Questions tagged [engineering]
For questions about the use of engineering to create structures and devices in other worlds, including whether or not a device could be made or what materials would be needed to make a device.
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How to construct a re-arming mechanism for a medieval crossbow using medieval technology?
In my world I have a genius inventor like DaVinci and my inventor has been asked to create a hand-held semi-automatic crossbow. The crossbow reloads and cocks itself without human input.
What is a ...
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Assuming that production isn't a problem, what would be the easiest antimatter element to store and contain?
Basically my spacefaring civilization finds a relic left behind by a sufficiently advanced alien civilization, called the Inverter. No one knows how it works and I'm not even going to bother ...
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How would you design a firearm for a fairy?
Suppose that you have a setting with a late 19th/early 20th century level of technology and firearms development that also has fantasy races.
Suppose further that one of these races are fairies; which ...
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Would a concrete coating to a dry-stacked cantilever retaining wall make any difference to its function?
To cut a long story short, we have a city that is on a 'lower' level to the surrounding terrain. The land is very wet, humid, and boggy. We have a retaining wall perhaps 10 metres high and 6 metres ...
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What is the best location for a tracking device in the human body? [closed]
In most worlds it’s in the forearm. Have you decided to put it anywhere else for any reason? Or do you see any other reason for it to go anywhere else? In my world it’s under the upper arm not far ...
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Mitigating the radiation environment of an Io-analog via engineering
My setting consists of a massive gas giant like Jupiter, in the habitable zone of a G-type main sequence star, with two large moons. The inner moon is an Io analog, though a bit larger (still smaller ...
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Is it feasible that cars would be made with a central driving position?
On the world of Ruquelis, I'm contemplating having cars (currently at circa 1920s levels of development and styling) having a central driving position, not because of some recent design decision, but ...
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Running a motor on electricity derived from magical lightning?
In a setting that isn't particularly high magic but magic is commonplace enough to be something the average person has witnessed I am considering how someone researching technology might attempt to ...
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Constraints on distributing power to spaceship systems
The problem of power management in a sci-fi spaceship for the purpose of powering various ship systems is commonly represented in TV shows like Star Trek and video games. Recently, I noticed an ...
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Most efficient human-powered vehicles? [closed]
I have in mind a system making use of humans as power sources, but I am not sure what the best way to use them is (I am aware, this will be very slow and impractical). To make it move, we have to turn ...
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Ultra long distance oceanic travel
Many times, other people and I have thought of settings involving very large or infinite Earths- ringworlds, alderson discs, or simply an infinite flat plane. The task of traveling millions of ...
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How tall can a stone structure get?
So, I'm working on a world where metal isn't the most common, so what little metal they do have goes into building machines. The people of this world use primarily wood and massive granite blocks to ...
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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.
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Question about the flight suit of the air magician and the method of flight in such a suit
The action takes place in the world of the 21st century, where some people at a conscious age periodically acquire one superpower.
I have a human character who is able to summon the wind and control ...
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Orbital Ring/Space Elevator
This is more of a "is it technically possible" sort of question so here it goes!
I'm envisioning Earth with an orbital ring roughly 2,000 km from the surface attached by a series of tethers/...
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