qid int64 4 8.14M | question stringlengths 20 48.3k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list | input stringlengths 12 45k | output stringlengths 2 31.8k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8,498 | <p>I wonder if it possible for human civilization to evolve into two different civilizations.</p>
<p>One is controlled by artificial intelligence (or by uploaded human minds) and the other is biology-based with all kinds of imaginable biological advances such as interconnected brains, bio-machines, specialized organism... | [
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"text": "<h2>First, a lot of setup</h2>\n\n<p>For this answer I have to make a lot of assumptions about how AI's work ... | 2015/01/09 | [
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] | I wonder if it possible for human civilization to evolve into two different civilizations.
One is controlled by artificial intelligence (or by uploaded human minds) and the other is biology-based with all kinds of imaginable biological advances such as interconnected brains, bio-machines, specialized organisms, advanc... | First, a lot of setup
---------------------
For this answer I have to make a lot of assumptions about how AI's work vs. how organic brains work. I find the most meaningful answer coming from a quad chart based on two ways of valuing a "thing." They're certainly not the only two ways to value things, but they prove use... |
8,652 | <p><strong>The Situation</strong></p>
<p>The fantasy world of Terrearth is once again threatened by the Shadow, a sentient, but completely unintelligible being composed of Absolute Evil, whose sole purpose is to destroy the world to replace it with a plain of absolute nothingness, in which evil will be the only thing ... | [
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"text": "<p><strong>Invent a new religion!</strong></p>\n\n<p>I'm not joking. The world you have described is very ver... | 2015/01/13 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/8652",
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] | **The Situation**
The fantasy world of Terrearth is once again threatened by the Shadow, a sentient, but completely unintelligible being composed of Absolute Evil, whose sole purpose is to destroy the world to replace it with a plain of absolute nothingness, in which evil will be the only thing left. The evil will hav... | **Invent a new religion!**
I'm not joking. The world you have described is very very very black and white: literally "everything is Good, except the shadow, which is Evil." This limits the amount of color you can put in your story.
Your shadow needs a weakness. In particular, here is a quad chart showing what happens... |
8,823 | <p>Maybe this has been asked with another name, but I didn't find it.</p>
<p>1) Are planets in the same altitude level?</p>
<p>2) What defines altitude in the space (universe)?</p>
<p>3) Is the universe a XYZ plane?</p>
<p>4) What keeps planets from orbit the sun in a 45º orbit from Earth's perspective?</p>
<p>Asc... | [
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"text": "<p>It has to do with how the planets were formed, as the gas cloud that surrounded the sun coalesced when it was a ... | 2015/01/16 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/8823",
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] | Maybe this has been asked with another name, but I didn't find it.
1) Are planets in the same altitude level?
2) What defines altitude in the space (universe)?
3) Is the universe a XYZ plane?
4) What keeps planets from orbit the sun in a 45º orbit from Earth's perspective?
Ascii graphical example:
```
... | It has to do with how the planets were formed, as the gas cloud that surrounded the sun coalesced when it was a protostar.
It is explained rather well here:
<https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/130/why-do-the-planets-in-our-solar-system-orbit-in-the-same-plane>
A protoplanetary disc is a rotating disc of ga... |
9,837 | <p>There are plenty of high tech gases that humans have weaponised to give advantages not only in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_weapons_in_World_War_I" rel="nofollow">wars</a>, but in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_spray" rel="nofollow">close combat</a> (not <em>really</em> a gas, I know)... | [
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"text": "<p>This already exists (although not exactly the way you described it). It is called a <a href=\"http://en... | 2015/02/07 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/9837",
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] | There are plenty of high tech gases that humans have weaponised to give advantages not only in [wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_weapons_in_World_War_I), but in [close combat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_spray) (not *really* a gas, I know) and [riot control](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_gas), ju... | Such weapons exist and are called thermobaric bombs. They do rely on chemical reactions to trigger the overpressure blast though. Oh, and it doesn't blast out just the windows, the walls too... Sorry about that.
A thermobaric explosive works by having the initial blast spread fuel in the targeted area, and then a seco... |
12,043 | <p>News media showcase any number of potentially depressing events around the globe - internecine conflicts, ethnic conflicts, catastrophes and what-not.</p>
<p>The corollary constitute fiction as depicted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Arthur Clarke</a> who... | [
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"text": "<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max\">Mad Max</a> was based in the \"not-too-distant\" future, and I t... | 2015/03/16 | [
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] | News media showcase any number of potentially depressing events around the globe - internecine conflicts, ethnic conflicts, catastrophes and what-not.
The corollary constitute fiction as depicted by [Arthur Clarke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws) who writes to say
```
Any sufficiently advanced tech... | [Mad Max](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max) was based in the "not-too-distant" future, and I think they got it right, in the sense that technologies that prove useful are still in the know-how, such as how to ride a motorcycle or fire guns. Ideas like cities and airplanes were painted as the stuff of legends. Of co... |
12,370 | <p>I want to find out what's going on in another star system, but I don't want to go there. How feasible is it to just build a big telescope and take a look?</p>
<p>Scenario: Earth does not respond to communications any more, and nobody who enters the system leaves again. Is it physically possible to build a telescope... | [
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"text": "<p>Use <a href=\"http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_Satellite_Imaging\" rel=\"nofollow\">Multiple Satellite Ima... | 2015/03/20 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/12370",
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] | I want to find out what's going on in another star system, but I don't want to go there. How feasible is it to just build a big telescope and take a look?
Scenario: Earth does not respond to communications any more, and nobody who enters the system leaves again. Is it physically possible to build a telescope, presumab... | Maybe. Probably not people. And not without some incredibly fine control and gobs of computing power. The hard limit is atmospheric conditions on Earth.
---
According to the [Rayleigh criterion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagery_intelligence#Satellite), the resolution of a circular collector is a function of wave... |
12,929 | <p>For this question think of the times of past, present, and future as $T_{-1}$,$T_0$, and $T_1$, respectively. There is a man named Jim, currently in $T_0$, so lets refer to him as $J_0$. $J_0$ is a very smart man and at some point between $T_0$ and $T_1$ he invents a time machine. His future self, $J_1$, uses this ... | [
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"text": "<p>I think the established term for this is known as the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox... | 2015/03/25 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/12929",
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] | For this question think of the times of past, present, and future as $T\_{-1}$,$T\_0$, and $T\_1$, respectively. There is a man named Jim, currently in $T\_0$, so lets refer to him as $J\_0$. $J\_0$ is a very smart man and at some point between $T\_0$ and $T\_1$ he invents a time machine. His future self, $J\_1$, uses ... | If your universe allows time travel to split the timeline into two, I think your choice to splitting it only based on whether the time machine is built is incorrect. The right place to split the timeline is at $T\_{-1}$, just before $J\_1$ arrives in "his" past.
In one branch, at $T\_{0A}$, a $J\_1$ from "the future" ... |
13,663 | <p>I know the question is rather broad but I hope to find a somewhat general solution. Here is a sample scenario:</p>
<p>Two characters are in a room. One of them starts discussing something private, the other says "Shh, don't you know the walls have ears?" signifying that they could be under surveillance.</p>
<p>How... | [
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"text": "<p>In that environment I would just assume that I am always under visual/audio surveillance 100% of the t... | 2015/04/04 | [
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] | I know the question is rather broad but I hope to find a somewhat general solution. Here is a sample scenario:
Two characters are in a room. One of them starts discussing something private, the other says "Shh, don't you know the walls have ears?" signifying that they could be under surveillance.
How can they communi... | If you go to the Information Security Exchange you will see over and over again:
```
There is no such thing as perfect security.
```
An adversary with sufficient desire and means will compromise your communication pathway. That is what makes 1984 (and real life big brother states like China) so frightening.
These b... |
14,657 | <p>In Harry Potter there is a spell which allows a person to levitate an object at will around a room. In <em>Star Wars</em>, Jedi mind control allows you to do the same thing. I'm surprised that no one has tried to replicate this sort of levitation using magnets: the levitating of a small object at eye level with the ... | [
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"text": "<h2>We can, actually</h2>\n<p>I recall this little frog being levitated using a (somewhere between 1-100 ... | 2015/04/17 | [
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] | In Harry Potter there is a spell which allows a person to levitate an object at will around a room. In *Star Wars*, Jedi mind control allows you to do the same thing. I'm surprised that no one has tried to replicate this sort of levitation using magnets: the levitating of a small object at eye level with the ability to... | We can, actually
----------------
I recall this little frog being levitated using a (somewhere between 1-100 Tesla) magnetic coil using diamagnetism about a decade or more ago. There he is:
Water is diamagnetic, as are many good conductors. So frogs and more re... |
14,996 | <p>Suppose humanity (or something like it) lives on a planet where we have discovered the existence of Souls. Each time someone is born, a new soul is created, but this is a maximum number of souls to go around (I’ll put it at about 6.5 billion, which is a number that would easily be supported by this planet) every sou... | [
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"text": "<p>Well, to begin with, it throws the classical rules about inheritance and noble blood lines out the wi... | 2015/04/22 | [
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] | Suppose humanity (or something like it) lives on a planet where we have discovered the existence of Souls. Each time someone is born, a new soul is created, but this is a maximum number of souls to go around (I’ll put it at about 6.5 billion, which is a number that would easily be supported by this planet) every soul b... | In addition to WhatRoughBeast's answer, people persisting their knowledge through the ages would somewhat negate the need for education systems after a certain period of time. We wouldn't spend time educating our kids much beyond the basics if they suddenly gain smarts at 16 regardless.
On the other hand, it means re... |
15,225 | <p>Carbon dominates the makeup of life on Earth.</p>
<p>But is there any way that plants could be made out of metals, or somehow integrate metals with their constitution?</p>
<p>For example, we use calcium in our bones, which is an alkaline metal.</p>
<p>Its there any way that a plant might use metals (alkali or oth... | [
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"text": "<p>As you stated previously we use calcium in our bones but, given several bone sustenance changes, it would... | 2015/04/26 | [
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] | Carbon dominates the makeup of life on Earth.
But is there any way that plants could be made out of metals, or somehow integrate metals with their constitution?
For example, we use calcium in our bones, which is an alkaline metal.
Its there any way that a plant might use metals (alkali or otherwise) to strengthen it... | Lets look at some real-world examples of plants which already absorb and use metals, namely [hyperaccumulators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperaccumulator).
Hyeraccumulators are plants which can withstand ext... |
15,231 | <p>For this question, we'll assume that <strong>life on Earth was brought by aliens</strong>. They didn't do anything specific to our planet: they saw that it was compatible with the lifeform they wanted to seed, so they just got down and put life on Earth.</p>
<p>What did this <em>form of life</em> look like?</p>
<p... | [
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"text": "<p>As you stated previously we use calcium in our bones but, given several bone sustenance changes, it would... | 2015/04/26 | [
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] | For this question, we'll assume that **life on Earth was brought by aliens**. They didn't do anything specific to our planet: they saw that it was compatible with the lifeform they wanted to seed, so they just got down and put life on Earth.
What did this *form of life* look like?
I want to assume that they dropped t... | Lets look at some real-world examples of plants which already absorb and use metals, namely [hyperaccumulators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperaccumulator).
Hyeraccumulators are plants which can withstand ext... |
15,263 | <p>For the sake of the question, assume conditions are Earth-like in all manners other than those which would be required to spur the development of such a plant. I want the plant to gestate in the digestive tract and slowly kill the 'infected' by sucking the nutrients from them (like a tape worm). When said person die... | [
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"text": "<p>Well there are currently some plants that need their seeds to travel through the digestive track of animals b... | 2015/04/27 | [
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] | For the sake of the question, assume conditions are Earth-like in all manners other than those which would be required to spur the development of such a plant. I want the plant to gestate in the digestive tract and slowly kill the 'infected' by sucking the nutrients from them (like a tape worm). When said person dies t... | The biggest problem is that you want the plant to thrive in two very different environments (relatively speaking):
```
Body Ground
Temperature Hot Cold
Moisture Wet Dry
Respiration Liquid Air
Nutrients Bloodborne Soil/compost
Energy ... |
15,282 | <p>Is there a way to create a nuclear explosion that only destroys things within a few feet of the bomb?</p>
<p>The point is to completely eradicate something relatively small, leaving no trace. Let's assume that this is taking place on Earth. The government that is using this procedure has access to lots of funds, so... | [
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"text": "<p>The smallest warhead created for the US military was the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54#Variant... | 2015/04/27 | [
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] | Is there a way to create a nuclear explosion that only destroys things within a few feet of the bomb?
The point is to completely eradicate something relatively small, leaving no trace. Let's assume that this is taking place on Earth. The government that is using this procedure has access to lots of funds, so cost isn'... | Continuing on the theme of chemical solutions (ba-dum-bum-CHING - I'm here all night folks)...
One way to rid yourself of unwanted objects or personnel is to liquefy or vaporize them and allow nature to clear them away. For this sort of operation, I eschew explosions because although they deliver a lot of energy, they... |
15,617 | <p>I've always had trouble with inventing names. They refuse to come, or when they do, they sound funny or cheesy. However, a name will occasionally pop into my head, fully formed and sounding perfect. The only problem is that all of the names I think up sound similar. </p>
<p>For example, I am developing a fantasy wo... | [
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"text": "<p>One trick is to not use all the letters. For elves, you might limit vowels to i and e, and consonants to n, r... | 2015/05/04 | [
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] | I've always had trouble with inventing names. They refuse to come, or when they do, they sound funny or cheesy. However, a name will occasionally pop into my head, fully formed and sounding perfect. The only problem is that all of the names I think up sound similar.
For example, I am developing a fantasy world. I hav... | One trick is to not use all the letters. For elves, you might limit vowels to i and e, and consonants to n, r, b, m, l, and other 'soft' sounds, while dwarves could use u and o, and d, k, l, r, t, g, x, etc. There are a lot of letters like n and m that work for about any type of name, and different types are defined by... |
17,298 | <p>Lets assume that intelligent extraterrestrials visited earth and gave a human a gift of allowing him/her to ask one question and just one. These beings come from far away, humans can't see their ships and don't know they exist and that they are already here.</p>
<p>You know this because you are the human that rando... | [
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"text": "<p>\"What could possibly make you think this is a good way to judge a species?\"</p>\n\n<p>Because really, coming a... | 2015/05/15 | [
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] | Lets assume that intelligent extraterrestrials visited earth and gave a human a gift of allowing him/her to ask one question and just one. These beings come from far away, humans can't see their ships and don't know they exist and that they are already here.
You know this because you are the human that randomly was se... | "What could possibly make you think this is a good way to judge a species?"
Because really, coming all the way here to ask a *single, random person* to come up with a question in under an hour is really a waste of resources and a huge gamble to get anything useful out it. |
19,249 | <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomolecular_wire" rel="noreferrer">Monomolecular wire</a> weapons are a somewhat common element in science-fiction. </p>
<p>Including in this this <a href="http://www.consortium-horizon.com/wiki/Fichier:EclipsePhaseCoverPanopticon_1500px.png" rel="noreferrer"><em>fantastic</... | [
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"text": "<p>Graphene is what you're looking for. </p>\n\n<p>With a tensile strength of 130000 MPa, it has (IIRC) the highest... | 2015/06/16 | [
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] | [Monomolecular wire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomolecular_wire) weapons are a somewhat common element in science-fiction.
Including in this this [*fantastic* image](http://www.consortium-horizon.com/wiki/Fichier:EclipsePhaseCoverPanopticon_1500px.png) I found while looking into this:
![armored octopus with mon... | Graphene is what you're looking for.
With a tensile strength of 130000 MPa, it has (IIRC) the highest tensile strength in the world.
So lets make a wire-thin sword!
I envision it to probably end up looking something like this:
```
>----------------------------------------------<|
||||||| ... |
19,253 | <p>Lake Eyre in Australia has an area of roughly 4,000 square miles, but the basin itself is over 450,000 square miles. If the entire basin were freshwater, how would that affect the Outback's climate?</p>
| [
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"text": "<p>Graphene is what you're looking for. </p>\n\n<p>With a tensile strength of 130000 MPa, it has (IIRC) the highest... | 2015/06/16 | [
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] | Lake Eyre in Australia has an area of roughly 4,000 square miles, but the basin itself is over 450,000 square miles. If the entire basin were freshwater, how would that affect the Outback's climate? | Graphene is what you're looking for.
With a tensile strength of 130000 MPa, it has (IIRC) the highest tensile strength in the world.
So lets make a wire-thin sword!
I envision it to probably end up looking something like this:
```
>----------------------------------------------<|
||||||| ... |
19,503 | <p>In short, <a href="http://interstellarfilm.wikia.com/wiki/Miller_%28planet%29" rel="noreferrer">Miller's Planet</a> is described as a "potential habitable planet" with very massive tidal waves as tall as 4,000 feet. If for some reason, life began in this planet and is destined to evolve to be as smart as H... | [
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"text": "<p>Build INTO the ground - literally.</p>\n\n<p>A normal building would have a problem because of this:</p>\n\n<pr... | 2015/06/22 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/19503",
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] | In short, [Miller's Planet](http://interstellarfilm.wikia.com/wiki/Miller_%28planet%29) is described as a "potential habitable planet" with very massive tidal waves as tall as 4,000 feet. If for some reason, life began in this planet and is destined to evolve to be as smart as Humans, how would they be designing struct... | Build INTO the ground - literally.
A normal building would have a problem because of this:
```
|--------| <-
| | Big wave, big problem \\
| | <------------- | | The building has to withstand
| | / \ all the force hit... |
20,998 | <p>In the world I'm building, the day lasts 9 of their years. This means that they are almost always on the move, living in blimp-like cities and houses. I've been designing these and I am having trouble with the exact ratio for the balloon size to the size of the cargo. What is the sack-to-ship ratio? Weight ratios wi... | [
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"text": "<p>The net lift for the gases is how much the volume of air they displace weighs, minus the weight of the lifting... | 2015/07/21 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/20998",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | In the world I'm building, the day lasts 9 of their years. This means that they are almost always on the move, living in blimp-like cities and houses. I've been designing these and I am having trouble with the exact ratio for the balloon size to the size of the cargo. What is the sack-to-ship ratio? Weight ratios will ... | The net lift for the gases is how much the volume of air they displace weighs, minus the weight of the lifting gas itself. The following values are from [this site](http://www.airships.net/helium-hydrogen-airships) and are per 1,000 cubic feet of volume.
```
| Weight of Lifting Gas | Weight of Air | Net Lif... |
21,408 | <p><strong>This Query is part of the Worldbuilding <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/143606/a-list-of-worldbuilding-resources">Resources Article</a>.</strong>
<hr>
Once the geography of the world is designed, it needs a planetary system to inhabit. But how should that solar system look? The onl... | [
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"text": "<h2>Ordering of planets (mass and type)</h2>\n<p>Can I start out by jokingly complaining that you picked a rath... | 2015/07/28 | [
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] | **This Query is part of the Worldbuilding [Resources Article](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/143606/a-list-of-worldbuilding-resources).**
---
Once the geography of the world is designed, it needs a planetary system to inhabit. But how should that solar system look? The only constraint is that the s... | Ordering of planets (mass and type)
-----------------------------------
Can I start out by jokingly complaining that you picked a rather complex system? We've found a lot of exoplanets, but there are not many that reside in complex systems like this. This is going to be a tough question. [As Green predicted](https://w... |
21,583 | <p>Okay, so humanity has been orbiting black holes so that we can time dilate, and explore the galaxy. The black holes enjoy being in the presence of the most complex things in the universe, and we have mutual respect. Some time later, humanity starts using the black holes as trash cans spewing our waste into them. Dis... | [
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"text": "<p>So this one is pretty much hopeless. If you read anything about planetoids, you know we can't protect ou... | 2015/07/30 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/21583",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Okay, so humanity has been orbiting black holes so that we can time dilate, and explore the galaxy. The black holes enjoy being in the presence of the most complex things in the universe, and we have mutual respect. Some time later, humanity starts using the black holes as trash cans spewing our waste into them. Dissid... | So this one is pretty much hopeless. If you read anything about planetoids, you know we can't protect ourselves against them. If you read anything about stars, they basically boss planetoids around without more than the slightest wobble. Black holes boss stars around.
Our best hope is to beg forgiveness. I don't know ... |
21,596 | <p>Assume that Uranium is vastly available, as are the building materials. Can you build this device?</p>
<p>The fuel tank stores uranium at a high temperature so that it remains liquid. The fuel injector/s spray a continuous stream of molten uranium into the nuclear fission chamber. The fission chamber sustains a con... | [
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"text": "<p>That'll work, but it's inefficient: much of the energy generated gets radiated away as gamma radiation or other h... | 2015/07/31 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/21596",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Assume that Uranium is vastly available, as are the building materials. Can you build this device?
The fuel tank stores uranium at a high temperature so that it remains liquid. The fuel injector/s spray a continuous stream of molten uranium into the nuclear fission chamber. The fission chamber sustains a continuous fi... | There is a concept similar to this called a [Nuclear Salt Water Rocket (NSWR)](http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Nuclear_Thermal--Gas_Core--Open_Cycle--Nuclear_Salt_Water) that was proposed by an SF writer who is also a physicist.
>
> The fuel is a 2% solution of 20% enriched Uranium Tet... |
22,287 | <p>Let's assume that a halfling is of similar build, but half the height of an adult human. If I strap a wing suit onto one, I should have a quarter the surface area, but one eight the weight of an adult human, meaning that I should have half the loading factor of a human in a wing suit, which should mean I can travel ... | [
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"text": "<p>Davinci developed his flying machine. Parachutes are fairly simple technology and operate on \"drag\" to dep... | 2015/08/10 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/22287",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/2947/"
] | Let's assume that a halfling is of similar build, but half the height of an adult human. If I strap a wing suit onto one, I should have a quarter the surface area, but one eight the weight of an adult human, meaning that I should have half the loading factor of a human in a wing suit, which should mean I can travel a b... | Assuming a wingsuit with a 2-1 glide ratio (2 meters forward, 1 meter down), we should be able to create a massive net to catch the halfling. Wingsuits typically start gliding at approx 30mph (which is approx 13 m/s, taking approx 1.365 seconds to reach).
Rough calculation (probably not that accurate):
Starting from... |
22,563 | <p>In the world, I'm designing goblins are described as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>100-150cm tall</li>
<li>Skinny</li>
<li>Hairless</li>
<li>About as strong as humans</li>
<li>Devoid of any natural weapon (like teeth or claws)</li>
<li>Skin similar to high quality leather jacket</li>
<li>Highly intelligent and creative</li... | [
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"text": "<p>I'm going with a bullwhip. You can add things at either end. A cat-o-nine tales is a whip with little bits ... | 2015/08/13 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/22563",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | In the world, I'm designing goblins are described as follows:
* 100-150cm tall
* Skinny
* Hairless
* About as strong as humans
* Devoid of any natural weapon (like teeth or claws)
* Skin similar to high quality leather jacket
* Highly intelligent and creative
* Short-sighted, but excellent sense of smell and hearing
*... | First, lets do away with the usual concept of a melee weapon. Short sightedness tends to make conventional weapons inaccurate and bad to use. So lets get up close and personal.
Your description of the elbow placement and arm structure reminds me very much of the praying mantis. [![enter image description here](https:/... |
23,691 | <p>So I want to send a ship to Alpha Centauri very quickly - by this, I mean less than 5 years. This means that the ship will have to accelerate at 50-100 $g$ or even more. But we don't want to turn our astronauts into pancakes, right?</p>
<p>Is spending long time periods in perfluorocarbons saturated with oxygen (or ... | [
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"text": "<p><strong>You probably can survive heavy acceleration while breathing liquids</strong> though keeping tabs on ... | 2015/08/30 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/23691",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | So I want to send a ship to Alpha Centauri very quickly - by this, I mean less than 5 years. This means that the ship will have to accelerate at 50-100 $g$ or even more. But we don't want to turn our astronauts into pancakes, right?
Is spending long time periods in perfluorocarbons saturated with oxygen (or similar st... | **You probably can survive heavy acceleration while breathing liquids** though keeping tabs on infection and ventilator function over longer periods will be definite concerns.
**Breathing Fluorocarbons**
The [Biology SE answer](https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/23074/what-are-the-effects-of-long-term-liquid... |
24,009 | <p>I am an evil genius owning a space station in a 400km orbit around Earth. As part of my plan for world domination I would like to equip this space station with a ground-attack laser cannon. Approximately how powerful (in watt) would an orbital laser need to be so that a one-second burst could destroy:</p>
<ul>
<li>... | [
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"text": "<p><em>So I'm no rocket scientist, but here goes. Much of this is shamelessly lifted from Project Rho.</em> <... | 2015/09/03 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/24009",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | I am an evil genius owning a space station in a 400km orbit around Earth. As part of my plan for world domination I would like to equip this space station with a ground-attack laser cannon. Approximately how powerful (in watt) would an orbital laser need to be so that a one-second burst could destroy:
* an unprotected... | *So I'm no rocket scientist, but here goes. Much of this is shamelessly lifted from Project Rho.*
First, lets ignore the diffraction caused by passing through the earths atmosphere for the following. I'm also assuming you're talking an actual laser, not a particle weapon, blaster, or some other variant.
A general i... |
24,023 | <p>Imagine a powerful being of your choice casting this spell on Earth:</p>
<ol>
<li>Earth can hold only 8 billion people</li>
<li>If a child is being born and this child breaks the 8 billion rule, this happens:</li>
<li>Wait 30 minutes. If someone else dies in this time, then everything is OK</li>
<li>If not, take ev... | [
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"text": "<p>Something will send up a flag, if the population count appears to stall at 8,000,000,000. At first I thought ... | 2015/09/03 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/24023",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/2071/"
] | Imagine a powerful being of your choice casting this spell on Earth:
1. Earth can hold only 8 billion people
2. If a child is being born and this child breaks the 8 billion rule, this happens:
3. Wait 30 minutes. If someone else dies in this time, then everything is OK
4. If not, take every human older than 32 minutes... | Something will send up a flag, if the population count appears to stall at 8,000,000,000. At first I thought it will likely take a few years past the mark to notice that overall population isn't increasing and maybe one or two more to narrow down a close number. However...
Looked it up it appears that the average deat... |
25,115 | <p>Imagine in the far future that there are space battles. In <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/9717/how-would-space-battles-alter-combat-tactics">this question</a> user: m t said that in the future it would be too expensive to do stuff in space so people would focus on "offense, intelligence, ... | [
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"text": "<p>The first problem with things in space is that everything moves fast - REALLY fast. For example, when you'r... | 2015/09/04 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25115",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/7453/"
] | Imagine in the far future that there are space battles. In [this question](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/9717/how-would-space-battles-alter-combat-tactics) user: m t said that in the future it would be too expensive to do stuff in space so people would focus on "offense, intelligence, and first-stri... | The first problem with things in space is that everything moves fast - REALLY fast. For example, when you're near a planet, it's not that gravity is just too weak to pull you in - it's that you're going *really fast* and are counteracting gravity. To put a number to it, the international space station is traveling at 1... |
25,318 | <p>I have a planet orbiting one star in a binary system. When the planet is exactly between the two stars it will experience a <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/25203/28">double day</a>; when the primary sun sets the secondary one rises, no overlap. (My second star sheds enough light to make a differ... | [
{
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"text": "<p>I assumed here that the two stars and the planet are aligned, and midday/midnight are fixed using star... | 2015/09/09 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25318",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/28/"
] | I have a planet orbiting one star in a binary system. When the planet is exactly between the two stars it will experience a [double day](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/25203/28); when the primary sun sets the secondary one rises, no overlap. (My second star sheds enough light to make a difference on the plan... | Update
======
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/S2zZz.png)
I've updated my CDF to handle eccentric orbits and customization of star brightness, and (more importantly) to show long-term seasonal effects. A few notes:
* Mousing over any of the parameters i... |
25,675 | <p>Back home, Earth's moon is 2159.2 miles wide and orbits 238,900 miles from its parent.</p>
<p>But let's pretend that the moon is 2500 miles wide and orbits 200,000 miles from Earth. Would the nightscape look any different? How much would tides and axial tilt be affected?</p>
| [
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"text": "<p>The Moon would just appear a bit larger in the sky. How many larger?</p>\n\n<p>Since t... | 2015/09/15 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25675",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/10274/"
] | Back home, Earth's moon is 2159.2 miles wide and orbits 238,900 miles from its parent.
But let's pretend that the moon is 2500 miles wide and orbits 200,000 miles from Earth. Would the nightscape look any different? How much would tides and axial tilt be affected? | To simplify, lets calculate some of the basic ratios up front
```
Avg. orbital distance ratio (center to center) = 238,900 / 200,000 = 1.1945
Distance squared ratio = 1.1945^2 = 1.43683
Distance cubed ratio = 1.704349
Diameter ratio = 2500 / 2159.2 = 1.157836
Area ratio = diameter ratio squared = 1.340585
Volume rati... |
26,013 | <p>Can a planet possess more than one ozone layer? Can multiple ozone layers cause more harm? If one ozone layer had a hole, would the other(s) act like a backup shield to harmful rays from a star?
Assume the star is similar to the Sun and the planet is habitable.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
| [
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"text": "<p>As far our current knowledge of atmosphere and oxygen bonding types stands, no, multiple layers of ozo... | 2015/09/20 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/26013",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Can a planet possess more than one ozone layer? Can multiple ozone layers cause more harm? If one ozone layer had a hole, would the other(s) act like a backup shield to harmful rays from a star?
Assume the star is similar to the Sun and the planet is habitable.
Thank you! | Note: there is no such thing as an ozone *layer*. What is called ozone layer, as if it were a sort of crystal shell high in the atmosphere, is actually a volume of increased ozone density, so that the density function with height behaves a little like this:
```
%
| #####
| # ###
| ... |
26,175 | <p>Imagine a world where a creationist situation holds: God (or an alien master species, if you prefer) created all the species you see in the world today, and there will never be any others. </p>
<p>Are there any real world, science based mechanisms that could prevent evolution, and allow this world to persist withou... | [
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"text": "<p>Sure. You'd need a new biological paradigm where children are randomized instead of combining traits ... | 2015/09/22 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/26175",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/3215/"
] | Imagine a world where a creationist situation holds: God (or an alien master species, if you prefer) created all the species you see in the world today, and there will never be any others.
Are there any real world, science based mechanisms that could prevent evolution, and allow this world to persist without speciati... | The simplest way would be to **prevent mutation** and modify sex (you do not *need* sex in the world, but if you *must*...) in such a way that, for example, the male contributes *nothing* except the initial stimulus (which makes this essentially parthenogenesis, and that's why sex, or better, *gender* is not mandatory ... |
26,225 | <p>An alien race, for reasons of their own, have decided that it's important to make the third and fourth planets in our solar system about the same size and mass. Since they have a strict moratorium on altering planets with clearly visible carbon-based life on them, Mars is the object of their "affections". As a resu... | [
{
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"text": "<p>I’ll take a rough historical (and non hard science) stab at an answer.</p>\n\n<p>Infant Earth’s theorized... | 2015/09/23 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/26225",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/10364/"
] | An alien race, for reasons of their own, have decided that it's important to make the third and fourth planets in our solar system about the same size and mass. Since they have a strict moratorium on altering planets with clearly visible carbon-based life on them, Mars is the object of their "affections". As a result o... | Lets start by ignoring that for deep planetary pressures, iron is compressible and that it expands when it is heated.
**Basic facts**
```
Mars mass: 6.4171e23 kg
Earth mass: 5.97237e24 kg
Mars mean radius: 3389.5 km
Mars surface acceleration: 3.711 m/s^2
Iron density: 7850 kg/m^3
volume of a sphere = 4 / 3 * pi * ... |
26,626 | <p>In the vein of this question <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25899/anatomically-correct-gods">here</a>, I was wondering about the practicality of the mythical Grecian concept of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekatonkheires" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hecatonchires</a>. Forget, ... | [
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"text": "<p>I think the best way to use these guys in a modern setting is as ship captains. Instead of having an ent... | 2015/09/29 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/26626",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/14096/"
] | In the vein of this question [here](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25899/anatomically-correct-gods), I was wondering about the practicality of the mythical Grecian concept of the [Hecatonchires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekatonkheires). Forget, for a moment, that these monsters are supposed to b... | I think the best way to use these guys in a modern setting is as ship captains. Instead of having an entire bridge crew, this one guy could be issuing orders, reading and analyzing data, manning wheels and control stations, and generally doing the work of up to fifty people. Not only that, but since it's just one guy, ... |
29,270 | <p>It is the year 2037.</p>
<p>Mankind has identified a rogue planet <em>en route</em> to knock Earth out of stable orbit with the sun, and into a less fitting orbit of 110 million km (40 million kilometers shy of its normal orbit).</p>
<p>This planet is scheduled to come close enough to Earth in 2041 to throw it out... | [
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"text": "<p><strong><h2>So, Nibiru finally makes it here - we've been waiting long enough.</h2></strong></p>\n\n<p><s... | 2015/11/08 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/29270",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/15131/"
] | It is the year 2037.
Mankind has identified a rogue planet *en route* to knock Earth out of stable orbit with the sun, and into a less fitting orbit of 110 million km (40 million kilometers shy of its normal orbit).
This planet is scheduled to come close enough to Earth in 2041 to throw it out of orbit, so mankind ha... | **So, Nibiru finally makes it here - we've been waiting long enough.
------------------------------------------------------------------**
**1) Four years for planning and making changes means the ISS is totally inadequate as a generational ship.** There is no reason to believe that the ISS will be any more inherently ... |
30,695 | <p>I'm making a world with magic and most if not all tech will run on mana. I have airships in this world but I'm having a hard time deciding how large across the world should be. I want - even with airships - for long distance travel to take months (cross a continent or from one continent to another). Should I set a s... | [
{
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"text": "<p>Using <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin\">LZ 127 Graf Zepplin</a> as... | 2015/12/01 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/30695",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/15668/"
] | I'm making a world with magic and most if not all tech will run on mana. I have airships in this world but I'm having a hard time deciding how large across the world should be. I want - even with airships - for long distance travel to take months (cross a continent or from one continent to another). Should I set a slow... | Using [LZ 127 Graf Zepplin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin) as an example of a transatlantic airship flight from 1928, it took 111 hours to travel from Friedrichshafen, Tübingen, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States of America, about 9,926km in length.
**Faster:**
In a similar airship ... |
30,944 | <p>I'm writing a story, based vaguely off of the <a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/86467/Stars-Without-Number-Free-Edition" rel="noreferrer">Stars Without Number</a> system. There are lots of things bugging me, but by far the biggest issue is this: the military contractors and bounty hunters and the like are... | [
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"text": "<p>Well... I don't know if this is enough to constitute a complete and acceptable answer but here we go.</p>\n\n... | 2015/12/06 | [
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] | I'm writing a story, based vaguely off of the [Stars Without Number](http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/86467/Stars-Without-Number-Free-Edition) system. There are lots of things bugging me, but by far the biggest issue is this: the military contractors and bounty hunters and the like are all congregating in the war-to... | Not sure quite what definition you want to give of "being a mercenary", but I spent a few years as a contractor in Africa, Asia and the Middle East after leaving the Army, so I can tell you why I spent a bit of time wandering around the smellier parts of the world between contracts.
**Connections**
You get hired and ... |
31,660 | <p>Currently your work and life schedules fall mostly into 'day' and 'night', with a few areas breaking up work times into 3 part shifts, morning, evening night etc.</p>
<p>Imagine we live in an artificial enviroment, most likely a space station or world ship, which does not have a sun and light comes from electricity... | [
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"text": "<p>I think you mostly answered yourself... even in an artificial environment, forcing people into shifts will c... | 2015/12/17 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/31660",
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] | Currently your work and life schedules fall mostly into 'day' and 'night', with a few areas breaking up work times into 3 part shifts, morning, evening night etc.
Imagine we live in an artificial enviroment, most likely a space station or world ship, which does not have a sun and light comes from electricity instead; ... | I believe that a realistic answer to this will heavily depend on your universe's current **understanding of human sleep patterns**.
[Historical records indicate](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783) that prior to the easy access to artificial lighting, **people used to sleep in two, 4-hour chunks**, separated by... |
32,517 | <p>It is well known that in respiration, we produce carbon dioxide, while plants, via photosynthesis, absorb CO<sub>2</sub>. My question is, if 50% of all people die today, will the total amount of CO<sub>2</sub> decrease drastically or will it be too small a change to notice?</p>
| [
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"text": "<p>The death of 3 billion people would not cause much of a change in CO2 from breathing. The CO2 we breathe... | 2016/01/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/32517",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | It is well known that in respiration, we produce carbon dioxide, while plants, via photosynthesis, absorb CO2. My question is, if 50% of all people die today, will the total amount of CO2 decrease drastically or will it be too small a change to notice? | It's probably worth noting that the carbon dioxide that we breath out doesn't come from no-where. I imagine that the oxygen (dioxide) comes from the atmosphere and that the carbon comes from the food we eat.
Here's the kicker - even if half the earth's population died tomorrow, that food would still decompose and be r... |
34,311 | <p><strong>Setting</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/34154/how-would-a-drug-cartel-claim-legitimacy-as-a-government-entity">The US is waging a failing War on Drugs where cartels are quickly gaining power</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Scenario</strong></p>
<p>In the near future, say 203... | [
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"text": "<p>People (and cartels) will probably begin to meet in place outside the sight of the AI and controls, like ... | 2016/01/26 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/34311",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | **Setting**
[The US is waging a failing War on Drugs where cartels are quickly gaining power](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/34154/how-would-a-drug-cartel-claim-legitimacy-as-a-government-entity).
**Scenario**
In the near future, say 2030, with current technology, the Texas state government is imp... | There will be a sort of bell curve response as people who don't have the skills or don't care settle into their day to day lives without worrying too much about intrusive surveillance, while the criminal, hacker and libertarian element are busy working out ways to circumvent it.
Some ideas are clearly "out". People hi... |
34,709 | <p>So say we discovered aliens through a wormhole near Saturn (Interstellar anyone?). Congratz to us! But we have a bigger issue in trying to communicate with them.</p>
<p>They developed in a completely different way than us, but their general physiology is the same (Bi-pedal humanoids that utilize vocal chords to spe... | [
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"text": "<p>I think anyone advanced enough to communicate with us through those means would posses some pretty advan... | 2016/01/29 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/34709",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | So say we discovered aliens through a wormhole near Saturn (Interstellar anyone?). Congratz to us! But we have a bigger issue in trying to communicate with them.
They developed in a completely different way than us, but their general physiology is the same (Bi-pedal humanoids that utilize vocal chords to speak). Assum... | This question has already been debated by exo-astronomers. The best answer they could come up with (using 1974 technology) was the [Arecibo Message](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message#Numbers).
The details might change, but the essential idea is that in the first part of your message, you teach the aliens, ... |
35,574 | <p>Take Charles Stross’s <em>Laundry</em> stories as an exemplar for this modern day approach that makes explicit the analogy between computer geeks and fantasy mages. If P = NP then magic is possible. Here’s a passage for bringing the reader up to speed in one of the later <em>Laundry</em> novels:</p>
<blockquote>
<p... | [
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"text": "<p>Going through each question one by one:</p>\n\n<p><strong>what exactly does solving a theorem do?</strong>... | 2016/02/09 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/35574",
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] | Take Charles Stross’s *Laundry* stories as an exemplar for this modern day approach that makes explicit the analogy between computer geeks and fantasy mages. If P = NP then magic is possible. Here’s a passage for bringing the reader up to speed in one of the later *Laundry* novels:
>
> I’m actually a specialist in a ... | Going through each question one by one:
**what exactly does solving a theorem do?**
underlying question: what is a theorem? A theorem is a tautology, something that can't be false. 2=2 **IS** a theorem (not an interesting one, I agree but still). With this definition I think you can understand that the word "solving"... |
35,604 | <p>It's just my typical luck: I discover and recover the billion-dollars worth of gold on a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3347952/Wreckage-300-year-old-Spanish-galleon-holding-1-5BILLION-gold-silver-coins.html" rel="noreferrer">sunken galleon</a> on the same day my arch-nemesis decides to detonate a ... | [
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"text": "<p>The closer to the water that it is when it goes off the more energy is distributed to it. <a href=\"http://s... | 2016/02/09 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/35604",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | It's just my typical luck: I discover and recover the billion-dollars worth of gold on a [sunken galleon](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3347952/Wreckage-300-year-old-Spanish-galleon-holding-1-5BILLION-gold-silver-coins.html) on the same day my arch-nemesis decides to detonate a one Megaton hydrogen bomb right... | Depth may not be your friend, but number of layers is. When the shockwave hits the surface of the water, much of it is reflected, but some of the shockwave is transmitted. How much? It turns out [they wrote a book about it](https://books.google.com/books?id=CZtDAAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=tTfPhlW33j&dq=impedance%20mismatch%2... |
36,724 | <p>Related somewhat to <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/12442/gravity-on-a-minecraftian-world">Gravity on a Minecraftian world?</a></p>
<p>say I have this infinite plane/world, then punch a circular hole through it to the other side. Say I manage to make a circular hole around 1 kilometer fai... | [
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"text": "<h2>You've invented a new sport: Aero-Swimming.</h2>\n\n<p><strong>Best Case</strong></p>\n\n<p>You'd float, ver... | 2016/02/24 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/36724",
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] | Related somewhat to [Gravity on a Minecraftian world?](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/12442/gravity-on-a-minecraftian-world)
say I have this infinite plane/world, then punch a circular hole through it to the other side. Say I manage to make a circular hole around 1 kilometer fairly uniform all the w... | For this answer I'm assuming that Planet Plane is [the one from this answer](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/12443/760) which is infinite in area and 6,378km deep.
(This cannot be Planet Minecraft because it would not have a horizon for the Sun and Moon to drop below. For what Planet Minecraft would really b... |
36,940 | <h2>Background Information</h2>
<p>Let's say that we are trying to catch the attention of other potentially intelligent species. This signal would be used to attract the attention of other intelligent species. If another species (of any possible number system, shape, technology...) were to intercept this signal, they ... | [
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"text": "<p>The idea of using pi is a good idea, math after all is a constant in the universe. But you would hav... | 2016/02/27 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/36940",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Background Information
----------------------
Let's say that we are trying to catch the attention of other potentially intelligent species. This signal would be used to attract the attention of other intelligent species. If another species (of any possible number system, shape, technology...) were to intercept this si... | Using the digits of a number isn't really the best way to express a number when communicating with an alien race as Extra Terrestrials would almost certainly use completely different methods for expressing number from us. In order to show our mathematical knowledge to aliens it would be better to find a method of commu... |
37,719 | <p>I got this idea from looking at a tent pole. They have all these pieces that snap together and fit inside a cloth groove. What if I filled a cape with a bunch of those say 20 mm long with a 2 mm diameter? Instead of putting the pieces together with my hands, I'd have them joined together at the press of a button. Th... | [
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"text": "<p>Assuming you had a wing design that already worked (<a href=\"http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/09/ba... | 2016/03/09 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/37719",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/18654/"
] | I got this idea from looking at a tent pole. They have all these pieces that snap together and fit inside a cloth groove. What if I filled a cape with a bunch of those say 20 mm long with a 2 mm diameter? Instead of putting the pieces together with my hands, I'd have them joined together at the press of a button. The b... | Assuming you had a wing design that already worked ([Batman's cape will not](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/09/batman-cape-physics)) and the poles are already sufficiently strong and rigid, this could work.
Collapsible tent poles work by slotting the pole into a metal sleeve. There's also a bungie cord in... |
38,510 | <p>The <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/38354/how-often-must-carnivorous-grassland-eat">bonegrass</a> fields are full of other life, despite their dangers. Lots of insects, some birds, and even a handful of reptiles have adapted to the paralytic nature of the air in order to reap the rich rewa... | [
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"text": "<p>If they're subterranean they wouldn't disturb the grass and trigger the toxins the way a passing surfac... | 2016/03/21 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/38510",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | The [bonegrass](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/38354/how-often-must-carnivorous-grassland-eat) fields are full of other life, despite their dangers. Lots of insects, some birds, and even a handful of reptiles have adapted to the paralytic nature of the air in order to reap the rich rewards offered by... | For mammals... this could be a problem.
A pretty average human being(62 kg) uses about 550 liters of pure oxygen per day(at sea level pressure).
So call it 9-ish litres per kg.
A single naked mole-rat is about 35 grams.
A colony is 20 to 300 individuals, with an average of 75.
So an average colony of 75 might we... |
38,787 | <p>I'm working on the setting for a fictional story I'm writing and I wanted to inquire as to how possible massive-Universe-sized planets are radius: 5 × 10<sup>30</sup>M, without me having to re-make the laws of Physics.</p>
<p>I usually dislike it when I encounter works, in which it seems the author doesn't even have... | [
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"text": "<p>It's impossible for a planet of that size to exist in a universe with our physical laws.</p>\n\n<p>A planet wi... | 2016/03/24 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/38787",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | I'm working on the setting for a fictional story I'm writing and I wanted to inquire as to how possible massive-Universe-sized planets are radius: 5 × 1030M, without me having to re-make the laws of Physics.
I usually dislike it when I encounter works, in which it seems the author doesn't even have a grasp on Physics,... | First, a lot of reasons why this won't work in our universe. Then, an interesting solution. Finally, why the exercise is pointless.
---
5.0x1030 meters is about 10,000 times larger than [the observable universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe). That doesn't mean it's *larger* than the universe, but... |
38,921 | <p><em>Setting</em>: In my <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/19788/how-would-flora-behave-on-a-two-continent-planet">conworld</a> there is a huge region (let's call it <em>the Midlands</em>) spanning from the northern borealis to the wide green pastures further south, of the northern continent,... | [
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"text": "<p>Gonna answer your two questions in reverse order.</p>\n\n<p>The main thing I'd say you have left to ... | 2016/03/25 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/38921",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | *Setting*: In my [conworld](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/19788/how-would-flora-behave-on-a-two-continent-planet) there is a huge region (let's call it *the Midlands*) spanning from the northern borealis to the wide green pastures further south, of the northern continent, which is not one single cou... | Two historical examples come to mind here.
The first example is the Delian League, which has been alluded to in other answers. Formed by Athens as a reaction to the Persian Wars, the Delian league had various maritime powers band together and pool ships and funds to protect the league and the rest of Greece from any a... |
39,010 | <p>I'm rewording the original question as suggested, in an attempt to make it more specific.</p>
<p>We all know we humans affect our environment by building structures, leveling ground etc. but these changes are usually pretty obvious and visible. </p>
<p>As I want to create an alternative Earth world, I thought I co... | [
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"text": "<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman_period\">Deforestation</a> is a big issu... | 2016/03/27 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/39010",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | I'm rewording the original question as suggested, in an attempt to make it more specific.
We all know we humans affect our environment by building structures, leveling ground etc. but these changes are usually pretty obvious and visible.
As I want to create an alternative Earth world, I thought I could simply use a ... | I was watching a BBC history documentary about the Romans in Britain earlier today and words along the lines of
>
> History is not like science, when you change one variable in history the others don't stay the same. It's all linked, change anything and there's such a massive cascading effect that it's impossible to ... |
39,304 | <p>Imagine a world exactly like Earth, complete with humans and all. The scientists of this world suddenly discover that, unless drastic measures are taken, all life on Earth will be eradicated. However, there is one (and only one) option that can save the world, if we can get the funding. This plan would cost an exorb... | [
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"text": "<p>It is in the sellers' interest to not be wiped out by the same issue that will wipe out everyone else so su... | 2016/04/01 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/39304",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Imagine a world exactly like Earth, complete with humans and all. The scientists of this world suddenly discover that, unless drastic measures are taken, all life on Earth will be eradicated. However, there is one (and only one) option that can save the world, if we can get the funding. This plan would cost an exorbita... | We can see what happens already. It happens daily in business. Let's get to work
>
> However, there is one (and only one) option that can save the world, if we can get the funding.
>
>
>
This phrasing indicates either an absurdly unlikely circumstance, or a partial picture. It is very unlikely that there is actua... |
39,475 | <p>Many scifi stories feature a vast interstellar empire that spans more worlds and races than a single being could hope to visit in a lifetime. These empires, in many cases, are highly centralized and have an all-powerful emperor who delegates power to military leaders who deal with the civilian governments in the sys... | [
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"text": "<p>There has to be a catastrophe or other threat. This creates a need for a stronger navy or central government.... | 2016/04/05 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/39475",
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] | Many scifi stories feature a vast interstellar empire that spans more worlds and races than a single being could hope to visit in a lifetime. These empires, in many cases, are highly centralized and have an all-powerful emperor who delegates power to military leaders who deal with the civilian governments in the system... | The 'easiest' would be an outside threat to the members of the confederation. Like the Borg or some other species bent on domination and conquest.
We would band together (hopefully) to help each other survive and push back this mutual threat. (Though sitting by the way side and hoping the threat passes you by will be... |
40,093 | <p>Let's say that humans suddenly discovered a way to time-travel. We could theoretically go back in time, take (or buy) some artifacts, and sell them in the future as antiques. Repeating this, pretty much anyone with access to this technology could become very wealthy, to say the least. Would some kind of hyperinflati... | [
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"text": "<p>It depends on how your time travel works. But lets assume that you can change the past.</p>\n\n<p>original time... | 2016/04/15 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/40093",
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] | Let's say that humans suddenly discovered a way to time-travel. We could theoretically go back in time, take (or buy) some artifacts, and sell them in the future as antiques. Repeating this, pretty much anyone with access to this technology could become very wealthy, to say the least. Would some kind of hyperinflation ... | It depends on how your time travel works. But lets assume that you can change the past.
original time line T0
```
Piccaso paints a picture.
Piccaso sells picture for beer
Piccaso dies
people see picture and like it
Piccaso becomes famous
Pictures value increases
Picture is sold for millions
```
time traveller time ... |
41,981 | <p>The Bartering system is a means of trading goods for other other goods, very similar to the Currency system except minus the money. The problem is that as the population of a location increases people begin to disagree on the value of the items; what use is a goat to a sailor compared to a baker? So the simplest sol... | [
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"text": "<p>Currency is not <strong>just</strong> about setting value for bartered goods. Money is a <em>common</em> yardst... | 2016/05/21 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/41981",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | The Bartering system is a means of trading goods for other other goods, very similar to the Currency system except minus the money. The problem is that as the population of a location increases people begin to disagree on the value of the items; what use is a goat to a sailor compared to a baker? So the simplest soluti... | First some background about why currency tends to replace barter in economies. In general, a currency acts as a lubricant between trading partners, resulting in less complexity when used to trade or purchase any desired item.
```
Simple example with three people:
person 'A' has a sword and wants a massive block of ma... |
46,415 | <p>I want to create a world that abides completely by our understanding of reality. The whole premise is that "If the Universe is large enough, this would all be non-fiction", assuming the laws of physics are constant everywhere. It absolutely must be 100% scrutiny-proof.</p>
<p>Firstly, the planet is designed to be a... | [
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"text": "<p>This <a href=\"http://cseligman.com/text/planets/atmospherestructure.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\... | 2016/07/06 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/46415",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | I want to create a world that abides completely by our understanding of reality. The whole premise is that "If the Universe is large enough, this would all be non-fiction", assuming the laws of physics are constant everywhere. It absolutely must be 100% scrutiny-proof.
Firstly, the planet is designed to be a sort of s... | If you're hoping for the answer to be "definitely" you're out of luck, but I might be able to give you "possibly."
The planet you propose is going to have some issues, so I'll outline those immediately.
* First of all, out current model for planetary formation indicates that the closer a planet lies to its parent sta... |
47,055 | <p>On Earth, nuclear weapons can wreak enormous damage to a country and for that reason, large-scale wars between nuclear powers don’t happen. But what would happen if humanity progressed just enough to the point where countries expanded into space? Now powerful countries have fleets of spaceships (not fantastically ad... | [
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"text": "<h2>Yes</h2>\n\n<p>Nuclear weapons would be highly effective in space.</p>\n\n<p>But their effects are somewhat di... | 2016/07/12 | [
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] | On Earth, nuclear weapons can wreak enormous damage to a country and for that reason, large-scale wars between nuclear powers don’t happen. But what would happen if humanity progressed just enough to the point where countries expanded into space? Now powerful countries have fleets of spaceships (not fantastically advan... | Yes
---
Nuclear weapons would be highly effective in space.
But their effects are somewhat different than they are on the ground. I recommend reading [this entire section of the Atomic Rockets website: Nukes in Space](http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php#id--Nukes_In_Space)
On the ground,... |
47,463 | <p>I am posting this in behalf of a friend of mine from a distant world. Here is his message properly translated to English:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hi, Sol3αlings<sup>1</sup>. My name is $ѬӚᕕƨ⧬௵44ħ$. We are peacefully and we need your help. I am a scientist/engineer from the planet $⋒◥27⟑▓⍫⋒இǪ$. We calculated that our ... | [
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"text": "<h3>A question of scale</h3>\n\n<p>Supernova are powerful, extremely powerful. Imagine the most powerful explosi... | 2016/07/15 | [
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] | I am posting this in behalf of a friend of mine from a distant world. Here is his message properly translated to English:
>
> Hi, Sol3αlings1. My name is $ѬӚᕕƨ⧬௵44ħ$. We are peacefully and we need your help. I am a scientist/engineer from the planet $⋒◥27⟑▓⍫⋒இǪ$. We calculated that our home star, already an instable ... | All you'd need is an Einstein-Rosen bridge situated so that it was placed perpendicular to the planet. Make the entrance, say, 2 planetary diameters wide and just let it sit there.
The energy from the supernova that would have impacted the planet will instead go into the wormhole and come out wherever. I say place the... |
51,204 | <p>Suppose we have an intelligent alien who has landed on Earth and has somehow found his way into a human high school math class (for the sake of scenic stability, the alien has the ability to cloak itself as a human form). </p>
<p>The typical trope is the alien finds the human math elementary, and quietly chuckles t... | [
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"text": "<p>There was a SETI Weekly Seminar a while back on just how alien maths might be.</p>\n\n<p>See <a href=\"https:... | 2016/08/10 | [
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] | Suppose we have an intelligent alien who has landed on Earth and has somehow found his way into a human high school math class (for the sake of scenic stability, the alien has the ability to cloak itself as a human form).
The typical trope is the alien finds the human math elementary, and quietly chuckles to himself ... | While the symbols we use to describe mathematics are a human creation, the underlying truths of math are not. The relationship between π and the radius/circunference of a circle, the square-cube law and the relationship among speed, time and distance were part of the universe before humans existed, and will continue to... |
52,158 | <p>Here's the scenario: animals on a world with an atmosphere with a significant amount of a certain gas is able to store "air" into a transparent growth (like a crest) and, with an electrical chord in the "crest", makes a glowing light with different colors depending on what's produced in the crest. The questions in m... | [
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"text": "<p>I highly doubt it. But with minor changes, may be. </p>\n\n<p>In practice, only noble gases can used to create l... | 2016/08/18 | [
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] | Here's the scenario: animals on a world with an atmosphere with a significant amount of a certain gas is able to store "air" into a transparent growth (like a crest) and, with an electrical chord in the "crest", makes a glowing light with different colors depending on what's produced in the crest. The questions in mind... | If your hypothetical organism is engaged with chemiluminescence involving gases would do something like the following.
>
> Another gas phase reaction is the basis of nitric oxide detection in commercial analytic instruments applied to environmental air-quality testing. Ozone is combined with nitric oxide to form nitr... |
52,164 | <p>In our universe infinite energy is not possible, at least given the known laws of physics. </p>
<p>But in another universe what would allow for energy to be in the same amount as space? </p>
<p>But how large is space, as we know our universe doesn't have magic walls that say ''hey the space ends there'' therefore,... | [
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"text": "<p>The answer to this is <em>very</em> dependent on details. There's many ways to approach this and they lea... | 2016/08/19 | [
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] | In our universe infinite energy is not possible, at least given the known laws of physics.
But in another universe what would allow for energy to be in the same amount as space?
But how large is space, as we know our universe doesn't have magic walls that say ''hey the space ends there'' therefore,probably it's pos... | The answer to this is *very* dependent on details. There's many ways to approach this and they lead to very different results.
The first question is whether you ever have infinite energy density. This causes all sorts of equations to break down for the same reasons as a naked singularity breaks down all the laws of ph... |
52,675 | <p>Suppose a starship is being powered by a lasers beamed first from the departure star, and then from the destination which is a moving base. The ship is moving in the regime of 10–30% of light speed.</p>
<p>Picture a letter “T”. The ship is accelerated up the vertical line from the source at the bottom of the T, int... | [
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"text": "<p>There are some ways to break this problem into simpler ones.</p>\n<h1>One laser at a time</h1>\n<p>Si... | 2016/08/24 | [
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] | Suppose a starship is being powered by a lasers beamed first from the departure star, and then from the destination which is a moving base. The ship is moving in the regime of 10–30% of light speed.
Picture a letter “T”. The ship is accelerated up the vertical line from the source at the bottom of the T, into the path... | First, let’s look at the different types of trajectories a solar sail can take. They differ mainly based on something called the *lightness number*, $\beta$, which depends on the composition and structure of the sail. $\beta$ can be used to determine the type of trajectory the solar sail will follow:
$$\begin{array}{|c... |
53,803 | <p>We've seen questions about multiple planets in a single orbit before, using Lagrangian points, through orbiting each other as they go around, etc. I'm looking at the creation of a hypothetical system with two habitable planets orbiting their star in a stable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_orbit" re... | [
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"text": "<p>So first of all, we need to define our terms here. To be clear, the orbit relates to the barycenter of the s... | 2016/09/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/53803",
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] | We've seen questions about multiple planets in a single orbit before, using Lagrangian points, through orbiting each other as they go around, etc. I'm looking at the creation of a hypothetical system with two habitable planets orbiting their star in a stable [horseshoe orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_orb... | So first of all, we need to define our terms here. To be clear, the orbit relates to the barycenter of the system. The changes are such that Janus is always farther away from Saturn's center of gravity than Epimetheus. When it comes to the barycenter.
I generated a constrained 3-body model, and plotted the distance of... |
56,139 | <p>The year is 2109 C.E my friends and I were caught in a space disaster when the spacecraft we're in broke apart during a daring escape from a patrolling spacecraft. We stole an antique cellphone (from 1999, in good working condition) from a space museum but our escape was interrupted and fortunately we managed to get... | [
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"text": "<p>No. The cellphone is not a general-purpose radio transmitter, and without a signal from a base statio... | 2016/09/22 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56139",
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] | The year is 2109 C.E my friends and I were caught in a space disaster when the spacecraft we're in broke apart during a daring escape from a patrolling spacecraft. We stole an antique cellphone (from 1999, in good working condition) from a space museum but our escape was interrupted and fortunately we managed to get in... | Assets
* 1 obsolete piece of short range comms kit requiring a battery you probably can't charge
* 1 slightly malfunctioning escape pod with up to date comms that isn't working but you're still alive
Current standards say the Mayday should be broadcast on VHF channel 16 (156.8 MHz). A 1999 phone, probably on 2g would... |
56,329 | <p><em>Disclaimer</em>: This question is the first of a new series of questions of mine about <em>introducing hexapedae to the fauna of my conworld</em>. There are/will be other questions addressing i.a.: ecosystems, <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56701">evolutionary factors</a>, <a href="ht... | [
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"text": "<p>I'm not sure how you can expect a single answerer to address everything in what looks more like a collaborativ... | 2016/09/23 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56329",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | *Disclaimer*: This question is the first of a new series of questions of mine about *introducing hexapedae to the fauna of my conworld*. There are/will be other questions addressing i.a.: ecosystems, [evolutionary factors](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56701), [taxonomy](https://worldbuilding.stacke... | It doesn't matter that the milk tastes a bit funny, you're still going to drink it. The same with being a bit short on meat, if that's what there is, more so as a multiple birth animal, then that's what you'll eat, especially in an arctic environment. However most big beasts of burden have a lot of meat, it might be qu... |
56,701 | <p><em>Disclaimer</em>: This question is the third of a new series of questions of mine about <em>introducing hexapeds to the fauna of my conworld</em>. There are/will be other questions addressing i.a.: <a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56329">characteristics</a>, ecosystems, <a href="https://... | [
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"text": "<p>Can I suggest something along the lines of the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland_lungfish\" re... | 2016/09/27 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56701",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | *Disclaimer*: This question is the third of a new series of questions of mine about *introducing hexapeds to the fauna of my conworld*. There are/will be other questions addressing i.a.: [characteristics](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56329), ecosystems, [taxonomy](https://worldbuilding.stackexchang... | Can I suggest something along the lines of the [**Queensland Lungfish**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland_lungfish)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/x6EF9.jpg)
If you split the anal fin into two separate fins and move the dorsal fins slightly more forward... |
57,353 | <p>I want to have a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_cluster" rel="nofollow">star cluster</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_sequence" rel="nofollow">main-sequence stars</a> (yellow dwarfs [like our sun], orange, and red dwarfs) that are on a distance of 1-2 light years between each other, s... | [
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"text": "<h2>This area probably won't sustain life for long</h2>\n\n<p>Having lots of stars this close feels like a stel... | 2016/10/03 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/57353",
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You say you want the stars to be 1-2 light-years apart. This is a little tricky because star clusters don’t necessarily have uniform densities. Globular clusters, for instance, have radial density profiles decreasing from some core density at $R=0$ to zero density ... |
57,535 | <p>I’m working on a setting, and have a state I want to achieve but need to come up with a compelling reason for why it is the way it is (even if no one but me ever knows the ‘why’.) I’m after a reasoned, logical answer that flows along the lines of greatest probability rather than a “it’s this way because I <em>say so... | [
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"text": "<p>A symbiot needs to be a mutually beneficial arrangement otherwise it is just parasitism.</p>\n\n<p>This s... | 2016/10/04 | [
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] | I’m working on a setting, and have a state I want to achieve but need to come up with a compelling reason for why it is the way it is (even if no one but me ever knows the ‘why’.) I’m after a reasoned, logical answer that flows along the lines of greatest probability rather than a “it’s this way because I *say so*” typ... | The neuro-pathways of the suits are very simple when they are "built". There is a large cluster around the neural-link port that handles all the sensory input from the suit to the human and all the control input from the human to the suit. Over time, this cluster specializes and becomes more complex to more efficiently... |
57,559 | <p>Suppose the Wicked Witch of the West was simply an alien life form that was stranded in Oz. She comes from a race of beings that are water soluble. </p>
<p>She would have to be able to resist a small amount of water, or else any contact with water vapors in the atmosphere would dissolve her. Yet, any significant... | [
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"text": "<p>One way this is possible is to have an organism that uses methanol as a solvent. Methanol is less polar than... | 2016/10/04 | [
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She would have to be able to resist a small amount of water, or else any contact with water vapors in the atmosphere would dissolve her. Yet, any significant amount of wa... | Certainly, this is possible. Almost all things are, after all.
However, the effect of melting when exposed to large amounts of liquid water is probably not what it initially appears to be.
An alien organism that is tolerant to small amounts of water is probably one that is tolerant to larger amounts too, so why would... |
57,571 | <p>I'm trying to design a realistic genetically engineered nanotech super-soldier with a full set of redundant organs. How much more interior volume and thus height/weight/muscle mass would a human body need to support 2 hearts, 3 lungs, 2 stomachs, 3 kidneys, 2 livers, 2 sets of large and small intestines, 2 esophagi/... | [
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"text": "<p>The extra weight shouldn't be too bad. From <a href=\"https://www.quora.com/How-is-body-weight-distribut... | 2016/10/04 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/57571",
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>
> Approximate body weight distribution for a lean adult:
>
>
>
> ```
> Bone: men 15%; women 10%
> Muscle: men 45%; women 37%
> Organs: men and women: 25%
> Fat: men 15%; ... |
60,472 | <p>So I was building this city atop a mountain plateau with 1900 to 2300 meters high. That mountain rests on a small island, in the middle of the sea, near the continent.</p>
<p>More information about this city in here:
<a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/59356/water-supply-on-an-mountain-fortre... | [
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"text": "<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon#Distance_to_the_horizon\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">D... | 2016/11/04 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/60472",
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] | So I was building this city atop a mountain plateau with 1900 to 2300 meters high. That mountain rests on a small island, in the middle of the sea, near the continent.
More information about this city in here:
[Water supply on an mountain fortress](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/59356/water-supply-o... | To expand a bit on @kingledion 's answer:
The angular resolution of the naked eye is about $\frac{\pi}{10800}$, or one arc minute.
You mentioned a civilisation on the level of ancient Rome, which had walls of around $10\left(m\right)$ high.
From basic trigonometry we know that $\tan{\frac{\pi}{10800}}=\frac{10\left(... |
60,867 | <blockquote>
<p>So, let's say that through a series of strange timey wimey events, I
accidentally jump-start several technological revolutions in the early
1800's. So, at any given time, technology is ~60 years ahead of where
it should be, sans nuclear weapons (nuclear power does exist though).
Now let's say... | [
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"text": "<p>Generally speaking, this sort of approach has to be designed into a ship since day one. You need a very ... | 2016/11/10 | [
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> So, let's say that through a series of strange timey wimey events, I
> accidentally jump-start several technological revolutions in the early
> 1800's. So, at any given time, technology is ~60 years ahead of where
> it should be, sans nuclear weapons (nuclear power does exist though).
> Now let's say that WWI... | In a rather weird way, H.G. Wells wrote about the possible future of tanks and pessimistically envisioned monstrous battleship sized machines capable of carrying huge batteries of guns and plowing the landscape before them due to the immense weight.
>
> What lies behind the Tank depends upon this fact; there is no de... |
60,924 | <p>Let's say that I own a planet and I have the chance to set up rules before any human can move in. I want to make a law that would welcome anyone to the planet as long as they only speak the decided language.</p>
<p>It would mean doing anything needed to make sure nobody spoke any other language, even in a private p... | [
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"text": "<p>No. Most of the bloodiest wars in human history are civil wars, where the people understand each othe... | 2016/11/10 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/60924",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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] | Let's say that I own a planet and I have the chance to set up rules before any human can move in. I want to make a law that would welcome anyone to the planet as long as they only speak the decided language.
It would mean doing anything needed to make sure nobody spoke any other language, even in a private place. The ... | >
> *Would forcing the new citizens and prosecuting anyone that tried to spoke a different language be justified for the better end?*
>
>
>
No. The End Sucks. So Do The Middle and Beginning.
==================================================
It creates a privileged culture, suppresses others, leads to language st... |
62,948 | <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6u87K.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6u87K.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<ol>
<li>If there's a habitable planet that orbits two suns like the above
orbital route, what would possibly occur on that planet?</li>
<li>Would it hav... | [
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"text": "<p>The biggest shock would be the period in the center of the figure eight where there would be winter--or som... | 2016/11/30 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/62948",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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1. If there's a habitable planet that orbits two suns like the above
orbital route, what would possibly occur on that planet?
2. Would it have two yearly seasonal cycle (compare to earth)?
3. Would it be possibl... | I'm going to attack this with math. First off, I am not going to make any assumptions about what orbits might be stable. That is something we can check with an orbit simulator like rebound, as I did in [this question](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/23452/can-you-add-a-mini-moon-to-earth/59917#59917).... |
63,118 | <p>A civilization has a "magic" computer with memory and processing capacities far beyond what our physics says is possible. They decide to run a massive simulation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_Game_of_Life" rel="noreferrer">Conway's Game of Life</a> with a random "big bang" initial state. The... | [
{
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"text": "<p>I'm no scientist but as I understand it there are certain things that you can look for that are otherw... | 2016/12/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/63118",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
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Rough proof:
Conway's game of life is a Turing-complete game. You can create a general purpose computer in it. T... |
63,222 | <p>Assuming a technology is developed that allows people to either eliminate the need to sleep or study/work subconsciously during their regular sleep cycle, what kind of effect would this have on the amount of time it takes to finish your classical education? Could someone finish college and earn multiple phDs by the ... | [
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"text": "<h2>Brain development still takes time.</h2>\n\n<p>If you effectively use sleep to \"double up\" on school tim... | 2016/12/03 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/63222",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/21870/"
] | Assuming a technology is developed that allows people to either eliminate the need to sleep or study/work subconsciously during their regular sleep cycle, what kind of effect would this have on the amount of time it takes to finish your classical education? Could someone finish college and earn multiple phDs by the tim... | Brain development still takes time.
-----------------------------------
If you effectively use sleep to "double up" on school time, handwaving the mechanism that allows this, and do so just during the school year - of course you will save some time. This method probably will allow for somewhat faster graduations.
But... |
63,235 | <p>Santa keeps his elves under horrid, appalling conditions. Working everyday of the year for little pay in the freezing cold of the North Pole. But just how many elves does he need?</p>
<p>How many elves would it take to build enough toys for 2+ billion boys and girls across the world?</p>
| [
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"answer_id": 63239,
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"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You have to make some assumptions, so I'll answer more generally and you can plug in other numbers if you think... | 2016/12/03 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/63235",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/11049/"
] | Santa keeps his elves under horrid, appalling conditions. Working everyday of the year for little pay in the freezing cold of the North Pole. But just how many elves does he need?
How many elves would it take to build enough toys for 2+ billion boys and girls across the world? | You have to make some assumptions, so I'll answer more generally and you can plug in other numbers if you think my assumptions are off.
The number of elves required is given by
$$
C T \over D H R
$$
```
Where
C = Number of children in the world
T = Number of toys for each child
D = Annual days of work for elves
H ... |
63,698 | <p>Imagine two groups of people exploring the same location, but at different times. For convenience, think of the group exploring first as the "ancestors" and the group exploring later as the "descendants." It is easy to invent ways for the ancestors to affect the descendants. For example, they leave treasure buried a... | [
{
"answer_id": 63700,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h1>Don't do what we did</h1>\n\n<p>I don't know what your technology or magic level is going to be, but t... | 2016/12/07 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/63698",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/30587/"
] | Imagine two groups of people exploring the same location, but at different times. For convenience, think of the group exploring first as the "ancestors" and the group exploring later as the "descendants." It is easy to invent ways for the ancestors to affect the descendants. For example, they leave treasure buried and ... | Nothing impossible may happen.
In the C and C++ programming languages, there's such a thing called undefined behavior, where basically if the program performs certain illegal actions, it goes in an invalid state. Notice I said if, not when. The program is invalid *after*, *during* and even *before* the action that inv... |
65,962 | <p>The current world population is around 7 billion living people and 107 billion dead people. Since the population is increasing steadily and faster than ever, I was wondering if we could ever reach the turning point.</p>
<p>Given the 'facts' from <a href="http://www.livescience.com/18336-human-population-dead-living... | [
{
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"text": "<h1>Not possible</h1>\n\n<p>The primary reason is that population growth has already peaked. From the US C... | 2016/12/26 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/65962",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/26700/"
] | The current world population is around 7 billion living people and 107 billion dead people. Since the population is increasing steadily and faster than ever, I was wondering if we could ever reach the turning point.
Given the 'facts' from [this source](http://www.livescience.com/18336-human-population-dead-living-info... | Like other answers said, it is not practically possible at this point for Earth to sustain a population greater than number of people already dead. Unless you assume that every woman on the Earth for some strange reason decide to give birth each one:
```
Number of women = 7 billions / 2
Number of dead people = 107 bi... |
66,819 | <p>Okay, let's assume here for a minute I am the greatest hacker in the history of our tiny little blue planet, and I manage, after years of work, to make a program that hacks banks to put money in my United States bank account. I can simply change the figure of my balance at any time. Say, for example, my program says... | [
{
"answer_id": 66821,
"author": "Ranger",
"author_id": 20204,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the US income is reportable, including interest in a bank account. Banks that loan money (read: every ba... | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/66819",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/25003/"
] | Okay, let's assume here for a minute I am the greatest hacker in the history of our tiny little blue planet, and I manage, after years of work, to make a program that hacks banks to put money in my United States bank account. I can simply change the figure of my balance at any time. Say, for example, my program says I ... | I guess that depends on how sophisticated your hacking is and how sophisticated the bank's auditing systems are.
If you just updated your bank balance, the bank should catch that very quickly, because their books won't balance. They'll have a credit with no matching debit.
If you're smart enough to update both sides... |
67,394 | <p>In the climactic final battle Faction A engages Faction B on Faction B's planetary base, both in orbital and ground combat. Realizing they can't win, Faction A activates a device that transports and traps the entire planet in what can be compared to a pocket dimension. </p>
<p>So basically <strong>the entire planet... | [
{
"answer_id": 67395,
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"author_id": 49,
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can have it affect them as much as you like. The device is magic, so the additional effects can be whatever yo... | 2017/01/10 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/67394",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/28763/"
] | In the climactic final battle Faction A engages Faction B on Faction B's planetary base, both in orbital and ground combat. Realizing they can't win, Faction A activates a device that transports and traps the entire planet in what can be compared to a pocket dimension.
So basically **the entire planet vanishes from e... | Earth has a Schwarzschild radius of about 3 mm.
This means things at geostationary orbital distance have a time dilation of about
$$\sqrt{1-\frac{9 mm}{35786 km}}$$
or one part in $10^{-10}$ roughly. (if they are actually orbiting this value changes slightly, as does the rotation of the Earth)
This also lines up with... |
67,460 | <p>I'm creating a human race that has 3 sexes: male, female & hermaphrodite.</p>
<p>Is there any biological rules that limits what should be the ratio between sexes or I could just pick whatever works best for my story? </p>
<hr>
<p>I've added hermaphrodites for storytelling purposes. I don't plant to explain ho... | [
{
"answer_id": 67463,
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"author_id": 3202,
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"text": "<p>Well, that's the same <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender#Intersex_people_and_third_gender\"... | 2017/01/10 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/67460",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/32045/"
] | I'm creating a human race that has 3 sexes: male, female & hermaphrodite.
Is there any biological rules that limits what should be the ratio between sexes or I could just pick whatever works best for my story?
---
I've added hermaphrodites for storytelling purposes. I don't plant to explain how they've evolved.
My... | ### Arbitrary system
I came up with a system for handling genders. In this system, a female is FF, a male is MM, and a hermaphrodite is FM. So if a female and a male breed, they have only hermaphroditic offspring. If a hermaphrodite breeds with either other sex, there's a 50% chance of a hermaphrodite and a 50% chance... |
68,121 | <p><a href="https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/68006/mountaintop-sea-characteristics-regarding-tides-outflow-and-microclimate">I have recently asked a question about creating a sea on a mountaintop</a>. I have come to realize that I would run with some problems by doing this, namely about the salinity of... | [
{
"answer_id": 68130,
"author": "Loren Pechtel",
"author_id": 264,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Copied from: <a href=\"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/68050/264\">https://worldbuilding.stack... | 2017/01/16 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/68121",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/20681/"
] | [I have recently asked a question about creating a sea on a mountaintop](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/68006/mountaintop-sea-characteristics-regarding-tides-outflow-and-microclimate). I have come to realize that I would run with some problems by doing this, namely about the salinity of the lake. I w... | Catchment to lake ratio is relevant
===================================
Your lake is near the Equator, so there should be plenty of rainfall. We can calculate the ratio of catchment to lake surface, and then apply that ratio to your lake. The ratio we will calculate is total size of basin (catchment + surface) to surf... |
69,140 | <p>Consider a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_language" rel="nofollow noreferrer">conlang</a> designed for an interstellar transmission to a recipient that will have to figure it out.</p>
<p>I’m thinking it will be invented for the purpose, formal, and rigorous. It will seemlessly make a transition... | [
{
"answer_id": 69141,
"author": "Cort Ammon",
"author_id": 2252,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Parts of speech are really an artificial division chosen by humans to explain the structure of our langua... | 2017/01/25 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/69140",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/885/"
] | Consider a [conlang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_language) designed for an interstellar transmission to a recipient that will have to figure it out.
I’m thinking it will be invented for the purpose, formal, and rigorous. It will seemlessly make a transition from mathematical notation or computer algorith... | Parts of speech are really an artificial division chosen by humans to explain the structure of our language. They don't always line up perfectly. Take Japanese as an example. Japanese has "particles," which are words which don't fit into any particular category that we English speakers recognize. There are also the pol... |
69,281 | <p>My team of researchers has created an AI to increase human suffering and the machine has started earning money on the market. The ministry of economics has sent a technician to review the machine and see if it can be used on a wider scale. I want to see if a specialist would detect such a "defect" </p>
<p>Do AIs h... | [
{
"answer_id": 69283,
"author": "Miguel Bartelsman",
"author_id": 8603,
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"text": "<p>No, they don't. You'd need to have the programmers explicitly state what the machine should interp... | 2017/01/26 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/69281",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/32302/"
] | My team of researchers has created an AI to increase human suffering and the machine has started earning money on the market. The ministry of economics has sent a technician to review the machine and see if it can be used on a wider scale. I want to see if a specialist would detect such a "defect"
Do AIs have vague o... | The purpose of AIs is to permit increasingly vague instructions. "Typical" computer programs need extremely precise instructions and they are followed without error. Modern AI's are typically given "goals" which are used to train the AIs, but they are more specific than "increase human suffering." Future AIs are theori... |
69,362 | <p>Nowadays many websites used internet cookies which is in fact a piece of code or a script that can store user data and other preferences, it usually cannot be executed by itself think of it like your personal secretary who manages all your daily routine, meetings, agenda, reports etc. Since everything are connected ... | [
{
"answer_id": 69364,
"author": "Layna",
"author_id": 2968,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/2968",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you misunderstand cookies, or how powerful they are.<br>\nCookies are not executed. They hold text-dat... | 2017/01/27 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/69362",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/8400/"
] | Nowadays many websites used internet cookies which is in fact a piece of code or a script that can store user data and other preferences, it usually cannot be executed by itself think of it like your personal secretary who manages all your daily routine, meetings, agenda, reports etc. Since everything are connected to ... | I think you misunderstand cookies, or how powerful they are.
Cookies are not executed. They hold text-data, and that text-data is read.
Taken from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie):
A cookie consists of the following components:
```
Name
Value
Zero or more attributes (name/value pairs). Att... |
69,917 | <p>I am designing the geography of a lake in which two rivers flow. Should it have a river flowing from it to the sea or vice versa?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 69920,
"author": "SRM",
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If a river flows from ocean into lake, you better have another river that flows out of the lake into someplace... | 2017/02/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/69917",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/32999/"
] | I am designing the geography of a lake in which two rivers flow. Should it have a river flowing from it to the sea or vice versa? | Normally, a lake will have a fresh water river flowing into it from higher ground, and a river flowing out of it to the sea.
```
Fresh water source
\
\
--- Lake ---
\
\
... |
69,918 | <p>After hearing about Alex the African Gray Parrot, and knowing how intelligent ravens are, just how smart could a brain of that size become?</p>
<p>I would like to limit the responses to current known or theoretical science in order to have as much realism as possible, despite the fact that this would be for a decid... | [
{
"answer_id": 69920,
"author": "SRM",
"author_id": 26246,
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If a river flows from ocean into lake, you better have another river that flows out of the lake into someplace... | 2017/02/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/69918",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/32453/"
] | After hearing about Alex the African Gray Parrot, and knowing how intelligent ravens are, just how smart could a brain of that size become?
I would like to limit the responses to current known or theoretical science in order to have as much realism as possible, despite the fact that this would be for a decidedly non-h... | Normally, a lake will have a fresh water river flowing into it from higher ground, and a river flowing out of it to the sea.
```
Fresh water source
\
\
--- Lake ---
\
\
... |
71,877 | <p>In <em>The Walking Dead</em>, the survivors have seen plenty a wall. From Woodsbury, to Wellington, to Alexandrea, they are all different and they all have their advantages. One issue that none of them have managed to fulfill yet is the gate though.
Every wall in the walking dead, and in history, has one major weak... | [
{
"answer_id": 71880,
"author": "AndreiROM",
"author_id": 15059,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/15059",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Human engineering can, 100%, keep out a horde of zombies. In <em>The Walking Dead</em> things fail becau... | 2017/02/21 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/71877",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/11049/"
] | In *The Walking Dead*, the survivors have seen plenty a wall. From Woodsbury, to Wellington, to Alexandrea, they are all different and they all have their advantages. One issue that none of them have managed to fulfill yet is the gate though.
Every wall in the walking dead, and in history, has one major weakness, the ... | We humans are pretty good at building gates to keep people out. We've been doing it for a long time for military purposes and to stop thieves.
Why Do We Have Gates?
=====================
Because there has to be some way for friendlies to get through the defenses while keeping the bad guys out.
From a military perspe... |
72,387 | <p>There is a terrestrial planet called <strong>Paveiha</strong> that orbits a small Red Dwarf star. It is the third planet in a system of 10 planets. Paveiha is close enough to the Sun that it is tidally locked and the planet itself has three moons. Two small irregular moons and one major spherical moon, <strong>Jeah<... | [
{
"answer_id": 72395,
"author": "Atlas the Worldbuilder",
"author_id": 27889,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/27889",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me preface this by saying that, as a mortal, non-omnipotent being, I cannot know all ou... | 2017/02/27 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/72387",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/33954/"
] | There is a terrestrial planet called **Paveiha** that orbits a small Red Dwarf star. It is the third planet in a system of 10 planets. Paveiha is close enough to the Sun that it is tidally locked and the planet itself has three moons. Two small irregular moons and one major spherical moon, **Jeah**, which is the focus ... | Simulation setup
================
I ran a simulation with your worlds in [Rebound](http://rebound.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html) using Python. I have my setup on github if you want to [take a look at it](https://github.com/kingledion/worldbuilding). The file is
```
orbit_noble_170301.py
```
Results
=======
... |
72,458 | <p>The main trait of my story originates from a village in what's now the Belgian city of Tongeren, around 1000 BC in our timeline. Anyone born there after that trait arrived will have the trait, as will their children, recursively, regardless of where they are born. The trait doesn't have a single Patient Zero like Mi... | [
{
"answer_id": 72470,
"author": "Willk",
"author_id": 31698,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/31698",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The genetics underlying this story point to your space empire being a culture of genocidal matriarchal witch... | 2017/02/28 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/72458",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/227/"
] | The main trait of my story originates from a village in what's now the Belgian city of Tongeren, around 1000 BC in our timeline. Anyone born there after that trait arrived will have the trait, as will their children, recursively, regardless of where they are born. The trait doesn't have a single Patient Zero like Mitoc... | Estimating the spread within a population
=========================================
Initially, one person has this trait. Assuming it is passed on each time, to children of either sex (which it seems like you are implying) then we can estimate the number of generations it would take for everyone in a population of siz... |
73,073 | <p>We're starting off with a Japanese mythical creature, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki-onna" rel="noreferrer">Yuki-Onna</a>. Now the specifics of this being vary quite a bit from one tale to another, so let me be specific what this being is about. Keep in mind that this is <strong>my</strong> version,... | [
{
"answer_id": 73085,
"author": "Paul TIKI",
"author_id": 31273,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/31273",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not certain a fireball would do much more than surface damage to a creature like this in most instan... | 2017/03/05 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/73073",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/23068/"
] | We're starting off with a Japanese mythical creature, the [Yuki-Onna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki-onna). Now the specifics of this being vary quite a bit from one tale to another, so let me be specific what this being is about. Keep in mind that this is **my** version, and may therefore deviate from popularly he... | >
> *The problem I am having is this. Ice (frozen water particles) should melt in layers, which would then need even more energy (heat) to vaporize. So, in theory, Fire shouldn't be 'super effective' against ice. It would take too long to be effective.*
>
>
>
What you're describing is [ablative armor](https://en.w... |
73,432 | <p>In the anime <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWBY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RWBY</a> most characters have crazy weapons with multiple forms, like a <a href="http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Crescent_Rose" rel="nofollow noreferrer">scythe, that’s also a gun</a>, or a <a href="http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Ember_Celica... | [
{
"answer_id": 73441,
"author": "L.Dutch",
"author_id": 30492,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/30492",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These steps may help (no numbers provided):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Engineer your blade so that it is stiff when ... | 2017/03/09 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/73432",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/28789/"
] | In the anime [RWBY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWBY) most characters have crazy weapons with multiple forms, like a [scythe, that’s also a gun](http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Crescent_Rose), or a [gauntlet, that’s also a gun](http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Ember_Celica) or a [sword, that’s also a scythe AND a gun](http://rw... | Is it possible? Yes, but not the way you think it will be.
Theoretically, you could create the weapon you're describing by designing a "hybrid" weapon.
We can avoid some of the things you think are difficult by designing the weapon as such:
```
/| |\ /| and |\ represent the two blades of sword
||[]||... |
77,819 | <p>I had a talk with my friend about limitless.</p>
<p>Imagine if we had a drug that</p>
<pre><code>Increases intelligence
Increases success
No side effect or no side effect
Makes people more creative
</code></pre>
<p>Would it be legal?</p>
<p>Most people would agree that it would be illegal. That's because most hu... | [
{
"answer_id": 77821,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The first country that adds it to their water supply would gain a large boost. With no side effects it wil... | 2017/04/11 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/77819",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/16350/"
] | I had a talk with my friend about limitless.
Imagine if we had a drug that
```
Increases intelligence
Increases success
No side effect or no side effect
Makes people more creative
```
Would it be legal?
Most people would agree that it would be illegal. That's because most humans don't really care about the dangers... | The first country that adds it to their water supply would gain a large boost. With no side effects it will be widely used by anyone that can afford it. Some will object but with no side effects they barely have any arguments. |
77,856 | <p>After playing some <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/HyperRogue" rel="nofollow noreferrer">HyperRogue</a>, I got interested in the use of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_geometry" rel="nofollow noreferrer">hyperbolic geometry</a> in WorldBuilding, in particular how an area gr... | [
{
"answer_id": 78064,
"author": "JDługosz",
"author_id": 885,
"author_profile": "https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your answer depends on what is meant by “notice”.</p>\n\n<p>Consider a parking lot. Perhaps a pedestrian won... | 2017/04/11 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/77856",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/8914/"
] | After playing some [HyperRogue](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/HyperRogue), I got interested in the use of [hyperbolic geometry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_geometry) in WorldBuilding, in particular how an area grows exponentially with respect to its radius.
Let's say that the universe is... | Using [this formula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_geometry#Circles_and_disks) we can calculate the curvature $$K \approx -0.313339 \text{ per mi}^2$$
Using this, we can the radius of a Euclidean disk v.s. a disk in this world.
```
Area Euclidean Radius Actual Radius
---------------- ---... |
79,003 | <p>First of all, this website is a dream come true. I'm a total sucker for this stuff.</p>
<p>Secondly, I love astronomy and worldbuilding, and lately, I've been thinking of a hypothetical situation, and was wondering if such a thing was actually possible.</p>
<p>A planet orbits a gas giant. Let's say (for reference'... | [
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"answer_id": 79004,
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"text": "<p>No.</p>\n\n<p>An orbit is elliptic (instead of linear as Newton's First Law predicts) because the planet is ... | 2017/04/24 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/79003",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/37399/"
] | First of all, this website is a dream come true. I'm a total sucker for this stuff.
Secondly, I love astronomy and worldbuilding, and lately, I've been thinking of a hypothetical situation, and was wondering if such a thing was actually possible.
A planet orbits a gas giant. Let's say (for reference's sake) the gas g... | A 1 year long orbit around Jupiter does not work
================================================
Orbital mechanics is actually pretty straightforward mathematically. There are rigidly defined formulas controlling what can and cannot happen.
The formula for distance of the less massive body (Earth) from the more mass... |
79,048 | <p>I am creating my own Sci-Fi military that has its own unique rank structure, however I am trying to make it comparable to real world, modern military forces. I am also combining all branches into a single force, so obviously the overlap is going to skew things a bit. </p>
<p>That said, I'm having trouble finding in... | [
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"answer_id": 79051,
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"text": "<h1>There is a big difference between now (peace) and then (war)</h1>\n\n<p>First, this question fluctuate... | 2017/04/24 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/79048",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/34793/"
] | I am creating my own Sci-Fi military that has its own unique rank structure, however I am trying to make it comparable to real world, modern military forces. I am also combining all branches into a single force, so obviously the overlap is going to skew things a bit.
That said, I'm having trouble finding info on how ... | For modern armies, the basic ranks, understood by everybody, are as follows (shamelessly copied from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_(military))):
```
Typical units Typical numbers Typical commander
---------------- --------------- -------------------------------
fireteam ... |
79,716 | <p>I thought of two questions regarding ringworld structures in solar systems with results I can't assume, so I will try to describe each (assume stability):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If a (toroidal) ringworld were massive enough, bodies or planets nearby would orbit it in a spiral fashion along its length, as opposed to in dis... | [
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"text": "<p>There are aspects of this question which make it quite tricky to answer. The physics demonstration of ch... | 2017/05/01 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/79716",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/26724/"
] | I thought of two questions regarding ringworld structures in solar systems with results I can't assume, so I will try to describe each (assume stability):
1. If a (toroidal) ringworld were massive enough, bodies or planets nearby would orbit it in a spiral fashion along its length, as opposed to in discrete orbits "in... | ### TL;DR: Yes, helical motion around a ringworld is possible. However, it is far from uniform at larger distances (≥ 0.04 AU).
### Summary of results:
For a toroidal ringworld with mass
$M\_R = 3 M\_\text{star} = 3M\_\odot$, central radius $ a = 1 \text{ AU}$ and
inner radius $b = 10^{-4} a \simeq 15000\text{ km}$... |
79,741 | <p>Or really, how could soldiers from the 21st century convince anyone living in antiquity that their weapons and technology are based on principles of science and engineering rather than witchcraft and black magic? I have a situation in which famous soldiers, warriors, demigods, and military/political leaders from all... | [
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"answer_id": 79749,
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"text": "<p>The Amazonians would understand these things as an extension of advanced tech they do understand, which woul... | 2017/05/01 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/79741",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/21870/"
] | Or really, how could soldiers from the 21st century convince anyone living in antiquity that their weapons and technology are based on principles of science and engineering rather than witchcraft and black magic? I have a situation in which famous soldiers, warriors, demigods, and military/political leaders from all pe... | After they had ambushed and dissected one, they would see that they are just men/women with fancy gear. Sooner or later someone will get careless. But they would know well before that just by observation.
```
Primitive != 'Stupid'
``` |
80,061 | <p>A group of 35 superhumans from the future get trapped on the alternative Earth still in the Dark Ages. Banding together they take control of a small country and establish themselves up as kings and nobles. They seek to preserve their superhuman traits, but at the same time they want to prevent inbreeding. Every gen... | [
{
"answer_id": 80072,
"author": "kingledion",
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"text": "<h1>Depends on how much power you want to lose</h1>\n\n<p>Based on the information in this <a href=\"https... | 2017/05/04 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/80061",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/17551/"
] | A group of 35 superhumans from the future get trapped on the alternative Earth still in the Dark Ages. Banding together they take control of a small country and establish themselves up as kings and nobles. They seek to preserve their superhuman traits, but at the same time they want to prevent inbreeding. Every generat... | Depends on how much power you want to lose
==========================================
Based on the information in this [answer](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/6/23519), assume we need a minimum founder population of 400. Other answers suggest as low as 80 with good medical support, but that seems like it wi... |