Highest scored questions
38,951 questions
617
votes
20
answers
111k
views
How can Santa keep his lists when the GDPR is around?
For my non-European readers, here is an excerpt of what the GDPR means: (emphasis mine)
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all ...
- 45.6k
399
votes
25
answers
48k
views
How would Facebook Sysadmins prevent the summoning of Cthulhu?
So, I've got this idea for a short story. Some researchers find a forgotten manuscript hidden locked away in an ancient tomb. While they are working on it one of them pastes part of the text into a ...
- 77.4k
330
votes
42
answers
76k
views
How do you prove you're from the future?
Let's say a time traveler from the year 2100 comes back to the year 2015. He has a very important message: [horrible thing] is about to happen soon, and he wants to warn us so we can avoid/prevent it....
- 8,159
320
votes
25
answers
31k
views
Tomorrow is Groundhog Day... For everyone. How does society respond? [closed]
You wake up tomorrow, and it's Wednesday again. Everybody remembers it, but whatever was physically done today is undone. Your favorite mug, which the dog knocked over, is un-broken. The kid down ...
- 5,698
289
votes
24
answers
59k
views
What's the smallest change to physics required to allow magic?
Yesterday my 7-year-old daughter asked me:
Why can't I do magic for real?
I answered: because of the law of conservation of energy! And I briefly explained this law.
Thus she grumbled, "a ...
- 3,041
254
votes
24
answers
74k
views
How to safely check if you are immortal?
My hero lived his ordinary life until recently, when he realized that Magic actually exists. So far, he has been granted levitation for a short period, and invisibility for several hours.
Both worked ...
- 45.6k
231
votes
13
answers
36k
views
Is there a single historic event which could be changed to cause the USA to use SI units?
I am time traveller with aim to make world better. Last time I went to the past, all I heard was: "Kill Hitler!"
So I went to the past and I must tell you, April 1945 was pretty loud in Berlin!
...
- 45.6k
223
votes
19
answers
20k
views
What's the most reasonable way to fit Monsters in your Pocket?
Say you have a hollow sphere, about the size of a (small) grapefruit, comprised of a (let's say red) top half and a (let's say white) bottom half. There's an articulated lid, and an LED on the front. ...
- 60.5k
219
votes
23
answers
23k
views
How can a Horror from Beyond Reason reliably communicate with mortals?
Jimmy is an Eldritch Monstrosity.
Jimmy has a Red Ball.
Jimmy wants someone to play with him and his Red Ball.
All of Jimmy's friends are busy trying to Overturn the Cosmic Order and bring Chaos ...
- 66.6k
214
votes
32
answers
35k
views
I'm stranded on an alien planet. How do I measure an earth year without a clock?
I just got shoved through a stargate onto a planet I don't know. I was told the gate would open again in exactly one Earth year.
I wasn't carrying anything; I don't even have my watch. How do I know ...
- 5,559
206
votes
19
answers
84k
views
How could dragons be explained without magic?
Dragons are a grand classic of fantasy. For this question, let's assume we're talking about the following stereotype:
hatches from an ostrich-sized egg and can grow to mountain size if nothing limits ...
- 12.5k
202
votes
24
answers
27k
views
How might modern humans leave a message for 50,000 years?
I recently played my way through the Mass Effect game series, and one of the ideas I found most intriguing was the emphasis placed on "time capsules" sent from one cycle to the next: not only did ...
- 3,568
197
votes
40
answers
33k
views
How do I protect my shop from teleporters?
I live in a world where magic is common. Most people have enough magic to do simple tasks like lighting a candle or healing minor injuries. Higher magic is very rare, and those individuals mostly ...
- 5,495
193
votes
23
answers
46k
views
If everyone in the world disappeared except 35 random people, how long would it take for one of them to realize they're not alone?
Everyone suddenly disappears from earth except 35 people randomly scattered wherever they were before everyone disappeared. How long would it take on average for 2 or more people to meet? What other ...
- 1,619
191
votes
14
answers
26k
views
Humans are Gone: Do the Chickens Make It?
Some hundreds of years ago, all humanity was removed from the Americas. In fact, most humans are gone from the world altogether. In the intervening time, nature has overrun the formerly human ...
- 85.9k