Activity for AndyD273‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Answer	—	A: Is the Idea of a Collective Consciousness Realistic? In a small way this happens already. Weaver ants have a very complicated communication system using pheromones that allows for an unusual amount of cooperation. A lot of that is hard wired into the ant as instinct; When I smell this, I do this. If the smell is stronger over here then that's where ... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How feasible is it for authorities to track down a spy from signal leakage of a tightbeam transmission? Since the spy is communicating with a satellite, they need to to have a view of the sky, and be pointing the beam up which may reduce the amount of leakage down on the ground if the transmitter is on a rooftop. Maybe put up a fleet of drones with antennas tuned to the known frequency and have them fl... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What knowledge would you need to survive a fall from low-orbit? Deorbiting is actually pretty easy, and doesn't even need a magic space suit. You could provide him with something like the MOOSE, or even just the materials and a set of plans to build one, and he could safely fall out of orbit no problem. Similar to this, the IRVE-3, which was originally propos... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it worth colonizing a planet that travels near the speed of light? As a few of the others have said, due to time dilation, this planet wouldn't be very useful as a colony. Between the speed and the proximity to the SMBH, it would probably be one of those situations where every hour that you spend on the planet, a hundred years go by in the rest of the galaxy. But t... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is there a way to "poison" oil fields permanently without releasing CO2 from them? They could be incompetent or short sighted eco terrorists, and it doesn't matter that they use a method that would release a lot of co2. "We destroyed the oil by pumping oil eating bacteria down! That'll stop them from pumping up the oil and producing more co2!" "You moron, that'll just release all ... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How would plants survive an extremely long, cold night Most plants would rely on seeds, and would have multiple cycles during the 39,420 hours of daylight. The seeds would probably have some temperature sensitivity so as to not germinate just before dusk. Other plants might have hardened cores, where most of the plant could go dormant and lose most of i... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How could Life develop on a planets with 9 year days The idea of volcanic vents to harbor life during the long night that others have suggested is really good. But that won't help during the long day if it gets to hot and dry. One variable that would help is the planets orbit. If the planet had an orbit on the outer edge of the Goldilocks Zone so that... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Practical problems of near-light-speed travel AndreiROM is right, thanks to our friend inertia the only time you'd notice anything is while the ship is actively thrusting during acceleration and deceleration, or if you turned really sharply. This actually has something of a beneficial nature because you could build the ship to where the floor ... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What can cause the aliens not to understand our signal? First off, the aliens aren't that far away, relatively speaking. Most of our signals are pretty weak, especially compared to the radio output from our sun, and you'd have to be pretty close and listening very hard to hear them. Your best bet is an event that actually happened in 1974, where a... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: An armor that deflects any physical forces against it Like we learned in Dune, the slow blade penetrates the shield. Anything moving faster or with more force than the threshold is going to rebound. Arrows would be shot backward at speed, swords swung with any force would be either thrown from their wielders hand, break the wielders arm, or snap back a... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to effectively slow down a ship about to shoot through the Solar System at 0.6c? At .6c you aren't going to get much that will slow it down in only a year. You can try lasers if you already have them in place, as it might knock a percent or two off, but considering for a laser to get a spacecraft up to .6c would take a huge amount of time, 1 year isn't going to do much. You c... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Can medieval people make a potato gun? Late answer, but another possibility... The kind of spud guns I've seen around here didn't use compressed air, but instead used a flammable liquid/gas like alcolhol or aerosol hairspray to propel the potato. Granted, hairspray is not going to be an option, but high proof alcohol vapors are explosiv... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: In the shadow of a planet (science fiction) If the planet was pretty close to the star that could do it, such that ships outside of the umbra/penumbra would be hit by the full force of the solar radiation and thermal energy. That is kind of a problem though, because the umbra is kind of a small area. You would have to get pretty close to t... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Laser-boosted Solar Sails to 61 Virginis? The lasers will need energy. A lot of energy. Possibly several terawatts of energy each. So you'll need to put them somewhere they can get energy. So put them in orbit around one of the gas giants, probably Saturn because of how hostile Jupiter's radiation is, and use the gas giant as fuel to power t... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Can a dragon's fire breath be liquid based? A liquid based approach could be done. There are a number of biologically produced substances that are flammable. The dragon would just need to produce a quantity of it and store it in a gland of some kind, similar to how a snake produces venom and stores in a venom gland until it's ready to use. How... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: 1 Light Year Diameter Planet As the others have said, without anti-gravity it won't work, with anti-gravity you can pretty much do whatever you want. Just a few things to think about With a diameter of 1 light year ($5.879 \cdot 10^{12}$ miles) you get a circumference of $1.85 \cdot 10^{13}$ miles, and a surface area of $1.09... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Question	—	Blacklight Star Tangentially related to The evolution of neon kittens Is is possible for a star to radiate in the ultra violet spectrum but not much in the visible light spectrum? If not, is there any mechanism that would block a lot of the visible light spectrum while still allowing ultra violet to pass through, ... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: The evolution of neon kittens Cat pee glows under a black light. Cats on this world use their pee as a defense mechanism against other cats, and are constantly spraying each other. They also have evolved very porous fur. The Phosphorus from the pee absorbs into the fur, causing it to fluoresce under a UV light source even aft... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Poison which constantly needs to be treated by antidote to not get killed Inject him with a small explosive device near the brain stem. The device is constantly listening for a radio signal that is being transmitted around his cell, like a dead mans switch. The device could be small enough that it could be put in with a needle, similar to how animals are tagged with RFID ... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the biology of a spiderling? So brushing away the problems with making a spider big enough to be "half human": What kind of world changes are necessary to make giant spiders feasible? Biology wise It could still have the same organs in the same general areas: And get the "half human" effect by simply having a differently shap... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Hazardous but natural particulates in an atmosphere One idea is that a really cold world doesn't have to be a dead world. Bowlturner is right that moisture in the air or snow is going to knock out the dust pretty fast, and so you'll have to replenish it somehow. So you could have a plant that thrives in the cold, and that releases spores into the air... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Astronomy on a maximally spinning Earth Astronomy would be harder because the period when it was really dark would be pretty short. Much shorter than the 1:19 between sun down and sun up. It wouldn't be impossible, since you could just aim the scope and wait another 3 hours for it to get dark again. It would take a bit of patience, but it ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: A three foot cell? Egg yolks are single cells, and ostrich eggs are pretty big. There was a news story about giant fossilized dinosaur eggs found in Chechnya a few years back which where up to 3 feet wide. There is some doubt whether they were really eggs (especially since the largest verified dino egg is football siz... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Without having to deal with the gravity well, at what tech level could you build spaceships? Space isn't exactly cold. It isn't hot either, because a vacuum can't be either. Heat regulation is actually a big problem because of that vacuum, since heat can't be radiated off into the air. It would be like putting something into a vacuum thermos bottle. The heat on the inside stays on the inside... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Multidimensional Time-Lines You would have to have another form of input in order to look sideways across time. Our eyes see what is around us in this space and time. You'd have to have a time2D vision organ to allow you to see across the time space to the other timelines. Or maybe a different structure inside the eye, like rod... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Extremes in temperate climate I think you could model your area on Washington state if you want something that sounds a lot like your example. You mention mountains, which have a huge impact on weather depending on where they are at and how the wind is blowing. In Washington state you have the Cascade mountains. On the west side... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: On the origins of leprechauns FYI: Nine-banded armadillos, like humans, are susceptible to leprosy. They've also been able to grow it in mouse foot pads since it won't culture in any normal medium. The bacteria, Mycobacterium leprae, is related to the one that causes tuberculosis. So you could give the rats leprosy by saying ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Creating a Siren song So you know how sometimes songs get stuck in your head for hours, even if you've only heard a small snippet? That's because some music creates patterns that resonance with our minds, and once started that pattern just bounces around in a loop. A Siren is a creature that has a natural affinity fo... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Earth-like planet orbiting neutron star? Neutron stars, while small, have a lot of mass. A neutron star with a diameter of 22 kilometers could have twice the mass of the sun, so large orbits are possible. Actually, because of the threat of time dilation a large orbit may be necessary. Unfortunately, while the surface is a lot hotter, ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What if androids out-perform humans at interpersonal relationships? Because the android can be whatever you want it to be, I think the personality will be modular, and that people will be able to buy personality types that they want or that will fit their mood that day. Some people would want a subservient android. Some would want to be dominated by their android.... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Effects of a warp field based super-speed power He can already move at 400 mph on the ground. At those speeds you don't want to do anything that requires maneuvering, like dodging a tree. There is a reason they use the salt flats for things like that. 26,000 mph is past escape velocity. Anything moving that fast will be leaving the planets gravit... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What are the cons and the pros of using the Stack Exchange reputation system as a currency? One disadvantage is that it would tie monetary gain to hive mind thinking. Say you live in an area where the majority of people see women as second class citizens. If you get up and say "You know, I think women should be treated as equals, and get to drive cars and own property" you'd get down vot... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Society rules for marriages and love on multigeneration ship 20000 people is a huge population on a generation ship. With careful breeding 200 people have enough genetic diversity to support 80 generations (2000 years) without running into problems. With 20000 people, you'll have no problems, so I wouldn't worry about it. As I Stanley said, you could also i... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Size for bubble-ring generation ship So to figure out size, you have to determine all the stuff that needs to go in it. First, population. On the low end, the minimum viable population could be around 180 people, and with the right breeding you could have enough diversity for 80 generations or 2000 years. Other estimates say you woul... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Could you "create" a fertilized human foetus without sperm? What you're looking for is parthenogenesis. Scientists from Japan have done it with mice, back in 2004 by changing one egg to behave like a sperm cell genetically. With enough genetic engineering technology it may even be possible to splice a Y chromosome in, and grow males. (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is a gas giant more massive than its star possible? I don't really think so... The largest a gas giant can get without being a star itself is a L class brown dwarf, which is just under the size needed for fusion to start. The least massive star known is 2MASS J0523-1403, which is just over the fusion threshold. You can get smaller stars (in radiu... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do you deal with multiple instances of a person? Path 3 if it's possible. Since the Remnanter's are basically data, and since sharing data is what computers do, the only really tricky part for syncing them up is figuring out what format to put the data in. The data could be streamed through a cloud share and be near instantaneous. A kind of Remnant... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Surviving the world of zombie mosquitoes Once the humans figure out that the zombie fungus will help make the planet more hospitable, they'd want to get the process started as quickly as possible. They might not want to start the process with themselves though. Biologically speaking, earth mice and other lab animals are close enough that a... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How can two persons orient themselves without a compass in an environment without sun, stars or remarkable landscape features? A method that doesn't take any equipment: Choose two trees where one is in front of the other by some amount, and walk so that they always line up. When you get to the closest of the two trees pick two more that line up past the second. Every time you get to one of your trees mark it by peeling off s... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How can mankind duplicate the rings of Saturn for Earth? Launching stuff from the planet to orbit is expensive. And if we want to do some major planet colonizing some day we're going to need to build a lot of ships and that means a lot of launches with a lot of equipment from Earth, unless we start manufacturing in space. So pull in some raw materials in ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Time system for a Ring-World Like Philip said, Niven's Ringworld had an inner ring of shades that rotated inside to give a day night cycle. The inner ring was not a solid ring. It was made of electricity generating sections connected by unbreakable monofiliment lines. The downside of this setup is that you'd still have to hav... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Properties of air cloud in space Reminds me a bit of a story where a guy makes a very small station with gravity and an atmosphere by having a very small sphere of nutronium sealed and magnetically suspended in the center. The gravity was strong enough to keep an atmosphere in and keep everyone from floating around. In the end he... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Ideal short-term organic engine The power source There are existing biological power sources that your DNA chimera could use to "power" the muscles, like the organs of an electric eel. The organs could produce electricity and provide an electric shock to stimulate the muscle. Multiple organs could be fired in sequence to provide a... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: 'star factory' that a planet orbits? Say it's a factory that takes hydrogen and creates fusion. If the machine had a nebula with lots of hydrogen or a gas giant near by, then automated machines could collect it and bring it back to the factory. The micro stars could be machines too, since anything that small would not be able to genera... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What would cause a planet to be continually dim, yet still have heat? It could be a moon of a class L brown dwarf. Some class L stars are large enough to support hydrogen fusion, and are red dwarfs. But there are many that are of substellar mass, and so are brown dwarfs. A class L brown dwarf would be a deep red in color, and would shine very brightly in the infrare... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How could mankind reach a situation where space travel is easily accessible to many people but no one is interested in leaving the planet? One way is if colonies keep failing because of something on the planets. For instance, the colonists could arrive on planet only to find there is low level biological life (like prions) that is able to colonize the warm, salty fluids in our bodies. It wouldn't act like a virus of course, more like ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	What would happen if the black hole at the center of a galaxy was removed? Say you have a galaxy, possibly ours, with a central black hole. In an instant the black hole falls through a plot hole and vanishes. What happens to the rest of the galaxy? Does everything keep on like nothing happened? Does it slowly unravel? Does it quickly unravel? Something else? Why this que... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Laser communication between stealth ships The thing with laser is that you won't be able to detect it unless you're right in the beam, or you see reflected light off of dust and other things. That is to say, it would be harder to detect than your stealth ships unless it was pointed directly at you. So if you knew roughly where the other s... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the color of the sky in a hollow earth? I wonder if you would even have a "sky", or if you'd just see the other side of the world through a haze? We can see the moon in the daytime if it's in the right phase after all. The entire surface of the interior would be lit equally, so if you looked up you'd probably see the shapes of oceans and r... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Transporting/storing information within the human body (other than brain) With regard to your edit of using the biological scanners to infect a computer system... In the movie Gattaca people are identified every day when entering work by a blood/dna scan. The protagonist takes a small sample of blood from the guy that's helping him and puts it in an artificial blister on ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago

• ← Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next →