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Which of Heinlein's books involve anti-communist sentiment? As I read Heinlein's books, I keep running into either an anti-communist agenda or casual jibes about communists. To illustrate, The Puppet Masters portrays slug-infested Americans as communists while in Double Star , he notes that communists use underhande...	The Day After Tomorrow: The bad guys, the Pan-Asians have a somewhat communist society.
Borg assimilation of non-sapients Have the Borg ever assimilated a non-sapient species? Perhaps the equivalent of a large land mammal or a rodent or something of that sort? <Q> A good example of this would be the Kazon from Star Trek: Voyager who, even though they were more advanced than any run of the mill species, we...	No, I can`t recall a time when they would ever assimilate anything like that, because the Borg discriminate in the sense that they will assimilate a species only if they can provide a technological or biological use to the Borg.
Why did Professor X smile before being killed by the Phoenix? In the scene where Professor X and Magneto go to Jean Grey's house after she woke up and escaped, he says something like Do not let it control you. Then, Wolverine manages to open some door, and makes eye contact with Professor X. Professor X smiles a...	He is smiling as he has an escape plan. There was a scene where professor X was lecturing his students regarding mutant ethics, speaks of the ability to transfer human consciousness into the body of a brain dead man in comatose.
How can S-foils (X-foils) help with heating in space? S-foils were made famous by Star Wars' X-Wing star fighter. But why were they needed in-universe aside from "Lock S-foils in attack position" sounding cool? S-foil Wookieepedia has this to say: Historically, S-foils had been developed to address overheating...	The way radiators remove heat in a vacuum is through thermal radiation . However, if you continue reading the Wookieepedia article, it seems to indicate that the primary purpose of the S-foils on the X-wing (as well as the B-wing) was increased weapons spread.
Why was Melkor aka Morgoth created without a female counterpart? Reading about the Valar something stands out, originally there were 7 Queens i.e. "female" Valar and 8 Lords i.e. "male" Valar with Melkor later rebelling and becoming Morgoth. Now it seems to me that even though not all Valar are married, Ulmo and Nienn...	Since Eru has no female counterparts, if Melkor is more like Eru than any other Vala, then I suppose it's not surprising that he has no female counterpart either. Not all the Valar are 'paired'.
Story where a 0 - law of robotics is introduced (the good of humanity) I read a story which should should have been published at least 40 years ago, which was probably (though I'm not absolutely sure) Asimov's. The book tells the story of - beware, spoilers ahead - A group travelling space in search of some questio...	Asimov added the zeroth law in his final robot novel Robots and Empire Assuming this is indeed a story by Asimov (and not by some other writer who might have had the same idea), it wouldn't be that old.
Was Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, a transmogrified human or an Animagus? I found guesses on this topic on other questions, but never anything definitive or dealing directly / solely with this question. Filch and Mrs. Norris communicate and he seems fond of her. Is it possible she was/is a woman and they have a deeper...	Mrs. Norris is an unregistered Animagus Rowling's answer:
Did Valentine Get the Real Mortal Cup at the End of City of Bones? I saw The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and I was really confused by the ending. It seemed to me that they gave up the Mortal Cup a bit too easily and there was some hints that it wasn't real, what with the replica that Isabelle showed Simon at th...	In the movie, we clearly know that the cup given to Valentine is the replica, because we see the card with the cup at the end.
How could Argus Filch clean up the whole castle by himself without magic? Hogwarts castle is quite big as far as I know (7 or more floors plus all the Towers). How could Filch alone clean up the whole castle provided the fact that he is unable to use magic? Maybe Mrs. Norris helped a bit (joke)? <Q> He couldn't have do...	The House-Elves at Hogwarts did a lot of the cleaning after the students went to bed, as discovered in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Hermione had created S.P.E.W. (Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare) and started leaving small knitted hats covered with trash in hopes of freeing some of the elve...
Who are the two people that look like Baltar and 6 at the end of the series? In the last episodes of BSG we see Baltar and 6 walking in our present days and observing. Who are they? Why do they look exactly like the original two? And why do they seem to know the "real story" of humanity as opposed to anyone else? Qu...	Only 6 and Baltar could see them, and thus they appeared to be hallucinations to the two of them. They know the "real story" of humanity (and Cylons) because they are eternal, and were around for the previous cycles: There's no real answer that I've ever been able to find as to "who" or "what" they are.
Do the pendants wirelessly supply power to nearby devices? The first time we see a pendant being used, it powers up a computer and a lightbulb. The power company has long since ceased operating, and there isn't evidence of a generator. Supposedly the field that was created suppressed electricity (and disrupted the law...	The nanobots aren't storing anything, they're powering their self-replication with the electricity, so there's no stored electricity that the pendants/nanobots could provide.
Sci-fi novel set on an ocean planet with genetically modified aquatic humans and terraforming process I borrowed this novel from my local library several years ago. Set on a waterworld, it has genetically modified aquatic humans who are now in conflict with the original plan to terraform it. Any ideas? I can't remember...	Blueheart (1996) by Alison Sinclair was the right answer for me. There’s all the stuff about modified humans, terraforming and the conflict between those interests, but there’s also a murder mystery at the heart of the plot.
Novel about a war between the Americans and Russians in Antarctica? I remember a friend of mine was reading a novel about a war or military confrontation between the Americans and Russians in Antarctica, but neither of us can remember the title or author. <Q> As Gilles points out, this is not a unique plot setting. <S>...	Matthew Reilly's "Ice Station"(1998) was set in Antartica and followed the events of a small scale squad warfare, however no Russian forces were involved. The novelette "A Colder War" (2000) by Charles Stross would then be a fairly good fit ( 4 ) .
In Deathly Hallows, why did they have to wear Slytherin's locket? Obviously, heavy spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, do not read if you don't want to be spoiled. So they find the locket horcrux, and before they figure out how to destroy it, they decide to take turns wearing it. Why on Earth would they...	The logic of not putting the locket in the bag (plot points aside) is that the bag and thus everything in it could be lost or stolen, which would increase the probability of the locket being lost as well. In universe: Harry (and later when Hermione and Ron took their turns) put it on because that was the safest place t...
Where did Umbridge get a new wand? In Order of the Phoenix when Hermione and Harry go with Umbridge into the forest and come across the centaurs, Umbridge's wand breaks in two before getting carried off by the centaurs. the next time we see her is in the hospital wing, then again at Dumbledore's funeral and again in th...	I assume that Umbridge went to Knockturn Alley or some place like that to get a new wand, or one was given to her by the Ministry of Magic.
Why could the Connors not just pick another alias? In Terminator 1, during Reese's questioning, the following dialog takes place: Doctor - Why did terminator kill the other two women? Reese - all the papers and archives were destroyed during the nuclear war. Skynet did not know anything about the mother of John Con...	I am not familiar enough with the stories to know when time travel was invented — and by whom (or what!) — but… the move would only work if he made it very soon after the war broke out… and the concept would only work if time travel had already been invented at that point. In universe answer: A lot of cameras have reco...
Looking for a movie about a civilization that has to take a drug to withstand radiation I vaguely remember a movie about a civilization that has to take a drug to withstand radiation. I think it was located in space. Probably the movie is from the late 70s or 80s. Any idea? <Q> I was thinking "Screamers", though that w...	The movie you were looking for is Hardware (1990).
Why doesn't Cortexiphan kill William Bell in the Fringe Season four finale In season 3 we learn that Cortexiphan is fatal for adults. Being as William had not had it as a kid, and the development of Cortexiphan was before the split in the timeline, how can William Bell take it without dying? The only thing I can think ...	In the reset timeline, the trials may have taken a different course, leading to a form of cortexiphan that wasn't fatal to adults.
Fantasy novel about coping with a plague About ten years ago I picked up a fantasy novel at the library. It was really good, but now I have completely forgotten both title and author. What I remember: I read it in Danish, and I guess it was translated from English, but not certain. It wasn't new when I read it and ...	The book you're describing -- particularly the end -- sounds like Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan.
Generational ship loses power/gravity in space, and inhabitants forget purpose of mission I read this story maybe 15-20 years ago. It was about a massive spaceship on a voyage that would take many generations to reach their destination. Somehow the ship breaks down, losing power and gravity, and over years the people o...	The Glorious (the ship) breaks down because of Sabotage (pilot and copilot are from different companies and are trying ti kill each other and the copilot sabotages the drive) and in the end it is rescued from ships from earth, because the FTL travel is invented sometime after the start of the Glorious. This sounds a lo...
What stops Skynet from just sending later cyborgs back to the same time they sent the first terminator? In each Terminator movie, Skynet sends machines to kill John Connor, either directly or indirectly. Each time Skynet sends a cyborg, it does that at a later date than the time before. If Skynet has a time machine an...	Had Skynet never sent the first terminator back, John would never have existed. Skynet's flaw was that it didn't realize that you can't change the past.
In the Alien universe, were other extra-terrestrials encountered before The Alien? We see in Alien how the Nostromo is diverted to the planet to investigate the crashed ship, but is that the first encounter with an alien species in that universe, or has the human race made first contact with other extra-terrestrial l...	In Prometheus , which I think is meant to be set in the same universe as the Alien franchise, humans seek out and make contact with a race referred to as The Engineers (who may or may not, depending on how much sense you can extract from the screenplay, have bio-engineered the Alien from Alien ).
Who taught Ginny Weasley Bat-Bogey hex? Nobody in Ginny's family seems to cast Bat-Bogey hex in the books. Is there a canon mention of who taught her the infamous hex? <Q> Well, from what I know, it doesn't mention who taught her it. <S> But like you said it was probably one of her brothers. <S> However, the time it...	I think Fred and George taught her because Fred and George play pranks on everyone.
Why are AI systems almost always feminine? I'm curious about this, as to why most of the AI systems found in spaceships and other "advanced" technologies tend to be more female-oriented. Female-oriented as in, the entirety of the ship/system is controlled by a female AI. Good examples would include Cortana, from the...	Also, various female stereotypes tailored to a primarily male audience come into play
How did the idea of a Tunguska meteor strike being of extraterrestrial alien nature develop in SciFi? Many modern works of SciFi explain away the Tunguska Event as a result of alien visitation (explosion of a UFO, alien weapon, etc..). What was the history and progress of this line of explanation? Who first cam...	Stanislaw Lem describes the Tunguska event as a crasch of a Venusian space ship in his first novel The Astronauts (Astronauci) from 1951. The idea must have struck many people independently, both as a story idea and as a fact.
How does Riddick sense the change in the weather means trouble? In the movie Riddick , Riddick spent several months understanding environment and new life forms on a planet where he was left off. He used his vision to distinguish bad water from good one. Later, after seeing the rain that was coming, he understands th...	Living things seem to give off an aura (we are not ever made clear if it is heat, or some other radiation signature) he is sensitive to. If you listen close you can hear him inhale deeply through his nose, smelling the water.
If you were to attempt to kill Voldemort, would that destroy one of his Horcruxes? If someone just walked up and used the Killing Curse on Voldemort, would that destroy one of his Horcruxes? Dumbledore explains to Harry: The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. — Half-Blood...	Killing the part of the soul inside Voldemort's body, would not kill a 'Horcrux', or isn't equivalent to killing a Horcrux.
Why could they not make bullets without power? In Revolution, episode 4, one of the militia guys says that they can't make bullets anymore. As far as I know, bullets were made before electricity. All that's needed is gunpowder, which the Chinese made a few thousands of years ago, and lead. I know that mass producing th...	Theoretically, if you found all the correct materials already stockpiled you could fit them together to create bullets mechanically, but you could no longer produce all the components from scratch.
Clash of Kings: Why didn't Arya reveal who she was? I'm still reading A Clash of Kings for the first time, so please don't answer with anything that would spoil things for me, but I was wondering: In the chapter where Roose Bolton finally assumes control over Harrenhal, he asks Arya for her true name. Even though Bolt...	I think there is a very direct and straightforward reason Aray did not reveal herself: Roose Bolton captured Harrenhal because Vargo Hoat's Bloody Mummers / Brave Companions switched sides and helped him. As to your question about whether her life would have improved significantly if she had told Bolton who she was: wi...
Can Aang (or Korra) make a non-bender into a bender? If Aang (or Korra) can take or give the power to bend elements then can he (or she) make a non-bender into a bender? I realize that the creators made Aang's son Bumi into a non-bender to add drama and conflict but why didn't Aang just make Bumi into an Air bender? Fo...	Aang, and presumably Korra could, if their spiritual focus were right, be capable of energy bending and removing a bender's ability using the Avatar State. No Avatar has show the ability of giving a non-bender the ability to bend the elements.
What (if any) is the symbolism of the Bajoran emblem? I've been watching DS9 a lot lately and I've noticed that the Bajorans use the Emblem of the Bajoran People extremely regularly. Aside from being a common design for jewelry and insignia, they're used in architectural ornamentation, window design, and so forth. I ...	I think it's safe to say it's in some way symbolic of the relationship the Bajorans has with the Celestial Temple(wormhole).
Is the TV series The Secret Circle a faithful reproduction of the book series I've been watching The Secret Circle recently & was very impressed by it. I found it to be the best among Teen fantasy shows on TV. But it has only 1 season & was cancelled. Wikipedia tells me its based on a book series with the same name. ...	In my opinion, they really have very little in common other than the general premise of Cassie Blake discovering that she comes from a secret lineage of witchcraft.
What planets or moons in the Solar system are Class M? A friend of mine has listed as her twitter location that she lives on a Class M planet. Not everyone tweets from Earth , but I assume she tweets from within the Solar System. Which planets or moons in the real-life Solar system would match Star Trek's "Class M" d...	Only Earth is a Class M planet capable of sustaining human life.
Why did the wampa put Luke Skywalker upside down in the ice cave on Hoth? Why did the wampa put Luke Skywalker upside down in the ice cave on Hoth? <Q> After I kill a chicken, in preparation for plucking and eating it, I will string it up upside down in order to get all the blood out. <S> Blood in a meal just isn't tas...	Alternatively, as he had just eaten the Tauntaun, he may have gotten things ready, so that when it came time to eat Luke, he'd just need to slit Luke's throat to drain the blood.
What is the Herb used by Oliver Queen In the Arrow TV Series, Oliver Queen uses a "magic" herb from the island for instantaneous healing on many occasions. He also used it as a life saving alternative when Diggle was shot. What is the name of this herb? Has it been mentioned yet in the TV Series? <Q> I a...	Herbs found on Lian Yu were never named and they are only refereed by fans or even Arrow Verse wiki as Lian Yu Herbs .
Does Spider-Man use secreted web or web cartridges? When Spider-Man spurts web from his wrist to swing through the streets, does he use a cartridge fitted in his wrist, or is that a secretion of his body due to the radioactive spider bite? In the Spider-Man movie, his wrist looks like it’s secreting the web, but in th...	In Stan Lee's and Steve Ditko's original design, Spider-Man has web-cartridges that fit into two webshooters mounted on each wrist.
Sci-fi story about a TV that works across time I read a story a long time ago, I think in a short story collection. The main idea was that a TV had been invented that could be set to any place and time in the past, and you could see what happened there and then. Anybody know what it was? <Q> The story goes on to reve...	Sounds like The Dead Past by Asimov, where there is a very rare device like a television called the Chronoscope that can look at events that in the very distant history.
Was "Merlin's beard!" an invention of Rowling's? In Harry Potter books, wizards frequently use "Merlin's beard!" expression. Is this something that Rowling invented or does it have a history in fantasy literature before her? The Wikia article on Merlin's beard does not seem to offer any details. <Q> TL;DR: <S...	In Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose , (1980), “Merlin's Beard” is also used as an expression of surprise by the principal protagonist.
How will Death of the Endless die? We have seen that even though The Seven are THE ENDLESS, two of them have died (which is very strange and i am not still clear on that). When Dream dies, we have seen that Death comes to him and takes him to her realm. Well, I assume that's what she did, though in comics she only to...	It is proven that she never 'dies', as we see her in Gaiman's The Books of Magic at the end of the universe, overseeing Destiny's end and sending Timothy Hunter back to his own time before she leaves.
Star Wars RotJ: why was the Executor chosen as a target? During the final space battle of Return of the Jedi, Admiral Ackbar says (emphasis mine): We've got to give those fighters more time. Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer. Referring to the Executor . A series of vessels, including several X-...	Up to that point the Rebels were pinned between the Death Star and the Star Destroyers; having destroyed the Executor they've taken out a major part of the latter and increased both their survival chances and their offensive capability. It's a standard battle tactic (NOT specific to Star Wars). Additionally, the Execut...
What children's TV show had a boy recruited by an organisation because he was the best at a computer game? It was about this boy who was the best player of a computer game in the world, and gets recruited by this organisation by using the same weapons in the game. It was a drama played by actors, not a cartoon. Anyone...	It's about a laser-tag game where the children who are best at it disappear without a trace.
Military sci-fi book: humans forced to demilitarize by alien race(s?), warship with efficient distributed AI system reconditioned for exploration Things I remember about this book: Humans had been forced by alien race(s) to either demilitarize or severely cut back on military to join galactic community Unknown alien...	Parts of it sound a bit like Brightness Reef (1995), which is one of David Brin's Uplift books. Earth has been dominated for 1,000 years by an alien invader—and man is an endangered species.
Title of young adult Fantasy book where character changes gender I read a book that I had checked out from a public library in the 1980's. I was probably 10 years old or so. It was a fantasy book where the main character was turned from a man to a woman (or vice versa) through magic or sorcery. The setting was in mo...	This doesn't fit your timeline, but the Elminster Series written in Forgotten Realms D&D fits the rest.
Book Identification: Story set on 'abandoned' spaceship with an A.I. over crackly loudspeakers I read this book back in the late 90s, early 2000s at my public library, although the book seemed a little worn, probably came out in the 80s or so. It was a Young Adult Sci-Fi action, if I remember correctly. Our protagonis...	Some of the details seem to match up with Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Children_of_the_Jedi
How did the Bugs in Starship Troopers launch the Asteroids towards earth? In the Starship Troopers movie, Apart from a big Brain Bug and the plasma launching Bugs the bugs didn't have enough technological equipment that could launch an Asteroid towards Earth precisely. I also remember that they used a wormhole or some ...	In the news broadcast on the destruction of Buenos Aries it was said the meteor was knocked toward earth by the plasma bugs but how the wormhole it came through had been created wasn't explained (at least not AFAICR).
What material is Thor's hammer made of? What is the element used to make the Hammer of Thor? <Q> The Mjölnir is made out of an Asgardian metal named 'uru' <A> And assuming you're referring to the nordic Thor instead of the Marvel Thor: Mjölnir could either be a stone hammer ( <S> Based on the name), or made from iron...	Thor's hammer, Mjolnir is made of the fictional metal Uru .
Does Neo have the same abilities within the Construct program as he does in the Matrix? Inside the Matrix designed by the Architect, Neo has the ability to bend and break rules (including ones pertaining to death). Does Neo have the same ability within the Construct program, which is a simulation of the Matrix writte...	Yes, Neo should also be able to bend the Construct program in a manner similar to his bending the Matrix.
Why / For what purpose do the Na'Vi have tails? In the movie Avatar , the Na'Vi have a human-like body; two hands, two legs and a head. Aside from their blue skin the only overt difference from humans is that they possess a tail. My question is : Why do Na'Vi people have tails? <Q> The Na'vi do a lot of running ...	In universe: tails are useful to aid balance when running or jumping, that's why Earth animals have them - just look at how a Cheetah uses its tail when hunting down a zig-zagging gazelle. This is used for balance, acting as a moving countermass to smooth out the stride at a full run, and to assist with direction chang...
Why aren't the Xindi referred to anywhere other than Enterprise? The Xindi (multiple species in the sector) were shown only in Enterprise . What happens to them in the later timelines? Why isn't there any mention of these species in other Star Trek series, since Enterprise was prologue to all the other series? (Apart...	The only in-universe explanation is that with such a huge pool of species to choose from, the Xindi that existed in the Federation during later Star Trek series just didn't happen to come across any of the characters in those shows.
Effectiveness of capital ships vs. fighters in Star Wars I understand George Lucas wanted space combat in Star Wars to evoke WWII era naval combat - big ships with heavy artillery, carriers, bombers, small fighters dogfighting with other fighters and firing torpedos at ships. We even see a pilot kamikaze into the bridg...	First of all, because the original fleet the Empire had was built before the effective space superiority fighter - coupled with superbly trained pilots like Rogue Squadron - were a known threat. You can't hit a fighter with a capital ship turbolaser (which has a recharge rate of 1-2 seconds).
Are there stairs on the Enterprise-D? We see the turbolift on a regular basis, and cramped, awkward ladders in the Jeffries tubes pretty frequently, too. But do Galaxy-class starships have publicly accessible stairways? If I'm going from sickbay on deck 12 to the shuttlebay on deck 13, can I just take the stairs? <Q>...	Engineering is one of the places we occasionally see stairs. On a real Navy ship, stairs are condensed, tight and often part of the water containment protocol used to seal separate decks in the case of hull breach. There are conflicting answers, but I'm going with a basic answer of "Yes", even though they may not have ...
How does this jaeger remain unaffected by the EMP blast? During the battle off the coast of Hong Kong, Leatherback emits an electromagnetic pulse disabling Striker Eureka , and at least briefly, some of the systems at the Shatterdome , but not Gipsy Danger , as Gipsy is "analog" and apparently not affected by t...	EMP disables digital transistor-based electronics, but old digital valve-computers are unaffected as they rely on ionised gas to control the gating instead of transistors. An analogue computer could similarly be immune to the effects of an EMP, depending what it was constructed out of.
How can Wan's history be reconciled with legend? In The Legend of Korra S02E07-08 Beginnings , we see how the first Avatar, Wan, came to be. During these episodes, we see him gain firebending, airbending, waterbending, and lastly earthbending from lion-turtles that carry human cities on their backs. However, in A...	I think that at first, humans got the bending from the lion turtles because, as they had said, the lion turtles protected the people.
Why do dogs bark in the presence of Terminators? In every Terminator movie & TV series, you can see that dogs barking is an indication that a Terminator (of any model) is nearby. Many dogs bark in the presence of unknowns, but in the canon dogs bark even when a Terminator isn't in front of their eyes. As I've seen i...	But the reason dogs can sense a stranger long before they're visible is because dogs have very sensitive hearing and many can also recognize the cadence of an individual's steps. They bark when they want attention. A terminators cyborg skin may carry a particular cellular residue capable of being recognized by the supe...
Why is no mutant from X-men series a member of S.H.I.E.L.D? S.H.I.E.L.D is a group of members involved in saving Earth. All of those characters are fictional characters from Marvel comics. Mutants from the X-Men books are also fictional characters from Marvel comics. So why aren't any mutants from the X-Men series als...	Because SHIELD is connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they don't want to add in characters that can't be connected to that universe, like Mutants or Spider-Man characters. Kitty Pryde was recruited by the then-acting commander ( G.W. Bridge ) to become a temporary agent of S.H.I.E.L.D They operate outside the l...
In Iron Man, when Obadiah removes the arc reactor, why does Tony start to bleed from around the socket? When Obadiah removes Tony's arc reactor, Tony starts to bleed from around the socket and I can't understand why. It's only a slow and small amount of bleeding but I still can't help but question why. Can anybody...	The obvious plot hole is that putting in the "backup" Arc Reactor wouldn't undo the damage the shrapnel has done, it would just stop additional damage; he'd be just as hurt after putting his old reactor back in. While the flesh around the socket is normally healed, this rough treatment may have caused some separation b...
Why did "Face of Boe" die? We are strongly hinted at in Last of the Time Lords (the final episode of series 3) that Jack Harkness ultimately becomes the Face of Boe . However, earlier in the same series (episode 3: Gridlock ) the Face of Boe dies . Since Jack is often described as "immortal", does this mean that...	After 5 billion years and powering an entire city for an extended period of time, even the power from a black hole (such as one that powers the tardis) is going to give out. If the Face of Boe is Jack, he might just taken longer to be revived after using up his life force to power New New York.
Was Dr. Manhattan able to travel through time? I'm rewatching Watchmen , and the question occurred to me - can Doctor Manhattan actually travel through time? It is made quite clear that he can perceive all time as coexistent, but can he only look through that temporal window, or can he actually step through it a...	He cannot travel through time, because he is IN and ACROSS time simultaneously.
What happened to the battle droids after The Revenge of the Sith? What happened to the battle droids we see in The Revenge of the Sith ? Why are they not mentioned / used in (chronologically) later episodes? I know the separatist droid factory was destroyed in Attack of the Clones , and they are still featured in T...	At the end of the Clone Wars, Sith Lord Darth Vader turned off the Master control signal, deactivating most of the Separatist Droid Army.
What do they do with all the plates and cups in Star Trek? Whenever someone in Star Trek creates food or drink in the replicator it is generated in the bowl, plate, or cup. It seems like after a few months they would have piles of used dishes from replicator food while making more for every meal. What do they do with a...	They put them back into the replicator, where the replicator "beams" it away again, i.e. disintegrates it and puts the matter back into storage for future plates.
Why do the minions always wear goggles? In all the Despicable Me movies, I never found a single instance of a Minion without a goggle. Why do they always wear goggles? Are the goggles merged into their skin? <Q> The minions' character design was influenced by two sources: Oompa-Loompas and Jawas. <S> From <S> W...	Along the same vein, goggles dehumanise the minions by partially obscuring their eyes. When they were creating the characters, Coffin and Renaud thought of other memorable sycophants of cinema — the orange-skinned Oompa-Loompas from "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," the brown-robed Jawas from "Star Wars" — and ...
In Pacific Rim what is keeping the ocean from rushing into the breach In the movie Pacific Rim, the breach is located at the bottom of the ocean. This breach is a wormhole/portal/gateway to some other universe that giant monsters freely move though back and forth. What keeps our ocean from just emptying itself in...	Water would only go into the portal if there was a space to fill i.e. the other universe has a gas atmosphere or is a vacuum.
Could Vaatu's release create a second Avatar? In the new episodes of The Legend of Korra, (Beginnings, 1 and 2) it tells the story of the first Avatar, Wan and how he got his bending powers. He traveled to various lion turtles and got the elements from them, but in the new era they stopped giving people bending powers....	It is highly unlikely that Unalaq would become the Avatar in the same sense as Korra (though the trailer for the finale seems to suggest something of the nature) since Vaatu didn't receive the elements like Raava did, but it could be possible.
Is Loki responsible for the division between Avengers when they were all on Helicarrier? The Avengers become divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials. Was this division due to Loki? i...	Loki is responsible for the strife between the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., but not in the way you think.
Why is Parseltongue not taught? Even though it is not a human language per se and that one had to be gifted to be able to speak to snakes, why didn't Parselmouths teach others Parseltongue, at least in Slytherin house at Hogwarts? Ron spoke Parseltongue from watching Harry speaking it in Chamber of Secrets . Henc...	It is possible that Parseltongue is not taught because it is associated with Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. In short, I'm not sure it'd be encouraged because although perhaps useful, it could be frowned upon: similar in our universe to teaching children how to hypnotize other kids or picks locks...
Which originally non-English novel or story has had the widest reception in English-language SF as measured in number of citations? I'm trying to understand how big the influence of translated SF is in the English speaking world. Part of the question is which is the single most influential work from outside. So, which...	With Jules Verne and Stanislav Lem the best known non-english SF writers of the 19th and 20th century respectively, some earlier notable SF writers who were eventually widely circulated in English include: 18th century: Ludvig Holberg Danish/Norwegian author publishing 17th century: Johannes Kepler German astronomer wr...
In the Dresden Universe, does hurting (but not killing) a mortal with magic go against the laws? I know that the laws of magic prevent (or at least greatly discourage) a spell-slinger to kill or remove a being's free will, but what about just hurting a mortal and not actually killing them? For instance, would the Whi...	Causing bodily harm with magic, or killing using non-magic means, are both within the Laws of Magic (though likely fall afoul of the laws of mortals.)
Questions on ending of Thor: The Dark World Sorry, not quite sure how to format spoilers so I tried to keep the title vague. Here's for the new Thor movie (just watched it last night): How did Loki fake dying (and managed to fool Thor, the reinforcements who found his body and possibly Odin since he would have want...	I like to think that Odin did actually recognize Loki from the first instance and knowing that Loki intended to take over the throne, Odin managed to alert Sif and Volstagg to do something about the Aether before Loki gets hold of it himself. He must have done something slightly different afterwards to create a convinc...
Why does Daniel show up when Cluracan creates his nemesis? In issue 58 of The Sandman, the child Daniel is missing, apparently abducted. Later, Cluracan is visiting The Dreaming and while stepping off the path and gazing into a mirror, he manage to create his own nemesis. In the mirror can be seen what looks like a...	Thus, Dream/Daniel is the nemesis of Morpheus himself, and a mirror of Nemesis, in the realm of Dream, would, by dream-logic, show the manifestation of Dream that reflects its own function. This indicates that the mirror itself is a mirror of Nemesis, one of the perilous magics of the palace of the Dreaming; Nuala's fe...
Floating glove scene in Man of Steel. What does it mean? In the movie Man of Steel, General Zod and Superman fought in an unfinished building. In that scene, General Zod mentioned that "trained all his life to master his senses" and then removed his armor by flexing his body. I can't help but to notice that when he ha...	Lex Luthor once theorized that Superman had to stem from a gigantic planet with enormous gravity, where his species had developed natural anti-gravity organs to be able to function; on Earth, this would allow him to control his own gravimetric field in order to fly.
Do gods exist in A Game of Thrones? Gods are omnipresent in A Song of Ice and Fire , but do they exist? The old gods have never listened to the Starks' prayers; the only time was when Arya was in Harrenhal and she heard voices. Was it the gods or just an illusion? The sept does not exist for me because the concept ...	There's no canon answer for any of the gods existing or not existing as physical beings.
What happened to Ashoka Tano after she left the Jedi Order? In the last episode of the Clone Wars cartoon series, Ashoka Tano was accused by the Jedi Council and put out of the Order, but after some diligent research, Anakin found out who was the real culprit , so Ashoka's name was cleared. The Jedi Order asked her t...	Later on she (Ahsoka) became a member of the Jedi high counsel in the new Jedi order and Kol became a grand Jedi master alongside Luke Skywalker. What happened to Ashoka Tano after the TV plot has never been mentioned in the canon.
How come the Green kryptonite didn't kill baby Clark on the way to Smallville? We know that Clark Kent (Superman) is "allergic" to green Kryptonite. His blood "boils" around it and it may be fatal to him. He first came to Smallville in 1984 along with the debris from Krypton which contains green Kryptonite. We see th...	At the time of his arrival at earth, and until he became empowered by the sun of earth he would have been a normal Kryptonian, and immune to the effects of Kryptonite. The debris came from the destruction of an entire planet, so the meteorite shower produced could have been pretty big.
Why do Voldemort and other Death Eaters call Peter Pettigrew his Marauder name, Wormtail? Title says it all: I can't imagine why they would; it was an affectionate nickname given to him by his school friends, and seeing as Voldemort and other DEs view Wormtail as a coward and worthless I can't imagine why they'd use wh...	Since the Dark Lord always calls him Wormtail, it seems likely that the Death Eaters would then consider this the accepted way to refer to him, and would call him the same thing the Dark Lord does.
Looking for title of book with Neanderthals on a human-colonized planet This came out probably in the mid-90's although I may be wrong. Here's the plot summary, albeit extremely hazy: Set on a planet colonized by modern humans Planet's continents are seeded with genetic clones/recreations from Earth's past and each ...	The Serpent Catch series has two books called Serpent Catch and Path of the Hero by Dave Wolverton.
In the Walking Dead, how did Rick determine who committed murder? In S04E03 of The Walking Dead , Isolation , Rick discovered who murdered two of the sick people in prison. We are lead to believe that he somehow determined this from blood on a door, from where presumably the murderer opened the door with a bloodied h...	Possible evidence supporting this theory; The small bloody hand print on the door was low (Rick had to bend down to see it)
How did Voldemort learn where the Elder Wand was? Forgive me if this has been asked before but as far as I am aware we see Voldemort's actions through Harry - he sees Grindelwald refusing to tell Voldemort where the wand is and then the next thing we see is Voldemort at Hogwarts walking towards Dumbledore's grave and s...	I think Voldemort just deduced that Dumbledore was the logical owner if Grindelwald was the last known owner, since Dumbledore famously defeated Grindelwald.
Where do zombies come from? Who was the first writer/movie director/artist that came with the idea of the zombies we see in movies nowadays like Resident Evil, World War Z, Walking Dead? In general: the idea of a person seemed dead but that walks and just bites people and then turn them into zombies as well. It seems ...	The idea of the modern zombie, i.e. a horde of reanimated half-rotten corpses that try to eat the living and (sometimes) convert their victims to new zombies, usually accompanied by the collapse of civilization as a setting, is sometimes acknowledged to have been invented by George Romero in his movie Night of the Livi...
How long was Zod initially supposed to stay in the phantom zone? In Man of Steel, Zod is sent to the phantom zone for high treason. But for how long exactly? LOR-EM : General Zod, for the crimes of murder and high treason, the Council has sentenced you and your fellow insurgents to 300 cycles of somatic reconditionin...	As others have stated, we don't know how long a Kryptonian year is, but if we are to assume a "cycle" is a year, then Zod would definitely be serving 300 years (Kryptonian years) in the phantom zone.
How important is it to watch Farscape in order? I just watched my first episode of Farscape last night (a random episode about being invaded by Klingon-like characters). Looking at the questions here, and browsing the Wikipedia article, it seems like there is a lot of plot building over several episodes and possibly se...	If you don't mind continuity errors, you can watch most of the episodes in the first season – except multi-part episodes, of course – in whatever order you want to.
Science fiction story/novel: Giant robot Wheel rolls around primitive planet destroying very sparsely-distributed pop. Hero investigates As I recall it, it's about an (amnesiac?) low-tech man that meets and avoids the destroyer-wheel and tries to figure out what his world is all about. The Wheel(s?) rolls leisurely aro...	It began with 'R' I think, like 'the Ruon' or something.
Why did T-1000 continue to pursue John Connor if his mission already had failed? In Terminator 2 , John Connor and the company attack the Cyberdyne Systems research department, and destroy all the things that could lead to creation of Skynet. After that we see T-1000 coming to the place and learning what they've ...	Finally, it is entirely possible that the T-1000 simply didn't care about the future of Skynet, as has been pointed out by other answers. And if you consider its "client" to be the goal of machine intelligence supremacy and not an entity called skynet, then its client is not necessarily dead. It was programmed to kill ...
Which TV series was the first to feature a human-looking android in a recurring role? I'm looking for the first show that repeatedly placed a human on screen in the role of a mechanical man/woman that looks like a regular person without obvious "I'm a robot" make up. Secret robot access panels like the ones we see on C...	Though Andromeda from the UK series A for Andromeda (1961) was a robot, though a biological robot.
Are there any instances where the Eldunari are mentioned, before Oromis explains it to Eragon? In the Inheritance Cycle, are there any instances where the Eldunari are mentioned, before Oromis explains it to Eragon? I mean, apart from the point in Brisingr where Eragon talks to a wounded solider who says he saw multipl...	I think I remember Glaedr and Oromis hinting at it, but they never explained it directly to him anytime before their talk about Eldunari.
Are Mintakans related to Vulcans? In TNG "Who Watches the Watchers" we learn about the Mintakans , who are described as "proto-Vulcan humanoids". Does this mean that the Mintakans come from a common ancestor to the Vulcans, or does it mean that the two species have evolved coincidentally to share many of the same fea...	In this case, the term Proto-Vulcan humanoid implies the species has many of the same mental, physical and social traits originally seen exhibited by early pre-spaceflight Vulcans.
Why doesn't the Doctor regenerate immediately in “The Night of the Doctor”? In today's The Night of the Doctor , we see the Eight Doctor's death… yet, instead of regenerating, he is “revived” by the Sisterhood of Karn. So why did the regeneration not kick in as soon as he was dead? Is there “precedent” in the canon f...	It's not too much of a stretch to reason that plunging into the ground at high speed in a crashing spaceship rendered him much more seriously injured than, say, falling off a radio telescope, and therefore killed him outright until the Sisterhood temporarily reanimated him - but that status left him unable to regenerat...
How to watch "Day of the Doctor" if you don't have access to a broadcasting TV station or a cinema? I recently heard about the 50-year-anniversary special Day of the Doctor , due to air 2013-11-23 19:30:00 +00 (UTC). However, I cannot receive any station that would broadcast the episode where I live, nor is a cinema n...	You might have luck using some UK based VPN service, but I'm not really sure whether BBC shows it online, or some online recording service.
What happened to Vaatu? After the events of The Legend of Korra: Light in the Dark, we see that Korra's spirit calms vaatu with the knowledge of Spirit Calming she learned from Unalaq. Therefore where did Vaatu go as in a spirit cannot be destroyed as said by Raava to Avatar Wan. Therefore where did unalaq and Vaatu's ...	Well, I don't think there would be a reincarnation of Vaatu and Unalaq because technically he was in the avatar state when he "died", so the cycle would end there.
Help Identifying Fantasy Novel About Rune Magic I read a book a long time ago that felt like it was the start of a series. I forget most of the details but it has a very unique magic system based on runes. What I remember is that: The main character is female I think Magic requires runes, crafted by "rune smiths",...	It might be Runemarks by Joanne Harris
What would happen if someone wearing glasses were to look at a Basilisk? In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , Hermione, Colin Creevey, Sir Nicholas, Mrs. Norris, and others became petrified because they saw the Basilisk through something else - with the exception of Sir Nicholas who looked directly at it but c...	So it is safe to assume wearing glasses can be discounted as a protection against the deadly stare of the basilisk.
How can the Kandorians(Kryptonians) have their powers? We see that in the 9th season of Smallville, both in the first and the ninth episode, the Kandorians - whose genes were laced with blue kryptonite - have powers (example, Alia). How can they have their powers under a yellow sun?In the first episode Alia had all th...	Smallville never explains how that works for their particular canon, but the basic idea is that yellow sunlight is absorbed by Kryptonians and is somehow converted into energy that gives them extra powers.
How long after the Avengers does Thor: The Dark World take place? During the events of The Avengers , Loki notes that the Bifrost is still destroyed. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here, your precious Earth? Loki - The Avengers During Thor: The Dark Wo...	Two years after the events of Thor, one year after the events of Avengers.
How does the shop owner in "The Bells of St. John" have the number for the TARDIS? In "The Bells of St. John", Clara calls what she thinks is a help line for her computer. When the Doctor answers, Clara says that the woman at the shop told her it was the best help line in the universe. Maybe I missed something in the...	It was in fact Missy who gave Clara the number to the TARDIS (and it was her who put the add in the Newspaper back in Victorian London).
Game of Thrones: Alternate reading order for Books 4 and 5? I'm still working my way through the third book, but as I understand it, books four and five ( A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons ) occur at the same time -- both picking up immediately after A Storm of Swords ends -- but taking place in different ...	In theory I think you could read book five before book four, up to a point . As others have suggested, you certainly could read them in orders other than the order they were written in. If you read them separately, you will have a better sense of the momentum of events in each, and will be less distracted by the more f...
Is the first season of Heroes self-contained? I've been looking for a good series to watch, and my girlfriend suggested Heroes. Now I've heard that the first season is pretty good, but that the others are poorly written. If there are some minor plot points unresolved, that's OK with me, but if there is some huge cliff...	Definitely buy the the First season and it is nicely wrapped up aside from a couple of things that are more like "
Why don't lightsaber duelists ever use the technique of turning off their lightsaber during a fight? Since my early childhood I've been wondering about the answer to one question about Star Wars: Why, when fighting with lightsabers, do they use them to parry attacks rather than turning the lightsaber off momentarily?...	As to why it's not used more commonly, the answer is that it's a risky (and highly advanced) technique that seems prone to failure. This is actually a recognised saber technique, described in The Jedi Path : A Manual for Students of the Force ) as 'Trakata' or ' Passing the Blade ' The Star Wars Wookieepedia page on Tr...
Were Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvestor McCoy in Day of the Doctor? In The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot ('Day of the Fish Doctor'), Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvestor McCoy appear in Day of the Doctor as the covered statues (actually Zygons) as the 11th (or 12th, depending on how you count) Doctor wa...	It is strongly implied by "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot" that Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Peter Davison are underneath the sheets in the scene where Kate Stewart, Clara and The Doctor (11th) enter the under-gallery; however that companion show is basically a mockumentary. I would like to think that they did appear...
Why did Luke not know what Yoda looked like before going to Dagobah? Since Luke learned about the Force and Obi-Wan trained him, he should naturally have been very interested in everything related to the Jedi Order. Did he never look at pictures of the old Jedi and their Grand Master, Yoda? Were there no records of any...	Jedi were rare and mysterious and pretty much nobody discussed them in the Empire. Speculating wildly, the fact that Luke himself was near death at the time might have made it easier for Obi-Wan to make the initial contact. Obi-Wan and Yoda wanted time to train Luke on Dagobah without being disturbed, so Obi-Wan didn't...
Renegade Jedi that didn't turn to the Sith Were there any Jedi who left the Jedi Order, and continued using his or her lightsaber and Force abilities for whatever they deemed necessary? Specifically, were there Jedi who went renegade but did not turn to the Sith? <Q> Yes. <S> One example: Quinlan Vos . <S> Another: S...	Darths Tyrannus, Caedus and Krayt did not turn to the Sith until years after they abandoned the Jedi Order.
Did Gandalf cast a spell on Butterbur's beer? In Lord of the Rings , Gandalf says to Butterbur after learning the Hobbits have left with Strider : "May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!" Did Gandalf actually cast a spell on Butterbur's beer, or was it just a figure o...	Whether Gandalf made the beer excellent (as Butterbur clearly believes) or simply predicted that it would be excellent (perhaps as a reward granted by some other power) is not really the point.

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