Activity for Frostfyre
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
Is it possible for nature to create bubble wrap? Bubble wrap is a synthetic packing material featuring small bubbles that are designed to provide cushion to the protected object and pop in place of damaging the object under excessive stress. They also make a lovely crackling sound when popped. But this is a creation of man, and finding a layer of ... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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How might a scaling "force field" work? To Whom It May Concern; I'm going to be blunt: I'm terrible at formal letters. I've just recently arrived at our new home. I find it amazing! The city design leaves something to be desired, but I understand the haphazard way it was built was pretty much inevitable, considering the unexpected (and ma... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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Can a machine benefit from stored heat energy? Setting Overview My world suffers from an abundance of a particular type of energy. This energy can be safely absorbed and utilized by living cells, enabling, for example, a dragon's flight and fiery breath or a human's ability to manipulate his environment through "magic." However, this energy als... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Effects on objects due to a brief relocation of massive amounts of mass I want you to meet Gary. Gary looks like a human, walks like a human, and talks like a human. But he's not. He's a superhero, or a magician, or... something. He's not really sure. He just knows that he has the mysterious ability to be able to safely transfer the entire mass of an object he touches in... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How to put a lake on the ceiling? Another user's answer to a recent question, specifically the way it was worded, gave me a vision I cannot shake. Our intrepid adventurer, Joe A. Venture, is making his way through a subterranean network of caves and comes upon a small stream. He follows the stream and arrives in a large chamber. Her... (more) |
— | almost 7 years ago |
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How to conceal your destination in space? The Intergalactic Colonization Authority has a problem. They've recently discovered this awesome planet they want to colonize, but it's located in a part of the universe most of the rest of the civilized races deem to be off limits. If the colony is detected, certain organizations will be more than h... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Implementing genetic-level transformation - mechanics To My Valued Fellows, As we are all aware, our people have made tremendous progress both evolutionarily and technologically. Thanks to us, our species is protected from the ravages of cancer and we have developed the means to fabricate any product we may desire. Combined with our latest invention, a... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Fine-tuning human genetic-level transformation Suppose humans discovered a beautiful new world they wanted to inhabit, far from the political machinations and military affairs of the alien-populated universe. They established a few colonies on the planet's surface, with differing levels of technology. One of the native fauna serves as an agent o... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Is a food chain without plants plausible? Suppose there was a world on which evolution and natural selection took an odd turn and never produced an organism that could be considered a plant by our modern definition, but which still produces viable organisms for that world's ecosystem. While there theoretically are alternatives to photosynth... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Building a super-material - melting and boiling points Certain elements and composites in the real world have significant melting and boiling points. The metal with the highest values is tungsten, with 3,695 K and 6,203 K, respectively. According to our friends over in Chemistry, carbon has an even higher melting point of 3,823 K, while even more resilie... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
How long can humans survive in increased gravity? One premise of my current planet-in-progress is that certain locations in the universe are inherently tied to my PIP. For example, all the people and things that have vanished in the Bermuda Triangle were transported to my PIP (how/why is irrelevant to this question). However, acceleration due to gr... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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Explaining mineral-skinned creatures For my current world in progress, I have devised a variety of species possessing multiple, unique DNA chains that can receive copious amounts of short-term energy due to their large stores of sugar. The next issue I need to tackle is the existence of certain features of some species. My first target... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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Surviving the world of zombie mosquitoes Some Details Suppose an Earth-like world with the following changes: Atmosphere: 67% nitrogen, 31% oxygen, 2% other Average surface temperature: 16.7° C (62° F) Day/night cycle: 20 hours Gravity: 0.86 g This world is inhabited by genetically diverse creatures that are equipped with sugar-laden... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Ideal short-term organic engine In previous questions on this topic, I've devised a genetically-diverse creature that uses a cold fusion internal engine to provide tremendous amounts of short-term (sprint) energy. However, there have been several concerns raised about such an internal engine. So I am asking the community, what wou... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Internal, organic cold fusion engine I have a creature that, thanks to its multiple, unique DNA chains, is impervious to cancer. So now I will move on to the next aspect: energy production. This creature has two types of energy production methods: long-term, endurance energy, and short-term, sprint energy. The endurance energy is produ... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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Multiple DNA, one creature Suppose a species possessed different sets of DNA for different parts of its anatomy. I'm not suggesting one set for every function in the body; that would result in hundreds of thousands of unique sets of DNA. Instead, suppose there was one set (core DNA) that determined how the body was laid out, ... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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Gravity and Architecture In one world I've developed, the local surface gravity is slightly more than three times the surface gravity on Earth. Humans settled this world and were doing quite well through highly advanced technology. A series of disasters removed that technology and even the knowledge of that technology. More ... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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Beyond Electricity Our modern systems are predicated on the existence of electricity, which is a phenomenal discovery that helped propel the human race into our current civilization. However, electricity can be highly unstable and the systems that transport it are prone to disruption. In an attempt to seed the idea of... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Xenotaxonomy: the Science of Categorizing Extraterrestrial Life On Earth, we use taxonomy to organize biological organisms into an identifiable hierarchy in which organisms that are evolutionarily related are placed in close proximity. This evolutionary approach to classification is a fairly recent innovation, dating back to Charles Darwin's publication of "Origi... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Fate of an eternal star In a world I'm currently building, I've devised a magical creature that sustains, indefinitely, a Class O hypergiant star. This, of course, violates conservation of mass and conservation of energy. Class O hypergiants tend to detonate in short order (in astronomical terms), but they produce the heav... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Viability of an amalgam tree I recently learned of a fascinating art project being developed by Sam van Aken involving the grafting of flower buds onto a stock tree. You can find out more about the project itself by visiting the official website. In theory, this art project will result in a series of trees that can each produce... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How do you find a mate when everyone looks amazing? In all honesty, probably the same way people select their partners now: partly by appearances, but ultimately by psychology or for financial reasons. Let's face it, your concept of the physically ideal partner is going to be different from Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Tim B, your siblings (if any),... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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Growth rates of fantasy humanoids There are a number of humanoid creatures in fantasy that we more or less take for granted. Humans are almost a necessity for us to be able to relate to the story and they interact with dwarves, elves, goblins, orcs, and a plethora of other exotic humanoids. One thing often lacking in fantasy stories ... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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Life on a molten world The basis of known life on Earth is water, clear and simple. But what about forms of life on other worlds? Not every world in the universe is as hospitable as the Earth. Suppose a planet had an average temperature slightly higher than the melting point of iron: 2,800° Fahrenheit (1,538° Celsius). ... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A planet ringed by stars Suppose there was a ternary system where the stars are effectively identical in mass, luminosity, radius, etc. These three stars circle a central point rather than two orbiting a larger third. At this central point is a planet. My questions: Can this setup occur naturally (for example, a rogue pla... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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Vanishing/appearing moons In Dungeons and Dragons lore, there exists a construct called the cosmos used to define a variety of planes of existence. One of these is the Material Plane, on which our normal reality is found. Suppose there was an Earth-like planet on the Material Plane with a disturbed cosmos, such that other pl... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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Walking on clouds Is there any combination of factors that would allow the average human to walk on a cloud without the aid of magic or technology? If so, could buildings and cities be constructed on clouds in those conditions? By "the aid of magic or technology," I mean only that the aid in question is actively or p... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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Evolution of a naturally invisible prey I'd like to tip my hat to this week's fortnightly challenge with this question by revisiting an old one. I asked a question about the Science behind a naturally invisible creature a while ago. At the time, I was handwaving the evolutionary concerns of my Sneaky Devils and looking only at the end res... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Evolution of a naturally invisible predator I'd like to tip my hat to this week's fortnightly challenge with this question by revisiting an old one. I asked a question about the Science behind a naturally invisible creature a while ago. At the time, I was handwaving the evolutionary concerns of my Sneaky Devils and looking only at the end res... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Breathing lightning This question is partly a nod to the current fortnightly challenge. In many fantasy settings and resources, there are creatures capable of, or described as, breathing lightning. How might a creature evolve naturally such that it can emit lightning, or an effect that may be easily mistaken for lightn... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Picking a biometric lock 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 few biometric systems I'd be interested in seeing solutions to bypassing and some ideas I have already c... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
| Question | — |
Securing information with cognitive disappearance 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 hiding things. Information has always been something we as humans have tried to control. Governments an... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
| Question | — |
Real deflector shield Some time ago, I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation about magnetism, electricity, and graphene. I was (and still am) curious about developing a "deflector shield" based in known and viable science. I don't remember the exact numbers I used, but my calculations indicated that passing a unit charge... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Multi-planar planetary rings According to this Reddit conversation, the detritus around a planet tends to form into a single plane located around the equator given enough time. How long does this process take? Suppose a planet had a multitude of moons at varying orbital heights not on a singular plane. Could these moons retain t... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Improving human reaction time In this question, we were provided a look at what would happen if a human-like species was capable of moving faster than the speed of sound. The consequences of such a modification seem rather disastrous, so I'd like to propose something different: modifying the human nervous system. If humans, or a... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Commonly-occurring clouds below a forest canopy What physical attributes of atmosphere and flora could cause clouds to form on a regular basis below the canopy of a forest between one-fourth and one-half the height of the forest, without impacting the global norm of high-altitude clouds (at thousands of feet)? Assume a non-Earth environment for a... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Habitable zone around a Class O hypergiant Suppose we have a planetary system in orbit around a Class O hypergiant star of 225 solar masses (larger than all but R136a1, the largest star we currently know of), 32,000 times as bright as our sun, and with an effective temperature of 40,000 K, and that the star exists for far longer than our unde... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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Impact on the sciences with helium instead of nitrogen Suppose we have a planet whose atmosphere has roughly the same gaseous proportions as Earth, but helium replaces nitrogen, and has a strong hydrogen presence in the upper atmosphere; has a gravitational pull stronger than Earth; and has a thicker atmosphere than Earth (from the planet's surface to th... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |