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1500 questions
54
votes
19 answers
What plot differences are there between the Game of Thrones TV series and the books?
It has been a while since I've read the books and I recall the show being fairly accurate. What plot differences are there between them?
Are any substantial, or are they all particularly minor?
riv_rec
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Why did Harry's father emerge before his mother in HP and the Goblet of Fire?
In Harry Potter book 4 (Goblet of Fire) Harry's wand 'links' with Voldemort's during their duel, and Voldemort's wand begins 'spitting out' each spell it had cast, in reverse order. This produces false 'ghosts' of people he had killed with Avada…
bookworm
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5 answers
Starship Enterprise: Always flying left-to-right?
I am watching Star Trek together with my wife. We just finished the three seasons of The Original Series1, and are now mid-way into Star Trek Next Generation.
I don't think I have seen the Enterprise fly right-to-left even a single time. It always…
fgysin
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Old story about two cultures living in the same city, but they are psychologically blind to each other's existence
I'm trying to identify a story that I first read in an anthology in the mid-1980s. Checked it out from a library in Indiana. I have a very vague idea that this story might have been credited to Gordon R. Dickson -- but don't bet the farm on that.…
Lorendiac
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54
votes
3 answers
Is Harry Potter the only student with glasses?
I recently got this meme:
Click image to enlarge.
Since, I keep wondering if Harry Potter is really the only wizard student with glasses or if there are others? Specially since, according to this answer, wizards cannot fix bad eyesight. I've…
Shade
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54
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4 answers
Why are wands so cheap compared to their materials in Harry Potter?
Harry's wand cost only 7 Galleons:
He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand
However, we know wands contain very rare materials: Dragon heartstring, Unicorn hair, Phoenix feather.
For making a wand you need to be an expert in wandlore, a really…
MBEllis
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54
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2 answers
What popularized the idea of "green" radioactive materials in media?
I recently learned about Cherenkov Radiation which produces an eerie blue glow, such as when viewing a nuclear reactor submerged in water. This effect was known about as early as the 1930's. However, nearly every representation of radioactivity and…
A. W.
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2 answers
In Star Trek, are food replicators also used by everyday people as a household item?
In Star Trek, are food replicators also used by everyday people as a household items? Or is the technology only available to Starfleet?
Roland Jupiter
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54
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5 answers
How is Data powered?
What powers Data from Star Trek The Next Generation? Did he generate his own internal power or did he have to plug into the Enterprise periodically to recharge? Or perhaps a combination of the two?
Xantec
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54
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4 answers
What's the origin of the trope that dragons used to be common but aren't any more?
It's common in fantasy stories for dragons to be formerly common but rare or extinct by the time of the story, for example, in Discworld, Game of Thrones, and perhaps The Hobbit (I can't recall enough about Smaug to be sure).
Where did this idea…
Chris H
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2 answers
In "Avengers: Endgame", what does the name Elmonzo refer to?
In the film, when Tony
asks Howard if he has thought of any names for his kid, to which Howard replies that they have though about "Elmonzo".
I do not seem to recall having ever read this anywhere.
My question: Is this a reference to something…
Stark07
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54
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6 answers
How does Galadriel know that Gandalf 'survives' his encounter with the Balrog?
In The Two Towers, when Gandalf meets Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli for the first time since the Balrog encounter, he briefly gives some details of the encounter which to me are (perhaps intentionally) vague. In particular though when Gwaihir finds…
bazz
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2 answers
2001: A Space Odyssey's use of the song "Daisy Bell" (Bicycle Built for Two); life imitates art or vice-versa?
In Kubrick's movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey (IMDb), the computer HAL is heard to sing the song "Daisy Bell" (aka "A Bicycle Built for Two") as David Bowman is disconnecting HALs higher memory functions.
I just happened to run across a real recording…
uhoh
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54
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7 answers
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers after becoming Gandalf the White, Gandalf cast Saruman from the Order and the Council. He also got the power to break Saruman's staff, which was very powerful.
So when Saruman captured Gandalf the Grey on…
Fiddler
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8 answers
How did Morpheus come to identify Neo as potentially being The One before he met him?
Morpheus seeks out Neo because he's convinced he believes Neo's The One. He openly tells Neo while he's still part of the Matrix that he's only alive because "they" don't know what he knows.
We later learn that he is referring to Neo being the…
bitmask
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