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Questions tagged [hard-science]

REVIEW THE WIKI BEFORE USING THIS TAG! For questions that require unequivocal proof that answers are correct through the use of equations, empirical evidence, scientific papers, etc. Compare to: science-fiction, science-based and internal-consistency. This tag may not be used alone. This tag may not be used with the science-fiction, science-based, or internal-consistency tags. Flag your question for moderator attention once posted.

1 vote
3 answers
224 views

Could an alien plant composed of purely stem cells, be very adaptable?

In terms of scientific realness, I want to have a bioengineered plant that is composed primarily of stem cells. I want it that way so it can grow in any environment, and adapt to any changes in ways ...
user73829's user avatar
  • 953
5 votes
0 answers
126 views

How much air pressure and air flow I would need in order to make a ultra thin and long air jet for a plasma cutter-sword with a ideal de-laval nozzle?

The idea is that specific types of industrial plasma cutters were adapted in a compacted form for mechs in case of melee combat and for bunker-buster missiles (easier to go through meters of ...
Fulano's user avatar
  • 491
13 votes
6 answers
2k views

Does the slow reproductive rate of large mammals make them unable to compete with dinosaurs?

I have a fictional world where mammals coexist with dinosaurs, and I am currently fleshing out the details of the ecosystem. I don't really have a vision for what specific animals I want in my story, ...
IMP9024's user avatar
  • 2,938
0 votes
1 answer
234 views

How to calculate population growth of space colonies including immigration

My setting involves colonizing other planets over long periods of time and I am trying to calculate population growth of these colonies to determine how developed they become by a certain date. While ...
Klyis's user avatar
  • 3,712
3 votes
1 answer
177 views

How small can a human-like eye be?

Ultimately, resolution is constrained by diffraction limits, so using smaller wavelengths of light gets you more resolution for a given eye size, and a smaller eye ends up with a worse diffractive ...
Logan R. Kearsley's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
269 views

How large can my interplanetary banana be? [closed]

In this question, there is a giant banana planet. It basically handwaves the whole giant banana part, but I want to do things scientifically. How large can I make my banana? This banana will be scaled ...
Clickwork's user avatar
  • 1,358
-4 votes
4 answers
249 views

Unintended Consequences of a Cryptocurrency Based off of Radioactive Decay

Tax season is almost over in the U.S., and it got me thinking. Out of curiosity, I had joined a local chapter of the Libertarian party in the past. Many of them loved cryptocurrency. And many, but not ...
Teg Louis's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
134 views

How big can I make an explosion? [closed]

By explosion, I mean that it must meet the following criteria: It releases enough energy and/or tangible byproducts in any form to affect visible and tangible material through noticeable destruction ...
Clickwork's user avatar
  • 1,358
3 votes
3 answers
165 views

Radioactive World Formation

So I’ve just finished reading Neptune’s Brood for the second time and have found myself wondering what circumstances would be necessary to form a planet similar to Shin-Tethys. Essentially I’m ...
Lighthugger's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
225 views

How would plasma mining work? [closed]

I was fascinated with the concept of plasma mining for my story. In Star Wars, the characters mine plasma from the core of Naboo, a planet. Plasma doesn't work in the means that you can mine it, but ...
Max's user avatar
  • 641
3 votes
1 answer
527 views

Planet illuminated by an accretion disk?

Could a "rogue" planet orbit a black hole at a radius where it is 1: Considered to be in the habitable zone due to the light emitted by the accretion disk. 2: Subjected to a survivable ...
qazwsx's user avatar
  • 1,051
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Using ultrasound to destroy buildings

So, this is a super-villain origin story. He is a scientist who worked on ultrasound imaging technology. This technology was using ultrasound to "see" underground and into building walls. ...
jo1storm's user avatar
  • 1,124
4 votes
1 answer
671 views

Is there an evolutionary advantage to polycoria?

I tried to do some research on some scholarly articles on polycoria. "A REVIEW ON POLYCORIA" from N. Sankerneetha, et. al., states that the extra pupil dilates and reacts in response to ...
no one's user avatar
  • 43
1 vote
4 answers
258 views

How to increase kinetic energy transfer efficiency for railcannons?

Context Railguns are fairly common in sci-fi. They run on electricity, which makes them cool, and you can theoretically get extremely high muzzle velocities, which is also cool, and they (can be ...
controlgroup's user avatar
  • 8,052
1 vote
5 answers
330 views

Life on a planet orbiting a pulsar

I’m trying to create a species for my sci-fi series that comes from a planet orbiting a pulsar. What would be needed for life to exist, and if it could, what would it look like?
AbuilderOfWorlds's user avatar

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