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12:03 AM
0
Q: Are the Railway Tracks in the Forest Seen in Use?

O. R. MapperOne of the locations in the forest around Winden is a railway track in the forest. It runs through a slight depression and under an overpass, and must be in the vicinity of the cave entrance. The (single-direction) track is featured repeatedly as a meeting place of the youths in 2019. At that ti...

0
Q: Has Stephen Moffat ever mentioned John Carpenter or the film They Live as being influential?

Richard CIn the Impossible Astronaut the Dr discovers the silence, an airline race, have been living amongst and influencing humanity without our knowledge or being able to see them. In the John Carpenter film they live the hero John Nada discovers that aliens live amongst humanity, controlling and infl...

 
 
1 hour later…
1:24 AM
0
Q: How accurate to the original story is the Witcher series?

BenSo, I personally have not read the books, or played the games. I was aware of the series and the setting, but that's about it. After watching the series through several times now however, there were some things that seemed to far out of place This Reddit thread suggests that However the i...

 
2:05 AM
Punks are never here when I am. Up yours, @Randal'Thor and everyone else
 
@WadCheberstandswithMonica I'm here.
Though I'm not sure if I'm a punk.
 
Everyone at sf&f is
 
Even if it's not my main site?
 
Especially
Jesus, is richard even still active here? @Randal'Thor?
Never mind, remembered he's valorum now.
Well, tell everyone I said die in a fire and I love you all
 
 
3 hours later…
5:06 AM
 
5:50 AM
0
Q: Why did Yondu abduct Quill and then raise him as his son?

Anthony XWithin MCU canon, what was Yondu's motivation to travel to Earth, only abduct Quill, and then raise him as his son? It seemed to me that Yondu and his crew of Ravagers had more rewarding things to do if they were going to travel all the way to Earth, and had more rewarding uses for Quill than ma...

 
 
2 hours later…
8:12 AM
0
Q: Has any Indigo Lantern besides Indigo-1 been redeemed?

JenayahAmong the various Lantern Corps, the Indigo Tribe wields the indigo light of compassion. Far from all of them being do-gooders, it was revealed some years ago that members of the Tribe were all notoriously criminals, and that the Indigo Lantern ring was forced onto them to make them feel compassi...

 
9:08 AM
@WadCheberstandswithMonica WAD! :-D Good to see you!
How is everything?
@WadCheberstandswithMonica On site, yes; in chat, no.
 
SQB
@Randal'Thor mind defrosting?
What, @WadCheberstandswithMonica was here?
Dammit, missed him.
 
9:35 AM
@Jenayah, you online?
 
10:01 AM
@Randal'Thor sporadically
 
10:54 AM
0
Q: Why did all the dragons leave Hiccup's team right after Grimmel kidnapped Night Fury & Toothless?

Matt PollackIn How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), I didn't understand the scene where all the dragons left Hiccup's team right after Grimmel kidnapped Night Fury & Toothless. Why did they do so?

 
11:30 AM
Did we have a question on whether sci-fi writers managed to predict the internet, or one about social media? This has come up on another forum and I'd like to just link our well-written answers with reference to many obscure writings.
 
85
Q: What is the first reference to an internet of computers in science fiction?

Often RightConsidering the internet has substantially revolutionized our way of life (you're using it right now in fact) I was wondering whether it was ever envisaged in science fiction. I'm therefore inquiring as to what the first reference in a science fiction story is where there are computers of some d...

I guess
 
@TheLethalCarrot I think that asks for a reference once the internet already exists, not a prediction, but let me see.
 
The top answer is 1946 so doubt it
 
Ah no it's not. Only the title is misleading.
 
And one from 1909, just skimming the top two answers
 
11:34 AM
0
Q: Is there a precedent for Romulans settling honor battles in a sword fight?

hawkeyeIn PIC:1x04 "Absolute Candor" - we see Picard challenged to a sword fight by Romulans on the planet Vashti. In the episode we see Picard tear off a sign, 'Romulans Only' and stomp on it, to challenge their tribalism. In that sense he picks the fight. The Romulans talk of their prior knowledge o...

0
Q: Who were the seven dwarves Sauron gave the rings of power to?

Miguel NoTeimporta “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to...

 
11:54 AM
0
Q: Are Data and Lore created as a 'pair'?

hawkeyeWe know of three Soong-type Androids, B4, Data and Lore. It is possible there were others. We know in Picard 1x01 Remembrance - that the type of Synth that Dahj and Soji are, are created in pairs. Jurati says it would be possible to create a female android from Data's positronic neuron, us...

 
12:13 PM
@Marvin You mean like Daneel Raventlov and Jander Panel?
 
2
Q: Dystopia of a world where old people get killed

LotI am pretty sure this was a short story in a collection of sci-fi stories. It was written from the perspective of one of the people whose job was hunting down and killing people that grew too old, after he himself reached that age. IIRC, he is hunted by his own protege. I think that there was ...

 
The Robots of Dawn is from 1983, Star Trek: TNG is newer, so they could have gotten the idea from there.
 
12:42 PM
@xkcd Funnily I have actually replaced a phylogenetic tree image recently, but only to fix a typo.
 
@b_jonas is that for work...?
 
@AncientSwordRage No, that's why it's strange.
The image commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PaleopolyploidyTree.jpg had a typo, and that bugged me
 
@b_jonas thats fair
 
 
1 hour later…
1:56 PM
0
Q: Are the Tholians humanoid speices?

Benjamin EricksonIn the TOS episode: The Tholian Web, the tholian Loskene has only its head visible, and it looks as they are unlike any humanoid we've ever seen before. However, in the enterprise episode: In A Mirror, Darkly they have legs and arms and are somewhat like other insectoid humanoids so, my question ...

 
2:16 PM
0
Q: Did the American Magical Community come to help during the Second Wizarding War?

ShreedharIt would be difficult not to notice the occurrence of the Second Wizarding War since it broke out by the fall of the Ministry of Magic (MoM) in the UK. Additionally, Voldemort's rise to power was compared to that of Grindelwald's that affected the wizarding community across the globe. So I'd assu...

 
2:31 PM
@Marvon How are your diodes today?
@Fatfinger Why must you continually plague me?
 
2:56 PM
0
Q: Did Voldermort want to control the whole world, or just the UK?

Richard CVoldermort's plans all seemed to be focused on the wizarding world in the UK, mainly on trying to deal with Harry Potter and gain freedom. Did Voldermort have ambitions beyond controlling the UK? If he had been successful at taking out Harry and taking over Hogwarts would he then have turned hi...

-2
Q: Are there any links in the inspiration for the 7 Dwarfs in Snow White and the 7 Dwarves Tolkien wrote that received the Rings of Power?

Richard CIn The Lord of the Rings Tolkien writes that 7 Dwarves were given rings. I know that Tolkien took a lot of inspiration from different sources including ancient fables and stories, tales of the Pagan religions and other places when forming the mythos of his stories. Is there any indication that ...

 
@Marvin edited
 
Daft question mind
 
@TheLethalCarrot no daft questions
I had never made that link, and I'm curious if it's just that 7 is a 'special' number in folk lore or not?
 
Well...
 
I don't think they're asking if one is based on the others
From reading online it seems like Tolkien took inspiration for the Dwarves of Middle earth from Germanic Folk law and the Grimm fairy tales are listed as an inspiration, but this is a wiki page and no real sources given. — Richard C 1 min ago
 
3:02 PM
@AncientSwordRage No, asking inspiration for it and wondering if there is a link
 
 
1 hour later…
4:18 PM
-3
Q: Where can I watch Starship Troopers Chronicles online?

ptlg225I want to watch the Roughnecks: Starship troopers Chronicles animated series somewhere. I tried to access it by Crackle.com, but this website is not available in my county.

 
 
3 hours later…
6:57 PM
 
SQB
We've decided to make @Jenayah an additional room owner. I'm bad at impromptu speeches, so please pretend I've said something inspiring.
6
 
0
Q: "Guardians of the Galaxy" soundtrack and Quill's "Awesome Music Mix"

Anthony XGuardians of the Galaxy (2014) has a distinctive style in part because of the soundtrack, which in-universe, derives from the "Awesome Music Mix" tape Quill is given by his mother just before Yondu abducts him. The music is obviously important to Quill as a connection to his mother and the world ...

 
I'm also bad at impromptu speeches, but I want to say again that I'm honoured :) and I'll do my best.
Extra special thanks to @SQB who has given me a nice way-out sentence to steal for the next time I have to make an impromptu speech :D
 
7:20 PM
0
Q: Could a Green Lantern create constructs to defend against Lightsaber Attacks?

GridAlienThis question applies equally to other colors of the emotional spectrum, but I assume most people are more familiar with the green variety. I'm also aware that in a battle between a Lantern and a Jedi/Sith the outcome will depend greatly on how well the former adjusts their constructs to deal w...

 
@SQB congrats
also @Jenayah might be a good first time to use the ownership to pin this ;P
 
Done!
 
I can’t think of a better choice for a room owner to be honest
oit of interest, since I’m less active in chat these days, was this discussed anywhere? SQB’s message seems like it is but I haven’t seen anything about it
 
@TheLethalCarrot Yes, but not publicly ;-) There's a secret mods-and-ROs chatroom for SFF.
 
Ah, guessed it would be something like that
 
7:32 PM
Still called Meta.Mos, or was it renamed? ;)
 
 
4 hours later…
11:21 PM
If anyone's interested about the updates on fixing Twitter oneboxing in chat, looks like it isn't happening:
in Tavern on the Meta on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, Feb 6 at 19:59, by Catija
We had to close some gaps when the hack thing happened last year... and ... if I understand correctly, the Twitter API made use of one of the gaps we closed... so... I think it may be permanent.
 
0
Q: First treatment of autism in speculative fiction

Invisible TrihedronWhen was the subject of autism first treated in speculative fiction? Some clarification is needed as to the meaning of autism. The word itself dates to 1910, when psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler coined it, but the word was used for “morbid self-admiration” until Hans Asperger redefined it in its moder...

 
@Jenayah Toutes nos félicitations.
 
11:44 PM
0
Q: Looking for an older (80s/90s) fantasy series featuring intelligent dragons as antagonists

FlipscubaThe dragons in question could take on "human" forms that wore armor that was really their living scales shaped around their humanoid bodies. One notable story in the series is one dragon unleashing a wave of giant, furred creatures from dormancy who absorbed all energy, including heat, leaving be...

 

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