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1500 questions
53
votes
2 answers
How would winds behave on a tidally locked planet?
If an earth-sized planet were tidally locked to a star, and was in the life zone of its star with an earth-like atmosphere, what would its wind patterns be like?
The planet would have one hot hemisphere and one cold hemisphere, so intuitively it…
ckersch
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53
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14 answers
Why would an underwater creature remain lodged to its prey?
Enter the [Insert cool and awesome Latin name here] - this species is 3 times the size of a lobster from front to tail, and a powerful hunter. Operating in swarms, they are my worlds equivalent of the piranha, except they don't really have any…
Aify
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53
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23 answers
What scientifically would make it possible that certain large bodies of water be impassable?
What scientifically would make it possible that certain large bodies of water be impassable while others that seem very similar are able to be navigated?
This is not what I am attempting to do, but as an example say in some sort of alternate history…
Random Writer
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4 answers
What would a planet spinning fast enough to allow geostationary orbit near the surface look like?
From an answer to a previous question of mine:
A planet spinning fast enough to allow geostationary orbit near the surface would result in odd side effects. Any object at rest on the equator would be moving at speed near to orbital speed. It would…
Sheraff
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53
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16 answers
What should three men and three women do if everyone else is dead?
Recently, I asked what could kill all humans except for those in low orbit. Out of the answers that popped up (which included the Ragnarök), I picked a plague as being the most desirable for my particular needs.
Some background
A virus, purposely…
overactor
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53
votes
8 answers
The Earth is teleported into interstellar space for 5 minutes. What happens?
Humanity has just developed a star drive and begun sending their first probes, and have now discovered an unstoppable force of doom approaching to destroy the solar system. Their only option is to escape to another star system, but they don't have…
JustasidequestNPC
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18 answers
How could a lost time traveller quickly and quietly determine they've arrived in 500 BC France?
A time machine malfunctions and spits a traveller from ~2015AD out in 500BC northern France. With nothing but the clothes on his back, and minimising contact with the locals (as that may risk altering timelines), how can he best determine his…
User12562
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53
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11 answers
How much would we learn from observing an FTL starship fly by?
On a mythical world almost identical to our own, deep space telescopes notice as an object appears out near the orbit of Jupiter. In the instance after its appearance, the light which bounced off it during its FTL entry into the solar system…
Henry Taylor
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53
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15 answers
Where on Earth is it easiest to survive in the wilderness?
In which wilderness area on modern-day Earth would it be easiest for a lone human to survive year-round? What resources are available there and what tools and skills would be necessary? What is the approximate minimum age necessary for this person…
Monty Wild
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53
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12 answers
Would a "ring language" be possible?
A ring species is a species, in which a population migrates in two directions and the population remains continuous as it migrates so that each sub-population can breed with its neighbors, however when the two ends of the population meet they are…
Anders Gustafson
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53
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14 answers
Can I produce a true 3D orbit?
I've been doing a little research (including reading Howard Curtis' Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students) because I want to build a solar system with a planet that has a true three-dimensional orbit. Regrettably, I'm not far enough into…
JBH
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53
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22 answers
Logical reason why my dystopian government exiles rebels instead of killing them?
So, a lot of things happened in the 20th century. In the 1930s, the second American Revolution starts, due to the hardships of the depression. Armed revolutionaries storm DC, and the USA become the UFS. The Union of Fascist States. WWII sees both…
DT Cooper
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53
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21 answers
Could an advanced alien race prevent the death of the universe?
We all know that the universe is going to die one day: all the stars will die, all the black holes will evaporate and life will be gone. But hypothetically speaking, if a super advanced alien race (let's say a few billion years more advanced than…
John Michailidis
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53
votes
7 answers
Learning new physics from a superhero
Last week, a young woman came by my physics lab. She demonstrated the telekinetic ability to rotate things from a distance. We did some quick tests, but we couldn't find any previously known phenomena which could explain this.
Now, she had to run…
user53026
53
votes
26 answers
What would induce a country to actively guard an empty wasteland?
One of my favourite stories features a major fortress built on the edge of a poorly surveyed wasteland. In that context, the Butte makes sense, as a safety measure against the unknown. Once the wastes are proved safe the garrison stayed in the…
Ash
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