Posts tagged physics
The Setting: I have an idea for a universe that, in an inversion to our own, is filled for the most part with matter in solid, liquid, gaseous or plasma form, while vacuum and degenerate matter is...
Useless Backstory "Why are you waking me up Sergeant? And why did we enter near-light speed?" "We received a distress call, and there wasn't enough time to notify you, sir." "What kind of distress...
In a world where science has advanced to the point of a healthy understanding of particle physics, scientists have begun working towards remote matter manipulation. In theory, it seems that one wou...
If there was a planet half the earth's diameter, for which every other aspect of the earth was changed proportionally to keep the Earth's perfect ratio intact (including having the perfect orbital ...
As the title suggests, this is a conceptual physics kinda question. What is the feasibility of using an electrically charged (as in not neutral) plasma as the working fluid in a turbine where the...
I'm designing a mission to a planet orbiting 61 Virginis (27.9 ly distant), and want to stay within physics that we're aware of (e.g. no warp drive). I've asked questions here and here, and the an...
Just as a disclaimer, I have very little knowledge on the science on all of this and have a very poor grasp on what is plausible and what isn't, but I suppose that's why I am here. I have a concept...
I'm working on creating a world with three moons, all with different sizes and different orbits. I'm wondering what effects this would have. How would the tides be affected, obviously, but also wou...
Is there any solid, scientific counterargument against the hypothetical explanation that attributes dark matter as matter in hidden planes of existence? I am trying to construct a world in which t...
I've been searching for hours, and most formulas I can find use complex/imaginary numbers or variables that I don't know or can't find out (such as the imaginary part of the planet's love number, w...
So I was reading this article recently, titled Stellar Outburst Brings Water Snow Line into View: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1626. In short it's about a protoplanetary accretion disc around ...
I have a world inside a Dyson ring with a radius of ~1 AU, complete with humans, animals, plants, clouds, and Earth-like atmosphere. The ring is spinning at a particular angular speed, giving the i...
I'm creating various artificial Time Bubbles in my universe where time flows faster or slower inside a specified area, typically depicted as a semi-transparent bubble. Before developing any more st...
I'm writing a short story that takes place on an imaginary planet that is 88% ocean. The planet has two moons and one continent that is regularly flooded under 500 to 1500 feet of water. The tides ...
I'm trying to create a world where there's an equator-like divide running along the axis(?) of the planet and the two hemispheres are perpetually different in terms of temperature. Basically, I wan...
Assuming I had a magic device able to discharge its stored energy in a directional force, and absorb the energy from the resulting return force (for every action, there is an equal and opposite rea...
Trying to create a future earth which has been thoroughly abused by the excesses of modern capitalism. Extreme weather, rising sea levels, massive droughts, that sort of stuff. My question is: c...
My question is how a species, given sufficiently advanced technology - could block out all - or most - visible light to a generally earthlike planet without rendering it uninhabitable. The only c...
Suppose I have a time-traveling DeLorean (of all things), and I've used it to travel back to 1955. But then I ran out of juice. Fortunately, I just happen to know that a certain clock tower will be...
I want to put a circular city in geostationary orbit. The city will have a radius of 20Km. I was thinking of using quantum trapping/levitation to achieve this. Here's what quantum trapping is: ...
This question comes up from Is there a man-made or natural event that can cause an abrupt climate change within hours/a day? "“ trying to get KaguraRap a functional answer to an abrupt temperature ...
I have a story where a species of the very first (literally first) carbon-based humanoid life (surprise!) that happen to emerge roughly seven billion years ago (their home system were formed twelve...
Context On my world, there is a lot of water: sea, oceans, ... There are also firm land and islands, so it's interesting to travel on the water. The problem is that there is NO wind at all, and lo...
I've got a group of magical people living mostly incognito in an ancient society. They look and act exactly the same as regular people, but they are really magicians, and a side effect of having th...
I've been wracking my brain about a world I'm writing in, how to make some group of regular people able to survive in space for extended periods with or without a suit. I can reduce the amount of t...
I'm pretty much looking for an easy (or not) formula for calculating the mass and/or weight of fantasy creatures on an Earth-like planet with similar gravity. My world's dragons sometimes reach ove...
A roughly earth-size planet orbits a cool G-class star, but barely within its circumstellar habitable zone ("Goldilocks zone") allowing liquid water. It has a shallow inclination and and lackluster...
Say for instance we had a humanoid creature. how would they achieve flight by taking in a gas then expelling it at a greater pressure from a point on their body like the feet, back, or hands?
If a planet has a core of super-dense material, how might that effect the geological composition of that planet? Specifically: imagine a lunar-sized planet, with earth-like geology and density. If...
I am creating a world in which a civilization has achieved advanced spaceflight and has begone colonizing other planets in their solar system that is similar to ours, but with more planets. However...
Let's say a group of people live on icebergs. They want to shape them - e.g., let's say they want to add a pier to their iceberg, how do they "grow" the ice. Prefer a primitive answer, but if ther...
I'm ready to reduce a certain amount of scientific rigor for a good story. In my world, some person invents a theory of everything. Is there a way that scientists would test the theory, to prove t...
I have a character that gains a "force" power that allows him to use his mind to manipulate physics such as levitate weights, warm a space, cool a space, stop objects and transmits things by pullin...
I'm building a world where my protagonist invents a theory of quantum gravity. Since I don't want the world to be much changed than it is now. Is it possible that the theory wouldn't have any prac...
Question I am currently trying to create a dramatic introduction for one of my characters, John Smith. The current iteration of the idea has him suddenly colliding with a solid wall on a motorbike...
Premise In this Earth-like world, a multi-billion dollar privately owned aerospace/defense corporation is devising a secret plan to manufacture a fleet of nano-bots. These nano-bot have swarm inte...
This question is inspired by salmon swimming up waterfalls. I am aware that it is an entirely different thing, but I felt that it was worth mentioning in understanding the question. "What would ne...
In my fictional planet, forests grow not on soil, but on vast spongy mats of fungi. Traditional Earth-like feet would struggle to get grip on the squishy ground, so most megafauna taxa have feet li...
In my earlier question, regarding airships, I mentioned fictional gas, as light as hydrogen but non-flammable. Is it possible to make chemical element, with atoms made not from nucleons, but with s...
The Planet The Planet I'm speaking of has the same size as earth but is much lighter. That's because the "Upper Mantle" is about 1000 km wider and mostly consist out of organic material. Such a hu...
Here's the plan for the proposed system of FTL communication. A huge pole made of the strongest solid in existence (or whatever solid would work best for this scenario, if no solid exists that wo...
I have a bipedal kaiju-style monster that walks upright on two legs and weighs 20,000 metric tons. Supposing, of course, that it can carry its own weight, its muscles can support the stress, and th...
Imagine a world where the Earth's rotational cycle is 20 hours. It has wreaked havoc on ecosystems that need sunlight. Although some plant life can adapt, others are endangered. Is there a way to s...
I am trying to figure out what kind of liquid, if any, can be used to severely impede or slow human motion without killing or severely damaging their bodies (IE if after being submerged in this liq...
I was not entirely sure how to word the title question, so allow me to put my question into more detail here: Suppose there was a planet with just the right conditions to allow humans to live ther...
Inspired by this question, so credit to them for the core idea. How might a slow fire energy weapon reliably neutralize its target? Here are some details about the precise design I had in mind: I...
Start with present day "maker" culture. People, including youngsters, play with microcontrollers and machine parts, with synergistic technology like 3D printing, shoebox-sized robotic milling mach...
The basis of my story revolves around a single survivor escaping a massive colony ship gone critical above the skies of an alien world. After his escape via escape pod, the ship crashes halfway acr...
Cosmology since Einstein makes it clear that it's not quite right to say one body in space "revolves around" another, right? Einstein wrote: "The two sentences, 'the sun is at rest and the earth mo...
