[raised eyebrow] Yeah, I mean--there are nanofilters and such that make it better/faster/easier, but we've had the tech to filter and re-pressurise water for thousands of years.
It may not be easy at low-tech levels, but the Hanging Gardens of Babylon say that if we want to make water dance to our whim, we can.
Since the unanswered question now has an answer, it would be good if someone could have a look and close vote if appropriate. It's so broad that I expect the first person to look at it will close vote (it has 4 already). Otherwise more people will waste their time on an answer before the question is narrowed down enough.
@DonyorM they do indeed. Most beta sites are not likely to get out of beta. There are a few that do really well and a lot in between that just stagnate.
If you want to talk about precisely the physics of it, without considering the how? or the what does it mean?, then yeah-- physics.se might be better. if you want to talk about the cultural implications of the resultant physics, or how to justify the physics, that's what we're for.
[shrug] I'm not sure that's strictly the case (thinking about near-horizon atmospheric effects in our world, I'm thinking the ship might be upside down?), but the conclusion is the same regardless: if the inhabitants of the world are at all observant, they'll be able to figure out the shape of the world they inhabit. There are at least a half-dozen ways to do it: comparing a clock to the sun to distance traveled; observing near-horizon effects; going all the way around the world...
The precise trick they use may differ, but various cultures throughout the centuries will figure it out using various methods.
@overactor I think that is just the kind of specific question that would work for physics
Then that can be linked to as support for an answer here
I've just done something similar for another question so maybe that will be a test of whether the approach is acceptable. I've been open about the fact that the question is inspired by a worldbuilding answer.
In many cases, a good answer to the worldbuilding question would result from a good Q&A on a real scientific site (e.g. What efficiencies make a realistic food chain? on Biology.SE)
Do we have a policy on doing just that (e.g. taking Worldbuilding question, and rewording it to be a real SE quest...
@githubphagocyte yeah, instead of phrasing the question as a whole and posting that on one or more of the possibly relevant sites, you can phrase a few sub-questions that fit perfectly in the scope of each relevant site and post them there
> If I had a sufficiently massive ball to create a significant radial pressure difference and a sufficiently large swimming pool, then I wouldn't have asked here... :) - githubphagocyte
@overactor My thinking is that since the outer shell exerts net zero gravitational influence, the atmosphere will be densest near the inner planet (which does exert a gravitational influence)
@Mourdos lol I hope that came across as friendly - I put a smiley face to try and get that across...
Yes I tried thinking of it that way round too. If the planet was at rest against the inside of the shell, the atmosphere should make it drift towards the centre.
The atmosphere presses on both the inside and outside of the shell, but it presses harder on the inside since the shell has a certain depth - the inside is at a lower altitude than the outside
Usually that difference is the same in all directions so the shell stays still, but if the planet is closer to one side of the shell then the pressure difference across the shell will be greater where the shell is closer (deeper in the atmosphere at a lower altitude)
@overactor do you mean it would have to be pushed a long way from the stable point before becoming unstable? I think the stability extends all the way to contact with the shell.
@TimB yes, but if the slight movements force the air away sufficiently fast to lose the atmosphere, the stability will be lost. I don't think that will happen but I'm interested to see if physics brings some definite numbers
@overactor yes I think that's the key - the tendency is there but is it enough? I think it depends on what other forces are applied. I think an orbiting moon or tidal forces from the sun would be neutral when the planet is central in the shell, but they might amplify any deviation. That's what I'd need to know to be sure.
Is there any kind of technical term for a civilization that “eats” others to gain their knowledge, powers, etc.? Such as… the Borg from Star Trek sort of did this, or at least they said they were going to during their “You will be assimilated” spiel—their commitment to actually doing so seemed to...
This question asks for a term describing a civilization that eats others to gain their assets. It's an interesting question and clearly related to worldbuilding. I would agrue that worldbuilding is not the best fit for thsi question though and think it would do better on either English Language &...
This question asks for a term describing a civilization that eats others to gain their assets. It's an interesting question and clearly related to worldbuilding. I would agrue that worldbuilding is not the best fit for thsi question though and think it would do better on either English Language &...
I feel like we can define rather freely decide what we do with questions like these and I feel like calling them off-topic would be more beneficial, since they'd do better on two other sites.
well, one is looking for a term to call a something he wants to put in his fiction, the other asks for clarification about terminology related to world building.
For questions like this one, the lack of good support for math equations makes things difficult to explain or follow. It would be nice to remedy this, especially for hard science answers.
Let's take a world where you can be resurrected, D&D style, but maybe a little cheaper and easier to access. Perhaps any cleric worth their salt can bring you back to life if your body isn't too decomposed, too old, or totally obliterated for a reasonable fee.
What kind of effect would making mo...
@ivy_lynx no, Robert works for Stack Exchange as a community manager. All the CMs get diamonds on all the sites. If you go to "users" and then "moderators" you'll see we don't have any yet.
I am a survivor of the United Nations Space Corp's 2nd Exploration Fleet. On our travel to the distant Epsilon Canares system, our scouts encountered a strange lifeform.
We call them 'shapeshifters'. At first contact, they looked like 6-legged crabs. After a few months, they started to mimic us ...
Let's take a world where you can be resurrected, D&D style, but maybe a little cheaper and easier to access. Perhaps any cleric worth their salt can bring you back to life if your body isn't too decomposed, too old, or totally obliterated for a reasonable fee.
What kind of effect would making mo...
That genetic modification question kept me in rep yesterday, and the river helped out today, but alas. If I do anything but sit at the computer and post, I can't make cap.
@RowanKallioBaker-Whittaker for me it says it will automatically update all my profiles but i have over 20 across SE, so that might be why. I think it used to have two buttons, one was "save edit" and the other was right under it saying "save edit and reflect changes across all profiles on stackexchange" or something to that effect
@RowanKallioBaker-Whittaker it points to the proper parent user, but if you check through the chat, the name isn't updated yet, when you relogin it'll probably be updated
For questions like this one, the lack of good support for math equations makes things difficult to explain or follow. It would be nice to remedy this, especially for hard science answers.
The Factory Floor
The Factory Floor