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How does the Doctor’s screwdriver run a calculation whilst destroyed? In The Almost People , and The Eleventh Hour , the Doctor's screwdriver is destroyed and later regenerated. However, in The Day of the Doctor , the Doctor(s), run a calculation running over 400 years. How is this possible, if the screwdriver was ...	It could alsobe saved in various places known to be stable in time by someone whotravels through time.
From how far away can Force Choke be used? In The Empire Strikes Back , Darth Vader uses Force Choke to kill Admiral Ozzel. At the time Vader is in his meditation chamber while Ozzel and Needa are presumably on the bridge of the Executor. I can't find an exact map of The Executor but it's implied here that Vade...	The officer was on a Star Destroyer, and was not visible, but Vader managed to choke him anyway. In the canon Skywalker Strikes comic book, Vader is contacted by an Imperial officer while he is one the planet Cymoon 1.
Is it known in what year(s) the plot of Ender's Game takes place? I just finished listening to the Ender's Game audiobook and I'm currently listening to Speaker of the Dead . It's pretty clear that the story takes place in the future but is it known when exactly? I might have missed it but I don't remember any menti...	In the movie-verse, at least, the primary story of Ender's Game begins in 2195.
Is there an explanation for how alchemy works? In The Kingkiller Chronicles , Patrick Rothfuss provides some rather detailed explanation about how the arcanists' sympathy works. Less background, but still some amount of framework, is provided for some related magics, such as sygaldry and naming. Alchemy, on the othe...	Alchemy probably involves direct transmutation of substances, likely with Alar involved, so that it can react in vastly different ways than it originally could. I believe Rothfuss is intentionally keeping it vague, so he can have an ace up his sleeve whenever he needs something to "break the rules".
Was the idea of a tidal dislocation weapon ever suggested in SciFi? In an intense and non uniform gravity field, the various parts of amoving body tend to follow different trajectories, and will unless thewhole structure is tied strongly enough to prevent flying apart in pieces. This is the tidal effect, which is actu...	Star Wars universe had Gravity gun (in Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor )
Looking for a word from the The Lord of the Rings world that represents money/wealth The company where I work we name internal software after characters/things from The Lord of the Rings universe. I will be creating a new project for the marketing department and I'm scratching my head thinking of a character/object/cit...	Moria - in the first age
How do some of the the characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer get money? Okay I know this may be pedantic. But how do the characters in Buffy and Angel finance themselves? How could Faith afford that apartment in series 3? Is she getting some financial help from the Watchers Council? And Angel, where does his money c...	For part of the first season of 'Angel', our eponymous hero seems to receive some funding from Whistler (note that he was homeless when he met him) and in later episodes he runs a detective investigation agency with Cordelia in charge of debt collection as well as recovering some cash that he left
Was Lily Potter's Patronus always a doe? It's well established that Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, had doe and stag Patronuses respectively. It's also well established that falling in love can change a person's Patronus; for example Tonks' werewolf and Snape's doe. There's also this quote: Chely: James patro...	James's Patronus was likely to always have been a stag because that was his Animagus form . I haven't seen anyone mention that it's possible neither James nor Lily's patronus changed.
Why did Emperor Palpatine explode? When Vader tossed Palpatine into the pit, why did the Emperor apparently explode? <Q> G-Canon <S> No official explanation has ever been given as to exactly why Palpatine exploded. <S> The script provides no insight: <S> The Emperor's body spins helplessly into the void, arcing...	In my view of the explosion, it was caused by the fact that there weren't many force sensetive (Jedi, sith) left in the galaxy at that point, and the Emperor had consumed all the powers of the force that the galaxy had offered.
What is the "endgame" of Rick's group in the Walking Dead? They obviously lived awhile in the prison but is there an overall plan, such as finding an ultimately safe haven to live? Rejoining other members of society? Finding an island or something to isolate themselves and wait out the zombies if possible? I have not h...	There is no endgame at this point in the TV series or the comic.
Looking for space series with sailing ship I remember an animated series back in the early 80s that included a space ship that looked like an old sailing ship. Thought it was Starfleet but none of the clips I can find include this ship. Ideas? <Q> I know of two possible answers (other than Jayce given by another user)...	There was a ship in Star Fleet/X-Bomber that was a sailing ship, called The Skull. The Bobobobs Set in the distant past, the plot revolves around a group of nomadic miniature humanoids known as the Bobobobs, who live in a part of the universe far away from the Earth. That could be Captain Harlock (also called "Captain ...
Why is Earth so defenseless in Star Trek? In Star Trek , why doesn’t Earth have planetary defenses? In both the first and second movies of the reboot, a spaceship either crashes or severely threatens Earth (not to mention Vulcan). That is also the case with DS9, the Borg attack in TNG or the First Contact movie. Ge...	Ground-based Defences: Earth appears to have a series of defence systems situated on the planet itself. The Vengeance, a highly advanced Dreadnought capital attack ship designed by the Federation, would bypass all automated defenses as it would be coded with valid federation ID, while also being able to completely dest...
What is the American school of magic? Like Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, but in America. I always thought it was the Salem Witches' Institute because of a few sentences in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , but the Institute seemed to be more of the type where grown witches belonged to a society or whatever, so I'm no...	At the recent HP celebration , JKR announced that the North American wizarding school is named Ilvermorny . The name is Castelobruxo, and according to Pottermore , it serves all of South America:
How could the matter converter in Tron Legacy generate an army E=MC2 is a physical law, matter and energy are linked. Theoretically it would be possible to convert a significant amount of energy into matter, like reverse nuclear fusion. How would the matter converter in Tron Legacy generate an army if CLU's plan was a...	It entirely depends on the amount of power it can suck up from it's electrical supplies.
Why is Chief O'Brien's rank so low when he is the senior engineer of Deep Space 9? In all other Star Trek series the chief engineer is a Lieutenant or higher Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge Lieutenant junior grade B'Elanna Torres Commander Charles Tucker And yet in ...	A Chief Engineer does not require or need a very high military rank in order to perform his job admirably. It's entirely possible that he was given a battlefield commission, much in the same was that enlisted men are given them during combat.
How do stars stay in position in the Battle Room? The Battle Room is near-zero gravity environment where war games are conducted. Inside the area are large obstacles called "stars." Soldiers use these stars as cover, and also for launching off of. Disabled soldiers will also collide with the stars. Shouldn't the star...	The Stars are held in position by local volumetric modifications to the electronically generated gravity fields. I don't believe it is ever specifically stated, but I believe that the stars are most likely held in place by the same technology that allows the Commander's Hooks to function.
In the Asterix series, Why didn't the Romans just address the magic potion problem head on? Re-visiting the famous (at least outside of America!) Asterix series which I loved from my more impressionable days as a kid. Now wondering if I missed an issue in the canon or if the Romans simply never dealt with the indomi...	The secret of the Magic Potion is coveted and Julius Caesar cannot trust any Roman who possesses it - for example Crismus Bonus in Asterix the Gaul , and also Admiral Crustacius in Asterix and Obelix
What is the traditional order that Districts are visited? In Catching Fire, the Victory Tour starts with District 12, then goes down to 11, and seemingly in order to end at the Capital. Of course, that makes sense for a victor in District 12, but what would happen if, say, a District 4 won? Would the order be the same?...	Usually it kicks off in 12 and then goes in descending district order to 1, followed by the Capitol.
When was the first time Star Wars EU explicitly mentioned people having sexual relations? Answering this , it got me to thinking: at some point Star Wars EU went from full-on PG rating for A New Hope, to explicit sexual relations implied (or heck, almost shown) in " Star Wars: Agent of the Empire " comic. What was th...	A reference to sexual activity is mentioned in the narration of Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker , released six months before A New Hope .
Why did the Dwarves build Erebor with wide hallways big enough for dragons to fit in? Why didn't they build narrow hallways and doors so that no dragon would fit in? Dwarves are short and stouty, so why didn't they go " Tucker's Kobolds " on Smaug? <Q> According to the Tale of Years in Lord of the Rings, Erebor was fo...	It would seem logical to have wide halls as a way to accommodate the massive amount of traffic through them.
Could the Pensieve work the same way as Horcruxes? I'm wondering if one could remove their memory and store it, if it would completely remove the emotion that one felt regarding it?? With the Horcrux one removes part of their soul, usually through a violent act in order to store it within an object. With the Pensive on...	A pensive will simply display the memory that was stored. What you put in Horcruxes are parts of a soul and they can help rebuild the life of the person.
How can Tauriel use athelas if she is not a queen? It is my understanding in Lord of the Rings most folk dismiss athelas, also called kingsfoil , as a useless weed, while it's actually a healing herb. This is probably because by the time of the book's events, they haven't had a king to use it for a long time. It's ...	There's nothing definitive on this, but it seems that while athelas is useful in the hands of any healer (Gondorian healers used it for headaches), the people of Gondor have noticed that it's especially effective in the hands of their royal family. It's called kingsfoil, so you have to be descended from a king to use i...
How did Jabba become such a powerful crime lord? After re-watching Return of the Jedi recently, I started to wonder about Jabba and his criminal empire. All the sources I've read agree that Jabba is immensely powerful, and his influence was such that even the Imperial forces were reluctant to cross him. But physica...	Well Jabba looks really weak because he is lazy but hutts themselves are actually physically strong. Jabba advanced to a position of power within his family before he started consolidating his criminal empire. They could also wield blasters like any other species.
What did Smaug eat for 60 years? From what I understand, Smaug is a beast that must eat other living things to sustain himself. For example, he does not "eat" gold and jewels, he simply admires and covets them. It's implied that he ate a good deal of dwarves, men, ponies, etc., during his attack on Erebor. But once h...	The dragons, we can speculate, can probably survive long periods of time without food or slumber by conserving their strength. The lands surrounding Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, the local plains, valleys and hills were ravaged by his attacks making a region known as "Desolation of Smaug".
Who in Middle-earth knows the Istari's origin? In the Middle-earth universe, there are a handful of wizards who work in various ways to fight evil. Out of universe, we know these wizards to be Istari, Maia who are in Middle-earth working to defeat Sauron, and we know this thanks to The Silmarillion which explains the...	The only people (and yes, it's individuals, not groups) who are recorded as having known were Círdan, Elrond and Galadriel; from Rings of Power : an Aragorn knows the story of Beren and Luthien well and furthermore has for a long time been a close friend of Gandalf, he most likely knows about the Istari's origins.
Is the magical power/skill difference typical among siblings in Potterverse? It seems that whenever there are siblings, their magical abilities differ greatly: Mediocre Ron vs his rather brilliant older brothers, especially twins. Aberforth vs Albus Dumbledore Patil sisters (one is a Ravenclaw nerd, one is Gryffind...	They all do share some common qualities among them, but of course there is always the sibling that breaks the mold. Intelligent wizard or witches, such as Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, or Tom Riddle, are generally those who are perceived as possessing powerful magic.
Why doesn't movie Thor consistently wear his battle helmet like comic book Thor did? Thor's winged helmet is as much of the comic book version's gear as his mighty hammer is. What is the movie canon reason as to why the movie Thor forgoes wearing his trademark hat in battle? <Q> Because the helmet prop was not made pro...	Because studios are paying actors crazy money, and they want those actors faces onscreen as much as possible so they can sell the movie and the actors want their face onscreen as much as possible too lest they be forgotten.
Did George Lucas consider Star Wars to be science fiction? Given all the classic sci-fi trappings found in the Star Wars films (spaceships, laser weapons, giant insects, aliens, etc.) did George Lucas in fact consider Star Wars to be science fiction? <Q> From an interview included as part of the introduction of the Sta...	George Lucas has gone on the record to describe it as a sort of combination of genres - including science-fiction, versus some of the "harder" science-fiction that he grew up with.
When/How did Wolverine learn about his past? After a decade-ish hiatus from reading comics, I've recently started reading again. (Marvel Unlimited was the greatest birthday gift ever!) Before stopping, one of the last arcs I had read was the Origin story of Wolverine. At the time, Wolverine had no current memory of ...	During the Wolverine tie-in issues of House we find that thanks to Wanda's reality alteration powers Logan had regained ALL his memories. The Long Answer is - Quicksilver realizes that due to her unstable powers causing the death of several Avengers — including The Vision (her ex-husband), Ant-Man and Hawkeye — in the ...
Is there any Potterverse explanation for a wand? Is there a reason in the Potterverse to use a wand? There are many creatures that use magic without a wand, why do wizards need to use wands? <Q> Wands are a way to channel (or focus) your magic. <S> As Ollivander tells Harry in HP7: <S> Oh yes, if you are any wizard...	Wands channel magic so as to make its effects both more precise and more powerful, although it is generally held to be a mark of the very greatest witches and wizards that they have also been able to produce wandless magic of a very high quality.
Is it possible that some of Voldemort's Legilimency was transferred to Harry? A recent thread on Pensieves has lead me into thinking about Harry's unincidental Legilimecy powers. For a context, please go to this thread Could the Pensieve work the same way as Horcruxes? I posted a comment in which I gave a wild specul...	While it is possible that Harry was endowed with some skill in Legilimency from the part of Voldemort' soul in him, like his ability for Parseltongue, there's nothing in canon to support this.
In the Star Trek Episode "The Alternative Factor", why did Lazarus have to be locked in the corridor between universes? Wikipedia article on the episode. It is clear to me that the Lazarus from the normal universe wanted to meet the Lazarus from the anti-matter universe, and if that would happen both universes would b...	The corridor likely prevents either Lazarus from killing or seriously harming one another while inside.
The origin and use of the term TARDIS In the first serial, "An Unearthly Child", Susan Foreman claims, " I made up the name TARDIS from the initials, Time And Relative Dimension In Space ." In "The Name of the Doctor", the guard watching the monitor showing the Doctor sneaking about the repair shop says, " What kind o...	The Master is the first other person to refer to his ship as a TARDIS.
Why do Sauron's servants sometimes use the name "Sauron"? Why do some of the Dark Lord's servants refer to him as "Sauron", such as his emissar, The Mouth of Sauron, and some of his agents sent to the dwarves: "'As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this,' he said: 'that you should find this thief,' su...	In the past Sauron was trying to gain power and influence subtly, among the valar, elves, and men of Numenor; so he chose flattering names to try and improve his perception among those he was trying to persuade and influence.
Why did OCP build Robocop? It seems like building the Robocop was a really stupid business approach: You can't build them on industrial scale (to put it somewhat insensitively, OCP didn't have a ready supply of highly trained and freshly killed police officers) So, Robocop seemed like a prototype that could never ha...	The RoboCop was pet project of one the OCP directors. Of course they won't be able to enter on an industrial production scale, however, maybe one or two of them could be deployed in almost every big city, that would be a huge business as I can assure you that such a project is not a cheap one, although it's results are...
What happens to Dragon after Donkey & Shrek drank the Happily Ever After potion? Every time after watching Shrek 2 , I'm disappointed that we don't get to see Dragon while Donkey is transformed into a steed. Is there any information as to what happens to her or what she looks like during that period? <Q> The film's co...	Directly from the Shrek Wiki , it says that she "was supposed to change into a beautiful female Pegasus, the perfect match to Donkey's transformation into a handsome stallion
Why was Lockhart sorted into Ravenclaw? Lockhart is a bumbling idiot - except when it comes to memory charms, and he was so driven to be a famed writer that he used inscrupulous means to obtain his status as star autobiographical wizard and hero. So, how on earth does one explain his being sorted into Ravenclaw? Do...	Lockhart's lack of self-awareness, eccentricities, and easygoing nature make him a better fit for Ravenclaw than Slytherin.
Which JG Ballard story contains a phrase something like "Listen, you can hear the quasars calling" I have a distant memory of once reading a JG Ballard short story in which a character utters a phrase similar to: "Listen, you can hear the quasars calling!" or possibly "Listen, can you hear the quasars calling?" ...	In the mini-story cycle ZODIAC 2000 , The Sign of the Radar Bowl had a reference to "the great music of the quasars" and The Sign of the IUD had a "strange young woman, with her anonymous apartment and random conversation filled with sudden references to quasars".
Are all of the different Sonic Screwdriver versions equal in their functionality? As the series and the Doctor have been rejuvenated over the years, Dr. Who has wielded several cosmetically different Sonic Screwdrivers. While it seems that a Timelord would have the top of the line Sonic Screwdriver from the series begi...	It would seem disingenuous for each version of the sonic to "lose functions" that its predecessors possessed, given that later Doctors have used the sonic more frequently than earlier incarnations.
Is there a public domain English translation of Somnium (1608), by Johannes Kepler? In the question What is the earliest work considered to be Science Fiction? Somnium (Latin for "The Dream") was written in 1608, in Latin, by Johannes Kepler is offered as possibly the earliest work of science siction. As a 400 yea...	There seems to be an English translation available online at http://frostydrew.org/papers.dc/papers/paper-somnium/pss-fdo/
How was the Doctor able to not answer the first question? I just watched The Time of the Doctor and while the whole Silence wanting to kill the the Doctor thing now makes total sense, one thing doesn't add up. Dorium Maldovar said: On the fields of Trenzalore at the fall of the 11th, when no creature can speak fals...	The doctor learned to lie in the truth field.
Why were there 13 Doctors prior to #12? Thirteen Doctors encapsulated Gallifrey in The Day of the Doctor . But in The Time of the Doctor it mentioned 13 prior to his regeneration at the end of the episode. I count 12: #11 plus the War Doctor. Where is the 13th Doctor? <Q> The thirteen Doctors/TARDISes in Day of th...	Now the reason they say all thirteen is because the Timelords on Gallifrey did not know that Tennant's doctor had used up a regeneration to stay the same so they would assume that the last doctor to show up, aka Capaldi, was the regeneration of Matt Smith using a new regeneration cycle. The Twelfth Doctor makes an appe...
Why did the crew of Nostromo not seem too surprised by new Alien life? When some of the crew of the Nostromo discovered the space jockey and the alien eggs, they didn't seem too surprised. It kind of seemed normal to them that yes, a corporation like Weyland-Yutani would want them to bring back whatever they found by r...	While there's no explicit mention of alien contact in Alien, we can make a few assumptions based on the later films that suggest that alien contact was probably already made by the time the events of Alien begin. The only thing that will change (hands) is money.
Does Terminator 3 undermine the 'No Fate' concept? "The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves… !" John Connor, quoting John Connor, quoting Kyle Reese, quoting John Connor - Terminator 2: Judgment Day One of the fundamental ideas in the first two Terminator movies is that the past was not i...	John Connor's issue in Terminator 3 is that after destroying Cyberdyne Systems he's already changed the future so drastically that that he simply doesn't know where to strike at Skynet next or even if Skynet is still in development.
Was the regeneration limit canon before The Time of the Doctor? Has the limit on regenerations for Time Lords shown in The Time of the Doctor always been canon, or was this was made up just for this episode? <Q> It comes up a number of times thereafter. <S> Particularly in the context of the Valeyard from the Colin...	The regeneration limit is old canon from the Tom Baker era as established in " The Deadly Assassin ".
Why do the Silence and the Doctor team up at the end of "The Time of the Doctor"? At the beginning of the episode, the Silence didn't want the Doctor to speak his name (like all of the other aliens in the sky). So why did they help get rid of those aliens (particularly the Daleks) at the end of the episode? <Q> It is t...	By assisting the Doctor in his efforts to stave off the enemy forces, they also managed to keep him from saying his name - as long as the forces were being held back (which they were, as it was stated that all of the races besides the Daleks either burned or fled), the Doctor would not have had to have risked the plane...
If Tasha Lem is an incarnation of River Song, why would she ask if Eleventh has a "new body"? River Song only really knew two Doctors, as far as we know, and was clearly most familiar with Eleventh. Why would Tasha Lem think he has a new body if she's an incarnation of River? Why would Eleventh rally her against the "...	Unless contradicted by a later episode, we can be pretty sure that Tasha Lem isn't River Song.
What subjects did Dumbledore teach in Hogwarts? What subject did Professor Albus Dumbledore teach when he was recruited as a teacher in Hogwarts. Also, till his death, what other subjects did he teach. <Q> He was a Transfiguration teacher. <S> From Chamber of Secrets , Tom Riddle tells Harry: 'Only the Transfigur...	Dumbledore taught Transfiguration, like Minerva Mcgonagall during the events of book 1 to 7.
How does the doctor age faster during the events of The Time of The Doctor? In series 6, during The Impossible Astronaut, the age difference between the two Doctors we see (the Tesselecta and the Envelope #1 Doctor) is said to be 200 years old. In the Time of The Doctor, when the TARDIS returns, The Doctor says that it...	We can perhaps speculate that, if left to age normally, each incarnation would last longer before needing to regenerate. The Doctor is not aging faster as soon as he gets to Trenzalore. He didn't age faster than normal, it's just that the Doctor most likely spent over a thousand years in his 11th (13th) incarnation and...
What was the outcome of the meeting between humans and Zygons in "The Day of the Doctor"? Does anyone have any idea what was the result of the negotiations between humans and Zygons in the 50th anniversary special? Doctors 10 and 11 left to reunite with the War Doctor and The Moment, but then the special ended and no o...	In the two-parter story comprising episodes 7 and 8, "The Zygon Invasion" and "The Zygon Inversion", we learn that the treaty drawn up by the humans and Zygons involved twenty million Zygons rehabilitated on Earth, taking the form of humans and living unobtrusively among us. They most likely came to some sort of peacef...
Why does Smaug smell the ring (when it was invisible) and refer to it as 'precious'? In Jackson's Hobbit Desolation of Smaug , Bilbo stands near Smaug as he wakes up and puts on the ring to become invisible. From what we can see, Smaug doesn't lay eyes on the ring. Yet Smaug comments, "You carry some gold, somethi...	He was simply curious because someone entered his bedroom who Smaug didn't know the smell of (even lots the very wise have never heard of Hobbits...)
Are Superman's costume changes scientifically possible (manipulating Atoms)? In several 'dress changing' scenes in the original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve, we can see that the movie director opted to show the audience that Clark Kent's ordinary clothing gets visually morphed or faded into his Superman u...	Superman has never had the ability to manipulate atoms, nor had technology that would allow him to do so until the most recent DCnU representations of his costume.
How is Smaug aware that there is a war coming when all he did was lie in all the dwarves gold at Erebor? How is Smaug aware of the fact that there is a war coming when all he has done is lie amongst the gold that he stole from the dwarves at Erebor? He mentions that there is a war coming but how would he know this? <Q...	Now within the confines of the movie, we could suppose that Smaug probably had word of a coming war from some source
Is there a canon precedent for a Timelord being able to use regeneration energy in such a destructive manner? In "The Time of the Doctor", we see Matt Smith's Doctor go out with a bang as he uses (apparently excess) energy from his regeneration to destroy the Daleks that have besieged him. This appears to be an incredi...	The Tenth Doctor regenerated and causes enough damage to the TARDIS that it needs to regenerate in The End of Time Pt 2. He would either die or get a new set of regenerations, but he was interrupted so we didn't get to see the final result.
What happened in the Doctor's past that made him destroy Gallifrey prior to the Day of the Doctor? In the Day of the Doctor, both 10 and 11 remember destroying Gallifrey. Does this mean that in their past, the Interface never showed up? or did he just not listen to her and destroyed the planet right away? <Q> Hurt's Do...	The events that occurred were always meant to happen and Hurt's Doctor and Tennant forgot the events from the memory wiping devices or because of "timey wimey" (you know how the doctor's aren't supposed to cross their own timeline)
In Star Trek reboot, is Khan from the 20th century? In TOS, Khan is from the 20th century , rules a significant area of Earth for a while, and then leaves Earth at the end of that century. Is that still the case in Star Trek Into Darkness? If so, is the reboot occurring in an alternative timeline from our own (since...	Yes, the reboot is in another timeline from ours.
How was Ishamael able to visit Lews Therin after the Dark One was sealed away? At the end of the War of Power, Lews Therin Telamon led the Companions to seal away the Dark One. By luck or design, they caught the entirety of the inner circle of the Forsaken there and sealed them away, too, shattering the forces of the S...	Aran son of Malan son of Senar (born roughly 50 AB) had a theory based on Ishamael being thrown out and touching the world for specific periods of time.
Why did the Doctor start to regenerate after the events at Lake Silencio? At the start of season 6, we see the Eleventh Doctor being shot midway through his regeneration, in order to kill him. However, we now know that this incarnation of the Doctor was the last Doctor of this cycle (the “thirteenth” regeneration), an...	The doctor obviously didn't want the rest of the universe to know that he'd used up all of his regenerations, so he made it look as if he'd been killed in the middle of a cycle that didn't exist.
What are Harry Potter's Children? Harry is a half-blood and Ginny is a pure-blood, so what does that make his children?I've been told it means they are pure-bloods but I can't be sure. What do you think? <Q> To quote Hagrid: "See the thing is, Harry, there's some wizards, like the Malfoy family, who think they're b...	From the 'pureblood' view, they would be half-blood, since they have muggle ancestry.
Is everyone really female in Ancillary Justice or is the ancillary just unable to tell? In the book Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie most characters are indicated as female with the pronouns selected. There's some discussion about the main character being able to identify the sex because a language requires gender wh...	Normal Radchaai seem to be able to recognize one's gender, but Breq has trouble doing so, maybe because a ship doesn't have sexual organs, and the ship had both male and female ancillaries.
Why did the First Doctor land in a junkyard, and why didn’t the TARDIS disguise itself as junk? Why did the First Doctor land in a junkyard, is there some particular reason for this? And when they did land in a junkyard, why did the TARDIS become a police box instead of a piece of garbage? Surely that would have been ...	I'm unaware of any canon reason the TARDIS chose to land in the Junkyard in the first episode of Doctor
What Star Trek episodes (any series) have been censored? I just came across this: At one point, Data makes a reference to the Irish Reunification of 2024, and because of that, the BBC refused to air the episode. It didn’t air on the U.K. government’s station until 2007, though it did air on satellite and cable (some...	Several episodes of Trek have been censored or simply not shown over the years. The episode "Patterns of Force" (Star Trek: The Original Series, see Patterns of Force - Wikipedia ) from February 16, 1968 was banned in Germany from 1968 until 1995 due to the depiction of Nazi symbols and Nazi uniforms.
Why does Data go to sick bay? Been rewatching some of the show, and I noticed that on several occasions, when Data is feeling out of sorts, he reports to sick bay to be treated by Dr. Crusher. (Examples: Season 5's "The Game", Season 7's "Thine Own Self") What I don't understand is why he wouldn't go to engineering i...	And sickbay is full of equipment that is designed for humanoids.
How does the power of Felix Felicis work in one's odds? "Endeavours" by online definition states an 'attempt to achieve a goal'. And as shown in the 6th Harry Potter book, Slughorn states that the potion: "However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed ." As...	I'd suggest that 'luck' would guide to taker of the potion down a path that will favourably influence the outcome of the situation.
Why wasn't Sabretooth the original Weapon X subject? Why wasn't Sabretooth the original Weapon X subject? Wasn't he trustable, or were his healing powers inferior? <Q> I don't recall that this has ever been specifically addressed, but I believe that this passage from Wikipedia is the most spot on. <S> The characte...	It is also known that he and Sabretooth were victims of the Cold War supersoldier program Weapon X, and that Sabretooth saw Wolverine as competition and tried to make his life miserable. Origins (which mind you, may or may not be canon anymore due to the events of Days of Future Past) shows Sabertooth and Logan equally...
YA Fantasy with Celtic Theme Read this in the early 90s but was probably from the 70s or 80s. The setting was Celtic or Arthurian. It involved transportation between the real world and the magical word. The characters were orphans and may have been siblings. They each had a magic item. Merlin and Morgan le Fey were fea...	The books dealt with magical portals and time travel - including, but not limited to Celtic/Arthurian times. The main charcters are a brother and sister whose parents are overseas. There were 52 books, but not all of them dealt with Morgan or Merlin.
Why does Arya Stark refer to her fencing teacher as dancing master? I thought it was to hide from people that she was learning sword fighting, but whenever she refers to her teacher as dancing master people tend to understand it was her fencing teacher — for example, when she discusses it with Jaqen H'gar. Are fencing...	Although swordplay is sometimes referred to as dancing, the term was also deliberately used to deceive others as to the nature of Arya's training.
Why does the War Doctor regenerate? At the end of "The Day of The Doctor", we see John Hurt's War Doctor step into his TARDIS and start to regenerate into Christopher Eccleston's 9th Doctor. I always thought that Time Lords can only regenerate when they are close to their death (old age, severe physical injury, etc.,)...	I think it was to do with the fact that he was old, but it might be also that he actually wanted to regenerate, because he accepted himself as the Doctor, and wanted a fresh start. It has been shown several times old series and new that time lords can use their regeneration energy at will. The War Doctor did not exist ...
If the world was flat, could one see great distances? During the First age and before, Arda was flat. I'm not certain how flat it was, but wouldn't this imply that one could see great distances, as far as the nearest mountain that was higher than your vantage point? If you were high enough (and had very keen eyes), cou...	Theoretically if you were on the highest object on the entire disk, you could see a very long way (several hundred miles or more)
How does Luke know of Dagobah? If I remember correctly, Yoda chose Dagobah for his exile because it had been removed from the Jedi archives at some point and was generally unknown. However, in ESB, Luke seems to know exactly what Obi Wan's ghost is talking about, and doesn't seem to have any issue with setting a cours...	According to one of the "Inside the Worlds of..." books made for the prequels, (either the Episode II one or Complete Locations ), Dagobah was one of the planets erased from the Jedi Archives that Yoda discovered after Episode II, and was likely erased by Count Dooku. Yoda told R2-D2 where it was. Or, its name and coor...
Does the T-1000 use 3 hands in the helicopter chase scene? I recently re-watched Terminator 2: Judgement Day with a friend. When it came to the helicopter chase scene, my friend commented "He's reloading the gun, how is he still flying the helicopter?" Now we've seen the T-1000 form knives and take on alternate form...	Actually it has four (4) hands at that moment. To fly the helicopter you have to use both of your hands: one to control the cyclic (the 'joystick', you can see it in the picture) and one to control the collective, the handle on the left side of the pilot, although the collective doesn't need constant attention.
How does Draco Malfoy know Hermione is Muggle-born? In Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets , Draco calls Hermione 'a filthy little mudblood'. She never let slip she was muggleborn in the Philosopher's Stone book or film, so how does he know Hermione was muggleborn? My theory is that Lucius Malfoy (who was a gov...	The entire Malfoy family is obsessed with bloodlines, so I've always assumed they just know, from memory, which families are Muggle-born and which are not.
Why don't wizards use magic for domestic tasks? Why can't wizards use magic to clean or organize their house, or even to prepare food, for example on Weasley's and Black's house? <Q> They do! <S> Molly Weasley in particular is seen using magic to conjure ingredients, boil water, and so forth. <S> Presumably such sp...	There are several instances of Molly Weasley cooking and cleaning using magic.
Why didn't Harry and Co. travel to the Ministry in OotP by the floo network? Seems to me that the only reason they didn't do it in the first place was because they were caught by Umbridge when she failed to fall for Nevile's ploy. But once she was dragged away by the Centaurs after Harry and Hermione's encounter with...	On top of all of this, they had no idea if Floo-ing to the Ministry after hours was even permitted, and Harry hates traveling by Floo, By travelling by stealth they were afforded the ability to reconnoiter the area first before going in.
The Others' first defeat: how, when and who? How and when and by who were the Others first defeated? When was the Wall erected compared to the time of their defeat? If that can be answered, it will probably imply the answer to this: was its purpose primarily as an active defence (to defend during an ongoing conflict w...	The Others last (and perhaps first; there are no tales of an earlier appearance, though it may just be forgotten) appeared about 8000 years ago and were defeated by Azor Ahai wielding the magical sword Lightbringer and leading other humans using dragonglass weapons, allied with the Children of the Forest. Afterwards, t...
How is suicide viewed in "A Song of Ice and Fire" (Books not TV series)? I have only read the first 4.5 books in the series so far so apologies if this is answered/explained in the second volume of A Dance With Dragons . There is a common theme within the series of certain characters being imprisoned by, and at the m...	It is said that Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen killed himself by drinking wildfire. And there is also, as you mention, people asking for "mercy" (being put out of their misery), and getting it (or not).
Looking for an older short story about humans who develop the ability to photosynthesize A short story about a group of rural people who start to develop the ability to photosynthesize. They start to grow tendrils which reach into the dirt, and create energy from the sun. <Q> Your story description has similarities to ...	There are some similarities to "Piper in the Woods" by Philip K. Dick, enough for it to possibly be the story you're thinking of.
What children's sci-fi novel has a girl on a space station who ends up on an alien planet? I'm trying to remember the name of a novel for children or young adults that I read 12–14 years ago. There is a girl who lives on a space station. I think the space station blows up or is compromised in some way. The girl is sep...	An event happens to the station (struck by the namesake meteorite if I remember correctly), and she then spends time on alien worlds (in a space suit) and on alien space stations with the crew of a spaceship assisting them with her linguistic skills.
What was sci-fi book where the main character could read computer networks In 1990 I was buying some science journal, and it used to publish excerpts from sci-fi and fantasy books. In such a way I got acquainted to Ursula Le Guin and etc. I remember there was a (maybe short) story where the main hero could hack networ...	The novel, Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988) by William Gibson, is about a woman named Angie who always had the ability to hack into cyberspace without a cyberspace deck.
Why does the Klingon Defence Force have such a wussy name? The Klingons are not known for being defensive, so why is their space fleet named for defence? It should be called the Klingon Imperial Expansion Force, or the Klingon War Fleet. I have some hypotheses:- The name is a translation artefact. The Klingon name a...	The role of the Klingon Defence Forces is to defend the honour of the Klingon Empire.
Why does the word "Mapone" have this effect on Bullseye? Daredevil: End of Days opens amidst a brutal battle between Daredevil and Bullseye. Daredevil is on the losing end of the fight and says the single word " Mapone ". Bullseye flies into an uncontrollable rage and kills Daredevil. During Ben Urich's quest to ...	Just before Bullseye kills him, Daredevil says "Mapone, Mapone" (the name of his daughter with Black Widow) which supposedly drives Bullseye into a killing rage.
What poetic old detective noir book has mutants smuggled out of a ghetto being blackmailed? Years ago I read this old science fiction book that was written in a poetic noir style, and I remember bits of the plot, but not any names to google. Could you help me find it? It was from my Dad's collection which means pre-20...	You plot description reminds me of Peter F. Hamilton's books starring Greg Mandel, a former military officer who was upgraded with psi abilities, which he now uses in his civilian career as a private detective.
If the ponies are vegetarian, why do they raise pigs? From everything I've seen so far, the ponies seem to be herbivores. We never see them eat meat products of any kind. But the Apple family raises pigs in their farm (Season 3 Episode 10 "Spike at Your Service"). It makes sense for ponies to raise sheep (for the woo...	Equestrian ponies are not exclusively herbivores. Pig hooves can be used to fabricate buttons that can also be used to make dresses.
What is in the east of Middle-earth, and why is it all subservient to Sauron? There are a number of times in Lord of the Rings where the "east" is mentioned -- the pirate ships, the slave-driven farms. And of course all of the peoples subservient to Sauron who come to fight Gondor and the West. Are there any maps of ...	The East (and South) of Middle-earth, beyond the main published maps, was only ever mapped in the Ambarkanta, which was written in the 1930s and published in The Shaping of Middle-earth (HoME 4) .
What was behind the door in the Paths of the Dead? In The Return of the King, Aragorn's company comes across the corpse of a man: Before him were the bones of a mighty man. He had been clad in mail, and still his harness lay there whole; for the cavern’s air was as dry as dust, and his hauberk was gilded. His belt ...	Failing that (and given that the 'Paths of the Dead' are guarded by "Dead men out of the Dark Years") there's a genuine possibility that Baldor's final intention was to escape unspeakable horrors chasing him rather than out of a desire to get at the treasure that allegedly lay within. But the door was shut in his face,...
Thorin, son of Thrain... Nephew of Thror? The tapestry Bard finds seems to show Thror in the same generation as Thrain... Is this a mistake, or have I miss read the tapestry? <Q> Here's the actual tapestry from the Blu-ray edition:you can clearly see how Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór is the nephew of Frór . ...	I think you may have misread it, or that the shot in the movie had the tapestry folded slightly to make it look like Thrain was next to Thror.
Are day/night cycles synced up between different species in Star Trek? In Voyager, Season 1, Episode 6 (Eye of the Needle), Captain Janeway communicates with a Romulan vessel in the Alpha quadrant via a probe relay in a wormhole. At the end of the conversation they have while she's in her quarters, the Romulan says "g...	I suspect that there's a universal star fleet time that is used in communication, probably based on star fleet headquarters on Earth (where there is a defined day/night). It's highly unlikely all habited worlds share the same time day/night standard.
Was the Smeagol/Gollum dynamic a product of the Ring, or loneliness? Is there any indication about whether the split-personality relationship between Smeagol and Gollum was a direct result of the Ring's influence? Obviously it had an incredibly powerful effect on him, but in most other Ringbearers (like Isildur and Bi...	The talking to himself was probably from loneliness, but refering to himself as two people was probably from the ring.
Why couldn't Jon Snow pull out Longclaw? In A Dance with Dragons : Jon dodged the first attack with only a minor wound. The second attack succeeded only because Jon's fingers were like stones and he couldn't get Longclaw out and then the kid got him in the belly. Was there a reason for this? <Q> I hope someone...	If Jon carried Longclaw on his back, then it would be physically impossible for him to draw Longclaw from his back. He was taken by surprise at close range by men with weapons better suited for fighting at close range.
What's with the IQ chart in Idiocracy? In Idiocracy, they show an average IQ chart that is declining over the next few centuries. Now, anyone who's studied IQ knows that's nonsense. The average IQ of a population is by definition 100 . So, is this merely an instance of inadequate research by the writers, or is there...	When they say that the average IQ of the population declined they are representing that the median score of the entire population was declining.
Book about a boy meeting a girl on an alien planet where he crash-landed I read a book back in the 90s about a boy who meets a girl on an alien planet, and I think he crash landed there. The cover had green hills/mountains, blue sky and the boy and girl on it (not an 80s style). It was either the second or first book i...	My first thought was Welcome to Mars! I read it as a child and didn't really understand it (too young), but I remember it well.
Why was Severus Snape allowed to be a Death Eater? It's been a while since I read the books, but I thought the Death Eaters were all pure-bloods and only associated with other pure-bloods. How was a half-blood allowed to be almost royalty in Voldemort's court? Was it just because his position at Hogwarts allowed him ...	The only thing restricting a wizard from becoming a Death Eater would be if he or she was a Blood Traitor or a Muggle-born. Half-bloods could be Death Eaters, they weren’t only pure-bloods.
Why don't Jedi and Sith wear minimal gear for maximal lightsaber efficiency? I'm not expert in Star Wars nor in fencing. However, I think there is something not very logical in the way Jedi and Sith use their lightsabers. I've always thought a proficient lightsaber user would not use robes nor cloaks in order to avoid...	Some reference materials say that one of the reasons for Jedi robes is to better fit in on many planets, since they're a classic style that has been around for millennia, so that their clothes don't necessarily draw unwanted attention. Most of the time they do take their cloaks off to fight - if they have the time.
Are the coreward rimward names real science names or just sci-fi? For example: http://www.ufstarfleet.org/wiki/index.php?title=Galactic_Directions It shows some names used for directions of the galaxy. Coreward Coreward refers the direction of the galactic core, the centre of the galactic coordinate system. Corew...	A quick search of over 11 million English-language scientific papers on Scirus and Science Direct reveals precisely zero references to the words 'Coreward' and 'Rimward' in relation to galactic positioning.
What happened to the Doctor's children? In the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", the Doctor reveals that he once had children and that they died. So is it ever mentioned if the Doctor's children died fighting in the Last Great Time War or before that? And how did they die? <Q> There are a few canon references to his ch...	Off-screen sources like novels and audio stories, give some additional notions about the Doctor's children, but off-screen continuity is a vague quagmire that I'm not getting into here.
Are the MCU films based on canon storylines? I realize that this isn't going to provide a straight 'yes/no' answer, but I believe it could yield a correct answer nontheless, if appropriate detail is provided... How much of the already released Marvel Cinematic Universe films contains narrative events that are fait...	Sadly, my knowledge of Marvel comic canon is way too limited, but is seems that the MCU is much like the Nolan Batman franchise in that the movies blend various "canon" story arcs together into a single film, while also introducing original elements.
How does 3-person 3-arm control work on the Chinese Jaeger? From what I understand, the way Jaegers are supposed to work, 2 pilots use 100% identical movements to control the Jaeger's movement, which mimics pilots' moves. However, the Chinese Jaeger has 3 pilots and 3 arms. None of those pilots have 3 arms. And it's ...	In both the movie and the novelization, it is stated that the minds of the pilots work in concert, sharing the neural load, but we repeatedly see each pilot acting independently at times.
Are human-looking Jedi/Sith like Palpatine and the Skywalkers the same (human) species as non-Force users? Is there a canon mention that Kenobi, Windu, Palpatine, the Skywalkers etc. are the same human species as all the other humans in the Skyriver Galaxy like Han Solo? They look like humans, but we know that they'...	Morphologically, "Human" Jedi are always described 100% human. So at the very least, C-3PO, a protocol droid who would presumably be aware of distinctions between species for diplomatic purposes, considers Luke, a Force-sensitive individual, to be human.
What happened to the Orcs after the Ring was destroyed and Sauron was defeated? It certainly seems that the Orcs are always evil. So what happened when their master (Sauron) was defeated at the end of Lord of the Rings? I can't really imagine that either they would be entirely killed (genocide) or alternately that the ...	The fate of the Orcs in the Misty Mountains is not known, but presumably they stayed there and lived in independence. We may assume that the others (the ones Sauron created), along with some of the Melkor breeds, fled and hid anywhere they could.
Where do the X-Men get all their money/funding? Charles Xavier's father was a "wealthy nuclear scientist". In the beginning, Charles personally bankrolled the Xavier Institute/X-Men using his family's money. This included, but was not limited to things like upgrading the mansion to house the training levels, providin...	Wolverine seems to have quite a bit of money because he funded the Jean Grey School out of pocket.

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