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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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Densest practical packing of protons vs. neutrons?

For background: I have some sci-fi technology based on sci-fi physics which depends on some fictional forces that interact differently with up quarks vs. down quarks. So, to get certain types of ef...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Logan R. Kearsley‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Logan R. Kearsley‭

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How would this alien sensory system function?

Now a change from dragon questions: Let's move onto aliens based on mythological creatures! Most land creatures on the planet of Antiquoloci have a strange sensory system in place of a nose, doing...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by RadioGoblin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by RadioGoblin‭

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How to ride a fish?

In my world, there are giant fish, reptiles, and bugs. My question is, how would you be able to put a harness or saddle on a fish? Info: Swamp bio being ridden by humans Fish range in all differ...

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

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Does adamantium solve the giant mecha problem?

When the giant aliens came lumbering out of the interdimensional fissure, we fought back, building giant robots of our own... which promptly collapsed onto themselves and were unable to move becaus...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Stephen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Stephen‭

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Is this dragon anatomy viable?

The image is quite old so bear with me. This dragon is similar in shape and movement to a snake, with light-weight armor plating on its back. Flowers, which honestly look like antennae, blooming...

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

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General effects (and narrative practicality) of a moon with an extreme elliptic orbit

This is more for fluff and illustrative exotica, but I'm keen on an idea where my new world has a moon that orbits elliptically, but has a fast inward close orbit followed by a longer round trip th...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Tommy‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Tommy‭

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Can two different limbs... Merge?

I'm new to asking questions so please forgive me if i'm strange. I have a species of plant-based dragons. Small, covered in feathers and intelligent. I just want one thing backed up for me because...

9 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by RadioGoblin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by RadioGoblin‭

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Ideal sun type and corresponding effects for a terrestrial planet with 256 days in a year?

The planet has 256 days in a year, split up into eight months, each with 32 days. My planet is a bit smaller than Earth: Think, enough space for the continents of Earth's western hemisphere and th...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by P. M. B.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by P. M. B.‭

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The opposite to Worldbuilding: World Destruction

I am looking at different ways to destroy a planet. I am assuming the planet is of a similar size and composition to the Earth just to keep things simple. I am starting at boiling the atmosphere t...

25 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Jimmery‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Jimmery‭

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Nanomachines and deception are the essence of magic, how can I explain meteor showers and similar large-scale weather spells?

So, dragons have access to this thing, called word magic. Word-magic spells are typically need way more energy and processing power than regular magic, they also have nasty cool-down times. A drago...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mephistopheles‭

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Feasibility of Warhammer 40k Weapons Part 2: Exterminatus

So the Plasma Cannon proved to be a bust, now to the next weapon, what which is commonly associated with 'Exterminatus', the Atmospheric Incineration Torpedo. This bomb is far more powerful than a...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by CYCLOPSCORE‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by CYCLOPSCORE‭

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Feasibility Check- Is aquaculture a possible food source for my civilization

Inspired (loosely) by societies like the Gunditjmara and natives of the Pacific Northwest, I always have envisioned a system of aquaculture for one of my concultures, though agricultural studies a...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Antarctica07‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Antarctica07‭

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Is self-awareness or consciousness actually an evolutionary disadvantage?

Blindsight is a first-contact Sci-Fi novel based on a group of transhumans exploring an anomaly in space and discovers a species that has great intelligence but no self-awareness. The author menti...

15 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Quartz2‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Quartz2‭

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What gas can replace ozone as a UV filter in a planet's atmosphere?

Consider a planet with life forms, which are different than those found here on Earth, orbiting a star similar to the Sun. Such life forms don't use oxygen and, therefore, the planet's atmosphere i...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by URIZEN‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by URIZEN‭

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Clear Waterproof Material in the Dark Ages

A traveling scholar during the Dark Ages, with full knowledge of how precious books were, decided to keep his rolled up in a scroll. He's fashioned a clever case for it that allows him to turn a no...

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

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How do wraiths control their bodies?

In my fantasy world, wraiths are a species of shell-less, regressed crustaceans. They lay their eggs inside animal skulls, using them as shells. The wraiths' bodies are incredibly weak and they can...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Cobbington‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Cobbington‭

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Could Insects learn ( Part 1: Agriculture )

Agriculture One of if not the most important factor to our survival, it allows us to feed the very animals that we eat and in general it allows us to survive. But could insects learn or evolve to ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by RotNDecay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by RotNDecay‭

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Planetizing the World of Jack and the Beanstalk: How Small is Too Small?

We all know the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk--a farmboy sells his cow for some "magic beans", which in turn grow into a mountainously tall stalk that led him to the land of a giant. Now, scienti...

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

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What would weather/geographical conditions be like on a tidally locked moon?

I'm trying to figure out what weather patterns and geographical conditions would exist on a habitable moon that is tidally locked to a much larger planet/gas giant. From my research, I was able to ...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by CyberneticFen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by CyberneticFen‭

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How could a human-shaped fluid creature move like an actual human?

So, there are creatures with insane regenerative abilities, like casually putting their severed head back on their neck and it's fixed in mere seconds. The reason for that is that it's not true re...

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

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Civilization self destruction prevention

In 1950 physicist Enrico Fermi wondered why we have found no alien civilizations even though there are about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the observable universe. Among other things, h...

5 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Fermi paradox‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Fermi paradox‭

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How long would it take for an animal (feline, in this case) to evolve into a humanoid-type being?

The animal I'm particularly focusing on is a cat, for which I'm curious how long it would take for said cat to evolve into a bipedal, intelligent, humanoid being capable of complex language and all...

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

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Alcohol-based organisms?

Would it be possible to have an organism to be based on alcohol, rather than water? Complexity does not matter, but a complex organism would be favourable. their environment would be in oceans of i...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭

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Plausibility of helium dominated atmospheres on super-Earths

I've been using this helpful diagram a lot for worldbuilding. Now I came to think about the fact that helium is more massive than hydrogen, thus a scenario where hydrogen escapes, but helium is ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by TheDyingOfLight‭

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Could the kraken monster from "Evolve" (the game) feasibly exist?

"Evolve" is a game that revolves around two teams, the hunters and the monsters. The hunters job is to kill the monster and simply survive; the monsters job is to kill the hunters and survive. Ther...

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

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Determining this Planet's periods?

So, I'm trying to figure out a world's cycle (length of a year, day, etc.). The planet, Vixeruka, is about 3 times larger than Earth is, making it a super-Earth, and it's the second planet from it...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by SCPilot‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by SCPilot‭

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Why might the ability to attack using directed nerve stimulation evolve?

So, in my story, there is a species called the Telenoids. They have the ability to induce auditory nerve impulses so powerful they cause intense headaches and severe pain to nearby targeted non-tel...

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

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Physical correctness of trolls with high regeneration ability

In my fantasy world there's the race of trolls, vastly inspired by the ones one encounters in Baldur's Gate 2 (see here). Millennia ago, they've been driven underground by orcs and elves, as well ...

8 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Otto Abnormalverbraucher‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Otto Abnormalverbraucher‭

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Where should I place my fictional continent in the South Pacific?

Rather than creating an entire world for my worldbuilding project, I was planning on adding an additional continent to Earth. Since the largest "empty spot" is in the South Pacific and one of my go...

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

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Is there a possible way to metamorph human using butterfly method?

I want to know if there is a possible way to temporarily turn normal human into soup like caterpillar in their chrysalis state as they metamorphose into another being, either biological/chemical or...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Li Jun‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Li Jun‭

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Is it possible for a tiger's tail to be taken off and replaced with a living cobra, with both creatures still alive?

DISCLAIMER: I'm new to this site and still figuring things out, this is my first question I've asked, so bear with me. Alright, this is a little hard to describe. This story I'm writing includes a...

11 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Claw‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Claw‭

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Adverse effects of reduced food variety on microbiome

We often see, in Sci-fi, food being produced from, say, algae or yeast. What could be the effect of such a limited diet on the gut microbiome? Would there be any believable side-effect that would h...

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

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Futrinka street and the plausiblity of comfortably habitable giant-pumpkin houses

So, there was this pupet show about two characters, Mazsola and Tádé. They lived in a BIG pumpkin, that had been hollowed out and repurposed as a house. It looked something like this. Now, I k...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mephistopheles‭

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Eating Titan's oceans

Imagine a Mark Wattney-like scenario, only on Titan and involving a decent-sized base being isolated instead of a single person. There is not, and never has been, the possibility of growing potatoe...

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

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Does living without access to sunlight for extended periods have known physical or psychological effects on humans?

Humans (even programmers :-) ) are used to having some access to natural light, but in a colony in space, on the dark side of a tidally-locked planet, or underground (for example) this won't happen...

6 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Monica Cellio‭

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How can I create long fall boots?

The long fall boots are special footwear that extend from your feet to your knees. They enable you to fall from an indefinite altitude in Earth-like gravity without damaging your body when you land...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Jefferey Dawson‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Jefferey Dawson‭

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Is it possible for nature to create bubble wrap?

Bubble wrap is a synthetic packing material featuring small bubbles that are designed to provide cushion to the protected object and pop in place of damaging the object under excessive stress. They...

16 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Frostfyre‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Frostfyre‭

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Myelination in cephalopods

I am a complete amateur regarding biology, so please forgive me if this question is a little stupid. Could we ever create squids that have human-level intelligence and could serve as a replacement ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Jonathan Böcker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Jonathan Böcker‭

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What color is a space elevator?

Consider a space elevator, a thread hanging from the heavens and being anchored to a spot in ground or sea barge at equator. As I understand it, it'd be very thin at ground and get thicker on the w...

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

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Would humanoids from high gravity planets be smaller than us?

The usual characterization of humanoids from high gravity planet is that they are stockier with thicker bones and larger muscles and this assumption isn't far fetched. Heavy animals on earth have ...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Green‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Green‭

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How do i worldbuild planetary regolith

The planet needs to be able to support life but initially ve devoid of it. Which I would think would make it's Soil like that of a desert. The regolith may be important for early agriculture. It ca...

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

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Lightning striking full plate "” what's the damage to the wearer?

I have a knight fighting a dragon with an electric breath weapon, I'm wondering what would actually happen when the knight was struck by the weapon, assuming it has the power of a 'regular' lightni...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Mourdos‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Mourdos‭

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Spin gravity on an abandoned ship

If a cylindrical rocket ship with a diameter of about 350 meters were spinning on its long axis, would more than just the interior surface of the outer hull have artificial gravity? The ships dec...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by carsonogen089‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by carsonogen089‭

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How to keep the emotions when the brain-in-a-jar is connected to a cyborg body

Let us assume that Science has discovered how to keep a brain alive outside the body, that mind-machine interfaces are advanced enough to connect the CNS to electronic hardware and communicate mean...

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

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Can a human colony survive on a 'hot' world?

A colony ship headed for its new home countless light-years from Earth suffers an unfortunate malfunction on the final part of its descent phase and crashes onto the planet. Thankfully, the ship cr...

11 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Raznarok‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Raznarok‭

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Can an Io-like world exist in such conditions to allow this character to fly?

This character has a set of dragonfly-like wings. These are not normal for her species, and would normally be something of a birth defect requiring amputation. But through liberal application of Cl...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by CAE Jones‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by CAE Jones‭

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How can a being that can create electric attacks use targeted lightning storm strikes?

I found one question that deals with how to make lightning from clouds strike a target person, Can we make lightning strike a certain person? but I am looking for something that doesn't involve tec...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by RandySavage‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by RandySavage‭

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Synthesization of a star?

Would it be possible to put hydrogen into a vacuum chamber and use something to turn it into a smaller version of a star? I am making a scene with a simulated planet environment in space and wanted...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Greenie E. - Reinstate Monica‭

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Ways for advanced civilizations to mask communications on an interstellar / intergalactic scale

Say we have a civilization on the verge of becoming Type II, and are in the process of building a Dyson Sphere. They are aware that in the process, and especially after completion, there will be te...

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

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Is it possible to switch glycoprotein of viruses?

Like take flu virus and switch its glycoprotein with measles? On my world there is warfare and I want science to well fit the story.

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by michael smith‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by michael smith‭