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I'm working on a tabletop roleplaying game about witches. I have most of the mechanics of broomsticks worked out, but I'm having trouble deciding on top speeds. Speed limits are not a result of how...
I need to know how wide the diameter of a space fountain's* particle stream is in relation to the mass it's trying to support. It would have to lift its mass at least 40000 kilometers. The vacuum...
I have posted a similar question where I asked how can two realities mix into one reality in which I received many helpful comments. I realise I should've expanded on the details I posted, so I wil...
For complicated reasons our hero's blimp in the Venus atmosphere at an altitude of 50 km gets a tear in it and sunlight floods inside (there is no gondola, the blimp is a semi-ellipsoid of breathab...
Interstellar travel is hard and complicated, yet I want to have a plausible interstellar propulsion system for my setting. Rockets are out because of the rocket equation and the horrible top speeds...
My question: What is it that needs to be improved or added to the human body so that it can withstand critically (fatally) low and high (if, my genetically modified person is underwater or a very d...
The response time of the human visual channel in a relatively quiet state is approximately 40 milliseconds, which provides a" frame rate " of 25 frames per second. At the same time, it is not just ...
This question asks for hard science. All answers to this question should be backed up by equations, empirical evidence, scientific papers, other citations, etc. Answers that do not satisfy this req...
So say there was a rogue gas giant about the mass of Jupiter that, unfortunately, happened to be headed directly at Earth (or at least close enough to knock it into an orbit incompatible with life)...
How realistic is the concept of a space gulag? So let's say you want another option outside of a stern talking too, a fine, confining to quarters, demeaning tasks, VR "re-education," beating the s...
Magical fire is often depicted as flames. To get fire and flames the right mixture of oxygen, fuel and heat is needed. Assuming that the magic only provides the heat, there are only two chemical re...
One of the basic requirements for life is effectively food. One of the basic requirements of engineering is that we lift off with as little mass as possible. If we choose to explore the solar syst...
What is required for advanced lungs to filter dangerous chemicals (so to speak, to carry out the detoxification process) and then use oxygen? (It is advisable to take into account the above record,...
Let's say Santa got himself a new toy: a present delivery cannon. With this new cannon, he wants to deliver presents to children by shooting their presents from the cannon into their chimneys. Let'...
The environment is set in (ideal) space with no air for the bullet to interact with. It should encounter nothing until it reaches its target. The bullet is assumed to be a perfect sphere with a di...
I have a layman's (re: not very good) understanding of nuclear physics, and it's pretty cool to me, but I'm quite bad at math. I'm working on a sci-fi book (classic, I know) and just finished a dra...
I'm thinking about designing an alien race. The race is carbon-based and evolved on a world with an average surface temperature between 40 and 60 degrees Celsius. Now, on Earth, almost all lifeform...
So, one of my D&D characters has a cut/relief-carved quartz crystal amulet (medallion shaped) that's both an arcane focus (crystal) and a holy symbol (amulet), and I thought it would be a good ...
I am wanting to make a 3 world lagrange system around a Sol analog star that includes 1 gas giant and 2 terrestrial worlds with large moons. I want the terrestrial worlds to have a similar gravity ...
WARNING: This post contains some spoilers for the anime/manga Dr.Stone. As I'm watching Dr.Stone, I see Senku and the gang trying to make vacuum tubes for their circuits. The vacuum tube is an anc...
Short question: which hormones should high contagious fungi spores produce to make their human host spread the joy and infection (by hugging and kisses) on early stages of infection, and become p...
Working on a D&D campaign. As a physics nerd, I'd like the orbital mechanics of the planet, its sun, and its moons, to follow standard Newtonian/Keplerian mechanics. I'm trying to come up wit...
There are 2 planet sized structures that are artificially made with no means of propulsion. Each structure has the approximate mass of Earth but are hollow inside. The inside area is where the peop...
Which minimal order of magnitude is required to simulate single cells and microorganisms in cyberspace? In an utopian future, people will be possibly able to rapidly design new cures, be their rea...
I wish to create a world such that it can support the following plot point: the world experiences gravitational waves that are directly noticeable to the human population (i.e. they can feel or see...
The Breakthrough Starshot is a method of robotic interstellar exploration by launching thousands of small centimeter-sized probes, each equipped with a 4 x 4 meter light-sail. Thanks to their small...
A scientist is resetting the clock on his microwave one day as he considers the hopelessness of keeping the time exactly right. Not for the reasons we worry about like power outages and daylight s...
NOTE: If there is anything about this question that needs clarification or editing, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments. Get ready, because you're in for quite a ride. I have t...
Amide bonds are extremely stable and their half-life for hydrolysis in neutral aqueous solution is estimated to be seven years. Amides bind to metal ions through the carbonyl oxygen. Neodymium Mag...
I'm considering adding a particle based weapon within my setting. It would be used in atmosphere and utilise [electrons] (http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/sidearmenergy.php#id--Particl...
After what feels like forever and after asking several questions (like this, this and this), I believe I may have decided upon a suitable orbital system for my world: $M_{S}=2.272\;571\;144\;5 \...
I have seen many people discuss in this community on how a plasma gun ought to be made. But only a few mention the Powergun from the Hammerverse. I ask if this design will work. Can the bullets ...
Time traveler here, stranded in the year of 1019 AD, medieval ages. Location: europe. While I can still access and post on web forums because my temporal transmitter has a 1Ky range, I have a broke...
I came across the design of a nuclear pistol from a deviantart artist, shown here: I want to know if this can actually be built. My additions: The "egg" needs not be uranium, which has a huge ...
In my scifi setting small utility robot swarms are used for many purposes. I'm currently trying to estimate how much energy such a swarm would need to operate. Since biology, robotics and nanotechn...
Let's say our villain fires an antimatter rifle from behind a magnetic field over a km from the target. The bullet is traveling over 1000 meters per second. If it reaches its target, the 13 gram bu...
What would be the approximate gravity, atmosphere etc. of a planet for a species to never make or use launch vehicles with rounded shapes like tapering cylinders, because they make use of the incre...
In FTL-free universes, interstellar travel is often done by vessels capable of continuous acceleration (the drives themselves are often magitech), which can use the effects of relativistic time dil...
I want to send a flying saucer (a $\frac{1}{10}$ scale Independence Day City Destroyer - calculated as a sphere cap 112m high with 1.2km segment radius, $\rho$ about 43.3kg/m3) away from the sun as...
In my story, a ship is built in orbit around Earth, designed for a 20-person scientific expedition to a planet 11.4 ly away. It will accelerate at 1g for half the distance, then flip around and acc...
Doing research into my time braking world I was referred to Split Second by Douglas E. Richards. It turns out he conceived of the exact same machine that I did, however he handled the paradoxes dif...
We have at most 100 years to abandon earth. The 10-km asteroid which killed the dinosaurs has hit the moon head-on instead. As a result, the moon has slowed down and it's orbit will decay by 400,00...
The Solar System has entered a region of space where the laws of nature are slightly different. It will experience different physics for 3 years, then things will return to what we know now. Which...
A squid-like organism uses gravity powered flight but relies on jet propulsion for launch, pouncing, and evasive tactics. It's aerodynamically based on the way a true squid flies however it has ev...
Assume that space warfare is dominated by gamma and x-ray lasers (Wakefield-Plasma and Free Electron Lasers) capable of killing targets several light-seconds away. Stealth in space is possible due ...
I want to beam into solid concrete as a bomb. I have transporters and unlike Star Trek I'm not afraid to use them. Terrorists have taken the tech and have nasty plans for us. The bomb is 1 kg sphe...
We actually today have programs to keep an eye out for various rocks in space that may hit Earth. It's a common sci-fi trope that when one is on course to hit us, we deflect it. That's pretty muc...
Suppose someone dropped a black hole into our lovely Sun a few million years ago. It was big enough (far bigger than that) from the start to eat matter faster than radiating it away, and kept growi...
I'm working with the idea of creating a sun made out of pure gold. Of course, this would be completely man-made. Why would anyone want to do this? Because I want a cool concept like that in my stor...
After reading the following question, I know that there are not that many solutions to the 3-body problem, and I know that a ternary system is unstable. The 3 stars all orbit each other in a rotati...
