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Q&A If my world is flat (obviously not possible) how would I explain the edges?

Requires no exotic dimensional physics. For the same reasons we humans never visited either the North or South poles, until we developed the technology to do so a few hundred years ago. It's too ...

posted 7y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Amadeus‭

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Q&A How do 21st century C.E. submersibles enter an underwater dome swiftly and safely?

Have you tried this thing as a kid, when you are swimming in a pool or at a lake, where you take a small bucket, turn it upside down, and competed for who could push it down the farthest? It is ha...

posted 7y ago by cobaltduck‭

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Q&A pH Indicators and Fantastical Skin Colors

What worries me about the bromothymol blue proposal is that it doesn't appear to be an organic chemical, i.e. no living organism produces it. This means that it's not possible (or at least unlikely...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A Reasons that make a spaceship forced to land at the nearest planet?

Electrical failure. The ship's communication system is, presumably, powered by electricity. Interrupt that supply, and boom, comms are down. If the same electrical supply is used to power a bunch ...

posted 7y ago by F1Krazy‭

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Q&A Long-term memory loss

The answer, as far as I can tell, is that there aren't any existing drugs that would do what you want. Drug-induced amnesia is, of course, a real thing. In your question, you alluded to drugs that...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A What's the Optimum Shape for a Radially Symmetric Brain?

You could imagine arranging the brain lobes like the segments of an orange. The spinal chord could depart from the center, with the brain lobes arranged vertically in the skull. There would need to...

posted 7y ago by _X_‭

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Q&A Why does the Conjoined Alliance of Space Travellers keep producing red uniforms?

They want people to strive for a better position and sort the weaklings out By making the lower ranks wear red they incentivise people to get better. After all everyone knows that Redshirts die mo...

posted 7y ago by Secespitus‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Secespitus‭

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Q&A What could make a species evolve downward facing ears?

Sexual Selection Downward facing ears can be a problem. Thinking about Beagles long floppy ears can mean that there is not enough air circulation and the ears can get infected. If something makes ...

posted 7y ago by Secespitus‭

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Q&A A Possible Celestial Object Hidden from the Bright Side of a Tidally Locked Planet

A synchronized orbit like you described is, simply put, not possible. For every orbit, there is a set speed for that orbit. No faster and no slower. Gaining or losing speed changes the orbital pro...

posted 7y ago by Andon‭

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Q&A Goldplating Planets with Kilonovas

How much gold are we talking about? Well, let's use the approximation $$\Delta V\approx4\pi r^2\Delta r$$ If $r$ is about the radius of Earth and $\Delta r$ is $1\text{ meter}$, then $\Delta V\app...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A Is a bioluminescent analog to hemoglobin possible?

You might consider adding luminol to the creatures' bloodstreams. When mixed with an oxidizer (like oxygen) and a catalyst, it becomes luminescent. It turns out that the iron in hemoglobin is a ver...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A Which is initially more favorable; large or small settlements in a new planetary colony?

It is a trade-off between benefits. Large settlements allow more efficient collective action, trade, etc. It is easier to dig one water well than 10 water wells. If I want all settlements to be ...

posted 7y ago by Amadeus‭

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Q&A How do you check if a room behind a door aboard a spaceship has an atmosphere/pressure?

It would be very easy to have an indicator in the window or door that raises a flag any time the pressure on one side changes. Some sort of membrane perhaps, that would move away from your room if ...

posted 7y ago by roryalsop‭

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Q&A Can a rational creature have a series of small brains instead of a large one?

Yes. For large animals, octopuses are a possible source of inspiration. They have neurons in their arms, which lets them have a very large brain-to-body ratio. This does let their arms move withou...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A Can I overcome the bandwidth limitation on my photonic railways?

Use a chain of ships. I'm imagining a pyramid setup, in a sense. Take $n$ ships. Send out the first one, of relatively low mass - Ship $1$. Then send out Ship $2$. Ship $2$ is now directly propell...

posted 7y ago by HDE 226868‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by HDE 226868‭

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Q&A Can an Alien Breed With Earth Animals?

Let's take a stab, and say that your creatures look something like this: Those are pretty dog-like, don't you think? Now, let's look at where that one came from, evolutionarily speaking (its cl...

posted 7y ago by Canina‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Canina‭

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Q&A Chemical weapon to kill a werewolf

Safely stored in the cold caves under a glacier in the North pass, lie the dart tips made by a rod of white Phosphorus covered by a layer of Gallium, the latter in the shape of a harpoon tip. The g...

posted 7y ago by _X_‭

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Q&A The opposite to Worldbuilding: World Destruction

I am surprised I didn't see this before (only saw it now because of a link in chat) but I'm even more surprised no-one mentioned my solution, especially in the era of fidget-spinners... Simply add...

posted 7y ago by roryalsop‭

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Q&A Seeking correction/logic for map outline

If the dark green is supposed to be forested area, it seem unusual to me to have a desert border it so tightly in the lower left quadrant. In my experience, desert transitions to mountain or rock, ...

posted 7y ago by Amadeus‭

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Q&A Sand grains in space - a threat?

You are incorrect. There is no "terminal velocity", that is a term used with air resistance (or it can apply to fluid resistance) when the amount of acceleration (due to gravity) is matched by the...

posted 7y ago by Amadeus‭

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Q&A How to poison a creature that measures more than a dozen meters?

Get hold of some poison dart frogs. Careful when handling them: they're among the most poisonous creatures on the planet. Get hold of some dead sheep/cows/virgin females/whatever your dragon's pre...

posted 7y ago by F1Krazy‭

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Q&A Why might a valued mineral be only found on one planet?

Heavy Metals. The heavy and rare elements can be produced in Supernova; things like Gold, Platinum, etc. There are other ways, but precisely how isn't important. But, they can produce them in mas...

posted 7y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Amadeus‭

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Q&A How can a creature's physiology involuntary react to whether a child is being raised or not?

Pheromones. Simply put, the child gives off the Pheromones. Spending time near the child, such as via raising, would cause the parents to undergo these sorts of changes. Once the child matures, th...

posted 7y ago by Andon‭

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Q&A Does mass affect orbit size?

As I mentioned initially in the comments: no. To the best of my knowledge, the mass of an object only affects how much energy is needed to get that object into a specific orbit. It doesn't affect t...

posted 7y ago by F1Krazy‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by F1Krazy‭

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Q&A What possible scientific reasons could there be for a vampire to only be killable via wooden stake to the heart?

I agree with @Separatrix that the wooden part may be optional. From a pseudo-scientific point of view, staking the heart may be used to stop the vampire from regenerating. As cutting the head off...

posted 7y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Liquid‭

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