Activity for Cyn
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: Is there an element or compound that is highly reactive to any component of milk? It's a food intolerance Whether a true allergy (histamine mediated reaction using IgE, IgG, IgA, etc), a metabolic issue (lactose intolerance, celiac disease, etc), or a reaction without a known cause, food intolerance is fairly common in the modern world. Dairy is one of the Big 8 allergens in the... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Where on Earth is it easiest to survive in the wilderness? San Nicolas Island San Nicolas Island is part of the Channel Islands of California. The weather is lovely year round (some rain but no extremes of temperature). (By Lencer - own work, used:Google EarthUSA California location map.svg by User:NordNordWest for MinimapIdea: Californian Channelislands.... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Would it be feasible to determine whether or not a humanoid species is fertile in less than a week? Run tests via in vitro fertilization Use multiple women at multiple fertility clinics to make sure the process works in at least a few of them. You can use any woman who is just about to ovulate but it would be best to use women who were already in the process of doing IVF and were scheduled to hav... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Number of Fingers for a Math Oriented Race Give them prehensile feet 4 fingers on each of two hands. 4 toes on each of two feet. The feet don't even have to be fully prehensile. Just usable enough that they'd think to count them. After their civilization creates their math system, their culture can also move to one that wears shoes and so... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Which cells to pick to get a pure sample of DNA without precise equipment? Saliva is a nice clean DNA sample. Ditto cheek cells. You don't need anything more complex to get. Since these are on the inside of the body, they won't have other DNA from touching things. You do need to make sure the mouth is reasonably clean before taking a sample (small amounts of food aren't... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Why would a blind creature evolve display features? The bioluminescence can be a vestige of when the creature's ancestors lived in very dim caves or caves (or other spaces) that were dark part of the time while they were awake. While they still had functional eyesight. Plenty of species have biological traits that aren't currently needed. If ther... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How would flight factor into shepherding for Aarakocra (birdfolk, basically)? Starfish Prime's answer is very good, but there are a couple elements to the analogy that wouldn't be present in your circumstance. While SP is aware it's an imperfect analogy, I want to directly address these differences. If you use something like a helicopter, you probably only have one of them.... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What could prevent players from leaving an island? Because of sea monsters/treacherous tides/other impassable conditions, the castaways are unable to safely leave (they might have tried and been turned back). There is a way out but only the villagers know it. But they have been unable to leave (or save themselves from the demons) because they lacke... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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The North Star in the ancient world sky Question: Would a modern-day teen, trained in using the north star for directions when camping/hiking, notice a difference in how the "north star" (Polaris) works when transported suddenly to 1350 BCE? My novel has children (up to age 14) from the Southwestern United States in 1995 time travel to An... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: A fictional island on Earth with "longer" springs and autumns A good choice is a Mediterranean climate. A Mediterranean climate or dry summer climate is characterized by dry summers and mild, wet winters. The climate receives its name from the Mediterranean Basin, where this climate type is most common. Mediterranean climate zones are typically locate... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Can a creature sustain itself by eating its own severed body parts? The short answer is: Yes with magic, no without magic. Wouldn't you rather have a magical bowl that is always full with fresh nutritious food, perfectly matched to the species that approaches it? A lot less disgusting and utterly painful for that poor creature. And the magic is the same, or perha... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is surviving this (blood loss) scenario possible? Losing two liters of blood in and of itself is life-threatening but would not necessarily cause someone's death (assuming this is an adult human or someone with a similar blood volume). Exsanguination is losing enough blood to cause death...People can die from losing half to two-thirds of their... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How could an animal "smell" carbon monoxide? It's not the same as "smelling" it, and as far as I can find, there are no studies testing this ability, but there are countless stories about cats (and sometimes dogs) who saved their human families (and dogs) from carbon monoxide poisoning. In these cases, the CO levels were high enough to cause s... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Can a continent naturally split into two distant parts within a week? A meteor strike. Meteor Crater formed in a fraction of a second as 175 million tons of limestone and bedrock were uplifted, forming the mile-wide crater rim in the formerly flat terrain. The meteorite was only 150 ft. wide. For a sense of scale, if this hit Kansas City, the blast radius w... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is a confluence of more than two rivers plausible? Very plausible. One example is the Feather River of California. The West Branch and Middle Fork combine at the top of Lake Oroville, which is a long skinny lake running north/south. At the bottom of the lake, the Middle Fork and South Fork also converge. The American River, just south of Feathe... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Could people harness the bioluminescence of a firefly? Firefly lanterns are a thing. Even children can do it! Put any males that arrive into your lantern. At least 40 fireflies per lantern should give you plenty of light. Release them, unharmed, the next day. With your humans and fireflies about the same size, one firefly will give enough li... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Does a character being allergic to water (specifically the $H_2O$ molecule) make rational sense? No, it's not possible. A true allergy is mediated by histamine (released by the mast cells) and involves an "immune system-mediated adverse reaction to food proteins." (Or to non-food proteins in the case of other allergies.) While many sources assume IgE is the only type of true allergy, it can a... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Could human civilization live 150 years in a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier colony without resorting to mass killing/ cannibalism? FOOD As others have mentioned, food isn't an issue. You have fish and you have seaweed. You can farm fish and also do things like grow oysters on strings. Some vertical farms on the boats could grow some land vegetables (with compost adding to the soil so it doesn't deplete). Fermenting the vege... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Are "living" organ banks practical? The impractical part is that you would need to grow an entire human being (or all the pieces of one in a single unit) just to get one organ. A patient in need of an organ would either be put in cryo if it's a critical organ or simply wait a few days to weeks while the organ is being grown. On... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Hygienic footwear for prehensile feet? One approach is to look at shoes used by people with upper-limb amputations or who were born with missing upper limbs. While your characters are not human and may or may not have partial or full use of hands, the basic premise is the same: how to keep your feet clean so you can use them for hand-lik... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Creating Fictional Slavic Place Names You will likely have an easier time if you pick a Slavic language that uses a Roman alphabet. Like Czech or Slovak (which are very similar to each other). Then you don't have to deal with the unknown alphabet and words that are more removed from Latin/etc. Take Slovakia. It's got some pretty straig... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Would this "self driving" car work? I'm going to address the pricing model. The hourly rate workers get in India is much lower than minimum wage in the United States. But it varies a lot depending on skillset. Here you need workers who speak excellent English, have strong driving skills, and who are good in a high pressure environme... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Anatomically correct Guivre Breath that causes disease Though the source says "venomous," you do not specify the "disease." What about breath that causes vomiting? If it smells like human vomit that does cause a lot of people to throw up in real life. It could also have elements of disgustingness that would lead to even more ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What are the harmful consequences of burning cigarette stubs in large quantities? Cigarette butts are composed of tobacco (which is usually highly treated and contains toxic additives), wrapping paper, and cellulose-acetate filters. The amount of each will vary depending on brand/product, if the cigarette has a filter at all, and how far down the smoker puffed before tossing the ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Keeping the dodos out of the field Build that fence! Most estimates state that a family of 4 needs 2 acres of land to be self-sufficient. That's the upper limit I've seen (with a couple exceptions). It's a lot more efficient when you have 25 families of 4 working together, you can grow year round in the tropics, and they have food ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Managing heat dissipation in a magic wand Treat the wand like it came from a blacksmith's forge While some blacksmiths don't use gloves at the forge, others do. And they generally wear them for very short exposures to heat (a wand going whamo should count). Leather gloves won't be enough to protect against very high heat (fireball spell... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What dog breeds survive the apocalypse for generations? The ones that can. Your viable dog population is going to be a fraction of the total. If the humans leave their dogs behind in the cities, they are (mostly) not going to leave them locked up indoors or in yards. They'll probably cut open their food bags and fill some water bowls. Which gives the ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How might a landlocked lake become a complete ecosystem? I'm guessing that your question about endorheic basins is about the buildup of salt and other minerals. Certainly there are many aquatic animals who live in fresh water and many that live in salt water, but not many who are okay with a change from the former to the latter over time. The solution to... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Genetic exchange between animal and plant, Elves love trees Our bodies are 1-3% bacteria by weight. Bacteria is vital for our functioning; killing it off has consequences. All cultures (except our very modern one) have special foods and activities that support our healthy microbiome. The very first time we are colonized with bacteria is during birth. Bre... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What food production methods would allow a metropolis like New York to become self sufficient You'll want to start with technology that produces light suitable for growing crops indoors. Grow lights exist of course but they're awfully energy intensive. With near-future technology you'll have better small scale energy sources. Imagine skyscrapers covered not with a veneer of bricks but ra... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can a demonic viral infection spread throughout the body without being noticed? It's a retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of RNA virus that inserts a copy of its genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. Such viruses are either single stranded RNA (e.g. HIV) or double stranded DNA (e.g. Hepatitis B virus) viruses. On... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is this state of Earth possible, after humans left for a million years? No. The mass extinction you're hoping for"”no plants and only microscopic animals"”is impossible from these conditions. At the point that humans left the planet, it was possible for animal and plant life to exist, even if it was limited to certain areas. Because otherwise, they'd be dead before th... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Which sounds could a tongueless person produce? With substantial training and practice, a tongueless person can learn to speak again. Intelligibly. Your characters may choose not to do that though. Also, I frame challenge your assertion that people who are drunk/high enough to have fine motor ability impaired can not use sign language. If you'... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can a person become completely mute without external indications? Mutism is the inability to speak, not the inability to make any sounds with the mouth. Your character could become mute from a variety of causes. Willk suggests a laryngectomy, which would certainly work. With the right clothing, the person can look normal. Renan suggests causing aphasia with bra... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Pre-plastic human skin alternative Pig skin Pig skin is already used on humans as part of skin grafting. It is generally only used as a temporary graft until a more permanent one is ready. From a 1964 article, as the process was very new: Pigskin dressings and immediate excision were both advocated for the treatment of burns... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is muscle plasticity the same thing as when muscles regenerate from wear and tear? Muscle plasticity is not the same thing as regeneration. Muscle plasticity is defined as the ability of a given muscle to alter its structural and functional properties in accordance with the environmental conditions imposed on it.... From birth until death, skeletal muscle is in a const... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What could prevent concentrated local exploration? The spring emerges from a local cave which has been filled / caved in by a past civilisation, since the water is secretly heated by engineered means. Any society that can create engineering that lasts thousands of years, is probably capable of covering up the the cave so it looks like (and i... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to justify evolving pointy ears that stick out from your head, on a humanoid Humans already are able to have ears halfway there. In most people, protruding or prominent ears are caused by an underdeveloped antihelical fold. When the antihelical fold does not form correctly, it makes the helix (the outer rim of the ear) stick out. (ref) Ears that look like this... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How could a same sex couple have children? Allow bloodline proxies Adoption is the obvious choice for most male and many female couples. But if bloodline is important in a particular family, allow for a proxy. For example, if a female couple wishes to have a child, the brother (or nephew or uncle or cousin, if a brother is not available) o... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Need a suitable toxic chemical for a murder plot in my novel Elemental Mercury Okay, this doesn't really meet your requirements. Not much is absorbed through the skin. But mercury in your hand is fun to play with and your victim might keep it on longer than 4-5 seconds. The danger is from the vapors. If your plot allows, pouring large amounts of mercury a... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What could justify an animal photosynthesis? Reproduction We're on Earth, in an area whose weather is cold and dry most of the year, with a short summer and long winter (and brief transitional periods). We have a mammal, around the size of humans, with a short weaning period. The species doesn't hibernate but individuals are able to slow d... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Mutually beneficial digestive system symbiotes Intestinal worms Intestinal worms are properly called "helminths," which most dictionaries will tell you are parasites. Exploiting their hosts, draining resources, sucking the life out of the body "“ that's what parasites do, by definition...Helminths have been a part of the ecosystem of ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Are healing potions scientifically plausible? Stem cells Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the p... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is it logically or scientifically possible to artificially send energy to the body? It is very possible to sustain a human being (even a physically active one) without them having to eat at all. Gastrostomy tubes go from outside of the body directly into the stomach. But what you put in there is basically identical to food (with some restrictions). Someone can get all of their ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can ruler support the invention of useful things? Hand out prizes at the annual town fair. This is, in fact, how craftspeople and inventors rolled out new things. Most medium to large towns in Medieval Europe, for example, had 1 or 2 fairs a year where people sold and bought goods, traders came back from trips abroad, and the entire community came... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How might a highly intelligent aquatic species (mermaids) communicate underwater? A combination of signed language and vocalizations is your best bet. Because both hearing and sight can be compromised under water, a redundant system allows for maximum communication in a variety of situations. I'm envisioning both systems used simultaneously but with communication possible if it'... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: What kind of footwear is suitable for walking in micro gravity environment? Ballet slippers. That 10mm layer of teflon has similar thickness and properties to Marley, a vinyl floor covering used in nearly all serious ballet studios and performance spaces. Also good for other forms of dance in bare feet or soft shoes (or hard shoes with soft coverings aka pointe shoes). Ba... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How long can a human stand to be underground? According to studies on everyone's favorite test subject"”college students"”the answer is: no more than 7 days. Studies on human subjects are rare "” in part because most modern universities would never consent to them "” but in 1951 researchers at McGill University paid a group of male gradu... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: What sort of animals would a civilization of small feline omnivore humanoids domesticate Miniature horses for all the things humans would use horses for, only they're small enough to ride and handle. Dogs can ride miniature horses (and your cats are larger than modern cats). (ref) Mice. Great food supply and also for pets and companionship. While humans don't usually eat their pets,... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Could a human grow up larger by manipulating their endocrine system? The two hormones that can change height in a growing prepubescent child are: Human growth hormone Testosterone With HGH, it is often given to children who have Growth Hormone Deficiency or to children whose growth hormone production is normal but they are on a growth curve showing they will likel... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |