It is a space film set on the relatively near future. Earlier than Star Trek but probably later than firefly. It was made in the 80s, I think it was American. It was on a space station, the setup is that pilots are 'jocks' and they each have a navigator who is a 'nerd'. The navigators stay in the space station as the pilots fly out ad get the glory. The only scene I can remember is in a canteen. One of the pilots is poisoned and dies frothing at the mouth. The head pilot is livid and one of the navigators says he poisoned the guy deliberately. As the pilots get ready to cause a riot all of the navigators pull out poison capsules and threaten that if any navigator is bullied by a pilot they will poison a random pilot and kill him. There is a standoff but the pilots need the navigators and cannot kill them all, whereas the navigators do not need the pilots. Hence the pilots are unable to retaliate. Answer This is Moon 44 (1990) starring Michael Pare. Several plot summa...

I was watching the movie recently and noticed that one of the characters (very) briefly mentions a safety they built into the system should any of the dinosaurs escape. They called it the Lysine Contingency saying that all the dinos have been genetically modified to depend heavily on lysine in their diet, so if any of them escape they wouldn't be able to survive without the food supplements that the park gives them. Why doesn't the story end right there? Does the Michael Crichton book actually explain this in depth? Answer They found other sources of lysine, including beans and chickens. "...This spring, in the Ismaloya section, which is to the north, some unknown animals ate the crops in a very peculiar manner. They moved each day, in a straight line-almost as straight as an arrow-from the coast, into the mountains, into the jungle." Grant sat upright. "Like a migration," Guitierrez said. "Wouldn't you say?" "What crops?" Grant sai...

I need to remember the title of a old movie I've seen 15/20 years ago or something. I remember these main facts: looks weird like a Cronenberg movie, but looking at his filmography the title doesn't pop out. it is in a post-modern ambientation, the facts take place in the near future but all the furniture and fashion are 1940/1950 style, but mixed with color tvs, tapes, blinking ligths etc. there was a large wooden decorated machine where the main character had to sit in front of, and record/view memories gathered from other people. should be a movie from the eighties Everyone tells me that is MEMENTO (no wooden machine unit, and it's not 1950's style) or THE FINAL CUT (far too recent). It's NOT "strange days" either!!!

We haven't seen any signs of industry or craft works in the White Walker scenes. So how do they get their armor/clothes and spears? Do they make their own? (made using magic? make them in a cottage industry?) Did they steal them? Are these hand-me-downs from an ancient age? Family heirlooms? Seeing how the TV series doesn't answer this question yet, I will take quotes from the books or comments from George R R Martin. Answer I won't discuss the fancy armor shown in the TV series because reasons . But since you have added the books tag and you are okay with it, here goes. It is simply unknown as of now. Others, as an intelligent distinct species, are completely shrouded in mystery. Little to nothing is known about them, their origins , their customs or their way of life. They are not like their minions , who use the same armor they were wearing at time of their death. The armor they don is no ordinary armor. Every inch of it screams out "MAGIC". "Had many ta...

Do I need 100 Poké Balls to capture 100 Pokémon? Or, one Poké Ball would be enough? Or, maybe 10 Poké Balls if 10 Pokémon per Poké Ball is the limit? What exactly is the limit? Googling failed for me. I am trying to recall hard but I can't remember Ash having multiple Poké Balls, but maybe the TV show didn't find such details necessary to show (not to mention you may need to carry a truck of Poké Balls wherever you go). Also, Ash used to cry out names ("Charizard!") which can be indicator that he is calling a particular Pokémon to come out of a Poké Ball containing multiple Pokémon, but it can be just another rule of cool. There's another problem: If a Poké Ball contains more than one Pokémon of the same species, there would be conflict when you call a name. Answer Although the answer is typically " one pokémon per pokeball " (Ash keeps a selection of balls about his person for precisely this purpose and occasionally agonised over which ones to take wi...

The Gungans have a dry city underwater, which keeps the water at bay via force fields that block water, but not people entering them. This struck me as odd, as I wouldn't think they'd evolve to be an underwater species that would need dry/open air living space. So, where did the Gungans develop as a race/species, and how did they acquire the tech necessary for Gungan City? Any canon that addresses this question is fine, as I don't expect it to be covered by the current Disney Master Canon. Answer This is largely covered in the Phantom Menace Visual Dictionary . In short, the Gungans evolved in the Naboo swamps, where most of them currently reside. After their planet was contacted and colonised by the Naboobian humans, the Gungans began to trade plasma, food and various manufactured products with the Naboo. This "borrowed tech", along with their own R&D (mostly focusing on on 'grown' technology like their Bongo Submarines and Hydrostatic Bubbles) have...

In chapter 11 of Neil Gaiman's American Gods , Mr. Wednesday gets very upset that Shadow gave away his location to everyone when he's supposed to be hiding in Lakeside. “What do you think is the fucking point of stashing you in a hiding place like Lakeside, if you're going to raise such a ruckus that not even a dead man could miss it?” “I dreamed of thunderbirds …” said Shadow. “And a tower. Skulls …” It seemed to him very important to recount his dream. “I know what you were dreaming. Everybody damn well knows what you were dreaming. Christ almighty. What's the point in hiding you, if you're going to start to fucking advertise?” This is apparently confirmed in chapter 12. […] “Tell me your dream,” said Whiskey Jack. Shadow said, “I was climbing a tower of skulls. There were huge birds flying around it. They had lightning in their wings. They were attacking me. The tower fell.” “Everybody dreams,“ said Wednesday. “Can we hit the road?” “Not everybody dreams of the W...

Sentinel and Lambda shuttles seem to be very closely related and similar in appearance: With its folding wing configuration and matching cockpit module, the Sentinel-class landing craft was based on the Lambda-class shuttle, both shuttles having seen design origins in the Theta-class shuttle (Wikia) Is there a reliable way to tell whether a shuttle is Lambda or Sentinel class visually? (e.g. in a film/cartoon scene)? Such as different shapes, detailing, colors, etc...? I will accept size at last resort since in some visual scenes you can see the shuttle next to another known-size craft or object; but I strongly prefer other methods that would work even if the shuttle is the only object in visible frame of reference.

I realise it's self evidently impossible, since real people don't have flying broomsticks. But even allowing for its fantastic nature, am I not right in thinking that it's alse self evidently unworkable as a sport? Why? Because catching the snitch is all that matters. It's worth 150 points, and ends the game. Most matches we read about in the books don't have score lines that differ by more than 150 points, in which catching it wins the game for the seeker's team. But even if a team is down by 150 points or more, it's logical that their seeker should then stop looking for the snitch. If they catch it, the game ends as a loss for their team. Either way, only the seeker and the snitch matter. So why bother with the goals at all? Why not just beaters, bludgers, snitch and seekers? I realised this at the very first description of a Quidditch match in the very first book. And while I appreciate it has some narrative value, allowing Harry to take center stage as a...

In the episode Scorpion: Part II Seven of Nine is separated from the collective when Chakotay uses a temporary neural link to sabotage the console she is using, permanently destroying her neural link. Later, in The Gift [Seven] is not used to being an individual and she repeatedly demands that she be returned to the Collective. Janeway refuses, and asks her to help with removing the Borg technology in Voyager's systems. Seven threatens to kill Janeway when the Captain enters her cell in the brig intentionally unarmed. Seven even physically strikes her out of anger. Why didn't Seven assimilate Janeway using nanoprobes when she was within striking distance? She had her tubules and her nanoprobes at that point and is shown using them for the rest of the series. For example: A couple of years after the above in the episode Inside Man ; Ferangi hijack a hologram of Reginald Barclay in an attempt to send Seven's dead body through a geodesic fold so that they could harvest and se...

I am trying to find the name and author of a children's fantasy/sf book. The plot involves people who are simply disappearing from the world. Usually they come to some decision and mysteriously tell their family they are leaving, and soon after they simply cannot be found. The protagonist (I think a boy) discovers that the family cat can see strange black blobby creatures that are invisible to everyone else. (This is why cats stare at things we cannot see.) I think the cat decides to "leave" as well. Finally, the boy discovers that the blob creatures are the connection to another world where everything is rural. He and his family step into the other world. The story ends with a description of how they farm the blob things. I think the author is female. Answer Sounds very like my recollection of " On The Flip Side " (1983) by Nicholas Fisk ( 1923-2016 ). The plot was essentially that, with the blobs becoming first visible to some humans around television sets....

I remember reading a book where people figured out time travel and when they entered "Time" they could swim through it, but it would cause ripples and change things. They would take certain time zones and physical locations as their new currency, eventually there were wars in the ocean of time. After a while there was a hardening of the ocean of time. I also remember that they never went to the beginning for fear of erasing Humans completely. Characters: No main Characters Type : A narrative history (Sci-Fi) I read this book probably close to 12 years ago (2003?) What book is this? Answer I believe this is All Of An Instant by Richard Garfinkle, published in 1999. Description from a reviewer on Goodreads.com : Richard Garfinkle creates one huge metaphor for time travel and works with it to the last consequence. Time travel is done by a chosen few tribes , who swim in the ocean of time , every movement they make creating a wave which in turn changes the world of normal pe...

There are several known major Earth colonies, and perhaps dozens (or more) colonies of humans who were not officially affiliated with Earth. There are probably tens of thousands of Starfleet vessels , and if what we've seen is any guide, the vast majority of the individuals serving are Human. So roughly how many humans, are there, total, in the Star Trek universe? (Yes, I know the Star Trek universe covers several hundred years.) Tens of billions? Hundreds? Trillions? Answer As James wrote, Earth has 9 billion in First Contact. There might have been a slight baby boom after WWIII, but developed societies tend to move towards negative population growth, so perhaps Earth's population reaches 10 billion before this happens. On Mars , the next largest human population, there are 133.8 million ( ST: Star Charts ), and Luna has 50.2 million ( ST: Star Charts and First Contact ) by the late 24th century. That adds up to 10.184 billion . Other human populations: Deneva colony ...

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens , when Han Solo died, Leia became aware of it instantly. Yes, Leia is force sensitive, but when Alderaan was destroyed, Obi-Wan heard billions of voices crying and going out of existence which is generic. When Han Solo died, Lots of people were also dying there. How could Leia intercept particular death signal provided that Han wasn't force sensitive? Talking about love, when Padme died, Vader never sensed it. Then, how come Leia sense this? Answer In @SS-3's comment is perhaps another way to answer the question. Edit: 1) Additional supporting material (re: Kylo Ren) from the novel was added to provide a more comprehensive illustration of the two-way 'action and reaction' between Kylo Ren and Leia. 2) Caps usage has been trimmed down. 1) Leia knows that Han is going to attempt to 'reach' their son. This is a fact as this is something she specifically requests of Han before he leaves as she tells him to "bring him home"...

The EU book The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader reveals that Vader personally gave the stormtroopers the order to kill Owen and Beru Lars, and that he knew who he was condemning to death before he gave the order: “Lord Vader,” said one of the sandtroopers, adjusting a control on his helmet so that only Vader could hear his voice. “The Jawas sold a protocol droid and an astromech to these moisture farmers, but both droids are gone.” Moisture farmers? Intrigued, Vader examined the holograms of the kneeling couple and said, “The farmers’ names?” “Owen and Beru Lars, sir,” the sandtrooper responded. “They say they don’t know where the droids are, but it looks like a landspeeder is missing from their garage.” Owen and Beru , Vader recalled... “Tell Mr. and Mrs. Lars that they seem to have trouble keeping protocol droids on their property.” 1 Not certain if he had heard correctly, the sandtrooper said, “Sir?” “Then you may extend to them every courtesy that you showed the Jawas before you con...

The book was about kids who did a role playing game every summer. They are separated for a summer and somehow fall into the game/world they created. The first one falls into the world through a bush coming back from the library. The world is a bit different from how they originally created it. It has a pink castle and a well, and they know that the bad guy is an uncle who they created. They use rings to meet there at certain times every day to play and live out the world's story.

If a wizard was working for the Ministry of Magic (i.e. Auror, official), would they have to pay income tax along with the money that they earn from the Ministry of Magic just like Muggles do with the government? Also, do wizards have to pay wizarding property tax if they lived in a house in the wizarding world and not the Muggle world?

Would Star Trek holodecks physically affect you once you exit the Holodeck? Meaning, if someone programmed a holodeck to dump a bucket of water over you head, would you have wet hair (outside later on)? Answer I believe the answer depends somewhat on how the holodeck is programmed. BUT there is a classical example of the water being "real", so it's certanly one of the feasible outcomes with right programming: In "Encounter at Farpoint", Wesley Crusher falls some water (a river IIRC) while in holodeck, and exits holodeck later on while still being wet. I even found a screenshot (Yay Google image search) A second frequently cited example is a piece of paper held by Data in "Elementary, Dear Data": Interestingly enough, this seems to be a BUG rather than a feature (e.g. contrary to canonical understanding of holodeck technology). Wiki Holodeck article has this to say: Matter created on the holodeck ("holomatter") requires the holoemitters to r...

Okay, I was thinking about the series of Game of Thrones and all the battles and stuff, and I thought why aren't there any characters beside White/English characters that have main/important roles? Can you name any that are alive that are anything else beside White/English? This is a short list of some of the main characters (all White/English): Cersei - Queen and important political Lannister. Jaime - Guy who is father to the late king and is King slayer. Tyrion - Short guy in politics who is currently on the run(that's what the wikia told me). Daenerys - Queen who is freeing people and dragon owner. And the list goes on and on, why aren't there any characters other than Caucasian characters that are in the series? I've read a lot of articles on the internet about this after Googling around, and none of the articles I read had any scientific evidence or research - it was just conjecture. So, are there any actors/characters from racially diverse backgrounds? I'm...

Saruman was one of Maiar, like Gandalf. Meaning that he had a mortal body but presumably, when that body was killed, would simply return back to his ("spirit?") being. Is there any confirmation from Tolkien that this is indeed what happened after he was knifed by Grima? Or was he somehow completely destroyed since he was de-powered by Gandalf? Answer To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing. It is very much implied by that passage from the Scouring of the Shire that Saruman attempted to pass back into Aman, the West, but was denied. Given he was denied and that, as far as we know, Eru did not step in to banish him from time (as per Morgoth) he would have roamed Arda as Sauron would:...

According to Ender Canon, Mazer Rakham won a Second Formics Invasion by figuring out the pattern and finding and destroying the Bugger Queen's ship. But as we find out later: Formics' Queens can communicate with the "worker" buggers via philotic connections This communication is instantaneous across any distance. So, given this: why was the invasion-commanding bugger Queen situated right there in Solar System where she could be destroyed in the first place? I'd prefer an in-universe answer or at least an authoritative (e.g. from OSC) one, not a speculation. UPDATE : Please note that "The Formics didn't realize that the queen was in any danger and thus needed to be protected" seems to be 100% wrong according to "Ender's Game": Ender : "They make that ship move just like any other ship"; Mazer : "They know it's their weak point."

In Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings we are told that there “is no record of any language peculiar to hobbits. In ancient days they seem always to have used the languages of Men near whom, or among whom, they lived.” This is a singularly striking statement from an author who otherwise insists that his pattern of literary creation is to begin with an invented language and then proceed to create creatures who speak that language and a world in which it is spoken. So where the nature of most of the peoples and races of Middle-earth bears a direct relationship to their language, hobbits appear linguistically as a cipher. For so far back as any records or memories reach, hobbits have been chameleon-like creatures who have adopted the language of their immediate human neighbours. (italics are mine) Source: http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1130-on-the-origin-of-hobbits.php As a student of Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics who studied during the 80’s I must believe that a culture can...

In the last episode of season 6 we see what is clearly.. The truth about Jon's parentage, being the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Without getting into the "why" and "if" about this, (It is already covered in many other questions on this site) Would Jon Snow still be a bastard if people knew who his parents are? Just to be clear, i am not asking if he has a claim to the Iron Throne or not. Answer People knowing who Jon's parents are does not mean anything for his bastard status. One is born a bastard if he is born out of wedlock, regardless to who the parents were. Him being son of Lyanna and Rhaegar does not prove that they had married as well because Rhaegar was already married to Elia Martell and traditionally Westeros is a strictly monogamous region by faith and culture. Being a bastard of a Prince does not mean that someone becomes legitimate child. There are plenty of examples of Bastards sired by Targaryen Princes and Monarchs e.g. Daemo...

Silmarillion tells us what happens to the souls of Men and Elves: ... For the Elves die not till tile world dies, unless they are slain or waste in grief (and to both these seeming deaths they are subject); neither does age subdue their strength, unless one grow weary of ten thousand centuries; and dying they are gathered to the halls of Mandos in Valinor, whence they may in time return. But the sons of Men die indeed, and leave the world; wherefore they are called the Guests, or the Strangers. Death is their fate, the gift of Ilúvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy. ... But what happens to the souls of other creatures likes dwarves, hobbits, ents, orcs, uruk-hai, maiar, balrogs (and other conscious creatures I might have forgotten)? Answer Dwarves This is covered in Silmarillion Chapter 2, Of Aule and Yavanna : Aforetime it was held among the Elves in Middle-earth that dying the Dwarves returned to the earth and the stone of which they were made; yet that is not the...

I am looking for the title of a 1950s science fiction movie, involving an astronomer trying to decode some extraterrestrial signal, where the juvenile (male) character asks 'how about pi?' which all the adults interpret as a foolish 'how about pie?' question.

The movie should be at least a decade-old, and perhaps even a TV-movie. In the end of the movie, the heroes launch the weapon in their ship, probably against their enemy ship, but unknowingly, their own ship direction was changed in the middle of the movie, so now it's launched against Earth. Answer This could be a blurry remembering of the Outer Limits episode, The Light Brigade . Relevant quotes from the Wikipedia article for the episode: Unfortunately the aliens ambush the ship, and use their unique methods to trick the survivors of the Light Brigade into failing their mission. And: ....bomb is released over what the crew believe to be the alien homeworld. It is in fact Earth,....

I've been thinking about the differences between the 3 types of Stargates: Milky Way, Pegasus, and the SGU gates. The SGU gates are the earliest, and they have some limitations compared to the later gates. For example, a limited range. The Milky Way gates were built second, and lastly the Pegasus gates. But both the SGU gates and the Pegasus gates support remote dialing, with SGU even having a directory of gates in range on their remote dialing tablets. It seems bizarre that when designing the second model of gates, the Milky Way gates, that the Ancients would remove such a useful feature. Has there been any indication of why this choice was made? Answer Actually every DHD is a remote dialer, just a very large and durable one. There are no physical connections between a DHD and a stargate, they just need to be in close enough proximity for the DHD to communicate and transmit power. The reasons they are large, heavy, pedestals instead of portable devices are: They don't want t...

This is probably an easy one, but I can't think of the right combination of keywords. I read it as a hardback around the late 1980s to the early 1990s. It involved a brother and sister who somehow wound up back in early ages of Celtic Ireland. They meet a young man who turns out to be Cuchulain , although I want to say that he used a different name, so it took the children a while to catch on. It was definitely a fantastic take on it, as I remember Cuchulain using Gáe Bulg , his magic spear. Specifically, there was something involving chasms belching poisonous gasses, but he could breath with his mouth by the spear (which does not seem to be among the legendary qualities of that weapon). I vaguely remember that the children first encounter Cuchulain by a body of water, I think as he was bathing. When the children are returned home, they return with a carved comb of bone or ivory. I remember they also came home with a case of lice, which required boiling the comb. Things that stick ...

I've been watching Legend of Korra and I feel like there are some unanswered questions about the metallic poison that Korra was administered at the end of Season 3. While Zaheer makes it clear that the poison will draw out the Avatar State to help protect Korra, this seems to contradict everything we know about the Avatar State up to this point. It appears to imply that the Avatar State will automatically manifest itself to protect the Avatar if the Avatar is in danger. However, we know from previous episodes that: A fully realized Avatar has full control over entering the Avatar State. Korra is a fully realized Avatar, having shown the ability to control the Avatar State and connect to the Avatar's Cosmic Energy. Compare that to Aang, who spent almost the entire 3 seasons of The Last Airbender being unable to directly control the Avatar State. Avatar Roku was killed by a volcano, and he knew his death was imminent, but the Avatar State did not manifest uncontrollably to protec...

As a teenager - like 40 years ago- I read a science fiction book about earth were two supercomputers were buried deep down under the surface. One in the north, one in the south. Their goal as I remember was to win the war for either the north or the south, and they made bad decisions and people try to stop them. I cannot find the title of the book nor the author, hoping one of you might point me into a direction.

Kai Opaka (played by Camile Saviola ) appeared in the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , in what looked like a fairly important role, but was then written out in her next appearance (‘ Battle Lines ’). Whilst this set up the succession storyline, it seems a bit odd. Did Saviola get another job? Did the writers have a change of heart? Or was her exit planned from the pilot? I haven’t been able to find any reports of what happened there. Answer Best I could find was this note on the Memory Alpha article for Battle Lines : The writers had also considered creating a new character to be killed and resurrected (see redshirt) but this was changed to Kai Opaka as she was considered to be the most expendable recurring character. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) I'm not complaining, though. It created more of an impact than a redshirt would have, the choice to stay fit her personality pretty well, and it opened the door for the conflict between Winn and Bareil.

In the Star Trek TNG series finale, "All Good Things", Data is clearly alive and well while Picard is an old man. But Data is clearly destroyed in Star Trek: Nemesis, while Picard is still relatively young. How is this possible? Surely it's not "B4" that we're seeing in the All Good Things future timeline? Answer Just remember these lines at the end of "All Good Things" (from the transcript here ): CRUSHER: You know, I was thinking about what the Captain told us about the future. About how we all changed and drifted apart. Why would he want to tell us what's to come? LAFORGE: Sure goes against everything we've heard about not polluting the time line, doesn't it. DATA: I believe, however, this situation is unique. Since the anomaly did not occur, there have already been changes in the way this time line is unfolding. The future we experience will undoubtedly be different from the one the Captain encountered. RIKER: Maybe that's why...

In the Babylon-5 stories, most Minbari are bald, but some Minbari men have beards. The Wikipedia article on Minbari says "due to the intermingling of human DNA into the Minbari gene-pool courtesy of Valen, some males are capable of growing facial hair." Spoiler from episodes "War Without End": Valen was a human named Jeffery Sinclair who went one thousand years back in time to lead the Minbari. He was transformed into a Minbari through a device called triluminary. He later fathered children on Minbar. Is there a canon source that says " only male descendants of Valen may grow beards"? Or is that an unjustified claim posted on Wikipedia? In accordance with my "Quotes Get Votes" policy, I prefer answers that have quotes from original sources. (e.g. - Interviews with J. Michael Straczynski, quotes from scripts, or video clips from episodes, etc...) Answer From the "JMS Speaks" section of the Lurker's Guide page for Atonement : Du...

Everyone keeps mentioning how in Alien 3 , the first thing to get infected/eaten is a dog. I seem to remember this happening to a rottweiler. But I just saw Alien 3 and the facehugger killed a bull and the alien busted out of that. Did I watch a directors cut with a bull instead of a dog?

I can't remember the title or author in which a new super computer is built and it answers the question... Is there a god? (omninously) with There is now.

At the end of the Last Jedi, Finn attacks the Battering cannon in a suicide run. There seemed to be some confusion as to whether the attack was a pointless gesture of resignation, or whether it would accomplish its end, which leads to Rose knocking him into the salt flats with her own vehicle. Would the attack have succeeded or was it pointless? Answer Based on the (in-universe) opinion of a highly qualified Resistance Flight-Engineer, his attack was doomed to failure. His comm signature crackled off and he accelerated toward the cannon. Its barrel shone through the lasers, on the cusp of firing. The tremendous heat it generated melted the salt around it, stirring a crimson haze around its treads. With the other skimmers no longer a threat, all the walkers and tanks were targeting Finn. And Rose knew he’d never get through that last stretch alive. The Last Jedi: Junior Novelisation and No, Rose thought, teeth gritted. They’d come too far together for her to watch while he threw his l...

In the 6th book, Hermione and Ron take the Apparition test, but Harry is too young. Hermione passes, Ron "just fails". Harry says to Ron (paraphrasing) "You can take it with me". By the time Harry is old enough to take it, they are already in hiding. So, is there any canon evidence that they actually took and passed the exam?

In my humble opinion, the turning point in Goblet of Fire , or maybe the whole of the Potter series, was when: Harry was wandering around in Hogwarts in the middle of night with the Marauder's Map Impostor Moody/Barty Crouch Jr searching Snape's office for Polyjuice Potion's ingredients Harry wondering why would Barty Crouch Sr be inside Snape's office at that time Snape catching Harry in the dark without warning Marauder's Map flying away from Harry's hand and landing on the floor Moody/Crouch Jr approaching and saving Harry from Snape Snape leaves, Moody/Crouch Jr picks up the Map and takes a look at it and leaves him stupefied (pun unintended) for a moment as he realises he was so close to becoming unmasked... Now, the question is why didn't Harry use the Summoning Charm to get the Map from the floor? He still held his wand if I'm not mistaken; a quick and quiet "Accio" from underneath the Invisibility Cloak should have served the purpose...

One of the creators of the TV series Once Upon a Time seems to suggest that Regina didn't rape Graham . I know the creators have the final say over what the characters intended, thought and did, but they can’t just change the definition of rape. It’s been well over 2 years since the Twitter conversation occurred. I guess they couldn’t say much to avoid spoilers or something (even though Graham was died in a 2011 or 2012 episode if I recall correctly). So what's the verdict? Did Regina rape Graham or not? It doesn't seem to be resolved in the twitter conversation. Might there be any new information from the show or the creators that sheds some light as to whether or not Regina raped Graham? Answer After some searching around, there doesn't seem to be any new information on this subject from the creators of Once Upon A Time . It is possible that they simply wanted to avoid giving attention to the issue. It is true that, at one point, writer Adam Horowitz said it was...

This is related to How did the Basilisk survive for a thousand years? The basilisk in "Chamber of Secrets" is shown to eat small mammals and reptiles, from the skeletons that are discovered. I understand that snakes that don't get enough food stay small, and one way to get a bigger snake is to feed it more. The basilisk must start small, as it hatches from a cockerel's egg. If it was eating stray familiars, in quantities required to grow as big as it did, why didn't anyone notice? At the very least, wouldn't older students mention that animals had a tendency to vanish so either bring a cage or don't get too attached? (How did Neville's toad, Trevor, keep coming back?) I understand that real snakes actually digest the bones of animals too, so perhaps the digestion of a basilisk is different enough that it spits out/excretes the skeletons? Would this be enough of a difference to explain how it uses less of the available food source but grows bigger? Add...

I realize this is probably going to come off as a bit silly, but in Iron Man II how could James Rhodes easily don the Mark II armor that was designed to fit Tony Stark? As you can see in this image (which isn't an "in universe" shot) Tony and Rhodey are roughly the same height, but it appears that Rhodey has a smaller frame than Tony, which would seem to make for an ill fit of the armor, especially for flight. This issue could of course have been addressed by the Air Force during the retrofit with Justin Hammer. Answer All the scenes of Tony donning armor involve considerable mechanical adjustment to fit Tony's frame. From a control systems perspective, the best way to do that is via feedback (e.g. tighten boots until they exert a certain amount of pressure). Thus, as long as Rhodey was vaguely close to Tony's size, the suit should have just fit--maybe not as well as it fit Tony, but still quite well (unless Tony built it with truly tiny tolerances, which is pro...