Space stations, spaceships, and starships are fundamental to space opera and many other subgenres of science fiction; vehicles and vehicular communities traveling through space feature heavily in these worlds and stories set in them, for the simple reason that any travel between points in outer … Continue readingWorldbuilding Space Megastructures: Beyond Dyson Spheres
The idea of alien life or human colonies on Venus is one as old as scientific speculation and science fiction; the bright cloudy shroud over the surface made Venus for centuries much more mysterious than the other (relatively) Earth-like planet in the inner solar system, … Continue readingWorldbuilding Cloud Cities on Venus
Although humans are Earth’s only sapient species, the range of intelligence among animals is quite diverse. For a long time many assumed primates, the clade closest to humans, outclassed all others in intelligence. Now, however, it is much more widely known that several other species … Continue readingWorldbuilding Avian Intelligence
When worldbuilding speculative fiction settings, all manner of planets are considered, from ocean planets to desert planets and everything in between, but one class of planet that you don’t hear much about is the high obliquity planet. This is somewhat surprising, considering that we have … Continue readingWorldbuilding Seasons on Planets with High Axial Tilts
When worldbuilding a science fiction or especially space opera setting, spaceships, starships, and the like are almost inevitably of great importance. In a visual medium the look of the ships can communicate a lot, the contrast between Padmé Amidala’s garage and Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon … Continue readingThe Shapes of Spaceships
Science fiction worldbuilding often features space colonization, but only seldomly is it considered through a demographic lens. This is likely because most science fiction writers and artists find other aspects of their worlds much more interesting to build, and basing the demographics of various places … Continue readingBig Families on the High Frontier: Worldbuilding Space Colony Demography
What will be the athletic disciplines undertaken by space colonists when they go outside their habitation modules into the hostile vacuums and atmospheres of outer space? In the previous posts in this series (part 1, part 2), we have explored the activities that may be … Continue readingSkiing and Space Diving on Other Worlds
In science-fiction settings involving near future spacefaring cultures, athletic arts and disciplines are severely underrated as a driver of space economies and as a vocation for space colonists, especially compared to the likes of asteroid mining. Some of the most spectacular opportunities space presents for … Continue readingDancing in Space: Worldbuilding More Zero-G Sports
Once space colonization begins in earnest, what will be the sports and physical hobbies taken up by the dwellers of the black skies? Here we will explore how off-world athleticism might plausibly evolve starting from its origins and extending into the foreseeable near future. Athletic … Continue readingAquamusicals in Space: Worldbuilding Zero-G Sports
When writing any story, whether your characters can receive communication in time during a critical moment often makes or breaks a story. What makes or breaks this element of a plot is the kind of communication technology that is available in the setting. The setting … Continue readingWorldbuilding Communications with Smoke, Mirrors, and Analog Computers