Activity for AndyD273
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: Would there theoretically be an accompanying effect to something moving beyond the speed of light? One effect could be the illusion that the craft is moving backward, as the light from the vehicle being close to you reaches you before the light of the vehicle being further away. This would only happen if the vehicle was moving toward you. Edit: thinking about it a little more, what you'd likely ... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: What is the theoretical maximum number of habitable planets in one solar system? This is based off the information found in the link provided by Juraj. The answer is 2,862,106 earths in the goldilocks zone How to get 2,862,106 earths in habitable orbits: Rules, they have to all be exactly the same mass. Multiple planets can be in the same orbit, so long as there are at least 7,... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to get cool night-vision without lame drawbacks? This is an addition to Willk's answer; Giant pupils would be a very good start, with the addition that the iris would have to be able to get the pupil small enough to allow function in the daylight. There could also be a secondary iris on the back side of the eye which could cover/reveal a tapetum... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Could a living creature produce graphene? The dragons are ruminants with multi-part stomachs. They eat organic material, and in their first stomach burn the material at 800C until it become graphene oxide. In the second stomach the graphene oxide flakes are mixed with a bacteria that digests the graphene oxide and turns it into graphene. I... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to design an organic heat-shield? Make them sweaty. Bit of background: SpaceX is redesigning their Starship Super Heavy (aka BFR) to be made from stainless steel, and plan to have it sweat as a heat shield. The basic concept is that tiny pores on the forward surface will "sweat" out liquid methane fuel, which will absorb the heat an... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can my powered armor quickly replace its ceramic plates? Like sharks replace teeth. The plates can be put on the armor in an overlapping scale pattern, with one plate visible, and another above it, protected by the overlapping scale. If a scale takes a hit it slides off, and the new scale automatically slides down into place. The broken scale can then be g... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to maintain container temperature for as long as possible? Weave a mesh basket like a tea infuser out of channelium with a long chain or wire handle. Put the stone inside the channelium basket. Use the handle to lower and raise the stone into and out of whatever container you are using. The mesh allows for circulation of liquid around the stone, and keep... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: What requires more destructive energy? Destroying a planet or splitting a planet in half So a bit of study has already gone into answering this question. To blow up a planet into tiny rubble Death star style, it would take 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules of energy. The entire energy output from our sun is only 380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules, so you would need the... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Is a ring planet possible? This would not naturally work the way that you describe. Saturn has rings because the ice and rocks that make it orbit the mass of the planet. Without that mass, say if Saturn were to fall into a plot hole, the rings would quickly stop being rings and just become a cloud, which would disperse as the... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How much organic matter is required to make a clone? There are a few things that you'd need to be able to clone a creature. One thing is a sample of intact DNA. If stem cells can be acquired to get it this would be better, as mature cells are specialized, and specialized cells often have trouble remembering how to turn into the many other cell types o... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Music Dragonfly via Perforations in Wings The holes could work similar to a hole tone whistle, which is the principle used for a whistling tea pot. The basic idea is that a stream of air is directed through one hole, and a short distance away is another hole. Some of the air is forced out through the second hole, while some is forced to t... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Could an advanced alien race prevent the death of the universe? Going a bit more out there, say the aliens have discovered undeniable proof that the simulation theory is actually true. And they have figured out how to get access to some of the API from inside the simulation. They can't get out, because you have to have a body to exist on the outside, but they do... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Is the idea of being "fused" to/into a material as a result of a teleportation accident plausible? My first thought was that the saying that we're "99.999% empty space" would easily solve this problem. The atoms would just push each other around a bit, and the parts that intersected the wall would get denser, create new alloys. Or possibly explode. Apparently the empty space thing isn't exactly t... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Human Evolution if Dinosaurs never died off Assuming that the dinosaurs survived, and somehow humans also evolved to what be what they are now, so dinosaurs exist alongside humans, humans would have hunted most of them to extinction, or at least submission. Humans don't do well at tolerating animals that threaten humans. Most dinosaurs that ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Can I trigger supernova artificially? According to the current models, the possible reasons for a supernova are thermal runaway or core collapse. Thermal runaway is probably your best bet, and happens when the core of the star gets hot enough to start fusing carbon. This usually happens when a white dwarf steals enough mass from a compa... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Would evolution happen the same exact way if Earth restarted? It depends on what you mean by "reset". If you can somehow reset it perfectly so that all elementary particles are exactly the same as they were at some point in the past, and all input (cosmic radiation) happens exactly the same again, and so on and so forth, then you have a chance of having thing w... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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Mosquito Armageddon I'm going camping in two weeks and I really don't want to get bit up by mosquitoes. So I want to figure out a way to commit total genocide of all mosquitoes in at least a 20 mile (32 KM) area around the campsite. I also want the camping trip to be enjoyable, so nukes, doing a total gamma soak, or ot... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Healing/Surgery by teleport By teleport, could you say that they manipulate and/or fold space? Meaning the clerics could potentially take an internal area of the body and have it accessible from the outside without opening the patient up, or even disconnecting anything. By very precisely folding space the whole heart could be... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Sexual pleasure in anemophile reproducing humanoids In humans the pleasure is from the right combination of electrical and chemical signals getting to the right parts of the brain. In these beings it could be essentially the same thing. Males releasing their pollen might not be to different from masterbation in humans, where the pollen glands are st... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How can I make a Venusian computer? You might need to work up from basic principles, with logic gates and the like. One interesting possibility is their ability to transfer precise electrical charges. A first step would be to figure out the logic gates. Silicon is a semiconductor, and it actually gets more efficient at higher temper... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: What happens to plants when the temperature increases a lot in a couple of years? I think it really depends a lot on the lay of the land. If the rainfall increases a lot then low areas with poor drainage would become bogs/swamps. High, well drained areas would probably thrive. Annual plants might become perennials, since the warmer winters could keep them from dying off completely... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to design a hyper-coffee plant Alternative answer; Studies show that sleep is your bodies way of purging out toxins and recharging, though a lot of it is still unknown. Instead of caffeine, what if the plant created an enzyme that has an effect similar to the self clean mode that the body uses; flush toxins, recharge energy, rebo... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: The World's a Jungle Again. Would Doldrums Blow the Global Air? So this is pretty complicated... Wind is caused by differences in pressure. Pressure is effected by both temperature and moisture. The more moisture, the lower the pressure. If the ice all melted and the pole got really warm again, the temperature differences between equator and pole would be less... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How can a colony of teleporters make the most money while keeping their teleportation a secret? Moving things into low earth orbit might be an option. You could make your ten million dollars with only a single delivery to the ISS. The space shuttle cost \$1.5 Billion per launch. Billion. NASA is working on a rocket that only costs \$500 Million per launch. Falcon 9 launch costs an average of ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How much TNT is required to vaporize a human body? According to Slashdot (Apparently they are still around), it takes 3 Gigajoules to completely vaporize a body. According to online conversion calculators, it takes .72 tons of tnt to get 3 gigajoules. As Renan pointed out, that's not great because the blast goes in all directions. But there are a f... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Are there any structural materials suitable for production underwater? Magma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmMlspNoZMs Basically find an underwater volcano and tap it, releasing pressure so it doesn't explode, and direct the magma into block forms. Once it has cooled you can pull the new block out and use it for your building material. You don't have to worry a... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Heat regulation in an asteroid base powered by a small nuclear reactor So you want the siege to go on for a while. So here are some things that are in the defenders favor: The attackers can't try too hard because they don't want to blow up the station, and if they look like they are going to win the defenders will blow up the station. They'd rather the defenders j... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to go out for a walk in microgravity? Set up walking paths equipped with rails. It could look something like a walker, possibly with straps to hold you down, and tied into a rail system. Each time you take a step the walker and straps will keep you from bouncing away, and instead that energy will be used to push the walker forward. ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How would a two-speak language evolve? (Spoken and Sign-Language) One thing is if they don't or can't easily read body language or subtle expression. In the Expanse books the people who live in the belt have a lot of hand gestures for things like nodding, shrugging, etc. because those motions don't work well when you are in a space suit. There are some humans wh... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Train-World: The shatterpated machinations of Spoorcaneers - Tossing & Turning So, to get a couple comments out of the way first, I'm not really sure why you would want to rob the train from another train (except for the rule of cool), especially since they are traveling so slow. I can totally see there being a Mad Max style thing where a racing vehicle drives up next to the tr... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to differentiate between elves and men So they essentially look the same, minus the ears, live the same length, have the same magical aptitude... Am I right in understanding that you just want it to be like different dog breeds? If so that means that elves and humans can probably breed. And that means Elves are just another kind of human ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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Tunnels under the ocean So I build a city on the ocean floor out of handwavium, Bioshock style, but I want an easier way to get there besides taking a boat to the middle of nowhere and then getting into a submersible. I have an idea to dig a shaft deep into the ocean floor, and then make a tunnel leading to a near-by isla... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Could soft matter infused with nano or pico sized magnets be used to clump together so that we could create environments with it? Assuming there is a possibility that the inhabitants had full molecular nanotechnology, it could be an underwater version of a utility fog. Basically lots of little 12 sided nano machines, with an arm on each face, all hold hands with their neighbors. They can move their arms freely, grabbing and ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: The Least Interesting Substance It's deactivated Grey goo, Smartdust, Programmable matter, Computronium, or something like that. Basically trillions of nano machines that at some point in the past ate the planet and converted it all into more machines, and then when there was nothing left they turned off. Now it's just this inert... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: What effect will mining on the Moon have long term? Mining on the moon would remove some mass, but I don't think you'd notice. First mining on the moon probably won't involve strip mining and hauling all of the material away. Instead rock will be dug out, the ore poor rock will be discarded back on the moon as slag (no mass loss), and the ore will be ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to create an annual celestial event for a world One of the moons is the size of Earth's moon, and has a semi-major axis of around 413,277 km. This gives it 12 orbits a year. The moons orbit is such that it is full while it is in the constellation of the Lynx. This moon is young in cosmic terms, and so isn't tidally locked. It has a feature wher... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Could a microbe plausibly generate lift gas for manned balloon flight? So the first question. If the microbe doesn't have to exist on Earth already, then there is no reason for it to not be possible. Just say that this super microbe does exist, and when combined with other methods like a catalyst of some kind (like nickle for instance), is able to produce enough gas to ... (more) |
— | almost 7 years ago |
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A: Could a plant grow on a building taller than mount Everest? If you mean to grow on the outside of the building, like a climbing vine, I think the answer is probably yes. Oxygen is one of the limiting factors, but the bigger one is heat, since a frozen plant can't grow. Both factors can be solved though. The upper floors will have to be heated and pressurized... (more) |
— | almost 7 years ago |
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A: Four legs vs two legs Most vertibrate life on earth follows a 4 limb body plan (in this instance, the wings are two limbs and the legs are the other two). There are a number of mythical creatures with 6 limbs; Pegasus, griffons, dragons, etc. One way to get 4 legs and wings is to have the wings double as legs. Somethi... (more) |
— | almost 7 years ago |
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A: How do we create an Anemone Tree? The Common Swamp Anemone Like its cousin the sea anemone, it is more animal than plant. The "bark" is a rough leathery skin, with lots of folds and wrinkles just like a swamp cypress. It's flesh has many similarities with wood, being comprised with a combination of rigid walled cells and more tradit... (more) |
— | almost 7 years ago |
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A: Earthborn Inferiority It might be for the same reason that someone with a home, good job, and family, might feel superior to someone who lives in the ghetto. Earth is the birthplace of humanity, but in this future it's also a backwater slum where no one lives that doesn't need to. Most people see earthers as bums who l... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: What conditions would cause electricity to create carbon monoxide? Since it is specifically for one set of wires, and carbon monoxide is caused by burning, then this set of wires could have a coating that is slowly burning when the power is on. It could be an insulator that is just breaking down and buring under the very high current, or it could be some pollution t... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: Chloroplast organelle in human There are (at least) four species that we know of that actually photosynthesize for energy Sea Slugs borrow genes from the algae that they eat through horizontal genetic transfer, and incorporate them into their own cells. These cells are so efficient that the sea slug can live up to 9 months withou... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: Reasons why air travel isn't feasible, but ground travel is? Unpredictable weather with lots of microbursts, wind shear, tornados, and other unfavorable winds. Wind shear is one of the most dangerous things for an aircraft. Thankfully they are generally rare, on Earth. If flying isn't a question of if there will be a wind shear, but how many there will be, ... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: What gases are made by a live, crackling, exposed electrical wire? Did a little reading and I think what you're looking for is the corona effect. This is caused when the voltage is high enough to cause ionization in the air surrounding the line, which is caused "by the discharge of energy that occurs when the electrical field strength on the conductor surface is gr... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: Where to place my space-station so it observes one full planetary revolution per 24 hours? This is a kind of alternative to KareemElashmawy's answer. As they point out, the best you can do with a single station is to put it in one of the Lagrange points, but these have problems. The Earth/Sun L1 point is too far away from Earth, and has fairly high radiation. The Earth/Sun L2 point has lo... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: How to get down Valles Marineris Cut a road into the canyon walls. In order to build stuff on Mars, they are going to need a lot of heavy earth moving equipment. Simply start digging/mining along the edge of the canyon, and make a very long ramp that the equipment can be hauled down. Then it's just a matter of driving down. Soil... (more) |
— | about 7 years ago |
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A: Could life on earth survive after the sun becomes a white dwarf? Maybe if the magic/technology let them move the orbit out a ways during the red giant phase, and then in much closer as it became a white dwarf (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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A: What would happen to a man-made orbital ring/belt, if a portion of it was destroyed? I think it depends on what orbit it is at. For instance if it is at a low orbit and spun up to create artificial gravity, then once the ring is broken the remaining pieces will fly away by their own momentum. This wouldn't be the case if they are at the right speed for their orbit. Another thing to ... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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A: Economic system to support Kessler Remediators, with maximum drama Every problem is also an opportunity. Getting resources into space is expensive. Mining asteroids is cheaper, but still not cheap since you have to get the resources from the asteroid belt, resources to the asteroid belt, and unlike what is depicted by Hollywood asteroids are actually very spread out... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |