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1500 questions
42
votes
28 answers
Why buy tech from the future?
The Demonstration
You're a rich, successful CEO/capitalist working in the electronics business. Your R&D division is exceptional and routinely fabs state of the art processors at bleeding edge processes. (If it helps, you're in an equivalent…
Green
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42
votes
3 answers
Is it possible for a mine to contain both gemstones and precious metals?
I have been trying to find an answer to my question for a couple hours now but I haven't had any luck on Google though I might be searching using the wrong terms I'm not sure as I know next to nothing about mining. Anyway, could it be possible for a…
yukimoda
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42
votes
7 answers
Could a cave-in or avalanche in low gravity be dangerous?
I have a character on the surface of Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn. It has an icy surface on top of what is believed to be a liquid ocean. There is no atmosphere, though near its south polar region there are what appear to be canyons…
nanoguy
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42
votes
31 answers
A way of getting the water to the top of the tall building without electricity?
First, let me explain the situation. Post-apocalypse setting, a group of humans (let's say around a hundred of them) have to find safe places to live at, protected from animals, bandits, and other menaces. They decided on a group of tall buildings…
Bora
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41
votes
20 answers
Reasons why air travel isn't feasible, but ground travel is?
My story takes place on an Earth-like, inhabited world that is far larger than Earth, has roughly 110% of Earth's gravity, and has unusually high (and generally unexplained) EM emissions permeating its atmosphere sufficient to disrupt radio…
Brian Lacy
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41
votes
14 answers
How can I explain a one-shot, slow-to-reload laser sidearm?
I'm writing a semi-realistic science fiction story set, let's say, 500 years in the future, where humanity has colonized some of the solar system. For combat purposes, I've been playing with the idea of two common weapon types:
a semi-automatic…
Adam Rilatt
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41
votes
15 answers
Jobs for Giants in modern society
Me Gam. Me Giant. Me not very smart but me need food. Me need to find
job.
In my world Giants are a thing. And they need to eat too. In fact, they need way more food than most of us. Therefore, they need a job to make money and buy food.
First…
Dastardly
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41
votes
16 answers
A realistic option for enclosing a geographic area
So in many games you have regions that are bordered on all sides by impassible geography of some sort or another. This has always bothered me as necessary but also acts as a reminder to pull you out of the fantasy.
I am looking for some real world…
James
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41
votes
14 answers
A believable (and not irritating) proto-language
On an expedition to an inhabited planet, we encounter intelligent life. However, they are not as intelligent as we are. They have language, but it's less expressive and more concerned with the immediate - a strong vocabulary and simple grammar…
Michael Stachowsky
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41
votes
12 answers
How poor does Elven fertility need to be in order to keep the ratio of humans to elves constant?
I world-build for tabletop RPGs so I have Tolkien/DnD/Forgotten Realms like elves in mind. The assumptions are:
The ratio of humans to elves in the world has been more or less constant.
Humans live ~50 years and have 5-7 children per woman.
Elves…
Solanacea
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41
votes
5 answers
How do centaurs get enough calories to live?
This is a partner question to How do centaurs get enough oxygen to run
Centaurs are a common mythological figure, with the body of a man where a horses head would be. They usual exist in a fantasy world but lets say they are not sustained by magic…
Tim B
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41
votes
3 answers
Habitable moon of a gas giant: working out the sizes and distances
I am attempting to create fictional, stable P-Type binary system, featuring a gas giant in a stable orbit, with a habitable Earth-like moon. “Is a Jupiter-sized planet plausible in a habitable zone?” has some interesting and useful information about…
platypus-rising
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41
votes
4 answers
Will social networking sites create fake people using AI?
After further development in AI, will social networking sites create fake accounts like humans using AI and make this AI's to talk/chat to real people?
They might do this to get money through ads and make people addicted to their sites.
As many…
Amruth A
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41
votes
24 answers
What kind of spells would magicians cast in combat if the fuel to magic is very expensive
In the story I’m working on, there is a strict ruleset on how magic works, one of the main points being it needs a “fuel” to work, and that “fuel” is VERY expensive. That being, most magicians use their skills while saving the most fuel possible.…
rschpdr
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41
votes
7 answers
How long would human immunity last in space?
I won't claim to be a biologist, but I'm fairly certain that it's really hard for disease to survive in space because most bacteria and viruses need a host in order to survive for long periods of time.
So, let's say a group of very healthy…
StrangerHopeful
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