statue out of materials that could be made to move in controlled or semi-controlled ways? The question is essentially can one make a robot without the internal mechanics? I'm ...

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

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Jet Powered Animals

Looking at the recent questions on dragons and aviation bureaucracy has got me thinking about some animals I could include in my story. I want these animals to be jet powered. One of the answers o...

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

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What types of atmospheric disruption (and other issues) would my skyhook make?

In this question: Where to Anchor My Space Elevator We get a new material: Thanks to the recent discovery of handwavium filaments that can in principle be extruded to any length, we will be ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by user3082‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by user3082‭

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Matrioshka Testing: A way to keep your AI honest (or at least guessing)

I have had some time to ponder my previous question, and here's what I came up with. You take your freshly baked AI (or your destructively uploaded human), and put it in a box$^1$. As far as it c...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭

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What does it mean for something to be 'knocked out of its orbit'?

The idea of knocking a satellite out of its orbit is common in fiction, but what does it actually mean.

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by smithkm‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by smithkm‭

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Arctic Airships, Part 2 - Navigation

This is the second question in my Arctic Airships series of questions. The first one is Arctic Airships, Part 1 - Generating Electricity. The setting is outlined in Part 1, but I'll rehash the pre...

8 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by HDE 226868‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by HDE 226868‭

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An interplanetary coordinate system

On earth, we use a simple but effective coordinate system which determines position unambiguously on the surface (GPS achieving accuracy within 1 meter, which speaking as an engineer, is a remarkab...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Neil‭

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Talking to Animals

What ethical/legal implications would there be if we invented a technology to make it possible to communicate intelligibly with some (or all) animals? The constraints on this technology would mak...

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

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What would a lunar calendar look like?

First see this great answer on considerations when making a calendar. Consider a human colony on our own moon. Let's assume that the colony is influenced by the Gregorian calendar. Let's suppose t...

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by 17482‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by 17482‭

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What would happen if you attach 2 huge ion engines on the north and south side of planet earth?

I was wondering what would happen if you attach 2 Huge ion engines(I mean really really really huge) to planet earth. They should be attached on the north and south poles. Are 2 huge ion engines ...

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

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Sapience Pulsar - Could Intelligence Come in Waves?

So imagine this scenario: Sapience (which I define as Human-like intelligence or better) is a relatively common occurence once a life-form is on a specific brain-arms-race path like Hominins have ...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Serban Tanasa‭

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How to avert AI. as a main player in the future?

it's me again :) With the help of the fine people of this place I have been able to find solution for a number of problems and come up with compelling technologies. One question keep bugging me, ...

14 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by System‭

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Are moons always the same colour?

When viewed from their planet, are moons always the same colour as ours? Or is there a variation? What other colours might be possible and what causes the differences in colour?

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Jaz‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Jaz‭

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How much technology for a ring-world to work?

There is this setup that I've seen a few times of a ring-shaped world where people live on the inner side. My question is: what is the minimum advancement of technology for such a thing to happen? ...

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

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If there was a planet where the asteroid belt is, could it have a stable orbit?

If a planet existed in an orbit where the asteroid belt is, would the orbits of all the planets be stable, and what would the climates be like on these planets? Assuming there could be a planet in...

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Chris Camacho‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Chris Camacho‭

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Cheaper to grow crops in Earth and sending it to space or to grow them in orbit?

I'm interested in knowing if in terms of cost/efficiency/quality would be better to grow crops(food) in Earth and then sending it to space habitats on orbit, or would it be better to grow them in t...

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

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How long to freeze a planet?

If some advanced race were to make a solid opaque shell around our Sun, say around Mercury's orbit, something like a Dyson Sphere, how long would it take for Earth to freeze over and end most life?

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭

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Removing the metal from a star

What would happen if an extremely advanced race removed the metal (everything beyond H and He) from a star. Would the star still function? Would it change in appearance or properties at all?

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭

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Dyson Laser feasibility

A Dyson Laser would be a spherical swarm megastructure arrangement of robots focusing mirrors directing sunlight towards a particular planet in a system heating it with enough energy to melt it. T...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Sam Washburn‭

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Can a planet's moon rise at the same time every night?

Is it possible for a planet's moon to always rise at the same time of the night? And in this way be used as a timekeeping device? What if there are two moons?

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Jaz‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Jaz‭

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Weather on a mini-ringworld/Banks Orbital

An Orbital is a miniature ringworld used by the Culture in Iain M. Banks's Culture series. Wikipedia has details on their basic structure, but to simplify, the main difference from a Niven ringworl...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by System‭

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Biology-centric civilization vs AI-based civilization

I wonder if it possible for human civilization to evolve into two different civilizations. One is controlled by artificial intelligence (or by uploaded human minds) and the other is biology-based ...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Anixx‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Anixx‭