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In Star Wars: The Clone Wars are clones allowed to be in romantic relationships? I understand that they're soldiers for life. But I don't recall them taking an oath that bans this type of relationship. We were shown that they do have free time when Fives visits the clone bar. <Q> In the show, there is no evidence of cl...	But, due to the lack of examples or reference at all in the show, we can only assume that clones would not be allowed to have romantic relationships.
What does it mean to "stopper death"? ‘As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching th...	I think it literally means to pour poison into a container and seal (stopper) it.
Does spice cause blue lips in Frank Herbert's Dune? I saw a comment here that implied that consumption of the spice (in Dune by Frank Herbert) caused blue lips. Is there any evidence of that? I only remember the blue within blue eyes. Spice giving its users blue lips is from Frank Herbert's Dune series, which I don...	There is no blueing of the lips in the feature film We know that the eyes turn to blue Extensive use of the drug tints the sclera, cornea and iris of the user to a dark shade of blue, called "blue-in-blue" or "the Eyes of Ibad," -- Herbert, Frank (1965).
What's the world like outside San Angeles? The film Demolition Man is set in a single city " metroplex " known as San Angeles which comprises Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego. SAPD Officer Lenina Huxley tells us that the region was comprehensively rebuilt after a colossal earthquake (" the big one") and tha...	We don't know exactly what life outside of San Angeles is like, but we're lead to believe it's similar or close to the same as in San Angeles - given the major corporate mergers that have taken place and the fact that no other societal norms are even mentioned.
What work of science-fiction first introduced the concept of "Glassing" or Alpha-Striking a planet? From the Halo Wiki : The term glassing, also known as plasma bombardment, is used to refer to the act by which Covenant ships bombard a planet from orbit using heavy plasma weaponry. This concept of bombarding a...	Toward the end of the first Robotech series the alien race the Zentradei begin the orbital bombardment of earth with the intent to destroy all life on it. Not the first use of the concept but possibly the first use of the term "Glassing" is, as far as I can find it, in Starship Troopers in 1959 where they use it to des...
Female terms for Jedi/Sith Would a female Jedi be referred to as Jedi Mistress instead of Jedi Master? Likewise would a Sith female be referred to as a Sith Lady instead of a Sith Lord? <Q> In current canon there are no female Sith Lords <S> ( Asajj Ventress was affiliated with the Sith as an apprentice of Darth Ty...	Jedi Master and Sith Lord are formal titles which are generally used by both sexes. The general feeling is that "mistress" is not an acceptable feminisation of "master."
What's with the positive-negative pregnancy of ganger Amy? When Amy was kidnapped and her ganger used to travel in TARDIS, The Doctor often used to scan her for her pregnancy. The result: Positive - Negative both/alternating. I don't know they wanted to show scanner malfunction on alien domain or quantum superposition...	The reason the reading was unstable was due to the fact Amy was not aware she was utilizing the Flesh.
Are the countries in the Belgariad based on real ones? Is there any info on which real-life countries the countries in David Eddings's Belgariad and Malloreon were based on? So far I've come up with the following: Sendaria ~ Britain (mixture of cultures, reputation for 'common sense', and anyway ever since LotR the ma...	I'm not aware of any detailed breakdown of which real places served as inspiration for Eddings. Riva would have to be Iceland, I think, or perhaps England... it has elements of each. Algaria is broadly Southern Germanic lands, though their similarity is tenuous, and their character is more Hunnish than German.
Where are the ingredients for the massive feasts at Hogwarts coming from? If I remember correctly, food is one of the five things that can't be transfigured. The House Elves were responsible for cooking all of the meals at the school, but the raw ingredients have to come from somewhere. Hogsmeade seems a likely p...	The books of course never say where the Hogwarts food comes from. It’s impossible to make good food out of nothing!
Where do Doctors/Healers get their training and research? What training do doctors/Healers receive above their school education? A fresh Hogwarts graduate does not seem to have all the skills required to be a Healer, so s/he would need to be learning those skills somehow/someplace. So how/where do they get those skil...	From pieces I've gathered in the books, it would be a reasonable assumption that they went to St. Mungo's to work with more experienced healers. It seems that Healers do go through some form of training, as there are reasonably strict academic requirements (not unlike medicine courses):
Why didn't they build the Jaegers twice as big as the Kaiju to crush them easily? Really, instead of three one-hundred-metre robots, why not use the resources to build one three-hundred-metre goliath (yeah yeah, didn't think it through. It would just be really skinny!) to send the monsters packing? <Q> (As noted by @M...	They were already oversized so it would be easy to simply crush them. It might not be possible to build a robot of that size that can support its own weight, or function properly. Probably same reason why the opposing side did not grow even larger Kaijus to crush all Jaegers easily: there are limits on how large the th...
Does Auri have the Power of names? So some spoilers for Rothfuss new novella, the slow regard to silent things, towards the end we see that Auri is doing alchemy, but by her calculations it will take longer then she has, so she closes her eyes and finishes it in a flash. she also says she knows the secrets of things...	Knowing a Name involves understanding a thing, which she may / may not have an innate ability on, but calling the Name, invoking it, is to bend it to your will, which Auri is loathe to do in the simplest of situations.
Book where humanity is almost destroyed multiple times by an alien race I'm looking for an old science fiction book. In the book, the Earth was destroyed by an alien race, and all of mankind was destroyed except for a group of people who were off earth at the time. They spent hundreds of years rebuilding themselves...	A thousand years ago, the enigmatic Killers destroyed Earth, leaving only a handful of humans in surviving space-based habitats to rebuild as best as they could.
Do Elsa and the snow queen never change clothes? In the TV show Once Upon a Time - Elsa, mother snow queen and the pirate don't ever seem to change clothes. I can think of several possibilities: They wear the same attire every day. They have magic which takes care of such nitty-gritties. They do change clothes bu...	They do change clothes but they have multiple copies of the one set of clothes. In the "Frozen" movie she recreated her old dress into a new dress with her power.
Why does Yoda mourn the Jedi after Order 66 is executed? In Episode 3, Yoda tells Anakin, Rejoice for those around us who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is. However, as Order 66 is executed, it shows Yoda most definitely mour...	He is mourning the tragedy of the Empire's genocide and the loss of all of the potential good contained within the Jedi Order, rather than just the loss of a friend. Contrary to popular desire, Yoda is not necessarily the most perfect being in the universe.
Do all planets in Stargate series have exactly the same atmospheric pressure? In Stargate (the movie) we see that, when the gate is activated, there is no wind moving from one planet to another. This suggests that air does not flow, which, in turn suggests atmospheric pressure is the same in both locations. Is it th...	As others have noted about the SG1 episode "Watergate" the stargate must screen out ambient pressure somehow in an unspecified way.
Why did the council assign Ahsoka as apprentice to Anakin? The Clone Wars cartoon introduced the character of Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's apprentice, who was assigned to him by the Council shortly after his own knighting. There are two parts to my curiosity: A) Why/How/Since when did the council assign padawans to maste...	The Council could suggest Padawans but the Masters had to accept, or chose their own, which the Council would have to agree on before they could go on training. I was always under the impression that it was meant to teach Anakin responsibility.
Why do the Borg assimilate children? After reading several other questions surrounding the mechanics of the Borg assimilating children and pregnant women, with the use of maturation chambers to mature the child to a point where they are useful, my question is simply why assimilate children? It takes more effort to add...	The point of the Borg are not to destroy everything, but to assimilate everything. Consider the natural reaction humans have to any threats to children, even those that we are not directly related to.
How can the Flash stay on the ground? In The Flash , S01E01, the Flash was running around a tornado; at that speed he should detach from the ground, shouldn't he? Or is gravity that strong? <Q> Not necessarily. <S> The Flash may have been running around the tornado but he was also create a counter-vortex designed ulti...	Usually at those speeds you'd need a substantial amount of downforce to counteract the tendency of most objects to lift off the ground.
How did Toph know that Korra was the Avatar? In The Legend of Korra 4x02, "Korra Alone", Korra meets Toph for the first time and they have this exchange: Korra: A spirit led me here and told me I was supposed to find someone. Is that you? Toph: Beats me. But if your Avatar senses called you here, you should probab...	Toph Beifong knew who Korra was because of the roots of the banyan-grove tree which swept the entire forest reporting everything back to Toph's highly developed senses.
How did people know Emperor Palpatine's name before the release of Prequel Trilogy? As far as I can remember (and I can't find anything on the internet to refute this), the name "Palpatine" is never used in the original Star Wars trilogy (he's just called "the Emperor"). Despite this, I remember knowing that the Empero...	The name was first mentioned in the prologue to a novelization of Star Wars and Luke uses the name once in the novelization of Return of the Jedi . In the late 80's I played West End Games tabletop Star Wars RPG and that clearly stated all the info 'revealed' in the prequels, Palpatine being Emperor, Anakins fall to be...
Why did the Omega trick William Cage to the Bavarian Alps dam? In "Edge of Tomorrow", Cage and Rita make a plan to get out of the beach, and head to a location (a dam) in the Bavarian Alps that Cage had seen in his visions in order to wipe out the Omega. But, as it turns out: It was a trap; the Omega knew Cage and ...	The Omega lured him to a remote location because it was believable and effective.
Is Gotham (TV series) considered canon? Is the new Gotham TV series considered to be canon for Batman? The TV show introduces plenty of known characters from the get go (Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Catwoman, the Penguin, Poison Ivy). Are all these characters and stories to be considered canon? Or is this more o...	The short answer: It is its own canon, just as nearly every Batman that came before it. No, Gotham is not in any established canon.
Did leaving out Tom Bombadil create any plot holes in The Fellowship of the Ring or any subsequent LOTR films? The article Movie vs. Book: Fellowship of the Ring shows the differences between the book and film of the Fellowship of the Ring. This causes the film to leave out 4 entire chapters. Because of this, Tom Bom...	I don't think it really left any plot holes, though; Bombadil himself was really nonessential to the story.
Did the Marauders' bullying of Peter Pettigrew cause his betrayal? Did Peter’s betrayal of James and Lily stem simply from fear of Voldemort, or was it partially being treated as the runt of the group by the other Marauders? Films like The Talented Mr. Ripley show how the relationship between a vain character with e...	Peter didn't betray James because the Marauders bullied him.
Is the "Pale Man" from Pan's Labyrinth based on any mythological character? I'm talking about this guy: Easily the creepiest part of an already very visually creepy movie. What I'm wondering is if there's anything like this guy in pre-existing mythology, or if he sprung entirely from Guillermo del Toro's nightmare...	Though the reference may not be intentional, the pale man is nearly identical to the tenome of Japanese mythology.
Why is Wednesday Addams named ... Wednesday? Her mother's name being Morticia, it strikes me odd that her daughter would be named after a day of the week.Am I missing something?What is the reasoning behind that character being named Wednesday? <Q> According to The Addams Family: An Evilution Charles Addams named her ...	Charles Addams, the creator of the Addams family clearly intended her name to relate to the popular children's rhyme ' Monday's Child' ' ("Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of woe ", etc).
What happened to Misa's remaining life? In the series Death Note, two different shinigami die to save Misa Amane, and according to the books Misa would receive all of their remaining life span? So how come Misa dies in prison so soon after Light's death? <Q> I may be mistaken <S> but <S> At the end of the series, sh...	As it was not said how she died in the anime, but in the manga it states she committed suicide and the anime tried to tie that in but did not actually show it. Say a human were to live seventy years; if that human is fifty, and a Shinigami writes down their name in a Death Note, then that Shinigami will get the 20 extr...
Why did the Borg run from 22nd century Earth? When the Enterprise-E destroyed a Borg cube in the 24th century, a small part of it travelled back in time (2063) to stop first contact of Humans with Vulcans. During the fight with Picard, two Borg crash-landed on Earth in Arctic ice. They became active again in the 22nd ...	There were only 2 Borg drones which were retrieved from the wreckage (who probably achieved neural connection to each other upon regaining consciousness).They only managed to assimilate a small/unsuspecting research team at the Arctic along with the Arctic transport.
Why do Milky Way Stargates spin when establishing incoming wormholes? I've been re-watching some episodes of SG-1 lately, and something struck me that I hadn't really noticed before: the destination gate spins before establishing a connection. That got me wondering if the spinning just indicates that something's happe...	If the gate is spinning, and isn't currently being dialed it means that the inbound connection has begun, and the power is flowing from the dialing gate to the destination gate.
If walkers get weaker over time can they eventually die off? Is it possible that since walkers get weaker over time that they eventually die off? For example, enough time passes and they wither away. This also assumes, that most people like current survivors do, take care of natural deaths by adding a stab to the he...	In most lore, zombies are considered undead, so they aren't truly alive. if walkers get weaker over time then yes eventually the walkers would for all intents and purposes "die"
Was the time dilation caused by Miller's planet or the close proximity to the Gargantua black hole? In the movie Interstellar , is the time dilation the team suffers on the water planet Miller caused by the proximity of the planet to Gargantua or by the planet's gravitational pull? In the beginning I thought it was c...	Gravity does cause time dilation because gravity is a force that applies velocity (speed) on every object with mass (and sometimes objects without mass).
Has the Federation ever forced the Prime Directive on other species? We all know that Starfleet officers follow the Prime Directive but are they duty bound to stop other races from interfering in other civilizations? If not, then what stops someone like the Cardassians or the Romulans from taking over pre-warp civiliz...	The Prime directive does not apply universally inside of Federation space, nor are non-Starfleet officers and non-Federation officials expected to uphold it.
Was Lucius Malfoy actually going to kill Harry Potter? At the end of the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock. Since this means that his household servant is no longer under his control, this understandably causes Lucius some annoyance. He pulls ou...	I personally don't think he'd attempt to kill Harry especially outside of Dumbledore's office and when they can check what his last spell was.
Why were all the robots trying to find "The Promised Land"? Early in the series in Victorian London there are robots who are trying to repair their ship to continue to search for "The Promised Land" and later in Robot of Sherwood The Doctor finds on the ship that the robots were heading to "The Promised Land". We kn...	Some messianic figure told the robots about The Promised Land so they are searching for it or someone has found it and told others and they are going there. Not sure if its addressed in canon however the term "Promised Land" means basically a land that was promised to them.
Who exactly constructed the tesseract room in Interstellar? At the end of the movie—or the beginning; take your pick—Cooper ends up in a room that is a three-dimensional projection of a five-dimensional object behind his bookshelf. This five-dimensional room allows him to move freely about space-time within some time f...	My understanding is that the future humanity enabled by their actions created the wormhole and tesseract.
In Star Trek TNG, why does everyone have plants at the head of their beds? I've been noticing that everyone in Star Trek The Next Generation seems to sleep in a shrubbery: Notice in this image that the sill is void of nick-nacks except for the plant directly behind the bed (observation: I think it's literally the s...	As to why the plants are near the bed: Maybe it's just convenient. It is simply to give the appearance of a real traditional home.
Why did Dr. Noonian Soong program his androids with a dominant hand? Noonian, like his grandfather, Arik, was left-handed, but why would he also establish the characteristic in his android creations? <Q> Data (and Lore) are left-handed because Soong scanned his own brain in order to provide the basis for their positro...	Soong himself was left-handed and his neural pathways were evidently laid down with the same handedness.
Why was the Earth in such bad shape in Interstellar? I understand that in “Interstellar” Earth was going through some kind of a dust bowl. But considering how bleak every other planet they experienced was, how could it be any worse than a random planet in another galaxy? I’m not sure if I missed an explanation, but wa...	In Universe explanation (as others have pointed out), the main cause in the movie was the Blight. We may assume that the devastation of plants and more specifically forests is also causing those sand storms. Possibly parts of Earth have been nuked from the orbit, perhaps in an effort to destroy the blight, or to avoid ...
Why did Picard decide to blow up the ship? In Where Silence Has Lease , Nagilum threatens to kill one third of the crew. As a response Picard decided to start the self-destruct. The loss of a third of the crew falls near the acceptable tactical losses . Picard even agreed to such in a conversation with Worf. Th...	One could infer that Nagilum plans to kill the crew in a variety of ways, presumably in some sort of controlled experimentation.
In Star Trek: Voyager, why do they keep & use technology from the future? Mainly the doctor's mobile emitter - they obviously have some rules about not disturbing the timeline via the temporal time directive by leaving advanced technology in the past, so why would they on the other hand accept and continue to use adv...	Knowing the future, The Timeship crew may have decided the mobile emitter was necessary for Voyager to survive to reach Federation space and complete their mission.
Why did the Endurance crew bother landing on Miller's planet? After the events on Miller's planet, it seems to come as a revelation to Brand that Miller had only landed a couple hours ago, and died a few minutes ago. The crew of the Endurance, even when they were back at NASA headquarters, had all the information t...	I'm afraid there is no better answer than the simplest one: that even those IQ rockets combined were able to count 2 and 2 together only after landing.
Did the stewards of Gondor have the right to use the Palantiri? Denethor was trapped by Sauron while using the Palantir. Denethor effectively went insane after realizing just how powerful Sauron was and that there was no hope to ever stop him. This did not happen to Aragorn who used a Palantir to challenge Sauron. I th...	They could be used lawfully by anyone authorized by either the "Heir of Anárion" or the "Heir of Isildur," that is, a lawful King of Gondor or Arnor. Saruman had no 'right', but was more than strong enough mentally to use it. These Stones were an inalienable gift to Elendil and his heirs, to whom alone they belonged by...
Why does Locutus refer to Riker as "Number One?" When Captain Picard was assimilated by the Borg, he lost his prior identity. He obviously was no longer on the side of the Federation, as he was actively working against it. And yet he still referred to Commander Riker as "Number One," as though that relationship continu...	Locutus is demonstrating to Riker that not only does he have Picard's tactical knowledge (of the Federation's defences) but that they also possess his personal memories. The show script makes it abundantly clear that referring to Riker as "Number One" is their way of stressing the futility of resistance and attempting ...
Who tends the plants on Star Trek TNG? The recent question In Star Trek TNG, why does everyone have plants at the head of their beds? asks why they have the plants. I want to know: who tends them? Real plants don't just magically thrive. Does each officer tend their own plant, or is someone tasked to go into sen...	Plants in ones own quarters are presumably taken care of by the occupant.
How did stormtroopers know how to simulate Sandpeople attacks? Stormtroopers kill Owen and Beru Lars, and then incinerate them to simulate an attack by Sandpeople. Moreover, they bring banthas to leave incriminatory tracks (which do not fool good ol' Ben). But this kind of convoluted cover-up is not something one come...	Aside from Lord Vader, who had a very personal familiarity with the Sand People, the simple fact is that the stormtroopers were a highly-trained, elite military unit attached to a very important mission. Also, as another answer noted, Vader himself was a Tattooine native.
Where does the archetypal image of the 'Grey' alien come from? As I show below, typical alien depictions include an elongated, pale face, two dark elliptical eyes, and a small mouth. Who first used this design for an alien? Where does this design come from? <Q> According to wikipedia, the grey aliens, also known as "...	The Grey aliens are also famous from earlier depictions of the Roswell UFO incident from 1947. Arguably it all started with the Outer Limits episode "The Berrello Shield" from october 1964. We can see how artists, from the very first second-hand sketch, have made free associations from the descriptions, bringing in the...
How did Yoda know that Anakin killed the younglings before watching the security hologram? In Episode III, before Obi-Wan started watching the security holograms, Yoda already warned him: YODA: If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find. Obviously he was talking about Anakin... But how did Yod...	It's likely he already suspected from this that Anakin was turning evil. An interpretation which does not require the Force to explain Yoda's knowledge: Yoda may have watched the recording while Obi-Wan was disabling the beacon . What is not very clear (at least not in absolute and digested terms at that very moment) i...
Why are Tolkien’s Elves tall? As we all know Tolkien’s Elves are a noble tall and dexterous race. this is adressed in Are Tolkien Elves taller or shorter than Men? of which this question is not a duplicate I was wondering where he got that idea, I mean most of the Middle Earth universe is from mythology, yet the el...	Also, scanning the Wikipedia article about Scandinavian folklore , I see that Dwarves are labeled Dark Elves in Scandinavian tradition, so maybe Tolkien made his race taller so there wouldn't be any confusion between the Dark and Light elves.
How does the id monster in Forbidden Planet penetrate the defenses? In the final scenes of Forbidden Planet, the "monster from the id" melts through an almost indestructible door with a combination lock which the commander jumbled in order to prevent access by the id. It is never explained how it is capable to use heat...	The id-monster is an energy being created by Dr. Morbius's subconscious desires and given form and energy by the ancient machinery in the depths of the planet.
Why didn't Data subdue Worf? Toward the end of Genesis , de-evolved Worf is pounding on a door, trying to get to Deanna Troi. Data and Picard are also behind the door. Picard then decides to take Deanna's pheromones with him in a hypospray, in order to lure Worf away. This action obviously put Picard at great risk. W...	Because asking Data to subdue Worf in his enraged state could easily lead to Worf being inadvertently killed, something that they're desperately trying to avoid.
When does Kvothe decide to poison the false troupers? In The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two) chapter 130 "Wine and Water", Kvothe comes into contact with a band of false troupers, who eventually reveal they've done some bad things. At some point in the encounter he poisons them. But based on th...	As Liesmith points out in their answer , Kvothe decided to poison the false troupers after learning that they stole the ale from Levinshir; however, all evidence also points to him deciding to kill them at this point as well.
Why did Khan decide to chase the Enterprise into the Mutara Nebula in Star Trek II? In Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan , why didn't Khan just wait outside the Mutara-class Nebula until Enterprise came out and then just finish them off? Considering the fact that he had a genetically far superior intellect, one would ...	Defeating Kirk was personal and all consuming for Khan, and he was willing to risk anything to achieve this victory.
What's the purpose of solar panels of TIE fighters? I don't think those sideways panels are for trapping solar energy because there should be more efficient power source in TIE fighters. But they look like solar panels. What do those panels do in-universe? Only canonical answers, please. <Q> Multiple sources confirme...	Each wing has six " solar collecting arrays " with " energy accumulator lines " connecting each of the panels to the reactor where it was channeled through a pressurized gas, stored in the ventral fuel tank, this reaction emits energy which then outputs power to the twin P-s3 ion engines and L-s1 low temperature laser ...
Why did Peeta's mother sound like District 12 had never had a winner? When they are in the train, heading to the Capital, Peeta tells them that his mother said that "District 12 might finally have a winner" , talking, as he explained himself, about Katniss... But isn't Haymitch a District 12's winner? So, that sta...	Yes Haymitch won the Hunger Games 24 years ago and someone else did so some time before that, but "finally" can just reference an end to the extended loosing streak.
A short story about baby on/off switch I read this short story about 30 years ago. Maybe from Pohl or Asimov. A mother describes having an on/off switch installed on her baby and it's the greatest thing ever 1 . They can go to work, they can interact with the kid whenever they want, etc. But although the mother is e...	It's certainly something that she approves of, particularly since A second switch is installed on her father, who is criticizing her choice to use the switch with her child.
Why would they show the Hunger Games live? It appears from the movie (never read the book) that the Hunger Games are shown "live". That there is no delay in the broadcast. It appears to be shown live as the audience is shown watching scenes that the Gamemakers and the Capitol would never want them to see. For example, ...	The "Hunger Games" are shown live because, like @Richard said, there is gambling involved (not going to go further this road).
Any plans to make a movie of one of Jack Vance's books? I'm curious if there have been, or currently are, plans to make a movie from one of Jack Vance's stories, and what the status of such plans are? <Q> UPDATE: <S> I spoke to my good friend John Vance a couple of days ago <S> (his details are available on the of...	As regards future works, from reading his fan pages as well as his own publisher's website, although numerous of his works have been optioned by Hollywood, there are no current plans to make any of them into films at this moment.
Why didn't Cora's kiss break the Dark one's magic In the whole tv series we are always told that true loves kiss breaks all magic. Now in one flash back in fairytale land we see that Rumplestiltskin and Cora had somewhat of an affair and Rumple taught her how to use magic. He fell in love with Cora and she fell in lo...	True love is deep, powerful, and most importantly unselfish. When an object is the one causing the magic then the object would need to be removed or destroyed.
What is the science-fiction tradition of flying cars having their wheels turned sideways? The DeLorean in Back to the Future turns its wheels sideways when it is about to fly. Also, there are many children's toys that feature similar concepts, such as this Lego kit, which features two such vehicles: What was the firs...	In the 1964 novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang , by Ian Fleming (yes, the guy that also brought us James Bond)
Why doesn't NASA try to contact Cooper? Cooper and Murph find the hidden NASA headquarters via decoding patterns in the dust in their library which turn out to be signals sent by the future Cooper via the tesseract. Upon arriving at NASA, Brand recruits Cooper for the Endurance mission, saying he is the pilot they ...	The script and novelisation would strongly suggest that NASA were simply unaware that Cooper was still alive, hence their failure to contact him.
How did the rightful heir know about Worf's vision? About fifteen minutes into 6x23 Rightful Heir , Kahless reminds Worf of a vision Worf had when he was young. But later on it is revealed that Kahless is actually a clone with imprinted memories from the scriptures, which certainly don't include a vision had by a b...	The Vision will most likely have been recorded when he talked to priests about it back when he had the vision.
Why was there apparently no knowledge of the missing ship in the Typhon Expanse? In the TNG episode " Cause and Effect ", we are treated to the following line of dialogue...three times. "Captain's Log, Stardate 45652.1. The Enterprise has entered an area of space known as the Typhon Expanse. We are the first Starfl...	The simplest explanation is either the Bozeman was not meant to be in that region and thus it was considered lost and its location was unknown, or there was the possibility of being an off-the-books operation, since Typhon space is near Klingon territory.
In Star Wars, how do they empty toilets in space? I don't think I've seen this question asked so I'll be that guy and ask it. I'm sure that these starships have some sort of plumbing system in place, but how do they empty the tanks? Do they do like modern day aircraft with the blue stuff which can be emptied mid ...	So at least for Imperial Star Destroyers, it seems that waste would go directly into empty space - perhaps unsanitary, but they may have a standard dumping procedure to avoid contaminating inhabited planets. Smaller ships like the Falcon may do the same thing as needed (and for the time they spend in space in Episode V...
Why did Siuan and Moiraine hide their knowledge of Rand? I am currently reading this series, and I am nearing the end of The Shadow Rising. Siuan was just stripped of her Amyrlin Seat position and stilled because she hid the fact that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, and secretly helped him. Why did her and Moiraine not come...	They didn't know who they could trust within the Aes Sedai. The secret they kept wasn't just about Rand, it was for their own safety too. They knew that the Black Ajah exists, and that it hunts for the Dragon Reborn and has killed other Aes Sedai that were searching for the Dragon Reborn, as well as men (and even boys)...
Is Orson Pink a descendent of Clara Oswald and Danny Pink? In Listen , the Doctor and Clara meet Orson Pink, who, according to Clara, looks similar to Danny Pink. (Both Danny and Orson are played by Samuel Anderson.) Another clue is Orson mentioning about his great-grandparents telling "silly stories" about time tra...	It appears that Orson Pink may not be a direct descendant of Clara's offspring, but rather a descendant of the offspring from another branch of the Pink family.
Who was the first Super Saiyan to be seen on the TV series? I'm looking for the first Super Saiyan that has been seen in the TV series. As I reminisce, I think Son Goku has been the first we can see transforming fully from Normal to Super Saiyan status (on Namek against Frieza), but I can't remember if there can be se...	An apocryphal scene was added to the Dragon Ball series, episode 66, Goku's New Power , describing a mythic being called " The Original Super Saiyan ".
Looking for 1970's UFO movie with underwater base What was the movie where there was an underwater UFO base? I think it was a feature-length film, in color, as I definitely saw it a theater in the mid to late '70s. Don't remember if it was Japanese or not. I think the UFOs were classic saucers, without any big peris...	The movie involves the Bad Guys flying to Earth in order to find a new home as their own planet is about to explode.
How can the frozen clouds on Dr. Mann's planet stay afloat? When the crew is entering Mann's planet's atmosphere, their ship hits a frozen cloud. How can a frozen cloud stay afloat even though the planet contains 80% of Earth's gravity? <Q> ScienceInsider interviewed Kip Thorne (who is a "renowned theoretical physic...	Possibly the clouds and the atmosphere of Mann are not composed of the same elements/compounds as each other. The planet is a frozen Jupiter and probably it contains gas elements that freeze.
Why do the Borg not focus on assimilating The Doctor's mobile emitter? During the "Drone" episode, the mobile emitter's technology is used to create a much more advanced drone than what the Borg are currently capable of producing, and they detect this drone and focus extra attention towards obtaining it - Why don't the...	It is also very possible that in the future the Borg will be destroyed. One pardon the pun explanation is that the borg are unaware of the mobile emitter's existence until One's creation.
Which Celestial's head is "Knowhere"? It was mentioned in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 1 as well as in this article and confirmed here , that: Knowhere — the mining colony located on the edge of the universe in the decapitated head of a long-dead Celestial being [Links added by me] Which Celestial ...	At least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Knowhere may be the disembodied head of the Celestial Jemiah , also known as Jemiah the Analyzer.
Why did The Unmarried Mother have both set of organs in the movie Predestination? In the movie Predestination , the John's biography explains that "she" was born a women but with two sets of genitals. Eventually, she had an operation that transitioned her into a man, though he still write under the pseudonym "Unmarrie...	The concept here is that if a child is born as a result of mating with oneself (one male self and the other female, but both with the same DNA), it results in a baby which is both male and female.
Is it impossible for Earth Stargate be modded to dial all Stargates? Are there any Stargate episodes ( SG-1 , Atlantis , Universe ) that hints/imply that Carter cannot modify the Earth gate to dial all of the Stargates in the Milky Way Galaxy, the same way as the gate at Dakara did in "Reckoning, Part II" ? Sam...	If the Earth gate was connected up with a genuine original-equipment DHD (like the Antarctica gate if it was still available, which it wasn't at the time of the Dakara incident), it would surely be as capable of a simultaneous gate-dial as the one on Dakara.
Why did Peeta suggest that they wait Katniss out? In the movie Hunger Games when the gang was chasing Katniss and she climbed a tree they started shooting at her. However, Peeta suggested that they wait for her to get down, why would he do that if he liked her? <Q> The alternative was to watch her be killed right the...	They knew that if was in "love" with her, if he tried to save her and seemed even less likely to want to kill her they would have instantly chose him for the next target.
Technology decreases in fiction I find that a very common concept in fantasy fiction is the fact that human (I am using the word to also include humanoids) acchievements are decreasing over time. Usually, some sort of glorious remains of days in which people were capable of gread deeds remain, but only as ruins or arti...	This tendency is repeated to some extent in Greek and Roman myth.
Has the lightsaber cross-guard from the Star Wars 7 teaser trailer been seen before? Has a cross-guard lightsaber ever been fictionalized previously in the Star Wars universe of any canon? Or is this a new saber technology completely written for the new Star Wars film? I'm unsure how Disney works the canon now in th...	we have a pretty good image of Jedi master Roblio Darté using a lightsaber with a single crosspiece: Only the movies and their directly related media in terms of novelizations, comics and video games are now canon. Second, it's unique to even that design because of the jagged appearance of the blade itself which is spe...
Are there other instances where JRRT employed avian spies? In both the book, and the movie, the Fellowship sees a dark cloud approaching before Legolas's keen eyes see the cloud is really a flock of birds likely spying for Saruman and the Fellowship hides until they fly by. Considering an Elf could see them before they...	Thorondor and the other great eagles did a lot of spying in the Silmarillion.
Why did a Dalek beg River Song for mercy? In the season 5 finale, after a Dalek shot The Doctor, DALEK: You will be exterminated! RIVER: Not yet. Your systems are still restoring, which means your shield density is compromised. One Alpha Mezon burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead. DALEK: Records ...	Daleks, are not stripped entirely of emotion, merely of what we would term positive and constructive emotions, such as compassion, love, and, of course, mercy.
Why was Umbridge hired? Why was Umbridge hired if Snape also applied for the position? Surely Dumbledore would prefer Snape as the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher than a ministry official. UPDATE: She was only hired because Dumbledore couldn't find anybody else. I can verify this with a quote from the Daily Pro...	Given Snape's background as a Death Eater, Dumbledore did not want him to be too close to the Dark Arts as it would make Snape vulnerable.
Why is Mason making these motions with her hands? When Mason addresses the residents of the tail end of the train, she makes a few curious hand motions when speaking of the Eternal Engine. At the time, they look almost like odd subconscious tics. It is my understanding from later revelations that the motions she p...	I think that Mason, like the other senior members of the staff, views the Train and all of its passengers as a machine no different from the actual engine.
Why didn't the cure complete the third trial? In Season 8, Sam and Dean try to complete three trials to close the gates of Hell. The third trial is to cure a demon, but Dean calls it off when he finds out Sam would die when he completes it. In seasons 9 and 10, Dean becomes a demon, and then Sam cures him. Why di...	Since the Mark of Cain caused Dean to become a demon, maybe since Dean still had the mark, he was never fully cured.
Useless cross-guard on a lightsaber? There's a lot of discussion going around about the new lightsaber in Star Wars VII. One criticism I've heard is that the cross-guard on the lightsaber doesn't look like it's going to do anything. One function of a cross guard is to stop your opponents blade from sliding down your ow...	If the enemy's blade slides down yours into your cross-guard, it will cut through the metal, but the beam is still there inside to stop their blade. I can see how it can be useful. The crossguard blades, or quillons, are tributaries of the primary central blade
In the Hobbit movies, why is an orc pack not a cause for concern? In the Hobbit movies, Saruman talks about how Sauron is gone, but seems unconcerned about an orc pack under the influence of Azog (who in the films basically the most powerful orc around not a cause for concern). I am confused by the fact that Saruman...	A pack of Orcs, while dangerous to an individual or a town, is of no concern to someone who works on the scale of empires.
What type of Captain is Han Solo? In A New Hope , Han introduces himself as the captain of the Millennium Falcon. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , many also refer to him as "Captain Solo", including various Rebels (Luke, Zev Senesca), droids (C-3PO), Imperials (Darth Vader), and others (Boba Fett...	Within the main (Disney) canon of Star Wars, there's no indication that Han Solo's captaincy was anything other than a recognition of being master of his own vessel, the Millenium Falcon. In Star Wars: Battlefront (2015), if Han appears as a hero unit, there's a chance that the Rebel announcer will declare that "Comman...
Origin of The Well of Eternity In the Warcraft universe, the Well of Eternity was the primary font of magical energy for all of Azeroth. During the War of the Ancients, the Well was destroyed so that it would no longer lure the Burning Legion to Azeroth. The destruction of the Well shattered the single landmass into...	After the defeat of the Old Gods, the titans basically reshaped Azeroth and gave it the Well so that it could prosper after the destructive wars that layed waste to most of the planet when they dealt with the Old Gods.
Why didn't the Reavers murder and mutilate everyone on Miranda? In the movie Serenity , Mal and his crew travel to Miranda where they discover that the Alliance had added a chemical called the Pax to the air supply on the planet. The Pax was designed to pacify the population and make them less aggressive, but the...	Given their known predisposition for ignoring dead victims there simply wouldn't have been time for the remaining reavers to kill or mutilate more than a tiny percentage of the population before they started dying off. This is never explicitly said, but it's a reasonable assumption based on the nature of how the Pax af...
When did Batman say "I am Batman" for the first time? "I am Batman" and its variants like "I am Batman, bitch" are quite popular. Using this, Bruce Wayne has revealed his secret to his girls. However, I am interested in the dialogue when it isn't intended to reveal his secret identity (when he is Bruce) or it isn't in...	The pop culture claim to fame of the line seems to be from 'Batman Begins'.
Scientists shown a fake anti-gravity device to motivate them to build the real thing There exists a SF short story about anti-gravitation called the Mother of Invention (AFAIK). A bunch of scientists are shown a (fake) movie in which an anti-gravity device is demonstrated by an inventor. The scientists are told the i...	"Noise Level" (December 1952 Astounding), an archetypal Astounding tale of Conceptual Breakthrough, scientific advance taking place through destruction of a previous paradigm: Scientists are told that Antigravity exists, and so proceed to invent it.
In Obi-Wan's Order 66 warning transmission why didn't he tell the surviving Jedi about the Sith, including Palpatine's true identity? If you've seen the premiere episode of Rebels , you will have seen Obi-Wan's warning message that he broadcast to Jedi throughout the galaxy in RotS . In this message he speaks cryptic...	" Mentioning the Sith is a surefire way of getting every Jedi still alive to do the exact opposite, and likely get themselves killed and hasten the extermination of the Order.
Why is drider a form for a fallen drow? The drow cursed by Lolth is transformed into the half-spider form and despised from now on by other drows. The spider is a hallowed animal and killing a spider is punished by death in drow's society. Shouldn't the drider then be considered as sacred as well? I should have probab...	The origin and societal roles of driders hasn't been terribly consistent in D&D settings, but generally a drow gets turned into a drider specifically as a punishment, either by Lolth or by more powerful drow. Spiders are revered because they are seen as favored children of Lolth.
Is there significance to the way the White Walkers/Others arrange dismembered body parts in patterns? I just started watching Game of Thrones again and noticed something that I had never noticed previously. In the very first episode of the first series during the opening segment (just before the title sequence), there ...	It is probably some sort of rune or symbol that has some meaning to them.
Were The Jedi The Guardians Of Peace For Over A 1000 Years Or A 1000 Generations? I'm confused on what the actual length in the Star Wars lore of how long the Jedi were the guardians of peace and Justice of the old republic. In the original film Obi Wan to Luke states for over a thousand generations. This would be st...	In the Expanded Universe, the Republic is well established to be extant for 25,000 years, based on Obi-Wan Kenobi's line in A New Hope that the Jedi had been "the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic" "for over a thousand generations.
Was Voldemort still in the process of making his Horcruxes when he went to Godric's Hollow? When Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra against baby Harry, he didn't realise what was going to happen. He made a total of 7 Horcruxes, including Harry, but only 6 were made deliberately, despite his talk about 7 being the most powe...	Dumbledore suspected that the Dark Lord had been one Horcrux short of his goal at the time he went to kill the Potters, and was likely planning to make his final Horcrux using Harry’s death.
Why did Dooku/Tyranus reveal the truth about Darth Sidious to Obi-Wan on Geonosis? Wasn't it a risk for Dooku to tell Obi-Wan the truth about Darth Sidious? Count Dooku: What if I told you that the Republic was now under the control of a Dark Lord of the Sith? Obi-Wan: No, that's not possible. The Jedi would be awar...	Partly to shake the confidence of Obi-Wan but also a way for Dooku to overthrow Palpatine, making Dooku the master and Obi-Wan
Why did the Separatists want to kill Padmé? What was the reason that Viceroy Gunray and the Separatist leaders were trying to kill Padmé? It doesn't seem to make sense. She was leading an opposition to prevent the creation of an army for the Republic, which would be great to the Separatists, because they would have no...	Gunray's grudge was so powerful that he demanded the death of Padme as a condition for the secession of the Trade Federation from the Republic ; in Attack of the Clones First of all, the benefit is making sure she would not tell the Republic about a hidden Separatist operation there to build droid armies.
Where was the Rebel fleet's rendezvous point at the end of The Empire Strikes Back? At the end of The Empire Strikes Back the characters meet at the Rebel fleet's rendezvous point and look at an object that looks like a galaxy: So were they in intergalactic space or is this just some nebula? <Q> It was supposed to b...	This means they are looking at the Star Wars galaxy.
Account of the defeat of Sauron in the Second Age? Is there a book by Tolkien where the defeat of Sauron is elaborated, when he lost the ring even before the hobbit adventures? <Q> The Silmarillion , a collection of Tolkien's works, published posthumously by his son. <S> More specifically, the fifth part, called "Of ...	The most comprehensive source is actually Lord of the Rings itself (which contains substantially more information than Of the Rings of Power , although it's quite scattered), pulling together material from Shadow of the Past , the Council of Elrond and the Appendices and footnotes.
Is the galaxy depicted at the end of Empire Strikes Back a real galaxy? I was reading this question about the Rebel fleet's rendezvous point , and it occurred to me that this galaxy below looks familiar: I can't tell from the image whether this is an artistic creation or an actual picture of a galaxy taken by NASA or...	According to the 1996 Tales of the Bounty Hunters story Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM, the object in the film is the galaxy, and the Rebel fleet had journeyed to a point in space far removed from the galactic plane. It was then that I realized the image was done through VFX. Some discussions (like ...
How can Quicksilver run with someone without injuring them? If Quicksilver can go that fast, if he didn't hold the person’s neck while running with them would his sudden burst of speed snap their neck? Or would they just have whiplash like in X-Men: Days Of Future Past ? <Q> This video ( Game Theory: Hookshot ) discus...	The only way this could play out and end up with a living passenger at the end would be if there were some sort of "magical" or "super science" chamber effect surrounding their person which slowed the effects of acceleration similar to the way a decompression chamber slows the body's treatment of dissolved inert gases ...
How did the Stargates get to the planets? Somebody put them there so they can travel quickly between planets, but how did they travel to the planet far away without a Stargate to build one there? <Q> Stargate Universe takes place on the starship Destiny , a huge ship of The Ancients whose purpose is to explore the un...	The Ancients seeded planets with stargates using superluminal ships.

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