The Science of Worldbuilding

[Glamdring804]

5 hours ago, Oversleep said:

It basically works like... like pewter only enhanced flesh and he can sustain duralumin-level burn. Does it make sense? His power is over the flesh and he uses it on himself to strenghten his muscles. So I imagine he can enhance his muscles mutliple times and that's what I mean by "strenght".

Secondary power is strenghtening bones and provides regeneration when necessary.

The handwave is that his strength depends on how much power is he channeling at given moment, so if there are some not-too-big inconsistences it will be chalked up to "he's pushing his power".

You should be fine then. He could push through a plywood and sheetrock wall fairly easily, a brick or cinderblock wall might take a few blows.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

@Glamdring804 @Silverblade5

This is a huge necro, but I didn't want to make a new thread for something that already exists.

How possible would it be for a gas giant to have enough oxygen in it that a human could be in it and not die due to suffocation?

[Silverblade5 he/him]

5 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

@Glamdring804 @Silverblade5

This is a huge necro, but I didn't want to make a new thread for something that already exists.

How possible would it be for a gas giant to have enough oxygen in it that a human could be in it and not die due to suffocation?

Pretty sure that if it was a gas giant they'd die from the pressure of atm before oxygen became a concern.

[Glamdring804]

On 5/7/2018 at 0:36 PM, StrikerEZ said:

@Glamdring804 @Silverblade5

This is a huge necro, but I didn't want to make a new thread for something that already exists.

How possible would it be for a gas giant to have enough oxygen in it that a human could be in it and not die due to suffocation?

Sorry for the late reply. 

In theory, yes. A gas giant’s atmosphere could differentiate so that at the point where the atmosphere has a pressure similar to Earth’s, it is composed of a reasonable mixture of oxygen and non-reactive gasses. One of my worlds in my own fictional universe in fact is a gas giant like this. Practically, finding such a gas giant would probably be difficult, as most of the matter in the universe is hydrogen and helium, meaning that the average gas giant is going to be composed of those two gasses. Of course, it’s possible that such a gas giant would form naturally by random chance, if the conditions in the protoplanetary disc were just right. And, given the sheer number of planets in the galaxy, there might even be one that forms in the habitable zone of the star. Or, you could get the right chemical composition via terraforming. 

[StrikerEZ he/him]

On 5/12/2018 at 9:17 AM, Glamdring804 said:

Sorry for the late reply. 

In theory, yes. A gas giant’s atmosphere could differentiate so that at the point where the atmosphere has a pressure similar to Earth’s, it is composed of a reasonable mixture of oxygen and non-reactive gasses. One of my worlds in my own fictional universe in fact is a gas giant like this. Practically, finding such a gas giant would probably be difficult, as most of the matter in the universe is hydrogen and helium, meaning that the average gas giant is going to be composed of those two gasses. Of course, it’s possible that such a gas giant would form naturally by random chance, if the conditions in the protoplanetary disc were just right. And, given the sheer number of planets in the galaxy, there might even be one that forms in the habitable zone of the star. Or, you could get the right chemical composition via terraforming. 

Or through magic, I guess. Thanks, and thanks to @Silverblade5 too

Another question for you guys: how possible would it be to use magnetism to make relatively natural floating islands?

[Oversleep]

4 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

Another question for you guys: how possible would it be to use magnetism to make relatively natural floating islands?

I've seen enough of discussions about this to answer: nigh impossible.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

6 hours ago, Oversleep said:

I've seen enough of discussions about this to answer: nigh impossible.

Oh, drat. I wanted to do something like that too.

How about if you make up a room-temperature superconductor (let's call it Islandwavium)? That doesn't qualify as "relatively natural" anymore, but whatever. I mean, we're talking fantasy here, right?
Islandwavium should be strongly diamagnetic, so it ought to be repelled by the planet's magnetic field, if I understand correctly.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Eagle of the Forest Path

[StrikerEZ he/him]

18 hours ago, Oversleep said:

I've seen enough of discussions about this to answer: nigh impossible.

Okay, how about unnatural, but still possible to do it without magic?

[The One Who Connects he/him]

11 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Okay, how about unnatural, but still possible to do it without magic?

How high do you want the cities to float? I'm no expert, but that might be important in determining feasibility.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

25 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said:

How high do you want the cities to float? I'm no expert, but that might be important in determining feasibility.

Hmm...at least half a mile, probably.

[Glamdring804]

35 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Hmm...at least half a mile, probably.

Yeah. Any size or elevation of floating island would be pretty near impossible to happen naturally. Some sort of magic/geoengineering would have to be involved.

Quote

Or through magic, I guess.

Well, the only difference between magic and science is one of understanding. So which ever you want to use in your universe.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Glamdring804

[StrikerEZ he/him]

2 minutes ago, Glamdring804 said:

Yeah. Any size or elevation of floating island would be pretty near impossible to happen naturally. Some sort of magic/geoengineering would have to be involved.

Well, the only difference between magic and science is one of understanding. So which ever you want to use in your universe.

At this point, it would have to be unnatural. The only thing I really want to know is how you could theoretically cause this situation to arise through artificial means.

[The One Who Connects he/him]

32 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

At this point, it would have to be unnatural. The only thing I really want to know is how you could theoretically cause this situation to arise through artificial means.

What I'm seeing with a few cursory google searches is that it wouldn't be easy. One of the main problems would be this one:

Quote

For example, the simplest example of lift with two simple dipole magnets repelling is highly unstable, since the top magnet can slide sideways, or flip over, and it turns out that no configuration of magnets can produce stability. [...] The forces acting on any paramagnetic object in any combinations of gravitational, electrostatic, and magnetostatic fields will make the object's position, at best, unstable along at least one axis, and it can be unstable equilibrium along all axes.

With a magnet in the sky and a magnet on the ground, they'd have to be geosynchronous in order to not drift away and come crashing down, something magnets by themselves aren't good at.

I'd assume that you want the city to be entirely free-floating, so any form of stability ties to the ground would be out of the picture. Hrmm... several of the other methods involve some fancy electro-tech. Guess we'd need an idea of this world's tech level to see how viable these are.

Short summary of a few options(the ones I can explain, at least):

• Servomechanisms  —  measuring the position and speed of the object being levitated, and using a feedback loop which continuously adjusts one or more electromagnets to correct the object's motion.   [Layman's Terms: Magnets get weaker/stronger to push/pull object back into safe zone]
• Induced Currents  —  When a conductor is presented with a time-varying magnetic field, electrical currents in the conductor are set up which create a magnetic field that causes a repulsive effect.   [Layman: On/Off Electromagnets to counterpush/pull object back into safe zone]
• Diamagnetics  —  Diamagnetic materials cause lines of magnetic flux to curve away from the material. As water is predominantly diamagnetic, this technique has been used to levitate water droplets and even live animals, such as a grasshopper, frog and a mouse.^[11] However, the magnetic fields required for this are very high, typically in the range of 16 teslas, and therefore create significant problems if ferromagnetic materials are nearby.   [Layman: Materials push off of magnetic fields in order to float. Needs strong magnets and/or light materials]
• Superconductors  —  completely expel magnetic fields due to the Meissner effect when the superconductivity initially forms; thus superconducting levitation can be considered a particular instance of diamagnetic levitation.   [Laymen: Supercharged version of Diamagnetics.]
• Rotational Stabilization  —  a spinning magnet or array of magnets is levitated via magnetic forces above another magnet or array of magnets, and stabilised by gyroscopic effect due to a spin that is neither too fast, nor too slow to allow for a necessary precession.   [Laymen: It's the floating spinning top toy]

 

None of these seem particularly easy to come by

[StrikerEZ he/him]

22 hours ago, The One Who Connects said:

What I'm seeing with a few cursory google searches is that it wouldn't be easy. One of the main problems would be this one:

With a magnet in the sky and a magnet on the ground, they'd have to be geosynchronous in order to not drift away and come crashing down, something magnets by themselves aren't good at.

I'd assume that you want the city to be entirely free-floating, so any form of stability ties to the ground would be out of the picture. Hrmm... several of the other methods involve some fancy electro-tech. Guess we'd need an idea of this world's tech level to see how viable these are.

Short summary of a few options(the ones I can explain, at least):

• Servomechanisms  —  measuring the position and speed of the object being levitated, and using a feedback loop which continuously adjusts one or more electromagnets to correct the object's motion.   [Layman's Terms: Magnets get weaker/stronger to push/pull object back into safe zone]
• Induced Currents  —  When a conductor is presented with a time-varying magnetic field, electrical currents in the conductor are set up which create a magnetic field that causes a repulsive effect.   [Layman: On/Off Electromagnets to counterpush/pull object back into safe zone]
• Diamagnetics  —  Diamagnetic materials cause lines of magnetic flux to curve away from the material. As water is predominantly diamagnetic, this technique has been used to levitate water droplets and even live animals, such as a grasshopper, frog and a mouse.^[11] However, the magnetic fields required for this are very high, typically in the range of 16 teslas, and therefore create significant problems if ferromagnetic materials are nearby.   [Layman: Materials push off of magnetic fields in order to float. Needs strong magnets and/or light materials]
• Superconductors  —  completely expel magnetic fields due to the Meissner effect when the superconductivity initially forms; thus superconducting levitation can be considered a particular instance of diamagnetic levitation.   [Laymen: Supercharged version of Diamagnetics.]
• Rotational Stabilization  —  a spinning magnet or array of magnets is levitated via magnetic forces above another magnet or array of magnets, and stabilised by gyroscopic effect due to a spin that is neither too fast, nor too slow to allow for a necessary precession.   [Laymen: It's the floating spinning top toy]

 

None of these seem particularly easy to come by

Yeah, if I really want this idea to work, I guess I'm gonna need magic. lol

Thanks for helping me out though!

[Arraenae]

What if the islands were disks floating around a pole attached to the ground, like this?

It might not have the same look, but the islands would still be technically unattached.

[Xtafa]

You'd have to chuck an Avatar, the floating islands in that are filled with a room/environment temperature superconductor. Superconductor can float on magnetic field. 

If you decide to go that route, you would still need to design a way to keep the island balanced from flipping over 

[SilverTiger she/her]

What kind of lifeforms might evolve to live on floating islands, given that (a) these evolved from Earth animals, (b) atmospheric conditions are roughly similar to Earth's, (c) the islands have their own weak gravity field, and (d) there is magic.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

I'd say mainly birds, and glider-type critters like flying squirrels. (and bugs, lots and lots of bugs)

No large animals in any case, as food supplies are going to be limited (except for those that can get back and forth to the surface).

[StrikerEZ he/him]

On 5/16/2018 at 11:38 PM, Arraenae said:

What if the islands were disks floating around a pole attached to the ground, like this?

It might not have the same look, but the islands would still be technically unattached.

That actually wouldn't be a huge problem. I just want a world with floating islands somehow lol.

On 5/18/2018 at 3:32 AM, Eagle of the Forest Path said:

I'd say mainly birds, and glider-type critters like flying squirrels. (and bugs, lots and lots of bugs)

No large animals in any case, as food supplies are going to be limited (except for those that can get back and forth to the surface).

Hmm...could the floating islands have been terraformed to support life? Either way, the people on the floating islands will not live the best of lives. The upper classes of this world will be on the surface.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

12 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

Hmm...could the floating islands have been terraformed to support life? Either way, the people on the floating islands will not live the best of lives. The upper classes of this world will be on the surface.

Well, yes they could have been terraformed, I've actually been assuming that they're similar to environments on good old Earth from the start.

But that doesn't change the fact that you've got a limited surface area, and therefore limited resources. Small(-ish) islands (the type you find in the sea) can't support a population of large animals, such as elephants for example.

Interestingly, you can have dwarf versions of such species on those islands. I'm thinking of Flores Island in Indonesia, where there used to be not only mini-elephants, but also Homo floresiensis, which apparently got nickamed "hobbit".

[StrikerEZ he/him]

12 hours ago, Eagle of the Forest Path said:

Well, yes they could have been terraformed, I've actually been assuming that they're similar to environments on good old Earth from the start.

But that doesn't change the fact that you've got a limited surface area, and therefore limited resources. Small(-ish) islands (the type you find in the sea) can't support a population of large animals, such as elephants for example.

Interestingly, you can have dwarf versions of such species on those islands. I'm thinking of Flores Island in Indonesia, where there used to be not only mini-elephants, but also Homo floresiensis, which apparently got nickamed "hobbit".

That's interesting. I'll have to think more about this.

[Xtafa]

A simple question for those more versed. 

If any object was being hit with a constant stream of electricity/lightning, and said item was thrown, would this stream be able to "Remain in contact" with the item in flight? 

[StrikerEZ he/him]

@Oversleep@The One Who Connects@Glamdring804@Eagle of the Forest Path After thinking about it a lot, I've decided I'm scrapping the floating islands world (for now-I might reuse it eventually). What I have decided upon is making a world where the majority of the world's populations live in huge rock spire-tower things. How feasible would it be for a tower with a surface area of about 304 mi squared on the bottom level? How much of the rock could be excavated before it would fall apart?

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

11 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

@Oversleep@The One Who Connects@Glamdring804@Eagle of the Forest Path After thinking about it a lot, I've decided I'm scrapping the floating islands world (for now-I might reuse it eventually). What I have decided upon is making a world where the majority of the world's populations live in huge rock spire-tower things. How feasible would it be for a tower with a surface area of about 304 mi squared on the bottom level? How much of the rock could be excavated before it would fall apart?

No idea about the excavation thing.

But concerning the towers, how tall do you want them (it), and how steeply angled are the outside walls?
304 mi squared, is that a square 304 miles on a side or 304 square miles?
Since you talk about excavating, I assume they're natural features, so what kind of rocks they consist of is going to be an important factor. A granite spire is going to be different from a sandstone spire. More than that, at the sizes you're talking about it's probable that any one spire is going to contain areas of different types of rock.
Do you have a plan for ventilation and lighting?

[StrikerEZ he/him]

12 hours ago, Eagle of the Forest Path said:

No idea about the excavation thing.

But concerning the towers, how tall do you want them (it), and how steeply angled are the outside walls?
304 mi squared, is that a square 304 miles on a side or 304 square miles?
Since you talk about excavating, I assume they're natural features, so what kind of rocks they consist of is going to be an important factor. A granite spire is going to be different from a sandstone spire. More than that, at the sizes you're talking about it's probable that any one spire is going to contain areas of different types of rock.
Do you have a plan for ventilation and lighting?

It's about 304 square miles, and about 10,000-15,000 feet tall. They're not sheer cliffs, but it is a very steep angle.

I actually hadn't thought about what rock they'd be made of. It doesn't really matter what type of rock they are, except I guess to determine how sturdy it is. What do you recommend would be the best type of rock to use?

Yeah, I have a plan for that. The magic on that world really helps with ventilation, lighting, food, etc.