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This is in regards to the Tyranny of Rocket Fuel. Summed up: Heavier ships need more fuel which makes them heavier, etc. You end up with diminishing returns. This is compounded by higher gravity - ...
Premise The Dunning-Kruger effect is a sociological / psychological phenomenon whereby low-skilled individuals mistakenly think they are good at something. In other words, individuals lack the met...
For story reasons, I need my mages to convert a moon on a collision course with their planet into a ring around the planet. The only thing they can do is hold the moon still. They can't do so indef...
Previous questions here: Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 1: Skeleton Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 2: nervous system Creating a scientifically...
Inspired by comments to JBH's answer to The worlds between, the consequences of instantaneous FTL. The Premise A technology for instantaneous travel exists, making it possible to travel to any po...
The Background I have a species of intelligent humanoids roughly modelled after bears. They're hulking great grizzly-sized solitary mesocarnivores. Genus Homo and descended from H. sapiens, but si...
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...
So, I'm designing an alien race, called the ___________. They live on planet ________. My question is, what type of biology could make creature get effects similar to alcohol, but with sugar?
I have an arboreal snail whose diet consists of largely fruit, would it be feasible through its natural bodily processes it turns part of these fruits into palatable alcohol to secrete as a defense...
For some time I've been working on a universe with non-instantaneous Faster-Than-Light travel, but I've decided to open a new universe with instantaneous travel. So I'm working on the differences t...
An absolute madman of a scientist tractors the Moon from it's orbit, and carefully lowers it through the Earth's atmosphere and gently brings it to rest upon the Earth's surface. There is no reentr...
The Hegemony rules over the inner planets with a firm, but benevolent grip. To keep the far flung colonies defended and to keep the outer planets in check the Hegemony needs , and has, developed a ...
As far as I know stars are going supernova as a natural process. Can aliens trigger it artificially? If this is possible then: How can I do this (what minimum technology and civilization develop...
Segue 2 is a galaxy with only about 1000 stars and is 111 light years in radius. It has a light output only 900 times that of our sun. (This is a real galaxy in our universe) However, I want my fi...
In response to a question about an asteroid filled with degenerate matter, Ender Look suggested that using matter from a black dwarf would be better than using matter from a white dwarf since black...
I'm writing a short story in which my group of character is devising the stupidest and least practical way of lighting a fireplace. It then came to my mind that stuff that undergo reentry gets hot...
Using Artefaxian's excellent spreadsheet I have created a basic idea for my planet, but in the 'Stability Checker' part my low gravity planet is unable to hold H2O. I am wondering if it is possibl...
I have a small isolated archipelago. Is it feasible that the flora of the island through natural selection (with animals favoring bigger fruits) has been steered to evolve large, plump fruits of th...
I have a clam that has modified its foot to make a flat, net-like structure to catch insects often shaped like a leaf. I wanted to know where this hit in terms of feasibility or if there were any e...
So in my world there is a planet orbiting a star, which is in a far binary system with another star. Is there any formula to calculate when the distant star would be visible - times of year and/or ...
So, the idea in a story is that in far far future there's a trend that rich people, they are able to buy themselves planets. Tiny little planets with sizes 4-6 km (3-4 miles) in diameter. The compa...
I have a type of coral that feeds off of bacteria that love bird feces (or something involving a bird species). It grows large rocky spires out of the water to create a habitat for birds. I need to...
There is an empire expanding from the Netherlands to Western Russia, the empire is enthusiatic about turning rivers into canals for transportation. They don't care about the environment, they jus...
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...
Somewhat similar questions have been posed before, but what I'm really interested in is what selection pressures would be necessary to produce a subspecies of giant humans, about three meters in he...
