Most Popular
1500 questions
37
votes
14 answers
How can I transition from a democracy to a dictatorship, from within the government?
Suppose I am elected the leader of the government (president, head of state, etc.) of a present-day Western style Earth nation. My government has solid support in my country's parliament, but not unrestricted support. (So I can't just propose a law…
user
- 28,950
- 16
- 108
- 217
37
votes
8 answers
Would you notice, visually, if the planet you were on was vastly larger than Earth?
By that I mean, if you are travelling about on a continent on a planet with a circumference similar to the Sun, how much further would you be able to see, and would it be noticeable, without more complex scientific instruments? Would standing on a…
MartinArrJay
- 1,058
- 8
- 15
37
votes
19 answers
What sort of world would help prevent an intelligent species from discovering evolution?
I’m working on a first contact story set in the near future where an advanced alien species arrives at Earth and reveals itself to humanity, but is utterly baffled by the diversity of life that it finds on Earth.
What kind of world and evolutionary…
Slarty
- 37,270
- 6
- 55
- 146
37
votes
20 answers
Teleportation is invented but it has nasty side-effects % of the time, how will that affect usage of the technology?
A few decades ago, a new glorious invention in our huge FTL interstellar empire was created - teleportation tech. A 2 meter cube is technologically put in a "Warp" field at one location and deployed 1 minute later at the destination (if there is a…
jo1storm
- 1,034
- 1
- 10
- 18
37
votes
7 answers
What would be the effect of a giant magical fireball burning in the ocean?
Original prompt:
"What would be the effect of a giant magic fireball burning in the ocean?
Imagine there's a magical fireball that stays in one spot in the middle of the ocean and emits heat at a constant rate that is hot enough to evaporate any…
Koborakai
- 343
- 3
- 8
37
votes
12 answers
Is It Possible to Make a Computer Virus That Acts as an Anti-virus?
After receiving answers to this question, I now know that viruses cannot be written in machine code in such a way that they can universally infect all kinds of systems. Every machine has a unique set of instructions, and processes the zeroes and…
overlord
- 6,262
- 1
- 20
- 53
37
votes
19 answers
Is it possible to encode a message in such a way that can only be read by someone or something capable of seeing into the very near future?
Say you have some way of seeing somewhere between a microsecond to 0.1 seconds into the future, or at least the most likely future. Is it possible,through something like a flip-book effect or some other illusion, to encode a message only another…
DoctorJerk
- 1,022
- 8
- 9
37
votes
9 answers
Time-traveling Combat
Introduction
This question is based on the time travel mechanic discussed in my previous question The Tricky Trouble with Two Time Travelers. I'll lay out the rules that I've decided on so far:
Certain people (you can call them rewinders) have the…
2012rcampion
- 11,968
- 3
- 32
- 64
37
votes
19 answers
What would cause a nuclear power plant to break down after 2000 years, but not sooner?
What would cause a nuclear power plant to break down after 2000 years, but not sooner?
The setting is a society in a dark age. Their ancestors were considerably more advanced than earth currently is. The society has been stagnate at close to the…
Vincent
- 2,329
- 15
- 21
37
votes
22 answers
How can an advanced civilization forget how to manufacture its technology?
My alien civilization is highly advanced. Their ancestors created wondrous things from medical devices that can cure nearly anything to warships that can defeat nearly any enemy.
The problem is they have forgotten how these things were created. …
user20762
37
votes
3 answers
How would a Reflecting-Oven-Jay Evolve?
This answer to my question about light-as-a-weapon came up with an interesting concept:
The Reflecting-Oven-Jay
This is a small African predatory bird with a perfectly smooth set of wings with an area of ~100 cm2, so maybe the size of a pigeon. It…
Tim B
- 77,061
- 25
- 205
- 327
37
votes
9 answers
What reason would an alien civilization have for building a Dyson Sphere (or Swarm) if cheap Nuclear fusion is available?
The Dyson Dilemma states that every civilization of a great enough development stage will want to capture all of the energy from its home star and surround it with a Dyson Swarm that uses solar panels to capture every last square meter of sunlight.…
SurpriseDog
- 3,883
- 4
- 21
- 35
37
votes
17 answers
Deadly, Heavier than Air Gas
In a given fantasy world, I need a deadly (yet not magical) gas that will naturally pool in low depressions and valleys.
The level of magic is not high, so I'd like it to be an actual chemical that an astute reader/player might be able to…
Danny Reagan
- 6,056
- 4
- 32
- 59
37
votes
10 answers
Managing heat dissipation in a magic wand
Backstory
You won't believe it, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm a Level 61 wizard. If you think about it, wands aren't all that hard to use. Point, invoke, joyfully watch your enemy burn in the fires of Reetath. I've watched wizards do it all my…
JBH
- 122,212
- 23
- 211
- 522
37
votes
12 answers
How to get directions in deep space?
A spaceship crew, during their interstellar travel loses control of the spaceship for a few hours due to external factors (exact factor not important). This causes the spaceship to deviate from its original course. The deviation is sudden and large…
Arkadipta Sarkar
- 531
- 4
- 7