Worldbuilding Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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14 answers

From which point on would including a dragon on one side of a historical battle not be an instant victory?

Inspired by this question, I am wondering something similar. In a modern war a dragon that simply flies over enemy forces and torches them with its fire breath there are several ways of taking it down with aircraft and anti-air weapons. But in…
Thomas Jacobs
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How would Muslims adapt to follow their prayer rituals in the loss of Earth?

I am very aware that this is a deep question and I am really not an expert in Islam or Muslims, though I have tried to do my research. I know that Islam is the second-largest religion, I don't see why this wouldn't be part of my story in one form or…
SKKennell
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What is the least expensive way to annihilate humanity?

Suppose an evil genius (in 2015) wants to kill as much of humanity as possible. But he's on a budget; despite his years of stealing priceless historical artifacts, and despite having been selected for several excessively over-funded research grants,…
The name's Bob. MS Bob.
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Does a grenade kill you the same way a gun does?

Disclaimer This seems a particularly stupid question, but the more I think about it, the less trivial I find it. Worldbuilding possess the most appropriate tags. It does not fit in physics-network usual problems, and we don't have a gun-enthusiast…
Nyakouai
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How do I make a space battle both realistic, with physics in play such as no sound and weird motion, but also very epic and intense still?

I always wondered what it would look like for a Sci-Fi battle in space to occur if it were a bit more realistic. I don't plan to use any space fighters or anything like that, just big capital ships and freighters that can fire in full vacuum / zero…
Rona Mach'Valli
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8 answers

Could a submarine built during the cold war maintain pressure underwater for 50 years?

I'm working on an idea for a novel and need to know roughly if this is possible. Ideally, the characters would be able to attach another submersible (usually used for rescue) onto the sub in the modern day, and either use a hatch or cut through the…
Ross Coulbeck
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How would I limit the amount of magical bling a person could wear?

So, in my setting, there are magical weapons, armor, tools, and jewelry. They are quite the standard fare, ranging from swords that can cut better to amulets that let you breath underwater and the like. The more mundane magical items are quite cheap…
grimmsdottir
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A Bird that Never Touches Ground

Birds, as we currently know them, build nests and lay eggs on the ground. People and things with sharp teeth live on the ground. There are also things with claws and beaks up in the air, but fewer. I was wondering if a bird-like animal could exist…
Serban Tanasa
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Why would anyone build robots when they have human rights?

I have read (and answered) the question: "If true artificially intelligent robots could be built, would they be allowed human rights?". But let's explore the topic from the other direction. Let's assume that society came to the consensus that…
Philipp
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Galactic Law Enforcement - Handcuff Alternatives

So I'm building a galaxy with bunch of space-age civilizations and an galactic wide supra-nation. Something similar to the Citadel races in the Mass Effect games. Unlike those games, the most of the aliens in my story are hardly humanoid. Right now,…
Vernian42
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Dangerous pending task in world managing A.I

I've had this idea for a short novel, at the intersection of the One thousand and one nights and the Multivac (& co) short stories from Asimov. The idea is that there's some kind of super AI that was so efficient that more and more people gave it…
Jemox
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Why can't spaceships go underwater?

It is a somewhat common limitation of spaceships in some universes, that they cannot go underwater. They can land on the planet, take off into orbit, hyperdrive into the next star system, but they cannot dive in water. A different vehicle is…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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Could extreme climate zones exist next to each other?

I would love to shape my planet in a way, that allows me to have an extremely cold, icy desert, next to an extremely hot, sanddesert. By "next to", I don't mean a few hundred miles apart, with gradually equalising climate. I'm talking about a…
Olaf Klausson
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Military Tank drone, why are they not common yet?

I was wondering--why are there no self driving tanks in the US army? They seem much easier to build than a flying drone. Most of the space within the tank is wasted on instruments/cabin space for the crew. Removing all of that would allow the tank…
Fred
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What does Earth have to offer for an alien civilization

The only logical reason a alien empire was to let us join them was if we had something to offer them. After all, alien empires aren't running a charity! Let's assume that humans have discovered the effects of an alien empire in space, we do not…
TrEs-2b
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