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77
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5 answers
What order should I be reading the Discworld books in?
I've read some of the Discworld books, and they were referencing each other in an order different than what I've been reading.
If I wanted to maintain chronology, and get all of the back references, which order should I be reading the books in?
blueberryfields
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How was construction of the Death Star(s) kept secret?
According to various sources there were over 2,379,000 people on board the original Death Star when it exploded. On top of that it's said that it took 19+ years to build and millions of people worked on the construction.
Yet despite all of those…
Ryan
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77
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6 answers
Why do Hogwarts teachers have such strange names?
Look at the first names of the Hogwarts staff we know of:
Albus, Minerva, Severus, Filius, Remus, Pomona, Quirinus, Gilderoy, (Argus), ...
Most of these sound like ancient Roman or Greek names. Compare with the names of students:
Harry, Ron,…
Rand al'Thor
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76
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2 answers
Why did Peter Quill wait 26 years to open his mother's gift?
In Guardians of the Galaxy, after they defeat Ronan, Peter returns to his ship and opens the letter from his mother. Now we obviously knew that he read it before, since she mentioned the word "Star-Lord" in it, but the gift from her definitely still…
Y.G.
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76
votes
6 answers
Why did Tony Stark keep the electromagnet in his chest?
The ARC reactor and electromagnet chest piece are originally there to prevent pieces of shrapnel from piercing his heart. That happens because he was fixed by a Chinese/Afghan doctor who doesn't have anything else to do it properly.
However, when he…
user4951
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76
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8 answers
What are some examples of Lovecraft's racism in his published short stories?
I was reading a review of Color out of Space at Ars Technica and some of the commenters were really up in arms about Lovecraft's racism.
Now, I don't doubt the man was racist and that above the average for his contemporaries, which was itself a…
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
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1 answer
Who or what inspired the character Geordi La Forge?
Fictional characters often are named and inspired by real people, for example Sonequa Martin-Green's character Michael Burnham is named after her character's biological father "Mike" Burnham. Where did the Star Trek creators get the name and…
Vogon Poet
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76
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1 answer
Why did they name the movie "Blade Runner"?
I just finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and I found it interesting that Deckard was always described as a bounty hunter never as a blade runner or anything similar.
What exactly does blade runner mean? Who came up with it and…
Goran Jovic
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76
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11 answers
Why was Spider-Man the only person to feel any physical sensation from this event in Infinity War?
Near the end of Infinity War...
Thanos snaps his fingers and roughly half of the Avengers disappear into a cloud of dust and phlebotinum. While other characters appear to show dismay or relief that they are dissolving, Spider-Man is the only one…
Sidney
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76
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Why was the Triwizard cup portkey in Goblet of Fire two-way?
At the end of the scene in the cemetery in GoF, the spirits who emerged from Voldemort's wand tell Harry to go grab the trophy (which, of course, was a portkey that took Harry and Cedric from the maze to the cemetery), and that the trophy portkey…
DVK-on-Ahch-To
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76
votes
4 answers
How did the Death Star move?
In the Star Wars saga, one of the most iconic weapons of the Empire was the Death Star: a self sustained weapons platform the size of a moon, with the capacity to destroy a planet. in A New Hope, we see the first Death Star in close proximity to the…
Gabe Willard
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76
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7 answers
Why does Battle School train kids in physical combat when it's irrelevant to the ultimate goal?
In Ender's Game, promising children are taken to Battle School to be groomed as potential military leaders. The primary method of training is a team-based sport in zero-gravity. The kids train to fight effectively in this environment, mostly by…
Thunderforge
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76
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Identify a movie in which aliens believed a sci-fi TV show to be a true documentary
I remember watching a sci-fi movie in the early 00s. It was full of comedy. Here are the details I recalled:
There was a space opera TV show in the movie. It seemed a true copy of Star Trek (they used to pilot a ship and there were captain, first…
user931
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76
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3 answers
What are those "sticks" on Jyn Erso's back?
After my wife and I first viewed Rogue One we both walked away and mutually we had one question hanging around. What are these two stick/sword things hanging from Jyn's back?
To my recollection, she never uses them in the film so as a prop-piece…
RLH
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5 answers
Invisibility should cause blindness: how does hard sf cope?
One problem I've always thought of with science fiction characters becoming invisible is that they should go blind, because their retina does not catch any light.
Obviously a lot of soft SF or fantasy would gloss over this. But I'm sure that hard SF…
Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
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