Split (1)

train · 95.7k rows

source stringlengths 620 29.3k	target stringlengths 12 1.24k
Why do ships appear to stretch when they jump to warp? In the TNG opening credits the Enterprise-D stretches for a second when jumping to warp then returns to normal. I've got a short video with a scene where it is shown: I always thought it was simply because the ship warped space around the ship, so from our...	The ship appears to stretch because of the difference between the fore and aft of the ship during transition into warp space.
Which came first: fictional works involving alien abduction or claims of alien abduction? Which fictional work (of any format) was the first to feature the abduction of a human from Earth by aliens? In particular, did this work precede the first reports of purported abductions in the media, or did it come later? <Q> I...	In Hugo Gernsback's futuristic novel Ralph 124C41+ (1911) a visiting Martian scientist falls in love with Ralph's girlfriend and abducts her, this being sort of an alien abduction.
Time Turner Problem - See Yourself There is a question I wanted to ask some time ago and I'm not quite sure it hasn't been answered already. In fact if so, I did not find anything. At the moment I do not have the books with me, but I think I remember that Hermione says something like: "Imagine you go back in time an...	If you didn't know that you had a time turner, you would probably turn mad at seeing yourself!
How important is pronunciation in spellcasting? How important is the actual pronunciation of magic words in Harry Potter ? To that end, what if there was a deaf-mute Wizard, or a wizard who had his throat ripped out by a werewolf? Or if you had a heavy accent or lisp? Clearly there are foreign wizards, do they have th...	I believe it's a combination of wand movement (discussed during DA sessions and lessons such as Wingardium Leviosa), intention and knowledge of the spell's incantation and finally the pronunciation of the incantation. Yes the pronunciation is very important
Did Tyranus plan to kill Sidious and rule himself? We see numerous times over the course of Star Wars that a Sith will kill his master and take a new apprentice for himself with a plan to control the galaxy. We never see this behavior from Count Dooku in the movies. Is there anything within the canon that would sugge...	In keeping with the time-honored tradition of the Sith, Dooku was constantly plotting to acquire more power than Sidious, and to overthrow him.
What is the basis for Harry to call Dumbledore the "best teacher"? “I was safer at Hogwarts. I think I was a good teacher —” “ You were the best —” ( Deathly Hallows , Chapter 35, "King's Cross") That seems like a completely inappropriate statement, coming out of Harry, seeing how: Harry never took a single cl...	The basis is that of all the people that Harry knew, that happen to be teachers, he considered Dumbledore to be the best person.
Why does Neo jump into Smith? At the end of the movie Neo jumps into Smith and blows him up. Is there a reason he chooses this method to kill him? <Q> The scene was a rather neat way for the Wachowskis to visually represent Neo's transformation into a Hacker of the Matrix. <S> Upon his rebirth, he perceives the prog...	Neo jumping into Agent Smith is a reflection of how the Agents override the humans in the Matrix.
80's movie with creepy dog? This might be a long shot with how little I remember of the movie. I only remember one scene, where a small dog flies through a window knocking a man out. Then it shows the man laying there while the camera pans away to show a dog staring at him menacingly. The movie either had to do with...	There's a creepy parasite-infected dog which is pivotal to the movie "The title character is a murderous white Bull Terrier who tells the story of his search for a proper master in voice-over narration." I don't believe the dog ever flies through a window.
What created the Crack in Time? Doctor - "Two points in space and time that should never have touched" In "Flesh and Stone", the Doctor realizes the crack in time is the same as the crack on Amy's wall. At the end of the episode, he realizes it's her - Amy. Doctor - "It's you! It's all about you! Everything. It's a...	The cracks were created by the Silence when they blew up the Doctor's TARDIS on 26 June 2010 , as a means of preventing the Doctor from reaching Trenzalore and answering the Time Lords' message which was sent through the very same cracks the Silence created when they blew up the TARDIS.
Should the little boy have been shocked? In the Jurassic Park movie, the boy (Tim) is on an electric fence when the power gets turned on. However, birds can sit on power lines. I think this is because they do not touch the ground, only the line. Since Tim is not touching the ground, shouldn't he be safe until he reache...	The reason Tim is "electrocuted", though, and rendered unconscious, is the electric POTENTIAL difference (voltage) between him and a suddenly active 50000 volt fence. No he wouldn't have gotten shocked because he's not grounded and there's no way there's three phases running across that fence because all the lines are ...
How would Quidditch resolve a tie? Say that, at any given moment during a Quidditch match, Team A has 150 points and Team B has 0 points. Then, in the next moment, Team B's Seeker has caught the Snitch. Both teams now have 150 points and, with the Snitch caught, the match is over. Is there an immediate tie between th...	Certainly in league events such as the house cup, a tie would be fine (e.g. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie).
What's on the southern hemisphere of the World of Ice and Fire? As we now know for certain , the World of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) is round. Well, we note that the southernmost known or charted area - specifically Sothoryos - are tropical jungle lands. This suggests they're close to the equator, rather than to t...	This lines up with what we see on the planet of Ice and Fire , if we assume that both Sothoryos and Ulthos are near or at the equator: it's colder up north and warmer in the south. This region is unexplored, so no one in the story really knows. Ulthos is east of Sothoryos, and about all we know about it is that it's al...
Why did the Terminator need sunglasses? In the original Terminator film, the eponymous villain procures a pair of dark glasses in order to hide his damaged eye socket and red eye . In T2: Judgement Day, the T-800 makes a great show of stealing a pair of glasses from the biker bar owner, despite having no eye damage...	In short, the T-800 has been supplied with extensive information (and detailed imagery) by John in order to help him look as much like the original Terminator as possible so that his earlier self will recognise the Terminator from the description supplied to him by Sarah and his own recollections. The sunglasses are an...
Planet farthest from Coruscant? What is the planet farthest from Coruscant in the Star Wars Galaxy? I understand that this information might not be available. If it isn't, please tell me. <Q> Assuming the opening scrawl is correct, I'd say that the single farthest Earth-like planet that we know of (from Coruscant) wo...	Within the Galaxy Far, Far Away, it appears - at least from this chart - that the planet furthest from Coruscant is the so-called " planet of the Red Nebula ".
What does "You know nothing, Jon Snow" mean? We all know and love Ygritte's favourite phrase: You know nothing, Jon Snow - Ygritte But, what on Westeros does it mean?? Is there any official word from George R. R. Martin stating what he means by this line? Even Kit himself doesn't seem to know what it means: <Q...	I don't think there's any deeper meaning that just what it says: She's calling him an idiot. It essentially means that Jon does not know how the world truly works.
Would invisible blaster bolts make a more effective weapon against the Jedi? It struck me that having blaster bolts be invisible would prevent the Jedi being able to tell – purely using their vision – where to move, and instead force them to rely exclusively on their prescience. Why aren't the Jedi's enemies equipped ...	An assassin with a sniper rifle could catch a Jedi unawares, and if the bolt is invisible, the Jedi might not think to stretch into the Force.
Were there any spacefaring Ewoks? In the expanded universe do any Ewoks ever leave the forest moon? <Q> Chief among these are: Tarfang - a criminal & smuggler, Tarfang was encountered by the Solo family during the Yuuzhan Vong War. <S> He often used his cuddly appearance to deceive others. <S> Kolot - a cyborg cr...	Although Ewoks are a rare sight in the galaxy, several HAVE left Endor according to Legends canon.
What is the origin of the term "first contact"? This term has a long history in Star Trek: Star Trek: First Contact ST:TNG episode "First Contact" First Contact Day Also: Stargate: Atlantis episode "First Contact" Does this term originate in Star Trek or was it used in previous sci-fi works or does it predate sci...	According to the Science Fiction Citations site, the earliest known occurrence of the term first contact in the science-fictional sense of "[t]he first meeting between two different intelligent species" was in the novella "Proxima Centauri" by Murray Leinster (pseudonym of William F. Jenkins), which first appeared in t...
Book about kids playing a D&D-like game that invades the normal world So, I read this book as a child, and have been trying to remember its title for a couple of years, with no success. The story was about a group of kids who were playing a role-playing game, and eventually the monsters from within the game became re...	Another possibility is Bruce Coville's Spirits and Spells ( ISFDB ), released both as #2 in the Chamber of Horrors series and #15 in
Are Spider-Man & Deadpool the only characters who have met alternate versions of themselves? As I understand it, Spider-Man has met alternative versions of himself on several different instances, such as the Noir, 2099, & Ultimate alternates, at one point teaming up with them and other alternates as Web- Warriors. Dead...	An offshoot of the Exiles, the Wolverine Squad is a team made up entirely of Wolverines from different universes. If you count the psychic plane, the various incarnations of The Hulk had to face a new incarnation - Guilt Hulk - within Bruce Banner's mind in Incredible Hulk #377 . The original five X-Men were brought fo...
Was Ender the only officially sanctioned Third? Was Ender the only third child whose birth was sanctioned by the Hegemony? Or were there others whose births were also permitted despite the population control laws? Obviously, the question excludes non-compliant nations/families. <Q> Ender was not the only third child ...	From what I understood reading the book, the Hegemony would offer some families the permission to have a third child, however they reserve the right to have that child go to battle school if the third child desires to do so.
What is the light source in the Genesis cave? Prior to the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Carol and David Marcus had used the "Genesis effect" to transform a barren cave deep within the Regula planetoid into a lush environment teeming with life: What was lighting the Genesis cave? <Q> The official nove...	The light we're seeing is the light from outside the cave shining inwards rather than a light inside the cavern itself.
Why do Oberth Class starships have no saucer strut? In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , we encounter an Oberth Class starship for the first time, namely the USS Grissom: An interesting feature of its design is that the saucer section is connected to the warp nacelles, instead of having a central strut. Noting ...	Since its such a small ship and its scientific duties would be widely varied, it seems reasonable that the lower hulls can be swapped out for mission-specific platforms. By keeping the critical ship's operation areas like the bridge, engineering, etc on the top/primary hull, and keeping the science labs and hazardous m...
Why would Shelob own Sauron? In Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , in the chapter Shelob’s Lair , there is a rather lengthy description of Shelob, the last remaining child of Ungoliant in Middle-Earth. In this, there is also a description of her relation with Sauron: And as for Sauron: he knew where she lurked. It...	They owned the king as their lord .
Why does Hogwarts always start on the 1st September? We all know that Hogwarts begins on the 1st September. Is there a reason given that it's always the same date, leading to various days of the week? In 1991 and 1996 it was a Sunday! I am a teacher in the UK and we tend to start around the 4th but it could be anythi...	I believe that it's in order for the students.
Did Harry and his friends receive the Order of Merlin after Voldemort’s defeat? After the death of Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , was the Order of Merlin awarded to Harry, Ron, Hermione and also their friends? Is there any reference for it? <Q> Probably, but it’s not been confirmed. <S> In s...	Also from Pottermore : The Order of Merlin, commemorating the most famous wizard of his time, has been given since the fifteenth century. There is nothing to indicate that he did in the entire series.
Why did Teal'c kill Sha're? In Forever in a Day , Teal'c shoots Sha're (still possessed by the Goa'uld Amaunet) with his staff weapon. He was forced to shoot to save Daniel Jackson from the Kara kesh, Amaunet was using on him. However, it is well known that a staff wound can be non-lethal, if not being shot directl...	As the episode states, she was about to kill him, if not for Sha're likely delaying it a bit, and any hesitation on Teal'c behalf would have been life and death. The middle of the chest is where you aim because it presents the largest target that's actually possible to hit.
Why didn't Todd become suspicious of the T-1000? Something has always bothered me about the scene in Terminator 2: Judgement Day in which the T-1000 goes to John's house and questions his foster parents about him. T-1000: Are you the legal guardian of John Connor? Todd Voight: That's right, Officer. What's he don...	As Richard mentioned, Todd may not have had enough concern for John to be bothered to doubt a police officer, or consider his words more carefully. Given his propensity for low-level crime it wouldn't be out of character for people to come looking for him.
Did Skynet send a Terminator to kill Sarah when she was a child? As per the original timeline, Sarah Connor first encounters the Terminator in her youth (in The Terminator ). Later on, she encounters another Terminator, while John Connor is in his youth. But in Terminator Genesys, we see: that she was saved by a Ter...	In the original timeline, Sarah Connor never knowingly encountered a Terminator until the events of the original film. With the limited information we have, we can only speculate.
Does Trial by Combat actually work? We've seen several instances of Trial by Combat in both the Game of Thrones TV series and the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Trial by Combat is said to allow the gods themselves to determine the innocence of the accused party by having them win the fight if they are innocent and ...	As to whether the outcome is determined by the abilities of the combatants, rather than the gods, there is no evidence one way or the other.
Does Mr. Fantastic have to wear fantastic clothes? Reed Richards can safely stretch up to 1500 feet, and I assume (feel free to correct me) that the clothes he was wearing when he was first bombarded with the cosmic rays were altered along with him, allowing them to stretch along with him. Typically, when I see Richa...	The clothes that Reed Richards wears, including not only his Fantastic Four suit but also, seemingly, the normal clothes that he wears are made out of unstable molecules.
How fast do ships using FTL travel in Mass Effect? I've been looking for some info on the FTL speeds of ships in Mass Effect but I have been unable to find anything. Can anyone provide a speed and sources? If not can anyone provide the time it takes to travel between two well known (in our universe) stars? <Q> As liste...	With a mass effect drive, roughly a dozen light-years can be traversed in the course of a day's cruise without bending space-time and causing time dilation. Further more FTL speeds in game vary story wise based on engine size or ship type.
How do Terminators speak? It seems obvious that Terminators don't have vocal cords, and their speech is probably generated by some kind of speaker assembly linked to a speech processor. However, every time we see a Terminator speaking, it moves its mouth just like a human would. In most cases, this is presumably beca...	So in order to mimic human appearance and be able to pass for human, the Terminators have a mouth and throat that are identical to humans.
Novel about a parasite/symbiote that causes immortality All I can really remember about this novel is that at one point a woman gets blown out an airlock and survives, and that the characters in it are not on Earth. There is also a parasite/symbiote that causes immortality. <Q> This could be the book Crossing The Line...	She is infected with an alien parasite/symbiote called the C'naatat that confers immortality.
How did they build Jurassic World on Isla Nublar? At the end of Jurassic Park John Hammond's experiment in building a dinosaur zoo had drastically failed. Dinosaurs were out of their paddocks, they were breeding, Velociraptors may or may not have been getting off the island . Oh, and there was the matter of their pri...	Based on Jurassic Park As has been mentioned, it's likely that most of the original JP dinosaurs simply died.
Do Federation prisons still use bars on the cells? Watching DS9, S2E21, The Maquis, Pt II. Sisko is trying to talk Cal out of further activities with the Maquis. He tells Cal that the Federation won't stop until Cal was "behind bars". Since we know that on star ships and space stations at least, prison cells all use ...	After an extensive search, I cannot find an example of a brig or cell on a Federation starship or installation from the 23rd Century or later that does not involve a force field in some crucial way.
Can White Walkers swim? In Game Of Thrones Season 5 Episode 8 (Hardhome), we saw : Jon Snow and others escape from white walkers using boat. I wonder why : the White Walkers couldn't enter into water or swim? Can't they just turn water into ice with their touch? Was it intentional : to let Jon Snow run aw...	Maybe the white walkers can't swim, maybe they didn't want to. If they were to go into the water, the water would freeze around them, and they would be stuck. These skeletons have no air to help them, and swimming without much surface area on their bodies cannot be easy.
What are the possible ways to get infected with an Alien In the first movie we see Kane being infected by having an alien attached to his head. In Prometheus we see something different, but I don't know if it's right to affirm that he was infected with the same type of alien. So what are the possible ways to get an ...	In both cases, one thing is constant: a xenomorph comes from an egg implanted into a host organism's throat by a face-hugger.
Who invented Star Trek sideburns and why? In Star Trek , characters generally have pointy sideburns. Clearly a production decision was made in the 60s. What's the history of this? (Related question: Is there any in-universe explanation or reference to why pointy sideburns persisted for so long? ) <Q> There is ...	Gustav Hernandez claims that his father, Richard Hernandez, a hairdresser for Lucile Ball (and one of the first male Hollywood hairdressers), designed the pointed sideburns for Spock.
Does Starfleet know their kind of time-travel? Time Travel in Science Fiction has multiple variants to cope with its paradoxes such as the Grandfather Paradox , the most famous of them being the closed time loop, where anything that seems to modify the past turns out to already have been part of the past the parall...	If you have multiple timelines, you have therefore multiple Starfleets (one per timeline) and is quite possible that each Starfleet might have a different knowledge of the other Starfleets; for example one Starfleet might know that they have one type of time-travel while another would have been unable to answer that qu...
Why can't wizards create precious metals? I've been curious what stops wizards from creating and endless supply of wizard currency. After looking at a few other questions (like this , and this ) it keeps getting stated that wizards can't create the precious metals needed to create more of the wizard currency. However...	I think it's important to remember that metals considered precious by humans may not be considered as valuable by wizards -- perhaps metals other than gold, silver, or bronze might have more magical properties, and therefore be more valuable in the wizarding world.
Who controls the Watcher in the Water? In the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a kraken-like creature found in lake front of the gates of Moria, both mentioned in the book and shown in the movies. What I want to know is, who controls it? Is it an independent creature, or is it controlled by Saur...	Perhaps we can't say Sauron controls it, but I believe that he has at least some influence on it. No, there is no suggestion that anyone controls the Watcher.
Isn't Sansa already married? She was in exile after murder of Joffrey but then married to Tyrion. After Petyr took her and gave her in marriage to Ramsay, how can this happen? <Q> Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish explained this while talking to Roose Bolton in the episode <S> "High Sparrow" : <S> BAELISH: (They begin ...	The reason that Sansa could still be betrothed to Ramsay Bolton after her marriage to Tyrion Lannister is that he marriage to Tyrion was never consumated.
Why not enter the Matrix from Zion? The crews enter the Matrix when they are on the ships, which makes them an easier target for sentinels. Why don’t they enter the Matrix when they are in Zion? They were talking about earlier attempts attacking Zion, so the machines already know where Zion is. <Q> In The Matrix , Mor...	The humans are evidently unable to broadcast a signal with enough range to hack into the Matrix from Zion.
How can they hack the Matrix, wirelessly? Knowing that the Zionist rebels use the Hover ships to reach a broadcast level in order to infiltrate the Matrix, yet every blue pill in the matrix seems to be hard wired into it, how do they broadcast in? Has it ever been explained? In real life, you cannot hack into a wired s...	You don't need a direct wireless feed to The Matrix in order to hack into it.
Has Batman Ever Sacrificed himself for Superman? Has Batman ever sacrificed himself to save Supes? Or come close with intention? I was curious if he had! Any universe, but comic source preferred and encouraged.. Thanks! <Q> Yes ...not in comic books (as far as I know), but in the animated film Superman/Batman: Publi...	Public Enemies , where Batman hijacks a "rocket" and rams a Kryptonite meteor with it to prevent it hitting Earth, sacrificing himself in place of Superman.
Exactly how fast is Ludicrous Speed? In the hit movie Spaceballs, Spaceball-1 goes beyond 'Light speed', beyond 'Ridiculous speed' and into ' Ludicrous Speed '. But precisely how fast is Ludicrous Speed? Are there any contextual clues within the film or interviews from the cast/crew that give a more accurate reckoni...	Assuming that they plan to make the return journey at light speed, and that that journey will take them between 1 and 23 hours, we can peg a lower and upper bound on the speed of "ludicrous speed" at somewhere around 65 and 1380 times the speed of light. Having read the script , I can safely say the precise speed is ne...
Who is the oldest living non-Forsaken channeler in The Wheel of Time? In the Wheel of Time series, those with access to the One Power have extended longevity. At (roughly) 300 years old, Cadsuane Melaidhrin is believed to be the oldest living Aes Sedai during the series. However, we also find in " A Crown of Swo...	The oldest member of the Kin, and probably the oldest user of the One Power, is one Aloisia , who's nearly 600 years old:
Does the DeLorean have any restrictions regarding time travel range? I'm just wondering whether the DeLorean time machine has any restrictions on how far into the future or how far into the past it can travel. Inspired when I was considering an earlier question of mine it struck me that the earliest we actually se...	The only restrictions would be ensuring that the DeLorean was still in an environment where it had access to the energy it needed for the flux capacitator, and the capacity to speed to 88 miles per hour.
In T1, was Skynet's actual goal to kill Sarah Connor, or to spawn Skynet itself? We know that without the union of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, John Connor would not have been born, and we know that without the remnants of the T-800, Skynet would not have been developed. Is it ever explained in novelizations, deleted s...	After killing Sarah Connor, the T-800 Terminator's secondary goal is to simply to continue to survive long enough to get further orders from Skynet.
Does Leo Valdez ever come back in Percy Jackson? Once Leo Valdez reaches Ogygia for the second time, does he ever come back to visit with the other characters, or appear at Camp Half Blood? Neither Percy nor Annabeth mention anything about him in Staff of Serapis or Son of Sobek . <Q> Yes. <S> Originally announce...	He does come back in the series of "Trials of Apollo" and was beaten up by the campers.
How did Worf's adoptive father know O'Brien's rank? In "Family", Worf's adoptive father, Sergey Rozhenko beams aboard and is instantly buddies with Chief O'Brien (from his point of view). WORF: They still have not signalled? O'BRIEN: No sir. ... FEMALE [OC]: Enterprise, this is Earth Station Bobruisk. Two to t...	Either due to his own Star Fleet history, or pride for his son's placement, Sergey has studied up on the Galaxy class ships, and likely knows alot about the Enterprise specifically.
Was the T-800 certain it had the right Sarah Connor? In The Terminator , Reese says Skynet had almost no information on Sarah Connor: Just her name, and the name of the city where she lived. The T-800 arrives in 1984, finds a phone book, and dispatches the first two Sarah Connors listed. It then goes to Sarah's apart...	Also he doesn't care if it is the right one or not, his mission is to kill Sarah Connors, all Sarah Connors. The fact that this Sarah was so seemingly resilient than the first two it dispatched may have clued the T-800 into realizing this Sarah had a higher probability of being its actual target as well. We know from t...
Why was Seraph called Wingless? In The Matrix Revolutions , when Morpheus, Trinity and Seraph enter the Merovingian's club, one of the guards calls Seraph "Wingless". Where does this name come from? <Q> As his name suggests, Seraph is believed to be a Seraphim (a type of program that performed the function of Agents...	Seraph previously being an Angelic Agent that escaped into the new Matrix is possible, and why he is called Wingless is self evident in that respect. Seraph is a protector, dressed in white, and can take on Agents at the same level.
Why is Lone Starr's ship called the Eagle 5? Per the Spaceballs wiki article on the subject Eagle 5 is the 1986 Winnebago Chieftain 33 that Lone Starr and Barf travel in, using it as a flying spaceship (with space engines and wings attached) But why is it called the Eagle 5? Am I missing the joke somehow? <Q>...	I would think this is a reference to the lunar module "Eagle" on the Apollo 11 mission which was the first lunar landing.
How and when does Howard Stark die? In the first scene of Ant Man, we see Howard Stark alive and healthy in 1989. So when did he die? And how? Is the answer different in different timelines? Note: This is not a spoiler because you see it in the first few minutes of the movie. <Q> In Marvel Cinematic Universe : <...	Howard and Maria Stark were killed in an automobile “accident” secretly arranged by HYDRA on Long Island in 1991 , to remove him as an obstacle in their plans.
Is Catwoman a hero, a villain or something else? I'm intrigued by the Catwoman character from the different Batman canons. Although she is a cat burglar and is regularly shown stealing stuff, she seems to be the only recurring character from the rogues gallery who is shown as helping Batman. Everyone else, like Joker, ...	Up until the modern age , Selina Kyle aka Catwoman was largely considered a villain, albeit one who occasionally shared sexual tension and/or a mutual attraction with Bruce Wayne aka Batman .
Why does Agent Smith get scared in the final confrontation with Neo? At the end of the final confrontation between Neo and Agent Smith the following dialogue takes place: Smith: I stand here, right here, and I'm supposed to say something. I say, "Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo." What? What di...	Smith comes to the realisation that his consumption of The Oracle is having an impact upon him. And so at what should have been the moment of his greatest triumph Smith loses control, and he is terrified.
Are there any additional belief systems regarding The Force, other than Light, Dark and Grey? That I know of, there is the Light , the Dark and the Grey . You make a concious decision which of these paths to follow, but are there any additional belief systems someone could adhere to if they were force users? Blac...	Some Jedi/Sith actually subscribed to a system known as Unifying Force , which held that there's no light or dark side, just a single Force
Why do we see so few Andorians or Tellarites serving in Starfleet or aboard starships? Obviously, out of universe having these alien species would be a huge headache for make-up and financial drain in terms of production costs, but is there an in-universe explanation? Tellarites and Andorians are founding members of th...	Considering that the majority of Starfleet Vessels we see are human-dominated, it may be due to climate: Tellarites found Human room temperature to be cold, indicative of a higher body temperature. It seems that another reason may be mutual distrust of one another: As of the time of the Enterprise relaunch novels, the ...
Did we ever see Enterprise-D's arboretum? It seems they mention the arboretum many times. Apparently Miles O'Brien proposed to Keiko there. Barclay and Troi go for a walk there. A tree is beamed to the Crystalline Entity from there. But if I recall, it is always off screen. Do we ever see it? If not, why not...	Yes, the Arboretum of the NCC-1701-D was shown in several episodes. It appears on-screen several times, first in Data's Day and then later in both in Imaginary Friend and Dark Page .
Whose hand gets cut off in Ant-Man? Every single MCU Phase 2 film has featured a character getting their hand cut off, in a deliberate nod to Star Wars , and Kevin Feige has said that Ant-Man is no exception. I saw Ant-Man with my friend over the weekend, but I forgot to look for the Easter egg at the time and now I c...	Both Daredevil and season 2 of Agents of SHIELD contain a character losing a hand.
Was Sauron aware of what Gandalf was? Is there any evidence that Gandalf's maia origin was known to Sauron. Not many of the elves even knew (Cirdan, Galadriel and Elrond maybe) This quote makes me think not. 'So!' said the Messenger. 'Then thou art the spokesman, old greybeard? Have we not heard of thee at whiles, a...	If this question is asking about when the Mouth of Sauron was addressing Gandalf, then certainly Sauron knew.
What's the deal with the name "Jumpstar Prime"? The currently running arc of Schlock Mercenary features a huge starship (later reconfigured as a city) christened Jumpstar Prime . Characters in the comic tend to have very strong reactions to that name -- a few love it to pieces, most react to hearing it with somet...	Ship names are usually puns or at least jokes.
Do all droids have a four alphanumeric character name and does this have any significance? I was noticing that the two famous droids from Star Wars , C-3PO and R2-D2 have a four character alphanumeric name. Now, these are just two of so many droids out there, but I was wondering, in the Star Wars universe - do al...	Droid names are usually derived in part from the droid series (e.g. R2 and 3PO) to help identify the function and capabilities of the droid (e.g. "B" in B1 is probably to indicate that it is a battle droid).
Why did Hagrid suggest to follow the spiders? In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets chapter 14, Hagrid suggests the trio to follow the spiders. This has led them to the lair of the Acromantula (giant spider) Aragog and its hive in the Forbidden Forest. Why did he say this? Did he think Aragog knew what the Mo...	Because Malfoy and Fudge were there, and he didn’t want to give away the fact that he knew Aragog’s location, given that Aragog was suspected of being the original monster Harry and Ron were hiding under the cloak He wanted them to meet Aragog, who had useful information.
Does James T Kirk know about Jonathan Archer? I recall that Jim Kirk and Spock and the original Star Trek crew were sent on a three year mission to explore new worlds using the new warp technology, as if they were the first ones. But the Jonathan Archer crew also used warp drive to explore far into space earlier in t...	Yes, Kirk must know about Archer, and it is NOT implied in The Original Series that Kirk is the first to explore deep space with warp technology.
In Stargate Universe why didn't the ancients use the wormhole drive to get to the source of the strange signal? In Stargate Universe why didn't the ancients use the wormhole drive(Used in SGA last episodes to get Atlantis to Earth) to get to the source of the strange signal that the main ship in SGU is heading to? The...	Also, the wormhole drive was experimental and unfinished when the Ancients abandoned Atlantis and moved back to relatively primitive Earth.
Why does Richard draw his own blood before using the Sword of Truth? Throughout the Sword of Truth series, we see Richard Cypher/Rahl/Amnell draw his own blood from his forearm before using the Sword of Truth, typically followed by the phrase "Blade be true this day." Did Richard actually gain something this? Did it...	There are also references to how the sword feels a type of bloodlust when he cuts with it.
Does the Matrix of Leadership work for Transformers of any affiliation? I was inspired by reading this question: Why didn't Sentinel Prime take the Matrix of Leadership when offered? It made me wonder, does the Matrix of Leadership work only for "worthy" Autobots, or could its powers be used by Decepticons or other a...	A Transformer, whether Autobot or Decepticon, may have an affinity with the Matrix of Leadership
How does mass conservation work in the MCU Ant-Man movie? In Ant-Man, it's (briefly) explained that the Pym particle reduces the distance between molecules, allowing a person to shrink while retaining his mass and strength. Much of the movie is consistent with this explanation. For example: While ant-sized, Ant-Man ...	The suit somehow makes it possible for him to retain his human muscle power.
Why did Berry change Storm's accent from the first X-Men movie? The first X-Men film saw (or heard) Storm speak in a more African-type accent. This was later dropped from X2 onwards. Why? Did the producers think the audience didn't understand her clearly the first time or she didn't suit the accent...? I've read som...	About the best explanation I've found is that Berry couldn't do a decent accent (it does sound more Carribean than African, from what I recall), and probably gave up after negative reactions to its use in the first movie - but this is fan speculation rather than anything official.
How old was Porthos when Scotty killed him? In Star Trek 2009, we meet Montgomery Scott in exile on Delta Vega. Scotty says his exile happened because he caused Admiral Jonathan Archer's dog Porthos to disappear during a test of an early prototype of Scotty's transwarp transporter. We all remember Porthos as the beag...	So Porthos has been around at least since April 2151.
When and why did the shape of Captain America's shield change? In his first appearances, Captain America's shield is an elongated triangle with three peaks at the top: Joe Simon's first sketch of Captain America Cover of Captain America issue #1, 1941 Now, of course, his shield is round. Late 60's issue of...	Apparently the original sketch of Captain America came to the attention of Archie Comics (then MLJ Magazines) - they noticed there was a similarity between Captain America's shield and the chest detail of their own character The Shield (below).
What's the deal with "marshmelons"? In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Kirk, Spock, and McCoy enjoy some quality time together around the campfire, musing about life, death, baked beans, and rowing boats gently down streams. In particular, they have the following exchange: KIRK: What are you doing? SPOCK: I a...	Spock didn't mispronounce the word, he was playing a practical joke on Bones.
How could the level crossing at the end of Back to the Future 3 know that the locomotive would arrive? In the end of Back to the Future 3 , Marty and Jennifer check the wreckage site of the DeLorean when the railroad level crossing suddenly activates and lowers its barriers without any trains nearby. The Doc then appe...	My theory would be that it is probably a feature in futuristic trains that when they are approaching a level crossing, they transmit a signal to the crossing itself.
Would seeing a Basilisk in a memory cause death? I am currently rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and I was wondering if looking at a basilisk in a memory would cause death? If, eg., Harry had seen the basilisk in Tom Riddle memory, would he have died? <Q> I'm going to say "no", for the simple reason th...	If someone looked at a basilisk in a mirror and so were just petrified, their extracted memories might petrify someone else, but not kill them.
Why did Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn attack Darth Maul unfairly instead of one-on-one? In the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace movie there is an episode, where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn encounter Darth Maul. Darth Maul came out to them alone, drew a weapon and than froze - it was a clear invite to a duel. And the J...	Its actual efficiency (compared to a single-bladed one) aside, using it probably gave the two Jedi enough reason to both take on Darth Maul. The Jedi are not going to go after Maul one at a time in the name of fair play, any more than the police will do so when confronting a suspected criminal. If you pick a fight with...
Weird (japanese?) live action movie with man in full metal suit that fights giant creatures Now this one is tough, i have talked to so many people and i have tried to search so much. I saw a film when i was a kid, it was this strangest thing. In my country the film was actually called "man of steel" / "Stålmannen" :In...	Both animated & live action, animated people in helmuts & super vehicles fight evil Dinosaurs, then become Izenborg, a sort of Ultraman-like giant hero. The 1978 series Dinosaur Corps Koseidon . This was a live action japanese cyberpunk movie with cheesy graphics, although the first Tetsuo movie did not come out until ...
Survival of laptops in Mars' environment In The Martian , Watney tries taking a laptop out of the hab to write down a message from Earth but: The screen went black before I was out of the airlock. Turns out the "L" in "LCD" stands for "Liquid". I guess it either froze or boiled off. Maybe I’ll post a consumer revie...	The laptop could possibly work or not on mars, as this will depend on the actual hardware and temperature on mars when the screen is exposed to the environment.
Do the darker impulses of society ever appear in the SW universe materials? I know that Star Wars is generally kept PG, or at least PG-13 in some cases, but it got me to wondering. I'm pretty familiar with a significant chunk of the Legends continuity, yet I can't remember any depictions of the... darker impulses of so...	The attempted rape of Yarna d'al' Gargan by the Gamorrean Although murder is depicted in considerable detail (and infanticide is strongly hinted at) there are no rapes, serial murders or incidents of incest.
What exactly is Angel's curse? It is noted in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel that whenever Angel makes love to Buffy, he loses his soul and becomes Angelus the vicious vampire. My question, is his "moment of true happiness" that making love to someone he loves e.g. Buffy can turn him into Angelus or can anythi...	It is very much a form of revenge, or a curse since if ever there comes a time when the restored soul no longer torments the vampire, the moment the vampire is not plagued by the guilt of what they had done for the sake of evil in the past, then in that instant the soul is taken from them. Presumably, it's anything tha...
Why didn't the fish die at the end of Agents of SHIELD season 2? In the climax of S2E22 of Agents of SHIELD ; Skye pushes a Quinjet containing Terrigen Crystals created by Jiaying into the ocean. We go on to see that a school of fish come in contact with the crystals, and are later caught and converted into Fish ...	They might not have died because they were not humans and had a different reaction towards the divine.
Animagi (Sirus specifically) and wands? I have 3 questions about animagus transformation and wands Does animagus transformation require the use of a wand? If yes, where does the wand go after the wizard transforms? Again, if 1 is yes, how did Sirius transform into a dog in Azkaban? Note that 2 and 3 are ...	You don’t need a wand to transform.
Did Indiana Jones affect the outcome of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Amy in Big Bang Theory explains to Sheldon that: The Nazis would have followed the same path to their failure with or without Indiana's interference. But is this really the case? It looks as though they may have struggled to find the ark without th...	So up through the climax, Indy had no effect at all, but after that, we have evidence he did achieve his goal and, ultimately, keep the Ark out of Nazi reach and control.
Why was R2D2 in Star Trek? Related question here As you can see in the picture I've taken from this answer (below) R2D2 can be pretty clearly seen in the opening battle in Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (kudos Richard). My question: What is the out-of-universe reason for including R2D2 in a Sta...	People like R2D2 enough to put him everywhere : Steven Spielberg
How is it possible that 7 of 9's 24th century ocular implant is better at detecting disruptions in space-time than a 29th century Federation timeship? Star Trek Voyager "Relativity": BRAXTON: For some reason, I always think you'll remember. I'm Captain Braxton. This is Lieutenant Ducane. You're aboard the Federatio...	The Borg are more advanced generally than the Federation.
Why would the eleven year old Snape want to be sorted in Slytherin In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II we see the eleven-year-old Snape on the Hogwarts Express with Lily. He shares with her that: You'd better be in Slytherin Are there any explanation (or at least guesses) why would he think that way at...	I guess his hate for his father (muggles) reflected in his desire to join Slytherin
Did any of the Weasley kids get new dress robes for the Yule Ball? In Goblet of Fire , Ron is appalled when Molly sends him his dress robes for the Yule Ball. Apparently, they smelled like Ron's Great Aunt Tessie and looked like they sashayed right off The Love Boat . Ruffled tuxedos were popular in the 70s, of cours...	But based on Mrs. Weasley's statement, all of her kids got secondhand clothes.
What TV show has kids entering a video game of some sort? I've been searching the entire Internet for this show about 4 teenagers that enter a video game world where they have to fight monsters that looked like insects. Every time they had to enter the world, they'd go down in the sewers and one of the guys had a skate...	If it was a movie it could be the film Arcade Da Boom Crew is a Canadian/American children's television animated series, produced by Berliner Film Company in association with Jambalaya Studios in Los Angeles, California.
What was the Jupiter 2's propulsion system? In Lost In Space , a ring of lights seemed to flash as the Jupiter 2 was lifting off. The lights seemed to be overcoming a lot of air resistance from the almost plate-shaped top of the ship (see below) How did the propulsion system of the Jupiter 2 work? Both during lift ...	The spacecraft is propelled by atomic propulsion , using the substance deutronium as a power source.
Could Iron Man survive at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? Retirement-aged cellist who hasn't read a comic in decades (but who enjoys the super hero movie explosion). The question came to me, and my boys are no help...Intense pressure v a tough suit.Thanks. <Q> With the Mark 37 Suit, <S> probably The Mark 37 <S> s...	the biggest problem for him would be sealing the suit, so the water couldn't get in. Again, assuming he had the technology, he has in the comics, yes.
Early 90s sci-fi movie very similar to Star Wars with lightsabers and laser guns I saw a movie in the early 90's, it was a Sci-Fi Movie but I can't find what was the name? Here a few points I know for sure: It's VERY Star Wars like, yes the movie has lightsabers and laser guns, but it's almost like it's an episode...	It is a stretch, but it does have some Darth Vader clones and lots of laser weapons.
Why do spells affect Harry when he is a Horcrux? I didn't read the books, only watched the movies... so I don't know if my question is legit. There are a number of examples of Harry being affected by spells in the books, including: Gilderoy Lockhart casting a spell on Harry after he fell from his broom during the Qu...	Harry had a piece of soul in him, but he wouldn’t have any of the protective enchantments that’d usually be put on Horcruxes, so he wouldn’t repel spells like Horcruxes do.
Can the Avatar bend elements simultaneously outside of the Avatar State? The question is in the title. Can the Avatar bend elements simultaneously outside of the Avatar State? We have seen multiple occasions where when in the Avatar State the Avatar can bend more than one element at the same time, most notably when Aan...	Though we have not seen Aang bend simultaneous elements we can assume that every Avatar possesses the ability (as speculated by previous answers).
Why would the binary language of moisture vaporators be that different from the binary language of other machines or droids? In Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope Owen Lars says, "What I really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators." Was he just being overly specific in what he...	It appears the vaporators Lars has are not able to communicate in standard droid binary language, and use a specialized "binary language of vaporators." The reference to binary language is simply used as a segue from 3PO's language skill and the desired skill of the operation of moisture vaporators.
How could Janeway not punish the EMH for disobeying a direct order, transporting off voyager, & giving shield frequencies to an enemy vessel? ST Voyager "Flesh and Blood": EMH: You've given me extraordinary freedom over the years. I've obviously abused it. JANEWAY: Maybe. Or maybe you've simply become as fallible ...	Warning answer contains supposition supported by observations of the universe technically there really isnt much Janeway can do to the doctor aside from lobotomizing him or an equivalent of the death penalty and he is to valuable to the crew for either of these options (IMO) she can restrict his privileges which could ...
Why did Sirius slash the portrait of The Fat Lady? In The Prisoner of Azkaban , the escaped convict Sirius Black enters Hogwarts. When denied entrance to the Gryffindor Tower, he slashes the portrait of the Fat Lady (who is then replaced by Sir Cadogan). At the end of the book we learn that Sirius is innocent of t...	Half-crazed and desperate, Sirius sneaked into Hogwarts through the old passageway from the Shrieking Shack and on one occasion slashed the Fat Lady's portrait when she refused him entrance to Gryffindor Tower , probably due to anger as he is unable to enter his own groups common room on 31 October, 1993.
What made Reed Richards elastic in the 2015 Fantastic Four film? In the 2015 Fantastic Four film, five people are transformed by Planet Zero. We see how four of them are transformed. Von Doom observes that green lava is alive, like neural tissue that makes the planet a sort of organism. Then Von Doom touches the gr...	It's possible that her thoughts at the time (maybe "I shouldn't be here" followed by "I could use a blast shield about now") influenced her power as well. Since he couldn't free his legs, his body responded by stretching out to let him move anyway. My interpretation is that his change didn't happen until after he was b...
X-Files episode with a worm creature travelling through drain pipes All I can remember of this particular episode is the monster; It was a humanoid / worm-creature that traveled through drain pipes. I'm pretty sure it gained access to people's homes through their toilets. I remember thinking the creature was especi...	In episode "Agua Mala" (S06E13, 1999) there is a worm-like creature, it changes consistency from liquid to jelly and viceversa.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.