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1500 questions
62
votes
13 answers
An infinite train circling the planet that never stops
As a way to travel fast, my Earth-like planet is going to have a special train, circling it (the axis of the 'tracks' is aligned with the planet's axis of rotation).
The thing about this train - it never stops and it doesn't end - there is no first…
Yuriy S
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62
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13 answers
Safe way to eat zombies?
This answer to Making food last for a large group made me realize that using the zombies as a source of resources is pretty much never covered by genre pieces even when it is essentially a siege situation.
What ways can the besieged find to use the…
JDługosz
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62
votes
10 answers
What would it feel like on the surface of a planet while it collides with another planet?
Let's say that something horrible has happened and a Mars-sized planet is knocked out of orbit and is hurtling towards an Earth-sized planet. How much time will they have? How will this affect the inhabited planet?
Obviously the impact itself means…
Danny Reagan
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62
votes
7 answers
Realistic Santa and Reindeer
With advanced technology would it be possible to make something like the Santa in the story as well as the reindeer? If so could a realistic Santa be a human or would him and his reindeer have to be machines? Some things I was wondering are:
Is…
Anders Gustafson
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62
votes
17 answers
What would it take to build a ship capable of crossing the Pacific?
In my story, I have a small extended family of 30 to 40 individuals ranging in age from 0 to 50 who are on the run from Chinese and Japanese forces in 1400AD. No place in Asia is safe for them. By a series of lucky chances they have found a very…
Green
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62
votes
22 answers
Why are potions always brewed in extreme bulk?
This isn't a question intended for any specific setting. Rather, this is a general point of curiosity that occurred to me while brainstorming my story. Potion brewing is almost inexorably tied to the image of a cauldron. Whether it be witches…
Cyrus Drake
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62
votes
26 answers
The Benign Apocalypse
Millions of years ago, friendly aliens set up an automated process to help out other civilizations. This is a robotic help center that sends out gift packages (in the forms of large ships) that hunt out civilizations, land, and give them a boost of…
Dan Smolinske
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62
votes
15 answers
Would the human body support living on planets with a greater gravity than Earth?
I once read a novel about a prison-planet which was chosen to make the prisoners suffer. One of the different "tortures" was a gravity three times higher than that on Earth.
Would the human body support living under such a gravity? It is known that…
Garoal
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62
votes
17 answers
Modern warfare theory in a medieval setting
Let's assume a medieval lord named Gary I of Flowers lives in a "Europe-ish" continent with no gun powder or magic. Somehow, he's aware about modern warfare theory. Maybe he found out a time-traveler who happened to be an expert in warfare (and…
Guillaume C.
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62
votes
20 answers
What's the most entertaining way to prove to someone that they aren't real?
Bob is a garage physicist. By some stroke of luck (though Bob would assure you it was his sheer genius), Bob has managed to be the first person to discover that our world just recently became a simulation of itself, and he has managed to gain some…
AdamHovorka
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62
votes
41 answers
Is there such thing as a "one-person" door?
Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build him a beautiful castle. Instead, he decides to…
Radvylf Programs
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62
votes
26 answers
Why would a Dystopian government promote education to its citizens, instead of ignorance?
So, there is a dystopian government called the Union of Fascist States. It controls both North and South America, the United Kingdom, and half of Africa. The NAF is the one and only party that controls everything.
The party and secret police control…
DT Cooper
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61
votes
18 answers
How would a medieval city get cold drinks?
The title basically says what I need to ask, but I have been wondering this. I currently just say a wizard comes in and cools down the drinks, but I have started to grow out of Magic and Sorcery and more into realism. Say the city is in roughly…
user43066
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61
votes
21 answers
Prehistoric messages to the future
I'm one of the test subjects for a new device, capable of sending an individual back to any point in history. I've been told that - due to certain problems with the process - I'll arrive naked, and so have no means of returning to the present,…
Callum Bradbury
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61
votes
7 answers
How far away would an alien civilization need to be for us to not notice them?
Far away, across the vastness of space, lies an alien civilization, who are pretty similar to us. They've got ice cream, peer to peer networking, and photography. More importantly, they do lots of their communication with radio waves, just like us.…
ckersch
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