dialog listlengths 4 30 | title stringlengths 15 150 | category stringclasses 14 values | dialog_time stringdate 2016-01-21 01:59:30 2018-07-01 01:34:46 |
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[
{
"message": "QuestionSo lets say a post-apocalyptic society that primarily uses steam to power everything wants to make war hammers that have their impact force enhanced through the power of steam. What ways could steam be used to basically enhance them?RequirementsNeeds to weigh no more than 400 lbs.Needs to ... | Steam Powered Hammer | worldbuilding | 2018-05-21T03:31:09.680 |
[
{
"message": "I am in pursuit of, as the title says, a multi-purpose horse, a single breed that can do all the things that the others were only specialized for: travel, labor, companionship, war, speed, strength.If dog-breeding is any indication, it's that finding the right mix takes some steps. So we start t... | The Multi-Purpose Horse: Stage I: Icelandic x Yakutian | worldbuilding | 2018-05-21T15:54:33.570 |
[
{
"message": "Suppose that a company is charged with building a communications network with contemporary levels of technology in a country with lots of perennially war torn rural areas (an ongoing asymmetric, armed insurgency or civil war, not an open near peer conventional war) on a basically Earth-like world,... | Infrastructure design considerations in a war torn world? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-22T18:25:44.500 |
[
{
"message": "So, to start my story, I need to make sure that my so called \"Defenders of Earth\" can leave Earth unnoticed (not yet sure), that's why I'm thinking of Cannons, 1000ft long, hidden beneath the earth. Then these cannons will fire the 20Ft diameter bullets at a 80 degree angle. These bullets are co... | Possibility way of exiting earth in a bullet shaped rocket | worldbuilding | 2018-05-24T05:12:21.910 |
[
{
"message": "While there are approaches to make a habitable Dyson sphere that are technically reasonable, I am curious about what the climate would be like. For simplicity, consider a scenario where a thick shell is constructed at about 3.6 million kilometres from the sun, where surface gravity would be one g.... | Has realistic climate modelling been done for inverted Dyson spheres or similar? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-26T20:14:19.143 |
[
{
"message": "Edit: I've gotten some answers now, but many of them use Neolithic settlements as examples. I wish I had the archaeological know-how to analyze these settlements' technologies and economies and overlay it onto a Mesolithic setting should it fit the bill, but sadly I don't. I'd be grateful if someo... | How would a Mesolithic community go about building a permanent settlement? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-28T15:54:44.413 |
[
{
"message": "How would a generally colder climate effect the growth of horse-nomad cultures out of the Eurasian Steppe? Could similar cultures have simply developed further south, or would it have put a hold on the series of horse nomad invasions that moved out from the Eurasian Steppes?To set the scene - we a... | What would the consequences of a longer glacial period be for modern Earth? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-29T15:23:41.843 |
[
{
"message": "I was thinking why there would be crew on a space warships when everything can be automated by even basic AI. Without crew you can pull all the gees you want with your torch-drive and no need for artificial gravity centrifuges. I thought about maybe dozens of auto-warship frigates and destroyers a... | Any reasons for crew on space warships? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-29T19:08:23.817 |
[
{
"message": "The government is a totalitarian oligarchy, and is relatively new. There is no organized opposition yet. The government is pretty well organized. It is extremely popular among the 80% of the population (cult of personality level popular), and 20% of the population dislike it but are terrified and ... | What would be the maximum sustainable army size for a modern nation of 10 million people? | worldbuilding | 2018-05-30T19:49:02.340 |
[
{
"message": "Any nation needs to have a firm understanding of its borders and controlled territories. How might a empire with FTL technology spanning multiple planetary/stellar systems make a map of their controlled space so that it is easy to understand and view?",
"role": "user"
},
{
"message": "... | Mapping Stellar Empires? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-02T21:47:11.070 |
[
{
"message": "IdeaIs the following alternate history setup conceivable:Central Mexico has been converted to Buddhism by missionaries arriving from East Asia or South-East Asia hundreds of years before European conquistadors arrive.By the time of European conquest of the Caribian, Central Mexico is organized as ... | Reality check: Buddhist Aztecs | worldbuilding | 2018-06-05T00:55:54.973 |
[
{
"message": "Some hundreds of years ago, all humanity was removed from the Americas. In fact, most humans are gone from the world altogether. In the intervening time, nature has overrun the formerly human dominated landscapes of the former United States.The area in question is immediately west of the Mississip... | Humans are Gone: Do the Chickens Make It? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-05T11:12:51.383 |
[
{
"message": "So I got this species of vampire-creatures (no conversion of other species, just mating and reproducing in typical mammalian fashion) that subsist entirely on blood. I'm using a bit of magic to imply they subsist on both the nutritional aspects of the blood and magical energy in the sanguine itsel... | Convenient teeth for a bloodsucking vampire | worldbuilding | 2018-06-05T17:49:51.073 |
[
{
"message": "About 5 billion years from now, the Sun will begin to swell into a red giant. This will cause some problems, because <a href=\"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/113773/627\">life on a planet orbiting a red giant is hard. Even if Earth isn't engulfed by the expanding Sun, it's going to be s... | Could the Sun be born again? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-07T13:10:14.817 |
[
{
"message": "In my book there are occasional battles between space ships or fleets which can span hours due to the distances involved. Most of the combat is done using missiles which can accelerate at e.g. 750g with enough fuel for 30 minutes, which means they have a range of about 40 lightseconds. Ships move ... | Tool for simulating newtonian/acceleration based space combat | worldbuilding | 2018-06-07T13:47:33.917 |
[
{
"message": "If a planet has a core of super-dense material, how might that effect the geological composition of that planet?Specifically: imagine a lunar-sized planet, with earth-like geology and density. If the center of that planet is a very small mass of super-dense unobtanium that cannot collapse in on it... | Hyperdense Object | worldbuilding | 2018-06-09T01:27:23.803 |
[
{
"message": "A hero with no name is a strong pacifist. The why is not important right now.The problem: <a href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EverybodyWasKungFuFighting\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">he lives in a world of kung-fu where just being quiet and polite to live happily can't work for lo... | Martial art for a pacifist in a wold of kung-fu? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-10T04:07:05.127 |
[
{
"message": "In my last question, <a href=\"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/114545/how-large-could-my-sea-serpents-be\">How large could my sea serpents be?, I asked what length would be a) possible and b) necessary for a whale-eating sea serpent. My sea serpent is a constricting predator* in ... | What would be the physiological/anatomical adaptations of a 50 metre sea serpent? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-10T13:13:00.697 |
[
{
"message": "By Colonies 'in' the outer solar system I mean the various moons and space stations past the asteroid belt.Currently the Hegemony has established bio domes, mining stations, and a few large scale space colonies either on the moons of the outer planets or in close proximity (as well as some Centaur... | How would you heat colonies in the outer solar system (by using natural systems)? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-10T15:07:56.210 |
[
{
"message": "In my setting, there is an isolationist people known as the Jotnar (sing. Jotunn), who are merely humans, but are consistently taller than other human populations, which I think of as reverse pygmies.But although there's plenty of room for discussion as to why there are populations that are consis... | Why would a tribe of humans come to be consistently taller? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-11T22:48:11.650 |
[
{
"message": "Say for instance we had a humanoid creature. how would they achieve flight by taking in a gas then expelling it at a greater pressure from a point on their body like the feet, back, or hands?",
"role": "user"
},
{
"message": "You have two options: static or activeStatic: more or less w... | Using science, how could an animal achieve lift/flight by using pressure? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-13T06:04:29.460 |
[
{
"message": "One of the things I'm working on for my science fiction setting are reasons for laser weapons to not be very prominent.One of the ideas I came up with was for the primary hull plating of most ships to made from fictional alloys that become increasingly reflective to thermal energy as it heats up. ... | Which properties would alloys that becomes increasingly reflective as they heat up have? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-13T16:08:49.127 |
[
{
"message": "ContextOn my world, there is a lot of water: sea, oceans, ... There are also firm land and islands, so it's interesting to travel on the water. The problem is that there is NO wind at all, and lots of currents. These currents are mostly tidal: basically, they go in one direction for some time, the... | Sailing without wind, but with strong currents | worldbuilding | 2018-06-14T07:43:26.907 |
[
{
"message": "Can a rocky planet have these qualities and exist:half of earth's gravity4/5 earth radius a magnetic field capable of retaining an atmosphere a slightly slower rotation than earth can sustain lifeI am trying to create a world where a normal human will seem superhuman.",
"role": "user"
},
{... | Can this planet exist, within our understanding of science? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-14T15:50:18.287 |
[
{
"message": "Technology has advanced to the point where personal airplanes cost \\$20,000 to \\$30,000 (new). They can go as fast and as far as today's typical jet airplanes. For this question, you can assume that fuel costs have gone down to the point where it is feasible to travel long distances. The vehic... | Traffic using personal airplanes? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-14T17:22:04.943 |
[
{
"message": "One idea I've always wanted to try writing is the concept of vampires exploiting their lack of a need to breathe and generally low-maintenance biology to escape the brunt of the sun's rays by living underneath the sea, and the opportunity to use this idea in my current story has recently presented... | Would the collapse of civilization make turning into a vampire and colonizing the ocean floor a sane idea? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-15T03:03:14.017 |
[
{
"message": "I'm building a world which has, apart from the 'usual' stuff, 2 types of stones (haven't really decided on a name yet).Stone A holds some form of energy but when prompted by Stone B it will release its energy in some form of light. To charge this stone, one can either put it in direct sunlight or ... | Is this reaction realistic enough? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-15T08:44:06.640 |
[
{
"message": "I'm building a world which has, apart from the 'usual' stuff, 2 types of stones (haven't really decided on a name yet).Stone A holds some form of energy but when prompted by Stone B it will release its energy in some form of light. To charge this stone, one can either put it in direct sunlight or ... | Is this reaction realistic enough? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-15T08:44:06.640 |
[
{
"message": "Short version:Just as the title says, I'm looking for a quick-and-simple point-and-click cartographic software to easily make a basic map.=====Long version:This might be asking too much for too little, but I wish to make a simple map. It needn't be beautiful, or highly detailed (these would be ni... | Quick-and-simple point-and-click cartographic software to easily make a basic map | worldbuilding | 2018-06-19T15:11:58.657 |
[
{
"message": "PremiseI am in the formation phase of a fictional world. I would like one of its notable characteristics to be extremely large waves. On Earth, most of our large waves are triggered by earthquakes, landslides and things to that effect. Here is an example from 2005:<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.c... | How do I maximize a planet's wave height (on average)? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-19T16:14:05.080 |
[
{
"message": "Previous parts here:<a href=\"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/106292/creating-a-scientifically-semi-valid-super-soldier-part-1-skeleton\">Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 1: Skeleton<a href=\"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/107365/creatin... | Creating a scientifically semi-valid super-soldier, part 8: Communication | worldbuilding | 2018-06-22T09:00:02.477 |
[
{
"message": "I was thinking about the 47 character of Hitman and I thought if in the future genetic engineering could be used to create a person with no emotions and feelings at all.How could this be achieved?Mutations in the lymbic system of the brain maybe?",
"role": "user"
},
{
"message": "NoEmo... | Could genetic engineering be used to create a fully emotionless person? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-23T01:20:22.430 |
[
{
"message": "<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithotroph\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Lithotrophy is a phenomenon known from microscopic life, where an organism converts inorganic substances, usually minerals, into energy.So, we know that a single-celled life form can do this, but what about a more com... | Can a large animal get nutrition from minerals? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-23T10:18:50.573 |
[
{
"message": "Is it possible to calculate/estimate the size of a star's heliosphere? If so, how?I am working on a semi-near future, sci-fi novel. As part of the technology base, humans are able to travel between stars near-instantly, however they must first get to a warp-gate of sorts outside the heliopause (ou... | How to estimate a star's heliopause? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-24T16:06:54.283 |
[
{
"message": "The characteristics of a wizard:Spellcasting is very complicated and difficult - a high intelligence is critical to make a success of it.They spend many years studying to master the basics of their craft, often followed by more years as an apprentice being taught advanced secrets.Wizards often for... | Why is there only one wizard's guild? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-25T13:21:21.827 |
[
{
"message": "I'm writing a short story that takes place on an imaginary planet that is 88% ocean. The planet has two moons and one continent that is regularly flooded under 500 to 1500 feet of water. The tides are only extreme once or twice a month. I'm trying to work out the parameters for a two-moon system t... | Do moons determine the speeds at which tides move? Is there a limit to this speed? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-26T03:20:51.913 |
[
{
"message": "PremiseSuppose a world has no other means to deal with a potentially devastating meteor impact than creating a net on the planet. Their hope is that the massive net will catch the meteor and slow it down as much as possible to avoid apocalypse. They have ample time to prepare for the collision, bu... | Massive Meteor Net? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-26T13:57:25.387 |
[
{
"message": "My question has to do with living inside a spaceship, which is mostly made up of a force field containing a breathable, earthlike atmosphere. There is a constant outward pull of something like 0.3 gravities.Within the main ship there are basically what amounts to monoliths from 2001: A Space odyss... | What would the effects of zones of differing gravity be on a large volume of open atmosphere | worldbuilding | 2018-06-27T04:25:51.393 |
[
{
"message": "The origin of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Superman is fairly well known. A baby is sent to a planet and gains super powers from being in the environment (technically the sun, but I believe you catch the gist). I'd like to make a planet/environment that boo... | Relative Super Powers | worldbuilding | 2018-06-27T16:06:06.607 |
[
{
"message": "My world has a conlang that heavily emphasizes words in 'grades' of 5. For example the words for issues are grouped as: Danger-Threat-Risk-Hazard-Situation.Usually it isn't hard to find a set of things in groups of 5, since you can always move delineation points (e.g. drinks by alcohol content is ... | 5x5 Biome Scale possibility? | worldbuilding | 2018-06-30T21:45:04.803 |
[
{
"message": "The most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group, responsible for the HIV pandemic, dates back to the Belgian Congo city of Léopoldville (modern Kinshasa), circa 1910. And the genetic history of the virus indicates that there have been several separate \"jumps\" of the virus from the simian ve... | Would an earlier HIV pandemic be a realistic, plausible historical apocalypse scenario? | worldbuilding | 2018-07-01T01:34:47.103 |
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