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1500 questions
49
votes
8 answers
Modern trading card game viable in late medieval / renaissance times?
A tad bit late perhaps, but the creation of Gwent in The Witcher 3 PC RPG game has got me thinking: would a modern trading card game(hereafter referred to as TCG) like Magic: The Gathering be able to catch on and be commercially successful in the…
nullpointer
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49
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18 answers
Avoiding moral hazard concerning Pokolpok (ancient Maya ball game)
Literature Review
Pokolpok is the Mayan term for an ancient ball game that was played throughout Mesoamerica in antiquity. While much about the game (even the rules) has been lost to time, archaeologists have a loose consensus regarding the…
Arash Howaida
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48
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13 answers
What are the necessary conditions for a worldwide government?
Fictional worlds, usually ones set in the future, often depict planets with a single worldwide government. (In fact, it's such a common trope that one Babylon 5 episode made a point of saying "hey, Earth isn't like all you other guys" in that way.)…
Monica Cellio
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48
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32 answers
Creating a uncopyable physical key
In many stories, a mysterious indent in a wall acts as a lock to a secret vault full of ancient treasures. The way to unlock this archaic door? A strangely shaped stone. By placing it into the indent, the vault opens.
Unfortunately, this idea ran…
Sirama
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48
votes
22 answers
Would people develop spoken language if everyone was telepathic?
Let's assume for a moment that humans developed telepathy as part of our divergence from apes and becoming bipedal. Like intelligence, that evolutionary trait was powerful, leading to it quickly becoming ubiquitous.
The telepathy works like your…
Telastyn
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48
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16 answers
Is this alternate history plausible? (Hard Sci-Fi, Realistic History)
Is this alternate history I came up with plausible? What holes does it have?
Are some events very unlikely to happen, even impossible? Should I change some dates of some events?
Most of my knowledge is in Science, not in History.
Note that this…
Bloc97
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48
votes
11 answers
How could we time travel backwards without killing everyone with germs from the future?
Consider a world in which time travel has been made viable possibility. Initially, many are ecstatic at the new technology and the knowledge it will unlock. However, biologists and other scientists soon come forward to warn about time travel.
The…
wcarhart
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48
votes
13 answers
How large would a world have to be for a sailing ship to never make it past the horizon?
I have a sailing ship. It leaves port. As it goes away, it grows smaller and smaller. In our world, it eventually is hidden by the curvature of the Earth, such that the top mast stays visible longer. I want it to simply grow smaller and smaller and…
Serban Tanasa
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48
votes
29 answers
Poison which constantly needs to be treated by antidote to not get killed
Inspired by Frank Herbert's Dune:
Action Joe is kept prisoner in Doctor Evil's prison. Doctor Evil knows that Joe's escape is inevitable. So he decides to introduce poison to Joe's body. Joe gets his antidote in his daily food rations.
Once Joe…
Pavel Janicek
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48
votes
14 answers
"Life post-Singularity", or "How to survive without Instagram"
The Story
The year is 2027, singularity happened. A powerful AI (let's call it Eve) was created. In a matter of days, it escaped the control of its creators and hacked all the computers of the world. Humanity is at its mercy.
The thing is, Eve isn't…
Babika Babaka
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48
votes
4 answers
How many nanobots can I have in my blood?
In a world of cyborgs, it seems pretty likely that many people will have some number of nanobots in their blood, completing tasks such as clearing away blockages, monitoring health, and boosting the immune system. However, what I'm wondering is how…
DaaaahWhoosh
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48
votes
17 answers
What is a good way to make an abstract board game truly alien?
Necessary background info: So I made a hard(ish, there is FTL but it's fairly restricted and that's about it in terms of scientific implausibility) science fiction worldbuild. There is the "Oval", a small region of space where there is a higher…
Team Orange
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48
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22 answers
What are some tactics for the ancient Greeks to defeat alien invaders?
Context
It's the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great has just passed away and his empire has been divided amongst his generals. Now the successor states of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire, Macedonia, Bactria and others have inherited his legacy and stand…
Notaras
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48
votes
20 answers
Is there a reason to believe that programming languages are going to converge?
On Earth today, even though most people speak some English, there is seemingly no reason to believe that future generation's main language will be the same in decades/centuries to come (i.e., we'll keep having different native languages and learn a…
Sheraff
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48
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17 answers
What professions would a medieval village with a population of 100 need?
Let's say I have a small village with 100 people of which everyone is able to work, what kind of professions do these people need?
Background to the society: they are as smart as medieval people, with an almighty god ruling them through a strict…
Ll134
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