Most Popular
1500 questions
63
votes
14 answers
How to find out a year I'm in?
Let's assume I can travel in a space-time on Earth. Every time I jump I get to almost the same place, but in different past time relative to the first jump: it solves the problem of planet rotation, orbital moving, etc. Also if there is an obstacle…
abyss.7
- 643
- 1
- 5
- 8
63
votes
19 answers
How can there be different religions in a world where gods have been proven to exist?
In a world where gods can be seen by the inhabitants of that world, how can multiple religions even hope to form? If the gods choose to show people that they exist, regardless of area or person, I fail to see how the worshipers could believe…
TrEs-2b
- 56,200
- 37
- 215
- 437
63
votes
9 answers
How does the Booze-Rat fuel its defensive mechanism?
Of all the creatures in Hatjörn's dominion, there is none as peculiar as the Murinae Spirita, the mean booze-rat. A vermin so resilient that has developed the most wondrous means of defence and thus survival.
Excerpt from Hjårdan Animaliæ
Welcome…
dot_Sp0T
- 12,111
- 3
- 54
- 105
63
votes
33 answers
How to Kill the Thought-Crime Killer
Joe Schmoe was six years old when he killed his best friend; it wasn't his fault, it was just the way that he was made...
Joe was born with an auto-telepathic telekinetic feedback ability - he has the ability to unconsciously kill anyone who has…
user10945
63
votes
11 answers
Why is this creature afraid of water but not of body or plant fluids?
I have a creature or more accurately creatures that I have a problem with. I can't figure out why it is afraid of water.
They are land based tiny tiny little piranha like organisms that work in unison. Each individual organism is about the size of…
EveryBitHelps
- 12,927
- 5
- 46
- 105
63
votes
3 answers
Is there a maximum size an ocean bound creature could grow to?
Assuming the ocean is deep enough and not overcrowded is there any upper limits to the size a "sea monster" can grow?
On land creatures are limited by gravity, they have to be able to generate the forces required to move (not to mention hunt, escape…
Liath
- 18,600
- 11
- 96
- 135
63
votes
12 answers
How can I get my DeLorean to 88 miles per hour without a train?
I got pulled into 1885, just like Doc and Marty (Or I'm one of them, assuming I can get IP rights :)). I need to go back to the future, which means that I need to get my Ford Pinto time machine up to . . . well, you know, 88 miles per hour.
The…
user4239
- 4,727
- 1
- 19
- 42
63
votes
16 answers
Speedrun to the moon in one lifetime?
Imagine you have a large population of adolescent humans (as large as you need) on a completely uncultivated Earth, initially containing no artificial structures whatsoever, only natural resources. Suppose, however, that these people possess the…
Franklin Pezzuti Dyer
- 3,351
- 13
- 23
63
votes
30 answers
What are the conditions in which a creature would evolve more than one brain?
Would any creature ever need to evolve a second (or multiple) brain(s)? If so, under what conditions, why, and what implications would it have on the creature's intelligence?
Note that while an octopus' arms are independent from its brain, the…
Aify
- 18,987
- 11
- 65
- 96
63
votes
20 answers
What could a self-sustaining lunar colony slowly lose that would ultimately prove fatal?
I've got a lunar colony that was set up to be self-sustaining before a collapse of life on Earth. The colony has survived on its own for several thousand years through a period of technological regression. But now they've recovered to roughly their…
aaronius
- 621
- 1
- 5
- 5
63
votes
11 answers
How Would a Post-Planetary Civilization Measure Time?
Our perception of time is steeped in the rhythms of our world, and blended with the most ancient of superstitions, decrees and mathematical conveniences. Thus we have days that track our world's rotation relative to the sun (or the sun's apparent…
Serban Tanasa
- 60,095
- 35
- 188
- 310
63
votes
19 answers
Zero Privacy: Culture
In this future, technology advances in such a way that privacy becomes obsolete. In other words, no one has decided to give up privacy, it's just that trying to hold onto it is like trying to keep the horse and buggy around when everyone else has…
Dan Smolinske
- 34,650
- 7
- 70
- 144
63
votes
14 answers
What would be the impact of a modern programmer and laptop being dropped into World War II, possibly breaking Enigma?
I've always found the idea of intelligent every-man sent back in time using his knowledge of the future tech to realistically impact the past. The first time something like this came to my mind was in computer science class when it finally struck…
dsollen
- 33,524
- 8
- 105
- 223
63
votes
14 answers
How does Santa fit down the chimney?
I have evidence that at some point last night a very large man, with a very large sack, somehow came down the chimney, left a gift under my tree, and departed without my noticing. There are sooty footprints in the carpet leading from the fireplace,…
Separatrix
- 117,733
- 38
- 261
- 445
62
votes
38 answers
Why would technology dictate graphical interfaces to be rare on spaceships?
This question differs from that question in that the other question is asking about a change in history while this question is looking for a change in the future.
In a near future setting I am working on, humans have built space-habitats and have…
dot_Sp0T
- 12,111
- 3
- 54
- 105