Most active questions
24 questions from the last 7 days
14
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12
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4k
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What can cause (military) rank DEflation instead of rank INflation
We've all heard the jokes about there being more admirals than ships in the fleet and we've all cracked quips about North Korean Flag Officers running around absolutely covered in medals. We've ...
- 939
8
votes
12
answers
3k
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How to not get blood on you in close-quarters combat?
The pre-industrial humans of my world have noticed that if you intentionally do violence to someone and some of that person's blood gets on your person (including what you're wearing), a fairly ...
- 1,106
3
votes
4
answers
3k
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How to ensure my giants remain undiscovered in the modern day?
My giants are around 2.7 meters tall, weigh ~240 kg, and have intelligence similar to a capuchin monkey. They are omnivorous mammals and take a digitigrade stance, with a stiff tail to support ...
- 2,032
7
votes
7
answers
1k
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Why would chemical weapons never be used in a science-fiction setting?
Chemical warfare isn’t a modern invention. How old it really is depends on what your definition of the term “chemical warfare” is, but archeological evidence of the first use of poisonous gas dates ...
- 601
3
votes
3
answers
2k
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Will water extracted/farmed/distilled from poisonous clouds be (more) potable if 'strong alcohol' was mixed in?
To put this very simply, the clouds are toxic. However, society requires water, and one of the main sources, is cloud-water farming. Another major industry of this society however, is alcohol ...
- 939
8
votes
4
answers
1k
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Would a barbed sword be off-balance/practical
So here's my idea: a sword with a sharp triangle of metal coming off the tip (which is flat, by the way). This is a broadsword, so it's two-handed and pretty heavy. I haven't settled on the length, so ...
- 103
2
votes
3
answers
1k
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How can a human have both a cat-like flexible spine and maintain stability?
I have a group of people living in my fictional world who have some of the traits of cats (ignore how this happened). These traits include a spine with shorter vertebrae and longer intervertebral ...
- 2,032
2
votes
3
answers
467
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Ozondo System question 2: Effects of a high-gravity cold world on early spaceflight?
Link to the previous question: Review my solar system
Now on this question I want to zoom in on Thoria, the third planet from the star and the only habitable one (for carbon-oxygen based lifeforms ...
- 103
1
vote
2
answers
408
views
Black holes as explosives
I realize that there have been other posts on this topic, but I'm going to try and go basic. We know that eventually a black hole will release a lot of radiation (aka explode-ish). but my question is ...
- 103
3
votes
3
answers
402
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The Anu Project, #1: What would the mass of a Gas Giant have to be to support 25+ Moons?
Overview:
The Anu project is a series of questions about a Gas Planet that puts the Giant in Gas Giant, as well as its extensive collection of Moons.
World Summary:
The world in question follows a ...
- 179
0
votes
1
answer
133
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What would make solar eclipses a monthly occurrence?
What conditions on another planet might make a solar eclipse a monthly event? My thinking was this planet has a satellite maybe 1.2 - 1.3 times the size of our moon, as seen from its surface (so it ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
131
views
Do I need to add other passive defenses against my character's (human) lightning superpowers?
I want to give one of my characters the ability to shoot lightning from their fingers.
How do his ability work? The process itself consists of ionization through the psychokinetic movement of air ...
- 305
1
vote
3
answers
238
views
My crab-like creature underneath a 5 km thick ice: Please review my idea
Please review my creature
This is a member of the phylum xivapoda (14 legged in Latin) in this world and is very crab-like, with the exception that it is up to 10 meters tall measured from base of leg ...
- 444
-2
votes
2
answers
124
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Can I violate thermodynamics with a naked singularity and Unified Field Theory? [closed]
A while ago, I met a big bully named Thermodynamics. I couldn't deal with the concept of false immortality, so I resolved to tape a very loud thing to his back, and send him to sleep with the ...
-2
votes
2
answers
90
views
What would I call a human “litter”? [closed]
So I have a humanoid race that gives birth to 7-12 kids at a time. What would I call this? I call it a litter in my head but that’s for non-human animals and it would be very weird for humanoids. If ...
