Questions tagged [technology]
For questions about the technology and its usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or serve some purpose. Must be related to an on-topic work. Use this tag in conjunction with the tag of the work in question, e.g. [star-wars].
360 questions
10 votes
1 answer
271 views
Who actually owns the Airwolf helicopter?
Within the universe of Airwolf (1984 TV series), does the CIA actually own Airwolf since they built it, or is it owned by Dr. Moffett since it was his idea?
- 479
2 votes
0 answers
79 views
Were the Voyagers given any tools or guidebooks for their OmniChronometers?
In the TV show Voyagers! (1982), when a Voyager was issued an OmniChronometer, were there tools issued along with it and a guidebook in order to keep it operational?
- 479
4 votes
1 answer
219 views
What is a “phased ion cannon” as first described in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Resistance?”
In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Resistance" (S02E12) there is a weapon called a phased ion cannon. I believe it to be a fully charged plasma weapon, but nothing is given in Star Trek ...
2 votes
1 answer
103 views
Do lightsabers have internal cooling cells? [duplicate]
In Legends or Canon lore and/or reference books, do they ever mention how lightsaber hilts are safe enough to hold as the blades are canonically plasma and plasma generates massive amounts of heat. ...
- 21
8 votes
0 answers
97 views
Pre-1970 short story about how a substance found in an alien probe discovered at one of the Earth's poles changed energy technology
I'm looking for a pre-1970 short story about how a substance found in an alien probe discovered at one of the Earth's poles changed energy technology. I might have read it in a collection in Analog, ...
1 vote
4 answers
463 views
Are there any cases of freely shared technology in the Star Trek Universe?
This (and other) questions discuss technologically similar civilizations in the Star Trek Universe. I believe the following question is different: Are there any cases of technology being freely shared ...
- 3,549
0 votes
0 answers
237 views
Who invented the warp coil?
In Star Trek, the FTL method of travel employed by humans is warp drive. This is made possible by two major components: A huge power supply; in this case, so closely linked that it's often simply ...
- 919
7 votes
1 answer
204 views
What inspired Edgar Allan Poe's submarine?
There is a February 1845 story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade, in which he recites a long litany of natural wonders, which are explained in his footnotes to the text, ...
- 179
25 votes
1 answer
3k views
Sci-fi story whose moral is to use the tools/weapons you have at your disposal
I am looking for the title of a science-fiction story where it starts off as an officer is talking to a court and describing the events of a space war. The officer recounts that the fleet had ...
- 251
1 vote
0 answers
142 views
Does Star Wars have the technology for Matrix-style simulations?
I was watching a video from the Youtube channel, Modern Day Eratosthenes and the Youtuber gave an example of Star Wars style prosthetics as the technology necessary to create a simulated reality like ...
- 79
21 votes
1 answer
2k views
Embedded black hole in a manned spaceship counteracts the propulsive force
A colleague of mine explained this concept in the early 1990s; he sounded like he read it in a (printed) sci-fi story: whether novel, novella, short story or radio-drama script I have no idea. The ...
- 1,486
6 votes
1 answer
230 views
How does magnetic sealing work in Star Wars?
In the original Star Wars, the trash compactor walls were magnetically sealed and when Han Solo tried to blast the wall, the blaster bolt ricocheted off the walls until it hit some detritus in the ...
- 79
6 votes
1 answer
192 views
Earliest Depiction of Cultivated Meat in Science Fiction
I often see Mizora from 1880 thrown around as the earliest title where artificial/cultivated meat makes an appearance but I'm wondering if it was really the earliest. For instance, I know Winston ...
5 votes
2 answers
543 views
What happens if a very heavy impact hits a person's Holtzmann shield?
The basic purpose of a personal shield is that it's bulletproof, transferring so little impact to the wearer that unlike modern body armour, the wearer isn't even knocked back or winded. But ...
- 534
3 votes
1 answer
280 views
Did Wells consider how the Martians would survive the trip to Earth?
Trying to answer this question, I was looking into how long the Martians' journey took in the first place, but the book seems to be quite vague about it - chapter 1 mentions that the construction of ...
- 534