Sci-fi Definition and 131 Threads

Hi. I'm trying to create a power generating technology for a sci-fi story that is ubiquitous in everyday life (e.g., flying cars, starfighters, elevators, homes, etc.). One element I need is for the power core to be able to overheat and kill a human in a starfighter. Is there an existing or...

I'm actually running out of sci-fi movies to watch. I like sci-fi movies that keep their feet on the ground with science, don't mash much with fantasy (wizards, etc...) and at the same time spur "What If..." thought or make you pause and hop to the web to look something up. for example: Flat...

Hi. I'm looking for a substance that could be used to draw dark energy from space and power very large spaceships. Ideally, it would be something real but rare on Earth. I was using a made-up mineral called sparkle, but I found that using something made up didn't feel right, otherwise why hasn't...

The other day i accidentally saw this book at amazon website and bought it via kindle.. then became interested in the djinns and especially movies about them. I watched Jinn 2014.. what other good Jinn movies have you seen? And where do you think the Djinns originated in the mythology? In...

I want to describe a planet that has 13 fifty-two day months and a 36 hour day. IF someone could point me to a place where I can figure this, it would be appreciated. What's the math?

I want to ask you about all of those dreaded Sci-Fi clichés, and which ones would you list among the worst? The Chosen one - I absolutely resent having a hero being central to the story because that individual is a veritable McGuffin or is prophesized to be The only one who can do "X". The...

This is something that got me thinking for a while. Especially after learning the basic of physics and chemistry. Basically, pretty much every movies, novel, etc that feature an advanced race of aliens(or any alien in general), they gives them some sort of technology or their organic...

In science fiction (sci-fi), everything seems to be much more 'cool' / cooler than in reality. Space travel (like Interstellar), teleport / teleportation, time travel / time machine, going to another planet / another dimensions / another universes, cell regeneration even to the point of...

I want to find some good examples of sci-fi where at least fairly solid science (physics if I'm being particular) is featured or explained prominently in the story? Even if the stories are just referencing theoretical work that hasn't yet been experimentally established (like superstring theory...

Hi there, I am currently working for fun project and will like to know if anybody out there could help us with some calculations on how much energy its needed to fly different spaceships, please get in touch if you are interested in participating in the project.

I would not mind hearing about some of the things that we have either read or watched in the sci-fi world that could never happen in real life (pet peeves and/or total imposables) just to have a little fun debunking and setting strate some of the thing that we have all seen that other may...

Would a spinning space station as depicted below that use centrifugal force to create artificial gravity actually work? I'm thinking that it would not, this is because the centrifugal force would not affect an astronaut inside unless he was actually fastened mechanically to the hub. The fact...

If you found a portal, what would you do? Who would you tell? What experiments could you think to do and what information would you try to extract? Should you be concerned? Presuming you knew yourself not to be the world's greatest authority on portals/bridges/stargates or whatever, how would...

One big plot hole seems to be the fact Star Wars is set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and yet somehow there are humans. Can anyone tell me whether they are actually humans or whether they just have an extremely uncanny resemblance but are in fact another species, is there concrete...

What do you think of the following scenario*? Aliens are future humans who discovered faster than light travel. They propagated throughout the universe. In so doing they traveled back in time, to our time, or even earlier times. *I read this in a popular space opera novel. It may have been...

We all know our favorite detective Sherlock Holmes is a fiction character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But do we consider the novels "A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, etc." a sci-fi novel due to the detective's deductions or does it belong to another genre?

Hello friends, I just wanted to know if there is any Sci-fi novel which involves a lot of biological stuffs.

(I apologize beforehand if I'm asking such an 'amateur' question , I admit that I'm not a physics student / physicist nor scientist / science student ,.. but , as just a 'normal ordinary' person, at least I am very interested in these things ,. and how I deeply wish Humanity / Mankind can 'leap...

I'm hoping that some of you brilliant scientists can help me understand the realities of a world that I'm building for a story in a distant solar system... I’m building a sci-fi world for a story that takes place on a distant planet that is multiple times the size of earth, but hosts similar...

I am looking for a good book to brute force my way through in Norwegian. I'm not looking for anything like Peace and War, or whatever, just a nice fantasy/SciFi book to read. One that I was looking at was Vindens Navn, it seemed pretty neat, but the best I could find (amazon) was an audio book...

Okay so I have a completely sci - fi question. Lets say we build something that warps space to travel a shorter distance, would time be warped aswell? Lets say this hypothetical ship travels at 99% of the speed of light without the warp, then time would be diffrent both because of the speed and...

There are several examples of it. Western in Star Wars, Firefly, Cowboy Bebop. Medieval things in W40k. I wonder, whether it can be something cool, new thing, to shape another planet like ancient Egypt? Or is it just forced, lame? Cons : It makes that planet less imaginable in the future...

The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds. Very well crafted. The usual good-guys-bad-guys shtick.

I am a passionate sci-fi fan because of the specific ideas and themes the genre allows authors and readers to experience. It is unique among the literary scene for focusing specifically on a discipline(s) present in every aspect of our lives; that from which we can't escape: SCIENCE. Sci-Fi is...

It's a new series on Netflix from those involved with Babylon 5 and the Matrix. Has anyone here seen it yet? What did you think about it?

Hello, I was just brainstorming for futuristic inventions with context for a sci-fi, high fidelity game (because I'm too cool to revise for exams) - and I thought of one, but my physics and engineering knowledge is at best sketchy when it comes to gravity and nuclear fusion combinations, I was...

I'm working on a potential sci-fi story that takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. The idea is Something Horrible 1A happens, then, 15-20 years later, Something Horrible 1B comes to finish us off. In a perfect world, the Moon is gone after 1A. Initial possibilities included a long orbit...

After doing my own research I would like to know if anyone can recommend a good Sci-Fi movies on mankind's first interstellar voyage, besides the movie 'Interstellar', which I have seen?

I am writing a science fiction book, and have had a lot of fun writing it so far. However, I am facing a technical astronomical problem right now that I would appreciate some advice concerning: I am looking for a plausible scenario in which one of a pair of "fraternal" twin suns is about to...

Here's a story I've been working on for the past week. It's more of an experiment really. This novel does (or will eventually) interact with a myriad of fields, including computer science, nanotechnology, molecular biology, and quantum mechanics. I'd really love to see some input from...

Hi, everyone. I'm planning to write a hard sci-fi story to get some relief from all the fantasy I've been writing lately. I've been brainstorming about a penal colony on a toxic world. It's s mineral rich world (is this Master of Orion talking to me from the grave?) but the organic material...

Science fiction is becoming too dystopian and some sci-fi authors are now reconsidering more realistic and more positive storylines: http://www.studio360.org/story/power-of-positive-sci-fi/

So tell me what you think folks, is any of this jargon good or does it suck? I claim that it is all original and from me, I did not borrow form anyone. if someone wishes to use my ideas from these stories then do not forget to credit me. all this material is typed from what has remained in a...

Hello! I'm working on creating a sci-fi setting for a tactical space combat video game and short story series, and I had a few questions I couldn't find much info on after googling. I'll be playing a little bit loosely with the laws of physics for the sake of gameplay and storytelling, but I...

I didn't really know where to put this, so I just put it here. What I wanted to discuss was the following: often in sci-fi movies or series they have the capability to travel faster than light one way or another. Whether it is by means of FTL, hyperspace, wormholes or whatever they always...

Hello, I’m a sci-fi writer and I wish to gage the believability of (or lack of) the following which I’m using in a story. Concerning the extensions to cosmology and quantum physics, one of the cornerstones of my book’s sci-fi universe stems from a strange and intriguing fact that I’ve...

Having taken many years to write a huge tome, I'm surprised and very pleased to find this section of the forum. I have already asked about the math involved in accelerating a huge vessel in space, but was acutely aware of typical forum rules about self-promotion. I really would like some...

I thought I just made a fool of myself trying to post this thread in a wrong place on this forum,and one of precious admins had deleted my thread and put a warning on me, LOL, I just wanted it to be more real and intense. Well, a warning is intensive enough, so, I'd better play smart this time...

I am using this in a science fiction novel I am working on for National Novel Writing Month, most of my novel is "soft" but I want to know what we could actually know in this situation. If it helps any the spaceship is about the size of 20 Earths and its going through Saturn.

Hey, I've been practising with 3d modelling programs and mod development and I'm looking to make a game that I've come up with a story for. Basically I'm looking for some realistic advice on what you guys consider fundamental to a game that is based in space. The back story: In the far flung...

Dare I suggest another sticky? (Apparently so.) Atomic Rockets Forensics DemystifiedCommonly referred-to scales: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Kardashev Scale of Technological Advancement @ Wikipedia Unsure about whether or not to include more...

Could we have a sticky to collect some of the more helpful general advice on the do's and dont's of plot-construction in speculative fiction? I've been reading some of the older threads which have been moved to this board, and came across two insights so far which I found personally useful and...

On the way into work this morning, happily reading my book (Leviathan Wakes, would suggest it to any sci-fi space opera fan) and there was a passage that read along the lines “they reduced acceleration to sustain a 1g force during the meal” or something along those lines. Its something you...

I hope someone can help me with this. i have a question about kinetic energy and kamikazi spaceships. If i have say a 40,000 Metric ton spacecraft that rams another ship at a specified velocity the other ship not moving i understand that i would apply the kinetic energy of the ramming ship to...

I'm not as smart as many of you, nor is this something I've looked into deeply. I say that not only to excuse my stupidity, but also to appear modest and hopefully likeable/helpable. And I say that (as well as this) not only to appear honest, but also to begin with a little humor. I've...

So maybe this should go under Philosophy, but I was thinking about this for a while and I need professional input. Read a 1950s science fiction novel. Compare it to modern science that either exists or is on the works. Humanoid robots that think for themselves, living in giant metal structures...

I'm trying to cook up an interesting desert planet. Dune made me wonder if a tool-using species could turn a planet with plenty of water into a desert planet. Say, one nation starts hoarding water via the "catchments" we saw on Arakis (with some plausible mechanism to prevent evaporation)...

i'm not a physics major so i have to ask a question and i may not know what I'm talking about but here goes. if i had a giant circular accelerator accelerating a metal slug from zero velocity to high velocity with say 10^12 watts per electromagnet in a circle of 10 electromagnets is it possible...

Greetings Physics Brainiacs, Please advise about the planetary / solar / lunar relationship I've developed in my sci-fi novel. It should be believable and devoid of issues with gravity. The protagonist wakes up on another world. The reader knows only what she does: the day is 44 hours in...

Ok, I am no physics major…. I am a writer, but I truly need to get some Physics information. I am sure that should I get this work in progress published, some physics major will be able to blow huge holes in my idea, as it stands today. So I would like to throw out some suppositions here and...