Stories about science, or questions about the science of a story.
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0answers
75 views
Dietary needs of newly sapient species [closed]
What factors would effect another omnivorous earth species upon reaching sapience and the intelligence to develop agriculture? Could they sustain themselves on the same large variety of plant-based ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Equal Mass in both universes in Fringe
I'm only just getting to season 3, so if this has been answered later, just say that.
In 2x14, Jackson, Walter says that the two universes will try to fix an imbalance in the mass of it's own ...
1
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0answers
72 views
Title of a book about a mysterious light in the sky from the late 90s?
I vaguely remember a book and it has been driving me crazy for years. It had these things:
A mysteroious light in the sky(maybe healing people)
Religous overtones/themes(not a religious book to my ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
Jean Johnson's “An Officer's Duty” - pores invert in decompression?
I've enjoyed the first two books in Jean Johnson's "Theirs not to reason why" series.
The science seems relatively well thought out to me.
The emergency pressure suits were described as being a ...
-1
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1answer
258 views
What is the science behind Lightsabers in the Star Wars franchise? [duplicate]
I have seen all of the Star Wars movies, but I have not read any of the books. I would like to know if the science of the Lightsabers was ever explained, and, if so, what is it?
4
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1answer
130 views
Book about wish fulfilment using subatomic particles?
I have memories of what I think was a full novel, but might have been a short-story/novella.
A scientist has discovered either a new sub-atomic particle, or a way to isolate a known particle, and a ...
3
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0answers
52 views
How, if at all, does Midi-chlorian count relate to blood volume? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When Jedi lose parts of their body, does their midi-chlorian count and strength in the Force diminish?
This question is based on Is the relation between midi-chlorian ...
0
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1answer
258 views
Trying to recall a YA SciFi series from the 80s (or 70s?)
I recall it being a series of books, each being approximately 200 pages or so.
The main character I recall had 'bionic' powers - or, his skeleton was made out of some indestructible type of metal or ...
7
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3answers
117 views
Acceleration of Cosmotron Express in Tom Swift Jr Vol 32
In 'Tom Swift and his Cosmotron Express' (1970) by Victor Appleton II, Tom invents his fastest spaceship that can go to the moon in 3 hours and tour all the planets in the solar system in 2.5-3 days. ...
32
votes
2answers
5k views
Why would Tony Stark need to drink Chlorophyll?
In Iron Man II, Tony Stark is suffering from Palladium poisoning due to having to use the element Palladium as the core for his ARC reactor. In order to combat the effects this has on his body he ...
7
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4answers
397 views
Does Douglas Adams use of 'Infinite Improbability' allude to P=NP?
Having just re-awakened the old P=NP post, I started to think: Is Douglas Adams's description of the discovery of the Infinite Improbability drive via use of the Finite Improbability device a ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
Can Matt Murdoch feel radiation pressure?
I was singing in the shower holding a near empty bottle of shampoo when I felt the vibrations on the bottle. Having a dumb moment I thought to myself "If only Daredevil could see vibrations, then it ...
4
votes
1answer
194 views
What experiment were they running on the sand?
In spider-man three we see sandman transformed into sand and he then manages to reconstitute himself. This is all because some crazy scientists were running an experiment, that he got in the middle ...
4
votes
2answers
346 views
Is this retrovirus actually science fiction? [closed]
In the second book of Dean Koontz's unfinished Moonlight Bay trilogy, there is a retro virus that takes DNA from one creature alter itself accordingly and deposits itself into another cell, causing it ...
7
votes
1answer
156 views
Novel where “sub-standard” humans are sent to perform space exploration
When I was in my early teens, I read a science fiction novel I have since lost track of, and can remember neither the title nor the author. I can remember only a few details about the novel, but ...
1
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1answer
122 views
How do story-related dreams happen? [closed]
I am curious to know how dreams happen in our mind particularly when we sleep. I read many fictional stories and when I went to sleep after finishing the book, I used to get dreams in which I was the ...
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0answers
97 views
Possiblity to build ghost hunting machines [closed]
i heard about several ghost hunters and their official websites throughout internet,they used to claim that they have several ghost hunting machines to identify ghosts and which are capable to hunt it ...
1
vote
2answers
135 views
Is it possible to build an instrument which can travel faster than light? [closed]
I have heard about atomic rockets in novels which have the capablity to travel faster than light. I have also heard about fictional stories where objects capable to travel faster than light.
My ...
20
votes
5answers
765 views
Does the computer-system on the Enterprise NCC-1701-D still follow the basic architecture of a Turing Machine?
Although the Turing Machine is a theoretical model to describe computing power, in its basic idea today's computers are still (quite sophisticated) implementations of this basic concept, although you ...
1
vote
1answer
297 views
What enables blood benders to levitate their victims?
In the episode Out of the Past, blood benders are seen being able to levitate their victims.
I understand that a blood bender has power over his victim, but logically, shouldn't that power be ...
9
votes
2answers
424 views
What science fiction trilogy has the dead coming back to life
This has been driving me crazy. There is a science fiction trilogy where the dead start coming back to life. It wasn't zombie fiction though.
In this trilogy, humanity has expanded to the stars, but ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Why can't metalbenders/earthbenders affect pure metallic platinum?
In the episode, The Aftermath the Metalbending Police Force has been investigating Future Industries factories for collusion and production of weapons by Hiroshi Sato with the Equalists.
The ...
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0answers
43 views
previous life events [closed]
Sometimes when we talk something or just something happens we just feel that we have seen this before,or we strongly feel that i have gone through this situation before.some people say that it occurs ...
1
vote
2answers
355 views
Can you blow up a star? [closed]
Give a sci-fi writer long enough and eventually he'll want to destroy a star. It's been done in Star Wars (granted, EU), Star Trek (attempted and successful), and Stargate (both intentionally and ...
3
votes
3answers
480 views
Book about a brother and sister living in a futuristic world
It was 1981-1982 when I read it. My female English teacher told me to read it...not the class. Not sure when it was written? I remember it was written from the sister's perspective. There seemed ...
4
votes
1answer
184 views
Space Shuttle related quote referring to a bird on the back of a giant bird
As I look at this amazing picture of the last flight related to the space shuttle taken by Ben Cooper, I am trying to recollect a line from some book (Science or Science fiction) that I read a long ...
7
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2answers
383 views
Are the language elements in Snow Crash supported by science?
After reading Snow Crash, I have to wonder if any of the premise or main/supporting plot points are backed by any science, or even plausible based on our current understanding.
For example:
Little ...
4
votes
4answers
276 views
Does the ending of Tau Zero make sense?
Warning: I'm trying to obfuscate much of this question, and hiding the key elements in spoiler blocks..but some spoilers will probably be inevitable.
At the ending of the book Tau Zero the ending ...
14
votes
2answers
424 views
Is Batman a scientist?
Batman clearly does a lot of research and development (apparently on his own in many timelines). The question has been posed before.
Is Batman a scientist?
4
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1answer
182 views
Is the car from Army of Darkness even remotely plausible?
In the classic Sam Raimi epic Evil Dead: Army of Darkness, the hero Ash uses a high school chemistry book, a medieval alchemical lab, the contents of his trunk, and his trusty 1973 Oldsmobile Delta ...
7
votes
1answer
201 views
Escape into electrons after galactic explosion
I was once reading a book about a civilization that escaped into an electron after the galaxy had a core explosion. They did this again and again, many levels, sometimes into 4+ dimensional spaces. I ...
18
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3answers
1k views
What's the technical explanation for gravity to exist inside a spacecraft in science fiction?
Specifically, spacecraft that are not obviously using centrifugal force to simulate gravity the way that the space station from 2001 does.
2
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1answer
190 views
Link between Brian Aldiss's Heliconia books and Kepler 22b
There's an article in the Guardian with Brian Aldiss claiming "I was there first" about the discovery of Kepler 22b. I've read the books, however the article doesn't make clear on what grounds Aldiss ...
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3answers
1k views
Can the “mind” make injuries real like in the Matrix?
In the original Matrix movie, when Neo falls off a building he receives minor injuries in the simulation. When he "wakes up" in the real world, he feels pain and when he reaches for his mouth he sees ...
2
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0answers
159 views
Ejected into space — survival tactics [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What would really happen if you were exposed to space?
In several Sci-Fi adventures (e.g.: 2001: A space Oddessy and HHGTG) the protagonist survives a markedly brief ...
6
votes
2answers
346 views
Is the claim by Kim Stanley Robinson about Carbon Dioxide being poisonous true?
I've read all 3 books, and loved them except for one small claim that keeps bothering me. Specifically, is Carbon Dioxide as poisonous as we are lead to believe? I always thought that if we were in an ...
12
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2answers
382 views
Earliest story about civil nuclear power
Does anybody know which is the earliest SF story about the civil uses of nuclear power (possibly, power generation)?
The best I can find is a 1940 short story by Robert A. Heinlein, “Blowups Happen” ...
32
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5answers
4k views
What would really happen if you were exposed to space?
It seems that every science fiction story has a different idea about what would happen if a human were exposed to the vacuum of space.
At the end of Total Recall, Quaid and Melina are ejected to ...
48
votes
3answers
2k views
Trying to identify “I will measure the dust” story
I have a distant memory of a story which involves a person conversing with an intelligent space probe before it's launched on a long-term mission. As I recall it, their conversation goes something ...
12
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1answer
182 views
In “Spin” by Robert Charles Wilson, why was it called “the spin?”
I just finished this book, and I never understood why the phenomena/event was called "the spin."
11
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2answers
225 views
Are there subgenres for science fiction with accurate science vs. made up science?
Are there terms that describe a science fiction story that strictly adheres to, I guess, plausible science concepts and technology versus science fiction were the science is really just made up and is ...
22
votes
6answers
2k views
What FTL drives in science-fiction are the most scientifically plausible?
Science-fiction has used wormhole travel, hyperdrive, teleportation, even sub-FTL flight combined with time travel o get characters there and back again. Even hard science-fiction writer Larry Niven ...
10
votes
5answers
349 views
How did the Skylark deal with the Einstein light-speed limit?
In Skylark Three by E.E. "Doc" Smith, the Skylark has an acceleration of five times the speed of light, and in The Skylark of Valeron, it has nearly unlimited acceleration. Is there any indication of ...
20
votes
8answers
746 views
How fast should mutations be for hard science fiction?
I was disturbed by the rate of human evolution in Waterworld- maybe 500 years to evolve humans with gills*, and about a 1000 years to evolve into (back into?) something that is stronger than a ...
