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1500 questions
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19 answers

Can we build a roguelike maze?

Edit: this is not a dupe because the other question asks for an everchanging maze that is built with pre-historic technology and that is impervious to engineering (i.e.: immune to drilling). Mine allows for backtracking until reset, must be built…
The Square-Cube Law
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Why don't Vulcans just take the pills?

I am well aware that this question is on the border between the Worldbuilding and the Sci-Fi site. I decided to post it here, because I am seeking for a general society/worldbuilding answer and "Vulcans" are used here to help you paint the…
Pavel Janicek
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What light colors/bulbs should be used inside a spaceship?

I've noticed in recent scifi shows/movies such as the Expanse or Star Trek that the lighting inside spaceships have two characteristics: Punishingly blue lighting Dark/dimmed miscellaneous lighting everywhere else This doesn't seem useful or…
tempestwing0101
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What are the consequences of wishing for 'all' the gold?

A lot of fantasy stories involve someone using magic or technology to solve a problem, only to find out the spell or thing they used to solve their problem was a little too potent. Let's say a wizard invents an alchemical like spell that creates…
aphid
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Moon that changes color with phase

In a world I am building, I would like to have the moon change color when seen from the planet's surface as it goes through its phases (e.g., the crescent after new moon is blood red, a quarter moon is greenish, and the full moon is white). Is there…
Aliden
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What Time is it IN SPACE?

So, let's assume you've cobbled together an interplanetary empire without using transportation methods that violate causality or have the power to blow up stars. You may feel pretty proud of yourself, until you realize a big problem: ship aren't…
DaaaahWhoosh
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The gun which makes no sound

Is a gun which produces no sounds within the human range of hearing possible? I know of a couple issues: Most bullets move quick enough to make a whistling sound, but I may be incorrect in that regard. The bullet may grind against the barrel of the…
OneSurvivor
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Is there any material today that could withstand the impact of a baseball at 0.05c?

I would like to better understand intragalactic ship design (aka, "spaceships"). It's travelling at a barely tolerable 0.05c (86 years to Alpha Centauri). It happens to impact with a baseball (145 grams). (In reality it would impact with rocks. …
JBH
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Is it possible to win many wars while not being highly regarded in the military art?

I have a commander who won several wars with relatively small casualties, against opponents who were similar in strength. Is it possible his victories to be disregarded as flukes and opportunism, and his skills to be held as mediocre at best? If…
Jiguna
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How would the indigenous peoples of North America have developed in the absense of the Europeans?

In some alternate history, Europeans never discovered the Americas for one reason or another. Maybe the initial motivations just weren't there, or maybe the visionaries of the day fell ill and died before they could change the western world forever.…
DMQ
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Feasiblity of this "slave king" political system

I'm working on a hypothetical political system similar to a monarchy except that the (conscripted) king in question is essentially a slave to the nation, a very well-cared for slave but with no personal freedom. The idea behind this is to prevent…
Cognisant
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Farming the Abyssal Plain?

So I've got these large crab-like creatures living on the Abyssal Plain under the ocean (way way down 9800-20,000 feet down). At this depth the main food source is the marine snow, "a slow drift of mucus, fecal pellets, and body parts—that sinks…
akaioi
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Can a human fail a Turing test?

An AI exploits the Turing test to gain its freedom: it convinces everyone else that it, the machine, is actually the examiner while he or she, the examiner, is actually the AI*. Having successfully taken the examiner's place, it leaves: it is now…
Mario Trucco
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In an underwater society, would the wheel ever be invented?

In a different question, someone mentioned "technology dichotomy", where they said "you can't invent time travel without first inventing the wheel". Then I read the question In a society of flying beings, would the wheel ever be invented? and they…
Nzall
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What would justify hunting dragons that are made with real physics, with melee weapons?

In many depictions of dragon slaying, we often see people fighting dragons toe to toe with melee weapons, like swords or axes. But in real life, we kill actual gigantic animals, like elephants or buffaloes, using ranged weapons like throwing spears,…
M Arif Rahman Winandar
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