source
stringlengths
620
29.3k
target
stringlengths
12
1.24k
Does Voldemort have other options? In the battle of Hogwarts, after Voldemort knew that all Horcruxes were destroyed and the curse Avada Kedavra will not affect Harry a second time, does Voldemort never think of fleeing the scene and coming again with a better plan instead of going one on one with Harry? He can crea...
He wouldn’t have considered fleeing, since he thought he could end Harry right then.
Did J.K. Rowling express approval of HPMoR? Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a popular Harry Potter fan-fiction that has attracted strong critical and fan reactions, both positive and negative. It's possible more widely read than any other HP fan-fiction, besides perhaps the Draco Trilogy by Cassandra ...
The spokesman for the Christopher Little literary agency said: "JK Rowling's reaction is that she is very flattered by the fact there is such great interest in her Harry Potter series and that people take the time to write their own stories." - Rowling backs Potter fan fiction - BBC News
What other actors played different characters in TOS and TNG/DS9/Voy? I was recently reminded that the same actor, Diana Muldaur, played blind human telepath Miranda Jones in TOS and Doctor Pulaski in TNG. Majel Barrett Roddenberry played Nurse Chapel in TOS and Lwaxana Troi (Counsellor Deanna Troi's mother) in TNG. ...
Jack Donner - (TOS: Subcommander Tal)
Does the Flash have super strength? Very simple question, does the Flash (Barry Allen) have superhuman strength? The reason I ask and just as one example of him appearing to be very strong is when he pushes the truck to save the villagers in in Justice League. In my eyes it would take a very strong person to do wh...
He's been able to use his speed in ways that could be said to approximate super-strength.
Have we ever seen a captured ship incorporated permanently in the enemy's fleet? The threat of a starship being boarded and captured by enemy forces appears often in Star Trek franchise. On some occasions, such an operation is successful and the enemy gains the control over the starship. Such a starship is of great val...
"The Tholian Web" Captured by, and incorporated into the fleet of: The Terran Empire (Mirror Universe) in ENT S4E18 & S4E19
What are the enumerations? In many of the Horus Heresy books the Thousand Sons legions use the enumerations. These are numbered, I THINK there are eight (although I don't know where I got that from) and we know each are numbered. What exactly are the enumerations and what are the properties of each? <Q> There is no ex...
There are no properties to them as far as i can tell, except that they give you the ability to be more in sync with the warp, from my point of view.
Why is it safer to isolate the crew on every other deck? I know nothing about the military, so I apologize if this is obvious. Why is this practical? CRUSHER: I recommend we evacuate and seal off all non-operational areas, and group the families and crew on the odd-numbered decks. Booby Trap <Q> The ship is experi...
By specifying odd-numbered decks, people only have to move one deck up or down.
Why imprison the Doctor? In the episode 'The Pandorica Opens' it is revealed that several of the Doctor's greatest enemies have formed an alliance to prevent the destruction of the universe, as they believe (through data extrapolation) that the Doctor's travels ultimately cause the cracks in time and space. To combat ...
As to why they imprison instead of kill, they might know that death of the universe is CAUSED by an attempt on the Doctor's life (because it is, and that might be why they are careful not to do that, but they don't have all the information), or they might know it through prophecy and what-not.
Who is the Professor McGonagall in The Crimes of Grindelwald? Spoilers Ahead. If you haven't watched Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald yet, please do not read further. According to this and many other such fan pages, Minerva McGonagall, Harry's Transfiguration teacher was born in 1935 (although Pottermo...
The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay by J. K. Rowling only states her to be a "young Minerva McGonagall" (emphasis mine):
Is the sinking liner in the Crimes of Grindelwald the Titanic? Is the sinking liner in the Crimes of Grindelwald the Titanic? If it is the liner, they got the weather all wrong because it was a starry night with calm waters, not the rough sea and lightning they showed. <Q> Almost certainly not. <S> Even though Leta's...
The mysterious ship is most likely not the Titanic
How come there were no witnesses to the monster when the chamber of secrets was first opened? CoS Ch.13 In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. If there were witnesses to the attacks, then how come Hagrid was expelled? Even with Petrification, the stu...
They may not have seen the creature that attacked them clearly. Short answer: there weren't any witnesses to the giant snake , but there were witnesses to the giant spider . Modifying their memories would make it impossible for any of them to tell what really happened, and thus make it easier to frame Hagrid.
Science fiction series where in each novel, a man travels from planet to planet and helps the inhabitants in overthrowing their oppressors I don't remember much but I do remember that each novel takes place on a new planet where there was usually some sort of social upheaval/revolution happening and he helps the inhabi...
It is followed by the original A Wizard in Bedlam at the end of which he acquires a companion. In each book his mission is to investigate and overthrow the Lord of that world. The timing is about right (1993-2001) although the original book in the series was written much earlier (1979). There are ten books in the serie...
Why were all NS-2 manufactured without the serial numbers? In the story "Little Lost Robot" from I, Robot , a modified Nestor (NS-2) hides himself in a cargo with 62 other physically identical robots. I think one of the main reasons why the hiding robot was not easily identifiable was NS-2s did not have any serial nu...
Not having serial numbers means there is no physical way to tell the modified ones from the non modified ones.
Why did Robert Ford command Bernard to kill Theresa in Westworld? This question got me thinking about Theresa's death. In season 1, episode 6, "Trompe L'Oeil" , Ford orders Bernard (now revealed as a robot) to kill Theresa. This scene shows Ford can control the robots very easily with the right spoken commands from ...
Because Ford learned that Theresa was a host he could not control and was giving away his secrets.
Book about a man who can freeze time I only read the book(s) maybe a couple of years ago. It is about a man who can kind of freeze time in our modern world and step into the frozen area and do stuff but then when he comes out of the frozen time everything he did in the frozen world was not seen. For example, he was cha...
If you're sure it's by Brandon Sanderson, it could be Snapshot, but that's a bit of a stretch.
Is there a standard afterlife in the Cthulhu Mythos? H. P. Lovecraft's stories include several different, apparently independent ways that a person can become an undead creature after their own natural death (being raised from saltes, being reanimated with an injection of West's formula, using the Spanish doctor's proc...
I can't speak for everyone, but personally I think there is an afterlife in the Cthulhu mythos, just not a happy one.
C.J Cherryh novel dealing with hyperspace I'm trying to remember which book this is in her early novels, unfortunatly my collection is in storage at the moment and I can't check. One of her earlier novels deals with hyperspace and how it makes some people go mad so they take a drug to induce a sleep like state while t...
I suspect it's Tripoint , but many of her stories include the "night-walkers" who are the only people that can remain unsedated during jumps.
Why did Dumbledore tell the Slytherins to go to their common room during the troll attack? In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone there is a part where Professor Quirell informed everyone about the troll in the dungeon at Hogwarts and probably fakes his faint. Then Dumbledore tells everyone to be quiet and tells...
While it might have been safer to keep the students in the Great Hall, Dumbledore may felt that there was little chance the Slytherins would actually run into the troll if they just went straight to their common room.
Cartoon/anime that featured a huge orange see-through beast that was controlled by the protagonist As the title mentioned, it featured who I think is the protagonist being able to take command of a huge 'monster' or 'robot' (unsure of what type of thing it was that, if I recall correctly, was orange and transparent/see...
The Orange Lantern Corps (of which Larfleeze is usually the sole member) has a logo (circular, with radial lines) that appears on their uniforms and on their constructs: — Orange Lantern Corps logo on the shoulder of Larfleeze. No other characters on Young Justice show this ability, and the astral body has no distincti...
Why does the Doctor not believe in Satan? In S011E08, the Doctor says, offhandedly, that she's "not a great believer in Satan." However, in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit," the Doctor met the Beast , which, while not precisely the same entity as the one from Abrahamic lore, has the general physical appear...
To the Doctor, the Beast does not qualify as a supernatural devil-figure, not even if it might have been the entity identified as "Satan" in human Christianity, and not even if it might have been the root of all the evil on Earth or all the evil within Mutter's Spiral Galaxy.
Why didn't Picard use a tractor beam to stop the borg sphere from going back in time? After the Enterprise engages with the Borg cube, it witnesses a Borg sphere heading towards Earth and then go back in time. Picard knows all too well the Borg are not allies and any Borg entering federation space must be investigate...
Tractor beams are easily shaken off and cannot work if the target has their shields up.
First named, colonized planet in a science fiction story What is the first non-Sol system planet that's colonized by humans in a work of fiction? To be specific, I'm not looking for "Proxima Centauri B" or that sort of scientific nomenclature, and no Europa or Ganymede or other Sol-system colonies, but rather the kin...
1942: Santanni and Trantor are human-colonized extra-solar planets featured in a number of Isaac Asimov 's stories, e.g., in his Foundation series. Also named is Aldebaran II, though it doesn't live up to your requirement of not being a scientific nomenclature. Among those named are Valeria, home of Lensman Van Buskirk...
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's? In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers after becoming Gandalf the White, Gandalf cast Saruman from the Order and the Council. He also got the power to break Saruman's staff, which was very powerful. So when Saruman captured Gandalf th...
While Gandalf broke his staff since he did not care about having control over Saruman. "The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than just a prop for age." user1643723 is absolutely right in his comment - there is a power there, but maybe not within the staff itself. The storyline now apparently finishes with Saru...
Why do immortals not use any neck armour in Highlander (1986)? An Immortal in Highlander can die only if decapitated. That is their only vulnerable point in a sword fight. (I stick to the canon of the original Highlander , as in Highlander V we see immortals resurrecting after they die.) I think it is extremely u...
If you can't keep your head from being cut off in the course of trading blows you're going to die anyways, and if you can a neck collar isn't going to matter when you're disarmed and on your knees and as others have pointed out would be actively detrimental to avoiding that state.
How was Domino able to be tortured when she was so lucky? In Deadpool 2 why was Domino able to be tortured when her mutant power was being 'lucky'? I understand that most mutants don't show their powers right away, eg Mutant Powers The majority of mutants develop these abilities, which vary from person to pe...
You could also think about it in terms of long-term luck: if she hadn't been tortured, she wouldn't have been put on the path she's on. But in the end, we don't have an answer from the movie, so it's up to each viewer to come up with their own theories. The school used restraints, both physical and perhaps also drugs.
80s/90's Robot cartoon, one like a Transformer I'm pretty sure the show was out in the 80's or maybe even very early 90's but it could also have been an animated movie (If so would most likely have been a straight to VHS effort)... Now all I have is a very vague/blurred memory of it so I will try and describe what I r...
The robots all have distinct abilities
Has there ever been some Doctor Who story in which multiple companions from different Doctors were kidnapped? I mean have there ever been some book, audio, comic storyline, or even tv episode, that we are greeted with The Doctor, and he must go save his previous companions from regenerations past. This isn’t referring ...
What you have described in your question and comments - wanting to see "how would these companions react to a different man calling himself the Doctor" - basically happens in any of the "multiple Doctor" TV episodes:
Is the name Rookwood in any way special? The name Rookwood is used in V for Vendetta (A former fingerman) and Harry Potter (A lesser DeathEater).Is this a fairly common British name or does it have some kind of hidden meaning? <Q> V for Vendetta <S> The William Rookwood in the film V for Vendetta was chosen to hono...
While the surname Rookwood isn't particularly common, it's very likely just a coincidence.
Why didn't Cudgeon "Escape" the time stop in Artemis Fowl? In the first book of the Artemis Fowl series, Fowl Manor has been placed in a magically induced time-stop, which theoretically traps anyone inside it at the time that it was started. Communication with the outside world is completely cut off, and a side effect ...
Staying asleep while in a time stop is also the explanation for how San D'Klass delivered presents in one night, so being asleep going in definitely doesn't get you out of a time-stop. Cudgeon isn't mentioned again in the story after he's knocked out, so presumably his unconscious body was cleared away with the rest of...
Why did Venom keep spider thread after separating from Peter Parker? In the 90's Spider-Man animated series Venom bonds with Peter Parker/Spider-Man. After their separation and after bonding with Eddie Brock Venom still creates spider webbing. Since Venom is an alien and this has nothing to do with spiders how is he ab...
So the ability to shoot webs (or appear to), is not actually a power gained from bonding with Spider-Man, but just an expression of the symbiote's inate ability of manipulating and disconnecting it's own mass.
What's magical about the number seven? In the Harry Potter universe it is established that the number seven has magical properties, and is the most powerfully magical number. But what does that mean? What are these 'magical properties' and how do they manifest? To clarify, I'm not interested in the reasons why seven...
Within Harry Potter itself I can only think of a single other instance aside from Voldemort's Horcruxes where the number 7 demonstrated a magical effect.
Are pure-bloods actually a distinct species from Muggles? From this question I note that pure-bloods are not actually really pure blooded according to the following quote: “So-called pure-blood families maintain their alleged purity by disowning, banishing, or lying about Muggles or Muggle-borns on their family tre...
It seems almost certain from what’s known that wizards and Muggles are genetic variations of the same species.
TV production of Aladdin where his mother sings "you're an idle ragamuffin" to him There was a television production of a musical version of Aladdin shown in approximately the early seventies. I can't confirm the channel, but I have a strong suspicion it was WNEW in New York, which was at the time a MetroMedia affiliat...
I believe this is the movie you're looking for; Aladdin (1990) with Barry Bostwick as the Genie
90s live action TV show for kids, main character is a female alien teenager sent to/abandoned on Earth. The letter Z was prominent Live action kids TV show, possibly mini series set on Earth with young female protagonist in her early teens. Something about her being part of an alien race... potentially... I have a h...
Homesick, Zenon often communicates with her best friend on the space station, Nebula Wade, via a video phone tablet. I'm going to put in for Lightning Point , a teen (uber)drama that appeared in the US as Alien Surf Girls .
Wouldn't Matt Smith be the 12th Doctor and not the 11th because David Tennant is both 10 and 11? How is Matt Smith not the 12th Doctor (since David Tennant regenerated first into himself and then into Matt Smith)? Then wouldn't Peter Capaldi be the 13th Doctor? (Because that regeneration was a gift from the Time Lords...
Here's the "regeneration" you're referring to: The key here is that, while the Doctor did use up one of his regenerations, he didn't actually regenerate . Canonically, there only is, was, and will ever be one Doctor.
Why was 'Space Station V' in Low Earth Orbit? Was it ever explained why Space Station V, used as a transfer point from Earth orbit to the moon and other planets , was in a low Earth orbit rather than a higher orbit, which would have been more efficient for transfers to other locations in space? <Q> Low Earth orbit is ...
The energy required to reach low Earth orbit is the most efficient place to locate a transfer station.
Movie about junkyard-dwelling robot family I vaguely remember this movie about what seemed to be humanoid like robots living as a family in a junkyard. If I remember correctly, the premise of the movie was that robots had specific tasks and they were treated lesser than humans. I believe the "robot son" was the main ch...
The movie that your talking about is called "Astro Boy" The main character is an inventors son who had been killed then remade as a robot to look exactly like his son. I don't remember the movie well, but a strong focus is the mistreatment of various androids. As other answers have mentioned, the most likely choices (b...
When my biggest fear is a Boggart, would I see its natural form? We know that a Boggart exists even if nobody sees it: Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like if nobody is there to see it,although it continues to exist, usually giving evidence of itspresence by rattling, shaking or scratching the object in which it is...
If you know what a Boggart is, you'd probably be scared from it because you're thinking of what it would turn into, thus being more scared of something else.
Why do the Q have genders? It seems, at least from "Qpid," that the Qs' humanoid appearance is just for show. The "main" Q is not really a male, for example. After all, Q tells Picard in the episode that given different knowledge, he would have first appeared to Picard as a female. However, in Deep Space Nine's "Q-Les...
The simplest explanation is that the Q species were not (despite whatever lies Q tries to feed people ) always as they are today. Being stereotypical male/female would be understandable by most species. What we know for certain, since it's been shown multiple times, is that the Q can adopt any form and any gender they ...
Sci-fi movie — abandoned spaceship returns to Earth As a child, I saw a movie whose premise is that an abandoned Earth-made spaceship returns to Earth, leaving scientists perplexed. Meanwhile, an astronaut wanders the streets, slowly turning into an alien creature. The film concludes with a giant creature being destro...
An astronaut returns to Earth in a space capsule, but has apparently been turned into a radioactive monster. I think Daniel Roseman has it almost right, and what you saw was actually The Quatermass Xperiment , the 1955 theatrical film based on the 1953 television miniseies . The film, like the television serial, was a ...
Did the cornfield in "It's a Good Life" physically exist, or was it a metaphor? In the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life", six-year-old Anthony Fremont (played by child star Billy Mumy) has the power to wish for anything. He often gets angry at other people, punishing them by sending them to "the cornf...
The original short story describes the cornfield as a literal place where he sends the bodies (and this something that his family convinces him to do rather than leave the twisted remains of what was once human on the carpet), so I believe it was likely literal in the TV presentation as well.
Book about a future world where people could live in a VR world and become famous from it I read this book a while back and probably found it in the young adult section of my library. The plot revolved around a future world where people could live in VR and earn money become famous. It follows a teenager as he figures ...
The book I was remembering was titled The Game by Terry Schott!
How does the TARDIS prevent unauthorized access? It has often been mentioned on second-hand sources that the TARDIS can block unauthorized individuals (basically anyone that the Doctor or the TARDIS itself doesn't want inside) from entering it. What are the exact mechanisms behind this ability? What would happen if t...
The ship does appear to have some ability to prevent access by people.
From how much damage can a Time Lord regenerate? As I have recalled from the new Doctor Who (2005), during all of regenerations, The Doctor had his full body intact. Considering a Time Lord has his/her regeneration energy left, from how much damage can he/she regenerate? Can he/she regenerate if I blow out his/her bod...
So whatever the Veil did to the Doctor, and very specific types of poison can cause enough damage for a Timelord to be unable to regenerate.
What happens if a wand chooses a wizard who cannot afford it? In Harry Potter with the recent question ( How much do wands cost? ), we know how much a wand costs which is 7 gold galleons. What if the young wizard family can't afford that? Like the Weasleys were always poor, that seems like a big push for them to be a...
Though it’s not what most wizards would consider optimal, and it wouldn’t be quite as good to cast spells with as a new wand that chose them, wizards who can’t afford to buy a wand that chose them could buy or otherwise get a secondhand wand instead. Hogwarts covers the cost for those who can't afford the necessary sch...
Damsel in distress adventure/fantasy movie Definitely a feature length movie. Probably in theaters at some point, but might have been a 'made for TV movie'. It was on TV, in the USA, by early-1999 or earlier (I remember which house I lived in when I saw it on TV, and I moved out of that house before June of 1999, s...
It checks your other boxes as well- Harry Hamlin as our muscled and under dressed hero, lots of sword fights, big scary monsters (Harryhausen at his finest).
If somebody uses the hair of a Metamorphmagus in Polyjuice Potion, can they then use the abilities of the Metamorphmagus? If someone were to take Tonks's hair, as she is a Metamorphmagus, does that mean that they can change their appearance just like her, as Polyjuice Potion copies all of the attributes of the person y...
In the books it is clearly stated that you can't become a metamorphmagus, you have to be born as one.
Why doesn't Matt Smith's Doctor recognise Clara? If Clara went back in time to save all the Doctor's past incarnations through Trenzalore's TARDIS, why doesn't Matt Smith's Doctor recognise her when they first meet from all of their past encounters across time and space? <Q> From "The Name of The Doctor", in the montag...
Presumably, the Doctor now does remember all of the times Clara had saved him/her in the past and that he/she met her, as the time streams have lined up now. The Doctor is able to change the past, even his own past (the events of Day of The Doctor, for example).
Animated TV show about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table I'm looking for an animated TV show based on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It came out some time in the 80s or early 90s. It centres around the Table and the Knights. All the Knights would place their swords on the Round Table. The ...
It originally aired in 1979 in Japan, and dubbed versions were broadcasted in the following years in many countries, which fits your timeline.
Has the Gamma Velorum star system been mentioned in a show or movie? In this weeks Orville episode they mention the Gamma Velorum system as being inhabited by life. I could swear that another TV show or movie discussed this star system also. Does anyone know of a TV show or movie that discussed the Gamma Velorum sy...
I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie.
90s cartoon about guardians against nightmares In the 1990s, I saw an animated show about some guardians of dreams that protect children’s dreams against nightmares. I dont remeber much, only that they travel in pillow-like space ship and there was a rule that the kid can’t wake up because they die or something. Does a...
Getting killed in the dream was generally considered a bad thing, and something the nightmares did their best to do to Captain Zed and his crew. Maybe it is Captain Zed and the Zee Zone. I do not remember if the children were unable to wake up, though it is possible that they where stuck in the dreamworld until the nig...
Can Beast Boy turn into cryptids? Can Beast Boy turn into a hidden animal, like Bigfoot, Nessie, or Chupacabra? <Q> For a single episode in the Teen Titans cartoon , he was able to turn into a Sasquatch: <S> It's pretty often that we see him transforming into dinosaurs ( <S> examples: <S> Teen Titans cartoon , T...
Yes he can, over the years he has taken the form of creatures that have no bases in the animal kingdom, such as this, a multi headed creature .
In "The Dark Knight", why did the cops want to evacuate Harvey Dent from the hospital in an empty bus? After the Joker threatened to blow up a hospital, and doctors and cops in Gotham General (the hospital in which Harvey Dent was kept) started to evacuate patients, a cop said to another cop named Davis, "I'm gonna fin...
They just wanted to avoid having Dent wait around in the parking lot while they walked around asking about seating availability, so they secured a seat before bringing him out.
Do lightsabers absorb blaster energy? Do lightsabers absorb any of the energy shot at them by a blaster, or is it all deflected away? <Q> Some of the energy from a blaster shot is reflected, and some of it is transferred to the light saber as kinetic recoil. <S> This is subtle but visible in Return of the Jedi . ...
If you're​ just dealing with light blasters that have the same color and chemical, the lightsaber would absorb the Blaster fire, which is what happened in Star Wars: A New Hope . I think it may have to do with the color of the light more than anything. Simply, I would say that it deflects most "bullets".
What is the max number of passengers Batman could carry in a single Bat-vehicle? I'm trying to think of one of Batman's bat[vehicle] that could hold multiple people. Most seem to be single-occupant methods of transportation, like the Batcycle and Batmobile. Occasionally, there would be room for a single passenger (na...
The Bat-train appears in Batman Vol.1 #95
Why couldn't Hrathen force his odiv’s odivs to stay? In the book Elantris , when Hrathen starts to get suspicious of Dilaf, he decides to send him away for a couple of weeks on a "mission". Dilaf, being one step ahead, made all of Hrathen's closest arteths (priests) into his odiv – which means they are completely subs...
Hrathen could have no control over what the arteth did with his sworn followers; it would be a grave breach of protocol to order Dilaf to leave them behind.
Is it possible to stop Patronus messages from appearing? We see Kingsley use his Patronus to deliver the message that the Ministry has fallen. The Patronus just appeared in the middle of the wedding without any invitation. The question is whether someone could stop a Patronus message from appearing to them? Like in t...
It is hard—but not impossible—to stop a Patronus.
Do wizards or witches wear sunglasses? We learn from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that wizards and witches buy Muggle clothing. "I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them." -Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire pg. 83 and we know they wear glasses from the descr...
It appears that Madam Hooch wears some sort of shaded goggles in the films (your canon mileage may vary) while performing her Quidditch referee duties. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single mention of sunglasses in the books.
Why didn't Anakin just leave the Jedi Order? Anakin got Padame pregnant. I understand that Anakin had to keep the pregnancy a secret, or he would be kicked out of the Jedi but why could he not just peacefully leave the Jedi and do something else? He loved his girlfriend/wife so much what is the point in continuing such...
The fact that he thought Padme would die kept him in the order, where he was 100% sure he could speak to Palpatine as a Jedi. He doesn't have anywhere else to go. Anakin has literally been with the Jedi since he was nine years old , way younger than the age that most people enter the military in our own world, meaning ...
A book about anarchy and 3D printing I read a book that was fairly new a few years back. I have it on kindle, but as I never remember the names of books, I am struggling to remember when I read it exactly, so I thought StackExchange! The book followed a group of people living in the woods who have effectively dropped...
Walkaway by Cory L. Doctorow explores anarchy derived by the collapse of traditional economies due to 3D printing and its potential for the removal of scarcity when dealing with the manufacturing of goods.
Book identification: children's book about family of vampires I'm reaching out to see if the community can help identify a book (or series of books) from my childhood in the 80s. To the best of my recollection, the stories were about a family of vampires - but they may have been nonspecific "monsters." I believe one ...
I could be wrong, but there's a book called The Reluctant Vampire, by Eric Morecambe, of all people (yes, of Morecambe and Wise). I do recall the in-book artwork being a bit Dahl-esque, maybe with tidier lines though. I don't have the publication dates for all of the books, but at least two of them were published in th...
What examples of genetic engineering and/or eugenics are there in Star Trek other than the Eugenics Wars? Excluding Julian Bashir and the products of the human Eugenic Wars... do we ever encounter any species in Star Trek that have engaged in significant genetic self-modification or eugenics? Basically are any othe...
In the Affliction and Divergence two-parter, from Enterprise, the Klingons try to adapt human eugenics attempts to their own species, with nearly disastrous consequences (they accidentally created a plague and the cure resulted in Klingons losing their forehead ridges, explaining why they don't have them in TOS era but...
A story where a small child takes on the pain of the world I think this was a short story, and I have no recollection of where or when I read it. It had a dystopian disguised as a utopian feel. From what I remember, the world was at peace and everyone was happy, except for one child who was kept in a dungeon or somewh...
Per Wikipedia: The only chronological element of the work is that it begins by describing the first day of summer in Omelas, a shimmering city of unbelievable happiness and delight. The titular "ones" are those people who refuse to accept the suffering for one child as a necessity to preserve their utopia. I cannot des...
Why are there cargo ships in the Star Trek universe when they have replicators? Why are there cargo ships in the Star Trek stories? With replicator technology and FTL communication, there is no need for cargo ships. You can just transmit the computer files on how to replicate just about any device. Want your own Triu...
Hence, there is a need to transport raw materials as well as materials that the replicator can't replicate.
Has there been a Superhero Musical Movie released in cinema theaters? So I just watched the teaser trailer to Frozen 2 and while I was getting superhero training vibes from Elsa's interaction with the sea, I realized that this is a musical which got me thinking, has there be a superhero musical movie? Just to cover ...
The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.
Term for immortality that only prevents death from old age Is there a term for immortality that only prevents death from old age? For example, the elves from The Lord of the Rings are "immortal", but only to the effects of dying from age. They can still be killed from wounds. So they are technically not immortal. ...
Biological immortality (sometimes referred to bio-indefinite mortality) is a state in which the rate of mortality from senescence is stable or decreasing, thus decoupling it from chronological age.
Which was the first story to feature space elevators? In many very popular sci-fi anime stories, there are "space elevators", or, in other words, a giant tower which allows to transport people and/or objects from the surface of Earth to space. Some of these stories where they appear are Gundam ( Gundam Reconguista in...
Jerome Pearson, President of STAR, Inc., conceived the idea of the space elevator in 1969 at the NASA Ames Research Center, and perfected the concept in the early 1970s, when he was at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio.
Other than edits for international editions, did Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone receive errata? I've recently begun reading the Harry Potter series, but having already seen the movies I know more about the plot than any first time reader really should, and this has caused me to notice a few odd things. As f...
Despite this, there have been minor errata published in later editions.
Why did the villain in the first Men in Black movie care about Earth's Cockroaches? Jay is able to distract the Bug by throwing things at him, jumping on him, and stepping on cockroaches From the wiki page: Edgar the Bug . Near the end of the 1997 movie Men in Black , the villain known as Edgar nearly made his esc...
He was much more aware of the size/scale of the universe than Jay. I'm not sure there is much to this other than he felt some kinship to the insects as they looked similar and so was annoyed when they were being killed like they were nothing. According to the film's official novelisation , Edgar the Bug (AKA Kerb) reco...
How would one buy a used TIE Fighter or X-Wing? This question What is the in-universe cost of a TIE fighter? Establishes that there's a second-hand market for military ships. Where are these ships available for sale? Who sells them, what's the main route-to-market (i.e from "in-service" to "out-service")? Are ther...
So apparently you can just buy x-wings for cash from military surplus sales. From what I can tell, it is unspecified how the Mining Guild acquires the Tie Fighters, except that the process is sanctioned by the Empire. Some were old and so worn that their lift wings drooped. Presumably, civilians could also buy from suc...
How is the Incom shipyard still in business? Following on from this question , what is the in-universe explanation that Incom, the sole manufacturer of X-Wings, is permitted by the Empire to remain in business? From the Empire's POV the rebels are terrorists and it would be easy to locate and shut down the shipyard ma...
However they apparently went back into the X-Wing business after they were taken away from the Empire by the Rebellion. Wookieepedia says they were producing updated X-Wings for the New Republic under the name Incom-FreiTech which presumably reflects a merger.
Cartoon in which a boy and girl travel with a robot I used to watch this cartoon when I was little, maybe around 2007, although I think it was older than that. I am not sure, but I think it was an anime. I do not remember it clearly but there was a boy and a girl who fought the bad guys. The boy and girl used to travel...
In that series, usually the bad guys were the true protagonists (and were usually very funny); they usually fought using small robots that came out from the mouth of the main robot I'm distinctly getting a Sym Bionic Titan feel from this question.
Are there other characters in the Star Wars universe who had damaged bodies and needed to wear an outfit like Darth Vader? We know that Anakin was very-badly injured to the point of near death, burned from head to toe and for simple survival he wears his iconic suit. My question is, obviously the capability to take so...
Other characters with armored life support systems include Lumiya , another dark Jedi who received cybernetic prostheses explicitly modeled after Vader's, Azlyn Rae , a force user who was forced against her will to wear a set of life-preserving armor after being mortally wounded, Hogrum Chalk , an armorer who created A...
Cartoon where the protagonist has a removable Jack-o'-Lantern for a head This is a cartoon I remember seeing an episode of as a preview on a VHS tape in the early 2000s. The VHS may have been of The Wizard of Oz if that helps, but I can't be sure. In it, the protagonist is a character with a removable jack-o'-lanter...
The most famous fictional character with a pumpkin or Jack o'lantern for a head was Jack Pumpkinhead in the Oz books. There are many other animated Oz movies and television shows.
Why was 'Captain Marvel' set largely in the 1990s? The film Captain Marvel takes place mostly in 1995. But it didn't seem clear from the story why that particular time period was selected. The time period seemed like a major element of the story and a lot of energy went into its realism - from soundtrack to setting...
More superficially, I suspect they wanted the movie to have a strong sense of nostalgia for a specific period cos, y’know The era in which female pilots were allowed in the military but not yet in combat restricted the window of time when the story could be set. Also (my interpretation) the career limitation that Carol...
Whose blood did Carol Danvers receive, Mar-vell's or Yon-Rogg's in the movie? I recently watched the Captain Marvel movie (2019) and understood that Yon-Rogg claims that Carol/Vers received his blood in a transfusion that saved her life. Was Yon-Rogg lying to Carol/Vers when he said this or was her DNA fused with Mar-...
Either the explosion caused her blood to be blue or she fused wit Mar Vell.
Does the nature of the Apocalypse in The Umbrella Academy change from the first to the last episode? While it's reasonably clear that Vanya is the root cause of the Apocalypse in both the timeline where Five lived after the event and the timeline where he came back to try to stop it, are the mechanics of the event...
The nature of time in the Umbrella Academy seems to be somewhat malleable with the exception of key "events" that must happen (according to the Commission). There were actually some changes between what Number 5 witnessed and how events unfolded:
Sword in the Stone story where the sword was held in place by electromagnets So some years ago I read a story that included a "sword in the stone" bit and it was explained that the sword was held in place by electromagnets that could be released when "the one" tried to pull the sword out. I don't remember how integral...
It's been a long time since I read them, but I believe Merlin used a lodestone (magnet, but not electromagnet) in this way in A. A. Attanasio's The Dragon and the Unicorn series.
If the Dominion rule using their Jem'Hadar troops, why is their life expectancy so low? In the series Deep Space 9 , it has been stated that the Dominion has absolute control over their part of the Gamma quadrant. Literally this would mean that they rule every planet and race inside their borders of the Gamma quadrant...
Assuming an active-duty unit takes, on average, 10% casualties every month, a Jem'Hadar would have a 1 in ~170 million of surviving to the age of 15.
If Captain Marvel (MCU) were to have a child with a human male, would the child be human or Kree? If Captain Marvel (MCU) were to have a child with a human male, would the child be human or Kree? She was born human but was changed over to Kree and currently has Kree blood and Kree DNA. <Q> Whilst the official answer ...
The Kree do say that she is only part Kree, having been given Kree blood transfusions, just like Coulson and Daisy in the Agents of SHIELD universe. Her DNA is almost certainly still human
Are Captain Marvel's powers affected by Thanos' actions in Avengers: Infinity War? I only have limited knowledge of this and will probably make a false assumption somewhere in this question. Hopefully what I'm trying to ask is clear and someone can offer corrections. I understood from watching the movie that Captain ...
The Tesseract — like the Orb which contained the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy , Doctor Strange's amulet with the Time Stone in it, or Loki's staff and Vision holding the Mind Stone — was apparently just a container for the Stone.
Can a Jedi / Sith stop being one and live on without the Force? And by that I mean do Jedi/Sith have the power to expel the midichlorians from their own body's and thus stop being a Jedi, or a Sith forever? And by that I do not mean stop showing any alliance to either party. Someone who stops being a Sith could still...
In Legends, Yes (although they can be reconnected)
Hero deduces identity of a killer Looking for the title of a short story I read some years (10+) ago. I think it was in an anthology or possibly a book of linked stories, not sure on that. What I can remember of the story is as follows: The story is set on a space station or similar edifice in space,someone has bee...
Takes place on a space station and yes, the hero is approached by the manager of the station, to identify who the killer is. Could be Asimov's The Dying Night , (F&SF July 1956)
Does the Vorlon's real appearance actually match the encounter suit they use? In the last episode of season 4 (The Deconstruction of Falling Stars) the story jumps forward a million years and shows an evolved human in an encounter suit. The head of the encounter suit is very similar to a human's head. Would it be c...
There is an episode, "Falling Towards Apotheosis," also in season 4, where the Vorlon's true appearance is actually depicted, and they are clearly not bipedal at all, with no obviously discernable head.
Short story about space worker geeks who zone out by 'listening' to radiation from stars This is a short story I desperately want to read this story again, by William Gibson or Bruce Sterling (80% sure it's one of these two). There's a part where some of the workers in a space setting (asteroid mining?) are described ...
I can't find a relevant quote, but the main character relaxes by laying his head against some sort of gravity-wave based beacon. The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together.
Why did we only see the N-1 starfighters in one film? I think that this model has a really great design and looks cool and futuristic, but we only saw them in the Battle of Naboo . I have a lot of questions about that: Why don't the Rebels use them? Is it exclusive to Naboo ? Is it a bad model in comparison with...
Found only on Naboo and rarely even there, the N-1, like the Queen's Royal Starship, uses mainly galactic standard components in a custom-built spaceframe that reflects the Naboo people's love of handcrafted, elegant shapes. They also appear in numerous The Clone Wars episodes. An N-1's armament is comparable to an A-w...
Why didn't Khan get resurrected in the Genesis Explosion? At the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , as the Enterprise escapes the nebula, leaving the dying Reliant behind, we see Khan engaging the memory banks of the Genesis device. Later we see Spock's coffin torpedo ends up on the newly formed Genesis pl...
The Genesis Device detonation didn't resurrect anybody .
Who is the titular character in Captain Marvel? During the film Captain Marvel , the character we know as Vers discovers she is actually Carol Danvers and worked with Mar-Vell as a test pilot for her lightspeed craft. Later on in the film she levels up and changes into the more recognisable Captain Marvel c...
Yes, Carol Danvers, referred to as Vers by the Kree, is Captain Marvel and so is the titular character.
Science fiction story about an intelligent man put in suspended animation to solve future problems I am asking this question for an older relative. This story sticks out to them over four decades after reading it, but they can't remember the title. The story is about an extremely intelligent man who is put into suspen...
This is a bit of a long shot, but the idea of an intelligent man who is consulted when a problem arises, sounds a bit like the character Hari Seldon in Asimov's Foundation series . There is no character named Nagha or anything reasonably close. The Enterprise is on its way to investigate the mysterious attacks, when it...
Scary film where a woman has vaginal teeth I started watching this film late at night a few years ago. UK.I suddenly leaped up and grabbed the remote and switched it off. This woman was setting off to have sex with a bloke and the viewpoint switched to inside her, there was snarling noises and rows of teeth in her vag...
This is probably Teeth (2007). The trailer is not that unsafe for work, but I'm guessing the movie might be...
Book about a girl with purple eyes whose father was a (prince?) alien from a different world Book about a girl with purple eyes whose father was a (prince?) alien from a different world. I think the cover was either a greyscale purple eye or a purple crystal. She met a boy from the other world who was a prince(?). She ...
She is Jazmine Evenstar, the last heir to the sovereign Evenstar Dynasty. Due to her Charon nature, she was pretty much hunted by everybody She rejects that she’s a Stargazer, but she isn’t entirely human either, with the strength to crush a man’s bones. After a universe shattering revelation, she discovers why. Book i...
Is the Joker left-handed? In the recently released trailer for Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, we see Arthur Fleck from his pre-Joker Times scribbling some “jokes” in his book. During the scene (photo below), he’s writing with his left hand. As far I remember, Phoenix isn’t a left handed actor ( because I couldn’t...
However, in The Joker issue 2 we see him use both hands but mainly his right hand. It varies across the different media, universes and series.
Why Is Death Allowed In the Matrix? It seems as if war/death/etc is just as common in the Matrix as it is in real life outside of the movie. When someone dies in the Matrix, they die in their pod, do they not? = Loss of a battery. That is a whole lot of wasted batteries. Why do the machines allow a world with so much d...
The occurrence of death, or even the choice of death gives the human batteries the impression that they do not have to live in the Matrix if they wish to leave.
Why was the small council so happy for Tyrion to become the Master of Coin? In S03E02, Tywin Lannister names Tyrion the Master of Coin, followed by Varys and Cersei quickly smirking at Tyrion (and Pycelle being enthusiastic about the development). Why were they so happy for Tyrion to take on Master of Coin? Just becau...
Secondly, Tyrion freely admits that he has no knowledge of how money works beyond spending it, and is thus particularly ill-suited to the job.
60's-70's movie: home appliances revolting against the owners My children asked me about the oldest movie I can remember (as a kid). It is a movie from before 1977 (probably mid 60's - early 70's) about a house where (children? owners?) were not taking care of the home appliances (I do not remember how exactly, but I t...
You may be thinking of The Twilight Zone episode
What material are Infinity Stones made of? As for the MCU, the story goes (explained in full in an exposition-heavy scene in Guardians of the Galaxy) that six entities existed before the universe even came into being (try getting your head around that one) and, after The Big Bang, the entities transformed into the six ...
In the comic Thanos Quest #2 , we learn that the Collector has subjected his gem (the Reality Stone) to considerable scientific study. The Stones are made of atoms.
What's the meaning of "fortified infraction restraint"? In Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Lando shows his Millennium Falcon to his new friends: Han: Looks like you had a little work done. Lando: Indeed I have, Han. Installed an escape pod in the mandible notch, alluvial dampers, a wet bar. BECKETT: And a fo...
in short it is a restraining bolt to keep the craft where it is, like a wheel clamp in our world. Because of this, a restraint has been placed on the Millennium Falcon to prevent him from moving it until he pays: it's an infraction restraint .
Why does the remaining Rebel fleet at the end of Rogue One seem dramatically larger than the one in A New Hope? The Rebel fleet at the end of Rogue One (even after sustaining many losses) still seems considerably larger than the fleet in A New Hope . <Q> General Dodonna essentially answers this question during the b...
Thus, the rebels use only the instruments that actually have a chance to make a difference, without using any capital ships that may or might not be present at Yavin in a guaranteed suicide mission. Furthermore it doesn't look like there was much left of the rebel fleet that participated at Scarif.
Movie where a circus ringmaster turns people into animals I’m trying to remember a movie that was circus based where I think animals were turned into people. They couldn’t leave as they would die. The ringmaster did it with magic eye things(?) <Q> You might be thinking of <S> We're Back! <S> A Dinosaur's Story . <S...
The magic is not performed with a magic eye but with magic animal-shaped biscuits.
Why can't The Control also jump to future? The main assumption in recent episodes of Star Trek: Discovery is that The Control can't go to the future to get Sphere archives. But, I see two flaws in the plan: The Control will eventually get to the future by waiting out because it can't age and die. Why didn't th...
Sending the ship to the past is less ideal because the existence of a highly advanced starship somewhere at sometime when it’s not supposed to be could alter the present in some undesirable way.