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Posts by Random‭

27 posts
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Q&A Can an earth-like world lack mineable iron?

This question is pretty straightforward. I would like to build an earth-like world in which humans don't have access to iron, or at least can't mine any prior to full scale industrialization. They ...

9 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A What are the most realistic ways to introduce a persistant cosmetic difference into human evolution?

I'd like my world to have humanoid protagonists, while still reinforcing that they are ultimately not human, but have simply evolved in a similar way due to convergent evolution. To provide a const...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How do I realistically portray continental drift on my map?

I'm still fiddling with my map, and I got to thinking about continental drift. My world has two large large continents and a couple of other notable landmasses between the size of Iceland and Austr...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

Question geography geology
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Q&A How do I design the solar transit of a hot Jupiter?

BACKGROUND The world I'm designing currently has a gas giant of the type known as a hot Jupiter orbiting close to the sun and causing solar flares. I would like the inhabitants of my Earth-like wo...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Would the early invention of the microscope naturally lead to better metallurgy or steel?

QUESTION It's been established that one could invent microscopes early with a magnification of up to 1500x. It occurred to me, though I really know nothing about this, that putting metals under a...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

Question metals
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Q&A What evolutionary pressures could turn a group of divergent hominids into matriarchal giants?

QUESTION Other questions have covered what the physical structure of a humanoid giant might look like. Assuming that anatomically modern humans (or something close) were dispersed into several dis...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How do I form a location like the Ethiopian highlands?

I'm continuing to work on my map, and one thing that's giving me difficulty is figuring out the geology of a region that I wanted to be similar to the Ethiopian highlands and African rift valley. T...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

Question geology
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Q&A Can extremely powerful geomagnetic storms be made plausible on an otherwise Earth-like world?

I've been playing with ways to make my world interesting, and also further justify the limited use of ferrous metals. One idea I had was that my world might undergo regular and intense geomagnetic ...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Could I get some guidance on this map in progress?

BACKGROUND So I was working on a map, when I suddenly realized that despite the many helpful tutorials on this site I have very little idea what I'm doing. I thought it might be a good idea to put...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Could a microbe plausibly generate lift gas for manned balloon flight?

QUESTION I was thinking about ways of justifying practical balloon flight for a pre-industrial civilization, when I remembered that some microorganisms produce methane, and better yet, hydrogen. ...

6 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A The land grows evil and corrupted ... but why?

BACKGROUND A corruption has seized hold of the land, turning great swathes of it into a poisonous waste that humans may only enter at their peril. Perhaps all who enter the waste grow sick or go m...

25 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

Question apocalypse
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Q&A Can this world invent gas cylinders early?

QUESTION I'd like a nation in the world I'm working on to be able to transport natural gas and hydrogen, for fuel and possibly ballooning. Natural gas pipelines and cylinders were first invented i...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Could a solar flare create terrestrial areas of background radiation?

Inspired by this question from yesterday. Solar flares can give off a large amount of radiation, but on Earth this is typically absorbed before it reaches anywhere but the poles, and even then on...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How do the properties of heat and fire work in Aristotelian (four elements) cosmology?

Alright, my understanding of both modern physics and classical cosmology is a little shaky, so I hope this question is neither unclear nor foolish. Here goes: In Aristotelian cosmology all matter...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How powerful a microscope could my pyromancers make?

BACKGROUND In the antiquity of my world, a college of pyromancers attempted to create stronger magnifying lenses so that they could apply their ability to control heat to ever more finely detailed...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How could a natural road form across a sea?

BACKGROUND I'd like my earth-like world to have a naturally formed narrow strip of land that bridges a major sea. Now, before anyone rushes off to comment about island chains and land bridges, I'l...

17 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

Question geology tectonics sea
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Q&A Is this coral lagoon geologically possible?

BACKGOUND I'm working on a region for my world, and I have a very distinct idea of what I want the physical landscape to look like. Below is a description of what I'd like for the land, and an app...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How fast could a hominid evolve to run?

This is question is related to the medieval world from my earlier question in which several types of intelligent hominids evolved in isolation, until they were rediscovered, conquered, and bred int...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A What qualities could a hominid evolve to make it a better farmer?

BACKGROUND I'm working on a medieval world in which homo sapiens domesticated several other species of intelligent hominids during their prehistory, at first enslaving them to take advantage of sp...

11 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Will this anti-gravity airship balloon give me a working vacuum airship?

This is a self-contained follow-up to a different previous question. Based on the answers I got there I've taken a different approach to my original idea, and now want to try using antigravity on ...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Guano mines versus early artificial fertilizers?

Ok, so this is an very odd little question. I've been working out the economy of an industrial age world; figuring the major industries, trade routes, etc. I have a tropical region I was consider...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How do I use late Victorian mad-science to tame lost world megafauna?

The Scenario: My late Victorian Era mad scientist wants to domesticate the dinosaurs and mammalian megafauna of his "Lost World" island getaway, for use as companions, guardians, draft animals, and...

5 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A What are the consequences of using limited anti-gravity for steampunk-style airships?

The Scenario: Airships are awesome, but in the real world airship design is greatly constrained by the problem of lift. It seems like this, above all else, is what makes the elegant and compact s...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Random‭

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Q&A Mass disease prevention: The feasibility of airborne vaccines

The Scenario: A technologically advanced mother culture wants to manage mass outbreaks of virulent disease in its technologically regressed colonies, who are inclined to resist most of what the mot...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭

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Q&A How extreme can I make an altered solar cycle without destroying an inhabited world?

This is a follow-up to an earlier question. My intent here is to work out the details, and explore the potential consequences, of one of the many excellent answers I received. Relevant questions ha...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by Random‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Random‭