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1500 questions
41
votes
26 answers
The abundance of which material would provide the most improvement to world economy?
The World has just received an official communication: on December the 21st 2022 we will receive a special visit.
Techno Mage Master Balmelgas will be visiting Earth on his wonder ship Sol Invictus.
His purpose: to adopt a Rose.
In exchange he will…
Duncan Drake
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41
votes
14 answers
What would be the ideal melee weapon for someone with superhuman strength?
Many video games and movies set in a medieval-like fantasy setting feature implausibly huge weapons, which would be completely impractical in real combat.
Sometimes people defend the realism of such huge weapons by stating that the characters…
vsz
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41
votes
7 answers
Just How Powerful Could a Mechanical Computer Be?
We've all heard about the 1822 Babbage Difference Engine and other mechanical computer ideas of the 19th century. Sadly, Babbage's computer and printer ideas were never implemented in our world†, and computers did not exist until the 1940s.
Now…
Serban Tanasa
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41
votes
12 answers
Differences in mindset between people born in space and people born planetside
In my world, humanity has populated the stars and now lives in isolated groups in single star systems. Most people never leave the system they were raised in [interstellar travel is very unusual, but not unheard of]. In these star systems, there are…
sprout
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41
votes
11 answers
Most efficent way to transmit binary data by human voice
Suppose two people want to transmit some binary data (a png image perhaps) by voice.
Two of my characters want to share binary data but they can only use their voice and no other form of communication is possible.
By "voice", I mean any sounds that…
Cookie04
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41
votes
15 answers
How to go about creating an "inaccurate" map?
We have a professional cartographer, who travels, creates maps, duplicates them, and sells them to people as he travels. Unfortunately, he is not the best at his job - and he has nothing other than a compass, paper, and quill (and ink).
I would…
DoubleDouble
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41
votes
36 answers
Why would a sleeper ship be designed to only wake one person in case of emergency?
Starliners are huge colony ships. They carry enough equipment, building materials, embryos, colonists and nutrient rich rations to permanently establish a sizeable colony on a far-flung world. Although they’re big, they aren’t designed to act as…
Joe Bloggs
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41
votes
14 answers
How many people are necessary to maintain modern civilisation?
Modern Earth; a series of connected events (natural disasters, mass migration, drug-resistant pandemic, collapse in biodiversity, armed conflict) have led to a significant reduction in human population over a single generation.
Does "civilisation"…
user65791
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41
votes
10 answers
Would life always name the light from their sun "white"
I've heard it said that white light contains all the colors in it. Our sun produces white light and that the visible spectrum is just the range we evolved to see because our atmosphere is transparent to it.
Every planet with an atmosphere in orbit…
Muuski
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41
votes
14 answers
Putting Ant-Man on house arrest
In Ant Man and the Wasp, Ant Man starts the movie on house arrest. House arrest is enforced by a standard ankle tracking monitor. Of course, this security mechanism proves woefully inadequate since, you know, he's Ant Man. He doesn't attempt to…
conman
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41
votes
23 answers
What would be the ideal power source for a cybernetic eye?
After nearly a decade of development and public prototypes, the Mizaru company is ready to unveil the cybereye. A fully cybernetic eye that provides its user/host with high definition vision, enhanced zoom for the more expensive models, and ability…
Celestial Dragon Emperor
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41
votes
17 answers
Unreliable Magic - Is it worth it?
In my world, magic is unavoidably unreliable, for example:
You have a puncture. You cast a spell to mend it and with equal probability either it is mended or another tire is punctured.
You are trying to save an injured person. You cast a spell.…
chasly - supports Monica
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41
votes
10 answers
Could a technological society develop without wood?
Imagine a world things evolved slightly different: plants never evolved into trees. There are bushes, herbs, mosses, etc, but no trees. Thus no wood to make planks, nor for building.
Given abundant resources of coal and any metals or other needed…
Levans
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41
votes
24 answers
How could intelligent animals defend against humans?
Some Context
This story is a fable set in a magic forest full of intelligent animals that live in a huge community. Maleficent depicts a forest that's very close to what I'm thinking.
The magic present in the forest allows for the growth of a myriad…
Magus
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41
votes
25 answers
What could prevent us from making alien technology if we had the schematics?
This question is inspired by Could medieval people produce automatic firearms if they had access to the schematics?
I have simply moved it forwards in time as follows:
In 2019 we receive an alien broadcast that tells us in detail how to make an FTL…
chasly - supports Monica
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