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1500 questions
41
votes
6 answers
Will majority of population dismiss a video of fight between two supernatural beings?
This question is inspired by discussion in the comments of the question What kind of supernatural powers don't break the masquerade?
TL;DR Suppose you want to create a world where beings with supernatural power live among us humans, and we are not…
slobodan.blazeski
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41
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22 answers
How do you solve the copied consciousness conundrum without killing anyone?
What do digital immortality, teleportation, the show Doctor Who, and a horror game released in 2015 have in common?
The idea of copied consciousness.
Each of these examples relies on copying the brain in some way, shape, or form.
Digital…
Zxyrra
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41
votes
22 answers
Can guns be rendered unusable by changing the atmosphere?
I have an idea for a story in a post-apocalyptic setting where guns and other explosive devices unusable or otherwise impractical.
Is it possible to do this by changing the atmosphere (either by adding, removing, or changing the proportions of the…
Beofett
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41
votes
21 answers
What kind of realistic ranged weapons would be effective in spaceship combat?
So my indomitable army of bunnies have developed space travel and built their first space ship for the exploration of the great universe. However they have a problem!
After some consultation with the great god, google, they have come to the…
Skye
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41
votes
11 answers
Would humans be able to derive nutrition from foodstuffs found on alien planets?
Suppose humans have developed the technology to travel between star systems. This might be some science-fiction method like warp drive, jump drive, peanut butter drive, hyperspace drive or whatever, or something vaguely scientific like the…
user
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41
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25 answers
Why would a civilisation choose to inhabit a single enormous vessel instead of maintaining interstellar colonies?
The setting: Very distant future, Earth is long gone/forgotten/just not around anymore. Humanity, whatever it may consist of (people, AI, something in-between) inhabits a single vast generation ship that roams the stars with no fixed destination,…
ktyldev
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41
votes
17 answers
Why do people continue to live in an unfavorable location when there are significantly greener pastures?
Backstory and Setting
I'm forging a story that starts with our protagonists living in an absolutely awful urban location. Think near-post industrial revolution, without the regulations that eventually formed in order to protect workers, the public,…
plast1k
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41
votes
13 answers
Would a sentient species be able to thrive when mating means the death of the male partner?
There is a species that is quite sentient. Its members know about the world, they have hopes and dreams and great aspirations of what they might do with their lives. They are intelligent, creative, caring, empathetic and deeply feeling individuals.…
JGaines
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41
votes
18 answers
How could a book be constructed to last forever?
The Clock of the Long Now is a clock designed to mark time for 10,000 years. That's a really long time for humans, but what if there existed a species that would see such a clock as "a bit short lived"? This species would make J. R. R. Tolkien's…
ArmanX
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41
votes
10 answers
What social and environmental factors would create a culture where wives had more than one husband
On Earth ancient cultures developed marriage system of polygamy where one husband had multiple wives. What environmental or social differences would you need to create a world with an ancient culture that had one wife with multiple husbands?
The…
Bryan McClure
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41
votes
14 answers
Everything Joe says is true. How can he most help humanity?
Please note: This is not a duplicate of my previous question, and in fact has a quite different premise.
Joe is just an average guy, aside from one passive superpower that Joe has had since he was a child and has grown up with.
He can't say, write…
Joe Bloggs
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41
votes
6 answers
Where should I land my invading fleet?
I need to land about a thousand heavy troop transports and some supporting spacecrafts, somewhere remote and preferably underpopulated. I've watched your television broadcasts and seen how previous invasions have been undermined by nosy kids and…
Henry Taylor
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41
votes
5 answers
How would an avian city be different from ours?
Imagine a city where the primary population is an avian race. Well assume for the sake of argument that these birdlike creatures have "hands" as well as wings which allows them to develop and use at least a Victorian/early 20th century level of…
Liath
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41
votes
20 answers
What would a battle between supercomputers be like with the battleground being the internet?
Assuming these supercomputers can think/reason in "internet battle terms", aka. having the capability to predict their opponents' movements and recognize patterns and prepare for different types of attacks.
What would a battle between them "look…
god of llamas
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41
votes
6 answers
What are some things to keep in mind when designing a calendar?
There are many different calendar systems on earth. Of course, since a fictional world very well may differ greatly from Earth, it makes sense for them to have their own calendar.
What are various things that should be kept in mind or thought about…
FihanoLeSugg
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