Shalvenay‭

So, assume that you have 1m$^3$ of normal Terran seawater you can adiabatically raise to an arbitrarily high pressure/temperature in situ (say, by compressing it with nuclear shockwaves from all di...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭

Some published settings -- such as the Greyhawk 'verse commonly seen in conjunction with Dungeons & Dragons -- treat the prime planet's host solar system as geocentric. How could this be reconc...

7 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Shalvenay‭

Slime molds are a fairly well-known grouping of organisms, performing a valuable function as real-life detritivores and bacterivores, as well as inspiring fantasy tropes such as oozes. Many slime ...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, on the Planet of the Aves, Tres' sapient crows are the dominant sapient species. Given that your average bird spends plenty of time on the wing, how intuitive would they find subsonic aerodyna...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭

We know that Earth creatures can generate high-voltage electricity (your nearest electric eel can attest to that). We also know that ordinary air at Earth atmospheric pressure can be used as a las...

10 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Shalvenay‭

A classical trope of fantasy is lizardfolk, or a similar species by another name (see for instance the Argonians of Elder Scrolls fame). In general, though, we're dealing with: Bipedal, often pl...

6 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Shalvenay‭

One thing that just about all interstellar civilizations need if they want to be anything more than long-distance friends is a way to get from their starships down to the surface of planets and bac...

7 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Shalvenay‭

In some environments (think of the Faerunian Underdark for a fantasy example, or a planet orbiting a pulsar for sci-fi folks), high-energy (UV and up, but I'm mostly concerned about UV and very sof...

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

The legends of lycanthropes go back eons; while they have changed over time, a common modern expression of them is of an infected or cursed human that is given the power to transform into a wolf an...

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

Let us assume we have a rocky planet by the name of Pyros orbiting a single star, the Star of Random. It has an atmosphere consisting of 77% methane, 21% oxygen, 1% water vapor, and 1% other gases...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Shalvenay‭

Let us assume that we are settlers on some alien land and we run into a terrestrial, territorial pack carnivore among the local fauna. This animal has many of the traits needed for domestication: ...

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

Lets say you have an average-ish magnetar "” about 3 solar masses, with a magnetic field of 108 teslas (it's decayed a bit since it was born). Now lets say we have a solar system with a small-ish ...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭

Let us assume we have a Kerr metric (rotating) black hole of 10 Sol-masses, spinning at 300 revs/s (as measured by a rest frame observer). What yield strength (assume that yield strength is limiti...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭

La Rinconada, Peru is notable because it has an effective oxygen concentration of only 11%, leading to the need for special techniques just to keep a fire going, and preventing the use of combustio...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, one of my D&D characters has a cut/relief-carved quartz crystal amulet (medallion shaped) that's both an arcane focus (crystal) and a holy symbol (amulet), and I thought it would be a good ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Shalvenay‭