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1500 questions
611
votes
20 answers
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 individuals within the European Union (EU) and…
Pavel Janicek
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395
votes
25 answers
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 Facebook announcement and Facebook automatically…
Tim B
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326
votes
42 answers
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. (Yes, this assumes a model in which…
Mason Wheeler
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320
votes
25 answers
Tomorrow is Groundhog Day... For everyone. How does society respond?
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 the street who got hit by a car -- his leg is just…
IchabodE
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286
votes
24 answers
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 single law stole so much from us!"
This made me wonder…
Giacomo Tesio
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252
votes
24 answers
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 perfectly fine. Now, he has received a third gift…
Pavel Janicek
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- 28
- 143
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228
votes
13 answers
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!
After I returned back, telling everyone that I shot…
Pavel Janicek
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220
votes
19 answers
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. Most importantly, it fits in the pocket of your…
Serban Tanasa
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218
votes
23 answers
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 to all of Existence.
Jimmy thinks that humans will…
Joe Bloggs
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216
votes
32 answers
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 what day I can return home?
I can count days, but…
Tristan Klassen
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204
votes
18 answers
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 its growth (enough food and space)
lizard-like…
Sheraff
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202
votes
24 answers
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 several Prothean messages last until the in-game…
Nerrolken
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196
votes
40 answers
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 devote their time to the study of magical arts and…
Kys
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191
votes
23 answers
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 factors would indicate to a person that they're…
LDR
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185
votes
14 answers
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 dominated landscapes of the former United States.
The…
kingledion
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