Posts tagged technology
In the classic idea of a Tokamak Fusion Reactor, plasma races around an electromagnetic track. Is it plausible to "spin" off some of this rapidly moving plasma and direct it to nozzles for use in...
A top secret organization is planning to introduce a New World Order and replaces every human being (homo sapiens sapiens) with the evolved form of sub species of homo sapiens. Meaning we are sub s...
Upon asking this question, I have learned why we can have nuclear powered ships, but not aircraft. The reason is because the shielding needed for the nuclear reactor is simply too heavy for the pow...
(Disclaimer: I tried this question earlier in the scifi site as well as real science sites, and was told should be on topic here) I'm writing a speculative story about aliens coming to earth - and...
I was watching Star Trek, and I thought that the shape of the Enterprise is quite weird. So what do you think a big spaceship like the Enterprise would look like? We assume in this case that the p...
Is it possible to manipulate all artificial satellites(including ISS) and space junks currently in orbit to fall into Earth's atmosphere in one go? (Tech level is late 22nd century science) Note: ...
EDIT: Question timeframe changed from early XXI to mid-XXI century. Lets say 2040 decade-ish. You are the engineer in charge for the construction of the latest 's stealth suit. It should be the...
Similar to the Death Star(s) depicted in Star Wars universe, my question is how do such a massive body move from its orbit around its parent planet across the stellar system or galaxy into the enem...
I was thinking of potential planet explorations, by extremely advanced alien species, through automated drones (or "flying laboratories") scanning and analyzing the planets. (By "extremely advanced...
Is it possible to dissipate a blizzard with a chemical component? Or maybe with a special machine? There are no limits here except that the technology is gunpowder-renaissance-Napoleonic technolog...
I have some ideas, but I'd like my fictional Roman (100BC) General Mikey (ha) to build a submarine(s). This should be able to navigate in lakes and calm shores of the Mediterranean, succeed in bri...
Suppose a team of explorers touched down on an Earth-like planet which do not generate its own magnetic field and there are always a thick layer of cloud covering the sky at all time. My question i...
Those familiar with the Harry Potter series may be familiar with the Marauder's Map, a map that allows the holder to see where people are at any given time. It displays a person as a set of footpri...
A Civilization with semi advanced Technology should be able to start climatic changes on a earth like Planet (same land mass to water surface ratio). What would the fastest way be and How? Some...
In my near (+200 years) future world teleportation has been invented and is now in common use especially for off-world travelling, but it works by creating a perfect copy of the travelling human ne...
Let's say that an advanced civilisation once existed on Mars millions of years ago at a time when water existed in liquid form and that life was abundant on the planet. (Say this civilisation is a ...
I'm wondering what types of firearms would be impacted if explosives and combustion in general were to have a random chance of being more potent or less potent. Could new firearms and/or ammunition...
Could primitive human like species evolve into highly advanced race only using bio materials (other than wood) during their advancement (instead of other tools as early humans developed from iron, ...
In my very lengthy story in the near future, there are some great 'Modern Marvels'. The next one I'm going to introduce might not be feasible, but if it is, I'd like to attach some numbers to it. ...
In Star Gate, the Ori are notorious for keeping the tech level of their planetary subjects at or under medieval tech levels. It has been said (still looking for the exact source) that if everyone l...
After reading hours on here, I stumbled upon alot of answers that rely on some major changes in our understanding of space and time and its tech to allow us control antimatter or some future thrust...
A weird question. But let me define "a world without electricity": It's not that we haven't discovered electricity. But rather, electricity doesn't work anymore. Nothing conducts electricity. El...
My story involves everyone in the year 2015 suddenly disappearing. What would visitors to Earth find if they arrived in the year 12015, or 10,000 years after we all disappeared? Assume none of our ...
The Settings: A pod of nanobots stranded on earth-like barren planet orbiting sun-like star. Assume no life form has formed on the planet, and nanobots popuate the planet. Could they evolve compl...
In this setting, humanity has advanced to the technological capability of extra stellar travel via faster-than-light drives. However, due to distances between inhabited areas being extremely large,...
Let's say, we've surpassed all tolerances of population. But, mega-corporations found a creative way to solve the problem. They dug into the Earth to build bubble cities in magma. They have access ...
I was wondering if there is a realistic way that one can "travel" to the future, using today's technology. Two scenarios I have thought of: An individual is put under cryogenic freezing and then ...
For my current setting, there will be super robots of ludicrous proportions strutting about as though they own the place (which in all honesty they actually do). So, being so nonsensically powerful...
The theory of Late Heavy Bombardment says that approximately 4 billions of years ago, something disturbed the orbits of asteroids in the Kuiper belt, which caused extremely heavy bombardment of Ear...
Suppose there's a vault secured with a numeric code and a biometric sensor. What technologies and methods could be used to open the vault if a character isn't registered on the system? Here are a ...
A staple of both fantasy and science fiction literature is the long-vanished Ancients, who left nothing but their buildings (or devices) behind. Somehow, these (usually) decrepit structures still ...
After being told about hemianopsia (visual neglect) in an answer to another question, I started wondering if I could apply the same idea to artificial applications, such as securing information or ...
We have a tiny robot, insect like, barely five millimetres long, but with an almost perfect AI. The sensory input consists on an array of chemoreceptors, vibrissae, and cameras. It can fly through ...
For the longest time growing up with Peak Oil and other such dire predictions, I assumed humanity had just about peaked, in terms of industrial-technological might and capacity to influence its env...
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...
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...
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 ...
I'm trying to figure out realistic futuristic jobs for my characters. We're in a verge-of-singularity world, 15-25 years in the future. Convoluted neural networks and their even more awesome near-...
Think of HAL9000 playing a chess game with Frank Pool: Thank you for a very enjoyable game. Would that have been literally enjoyable? In a world where A.I. exists, as depicted in this kind o...
One of the first steps in technological is the ability of a civilisation to forge tools* humans achieved this by using fire and creating forges. There are obviously underwater heat sources but I d...
