Questions tagged [materials]
For questions regarding the properties and applications of both fictional and real materials.
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Bone as a structural material; or, making a building's skeleton literal
Note: this question uses a third-party world and species to illustrate the point of, and help lay out the thought process leading to, the question, but it is not in any way about them; therefore, this ...
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What plausible technologies would be needed to have a reasonably-prosperous information-age society minimally reliant on metals?
I realise that this question may seem unhelpfully nonspecific, so here are some definitions of key terms:
"Plausible technology" is defined as technology which neither violates the known ...
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How does energy abundance affect materials science?
In the future, humankind and A.I helpers have revolutionised energy-production. Energy is now available in massive quantities.
Humankind currently produces about 15 terawatts. Say it jumps to 15,000 ...
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Which of these technological factors prevent rapid increases in standard of living?
A nation in one of my settings has discovered a substance called flux energy (no relation). This substance has some weird properties which are not important for the purpose of my question, but ...
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What's a plausible way for a creature to be petrified into a statue-like form without being harmed? [closed]
Been working on a story concept where a protagonist character obtains what she THINKS is a simple statue of a creature, but during the night the statue "unfreezes" and she wakes in the ...
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Can this civilization land their biplanes in the air?
My Napoleonic-era world has access to large propeller-powered airships and small biplanes (<2 tonnes) due to magical mass manufacturing of materials and magic engines that can somewhat replace ...
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Would graphene armor implants be weak to electric/heat attack?
Graphene shows promise with futuristic body armor and all of that, with how strong and thin it is.
This world is a sci fi setting where cybernetics are pretty common. One cybernetic is graphene plates ...
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Strong and shiny biological material
I’m working on a moon with a subsurface ocean, similar to Europa. It has 17% earths gravity and large amounts of hydrothermal vents. One of the animals that live around hydrothermal vents is something ...
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Can a substance allow only solids through?
Semi-permeable barriers typically restrict solids passing through. Is there a way to do things differently? Is it possible for a barrier to capture liquids and gases, but allow a solid to pass through?...
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How can my superhero avoid burning off his shoes?
My superhero, Fusion Man, has the ability to shoot jets of semi-molten metal from his hands and feet. The metal is generated outside his body and given an impulse by the superpowers. I have chosen to ...
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Could a derelict AFV be salvagable if left in a high-altitude low-oxygen environment for several decades?
I'm writing a story that takes place on the highest peaks of an ancient megastructure, roughly set a couple of decades to a century after a 'incident'. I have several characters in this that are ...
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How long does tarp last for in storage?
I'm writing a story that takes place presumably at least a thousand years after a facility's shutdown, so the ruins on the surface haven't been touched for maybe a few hundred years. I have two ...
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Is it possible to create a material impervious to ALL forms of damage? [closed]
I have this animated blob/’flob’ character I am working on, and due to the mixture of different slime/slimy substances that make him up, he is virtually invincible.
These are all the the things he/...
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How would a village be built if its building materials change properties every other day?
Setting
This world is an Earth-like planet surrounded by many small magical "moons" in low orbit. Each moon carries a different magical energy and moves along its own orbit at its own speed.
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What Material could replace Hide as a Drumhead?
My alien race is purely herbivorous and never hunt. That means they do not have animal hides to use for drum heads. Most other uses of animal parts I have found other materials for or ways to work ...
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