What is the full official name Doctor Noonien Soong gave to his android (known in ST: TNG as "Data")? Is the entire name simply Data, or is it an acronym? Answer In the second season episode "The Measure of a Man", Riker pulls up Data's schematics on a wall monitor. On the lower right of the display, we see "LT CDR NFN/NMI DATA" which should be read as "Lieutenant Commander No First Name No Middle Initial Data." This was confirmed by illustrator Rick Sternbach during the "Next Generation Slide Show" panel at Baycon 1989 . Also from Measure Of A Man, this is Data's full name as shown by the Enterprise computer (to Cmdr. Riker): Lt. Cmdr. NFN NMI Data. Spelled out, this becomes: Lieutenant Commander "No First Name" "No Middle Initial" Data.

OK, we all know that Deadpool has regenerative powers, but is there ever a situation where he would need surgery so as he heals correctly. Being a Doctor I have always wondered how the process works for him when he has a more complicated fracture such as multifragmentary fracture (broken into more than two pieces) impacted fracture (at least one bone or fragment of bone has been driven into another) compression fracture (When bone becomes like pebbles) All of these breaks require outside forces for the bones to mend in the correct manner in ordinary people. As we are shown in the Deadpool movie, he does not heal at rate like Wolverine, but does in my opinion get a compound fracture (clean bone break) in his leg. And I would speculate that he MAY have recived a multifragmentary fracture in his hands after hitting Colossus. [embedded content] It seems that he can align the bones to heal correctly judging by his wrist snap when Colossus is dragging him. But in the more complicated fractu...

Trying to remember where this story is from. A girl, concerned about humanity overpopulating the planet and/or destroying itself, wishes for something or someone to make a change. Some kind of alien or inter-dimensional being hears her and does something that affects the world and humanity. Time dilation occurs and people start speeding up or slowing down. It affects people differently, but those that speed up get so fast they disappear and can occasionally be heard as a background hum and those that slow down become nearly statue-like. Eventually society is reorganized where those that are very slow are moved to their own communities where they can be kept safe, and those that are super-fast have essentially become so advanced they have moved beyond Earth. Thanks for the help!

We know that Voldemort was evil, and we know that he 'knew not' the Power of Love (TVTropes link, standard warning applies). We know that he was cruel. We know he killed and tortured but does he actually fit the current DSM ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ) definition of a sociopath ? Answer Probably. The Wikipedia article for antisocial personality disorder (which is often referred to as psychopathy or sociopathy) has a quote from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , which is the standard criteria for classifying mental disorders. Here’s the relevant passage: A) There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three or more of the following: failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest; deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conn...

This is second-hand, so bear with me. I don't have the author's name or story title, just a description: A person loses a loved one (not even sure about genders!) and an angel arrives to explain why that happened. He takes the guy to see what the future would be if that loved one had lived and it turns out to be horrible for the world. So it was better that the loved one died. Second hand info says that the story was by Mark Twain, but I've been through his novels and short stories and didn't find it. Any leads or ideas?

I think I read this in the early 90's. In this story, technology was divided up and zealously guarded by the cultures that use it. Different groups held different tech. One group held the secret of internal combustion. The protagonist was from off world and knowledgable. He had to travel from place to place and used his wits to assist/escape from those he encountered along the way. Answer This is likely book #2 from Deathworld cycle by Harry Harrison. Citing Wiki blurb: Jason is kidnapped by a self-righteous enemy out to bring him to justice for his various crimes. He forces a crash-landing on a planet where the human population has regressed. The technology is extremely primitive and knowledge is split up among many small clans, each one jealously monopolizing what it knows . Jason uses his ingenuity to survive, trading his knowledge for protection and power in one of these clans. He eventually reaches the clan who has the knowledge of electricity...

Inspired by this answer which states limb loss as a recurring theme, I started thinking about the final lightsaber battle. After watching The Force Awakens the second time, I was not sure if Kylo Ren lost a limb or just lost his lightsaber. We definitely see Rey slash at Ren’s right hand. So knowing that context: Did Kylo Ren actually lose his arm/hand? Answer There's no indication that Rey chopped Ren's hand off. He was up again in an instant, but not in time to fully deflect a following blow from Rey’s weapon. He succeeded in blocking it, but he still took the full force of the strike against the haft of his own lightsaber. The weapon went flying into the snow. Unarmed, he raised a hand and utilized the Force to fend off one slashing blow after another, until finally her fury penetrated his remaining defenses. Taking a glancing blow to the head and chest, he went down, a prominent burn slashed across his face. Weakened, he reached out toward his lightsaber, trying to dr...

As in, what kind of processor, how much RAM, and how much hard drive space does Bender have? Also, what operating system does Bender run? Has this been referenced in any episode of Futurama (or in any of the commentary)? Could some of these details be theoretically worked out using Moore's law (or some other principle)? Answer The Infosphere notes : Bender's head contains a 6502 Microprocessor ( Fry and the Slurm Factory ), and his ass an AMD Athlon II ( Overclockwise ). After Cubert overclocks Bender's ass, Bender discovers that he has "an extra processor in his compartment of mystery". So his total processor count would be 3 (head, ass, and hammerspace ). Presumably, the third "extra processor" is also an AMD Athlon II, but it isn't specified.

This fact had always bugged me. When Frodo finally goes to the Cracks of Doom he is met with practically no resistance. This seems uncharacteristic of Sauron which in my humble opinion makes it a tiny flaw in the plot. Just to be safe, Sauron could have heavily guarded Mount Doom to prevent the destruction of the Ring: why didn't he do so? Answer It is quite simple: Sauron did not expect, and could not conceive, anyone would actually try to destroy the Ring instead of claiming it for themselves. "He is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place.That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream. " - The Two Towers , "The White Rider" This complete lack of desire of any kind to master the Ring was the primar...

Following the overall positive feedback and Henry Cavill's portrayal of Geralt in Netflix 's series The Witcher , I look forward to start watching it. However, I haven't read the book on which the series is based off of, nor have I played the game based on it. What are the minimum requirements to watch The Witcher ?

Even if the society in Star Trek has evolved into a cashless state, that still leaves the matter of stools and other bodily excretions (not sweat or blood) to deal with. Where does that all faecal matter and urine go? Having not seen any depiction of toilets or water closets in any of the films or TV series, there has to be a way to deal with this basic bodily function. They're not the Brady Bunch after all. They eat fine and drink plenty of tea from the replicators. And that Neelix fellow on Voyagar sure cooks up exotic meals. All that has to be handled in some hygienic manner. It's not like they stand around the transport room and have their bowels expunged into space. Do they? Answer The best (and I think only) "in-show" reference to this is in an Enterprise episode called Breaking the Ice . The crew records a series of answers for school children in Ireland and one of the questions is "When you flush the toilet [on the Enterprise], where does it go?" ...

In the home dimension of Amber, normal gunpowder is inert, but you can use matches. Why is this possible?

Take a vampire from a series that can't enter a house without permission, for example, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood , what would happen if it was standing inside the house while it was being built? Answer Since the restriction is on entering a house, not leaving it, there's no reason he wouldn't be able to leave .

Our sun will someday (in billions of years) go nova, expanding in size and changing color. Anyone nearby is sure to have a bad day . Should this event occur earlier than predicted, however, would Superman be able to intervene? The very condition his powers rely on would also be one of the qualities that would change. I do not ask what specific actions he might take if his powers were to remain, but rather (assuming any of them would be relevant) would he have them to use at all? Answer The Short Answer: No, Superman from most of the DC Universe continuities readers are familiar with would have no chance to effectively stop a star the size of our sun from going nova. Despite his amazing powers, it is not a matter of power, it is a matter of scale that would defeat Superman in such a titanic struggle to control one of the most powerful forces in nature, the death of a star. The Explanation Superman derives his powers in an as yet undisclosed manner from the G-type star our planet curre...

The One Ring extended Gollum/Sméagol's life and vitality by 478 years and Bilbo's vitality by 60 years. Did it have the power to make them truly immortal if they had kept it, or did it just grossly slow down the aging process? The ring was made by a Maia for a Maia (spirit), not a mortal. Answer A mortal wearing a ring of power does not age, nor can he die of natural means (Gandalf says this in FOTR when he tells Frodo of the rings of power) For evidence see the Nazgul, who were men that lived in the middle centuries of the 2nd age, they survived until the end of the 3rd age after being gifted rings of power, a period of around 4-5 thousand years. Also see Gollum who lived 500 years after taking the ring. However, whether the rings were capable of immortality without corruption is debatable, I find it hard to believe that the rings were ever created with the intention of corrupting men to evil (Sauron was involved in their creation (except the 3 elven rings)) but I think that...

First, "if Vibranium is indestructible, how was Captain America's shield created (melting and hammering shouldn't work)?" type questions should be trivial. the answer would be similar to that of Adamantium: Just after extraction, it can be moulded just once. The shape would be permanent after that. (If answer is different for Vibranium, let me know) But, in Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, Vibranium was used to create Vision's muscular body. Ultron took Vibranium rods from black market and later we saw that Vibranium was combining well with biological artificial tissues. Now, the question is: How is such application of Vibranium possible if Vibranium is indestructible? Why is Captain America's shield, supposedly, indestructible? Answer Captain America's shield in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) is NOT indestructible; far from it. Created by Howard Stark from a vibranium alloy, the MCU shield is very tough but nowhere near as durable as Captai...

This is something I heard mentioned in passing several (around five?) years ago, so I haven't read the book, nor have I watched the movie. I think I heard about the movie, but I believe it's based on a book. It's really more horror than sci-fi/fantasy, but I guess it could qualify for some sci-fi/fantasy sub-genres... In retrospect, I've thought that what I remember is a lot like "The Hunger Games" and that I may have heard early talks about the film adaptation, but I don't really think so... Some (young?) teens have been abducted and placed on an island (or somewhere else remote and isolated). (I assume) Only one of them will be allowed to leave, so they'll have to fight and kill each other. To prevent them from co-operating - or hatching a plan to escape - they've all been collared with something akin to shock-collars that will shock them (and possibly kill them) if they spend too much time in proximity to each other. I believe it's somewhat ...

Why didn't Dumbledore hide everything in the Mirror of Erised ? Surely it would have served as a better hiding place for the Bowl of Prophecy rather than the Department of Mysteries. Similarly Godric Gryffindor's sword could have been hidden in the mirror.

While waiting for Diablo 3 to come out, I have been playing Diablo 2 for the first time with a buddy. While playing, I've heard several characters mention the Prime Evils. The game doesn't really do a great job of explaining story. Who are they? I think I understood that Diablo himself is one. Who are the others? How did they get to be Prime Evils? I don't like wiki-anything answers. I will accept as canon anything from a Diablo game, novel, or official Blizzard chat. Answer I remember the Diablo I manual, as a wee child, detailing the backstory. Here are snippets from the manual: THE DARK EXILE “Seven is the number of the powers of Hell, and Seven is the number of the Great evils.” Duriel, the Lord of Pain Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish Belial, the Lord of Lies Azmodan, the Lord of Sin As the Lesser Four continuously vied for the control of those forces that dwelled within their realms, the Greater Three held absolute power over the whole of Hell. Mephisto, the Lord of ...

They seem to be able to live forever or at least an incredibly long time. They befriend the biggest threats towards their life, they can also survive in space. Can a minion die? Under what circumstances? Answer The minions themselves seem to think so. When one of their number appears to have exploded, caps are doffed and tears begin to flow profusely. Evidently the death of a minion is a rare event (we've seen them survive an awful lot unscathed) but one which provokes a strong community response.

In Game of Thrones, Robb Stark decides on a two-pronged attack against the two Lannister armies. He sends a small force to move quickly and attack the main Lannister army, led by Lord Tywin, head-on, resulting in massive casualties to that subdivision of the Northern army. At the same time, he takes most of his Northern army and lures Jaime Lannister away from his siege of Riverrun, capturing him in the battle of Whispering Wood (leading to the subsequent routing of Jaime's army). If the success of his strategy hinged on capturing Jaime (which he was able to do), then why did he attack Tywin at the same time? It is not as if Tywin could warn Jaime that he was being attacked by the main Stark-led army (leading Jaime to believe that he was safe from the Northerners), since Jaime could not receive any messenger ravens (as he did not have a fixed point to which they could be sent) - and we do not see Tywin send warning in any event. And in any event, Robb is quite successful in masking...

When Qui-Gon encounters Darth Maul and the Jedi realise he was a Sith, they are amazed, having believed that they had been extinct for a long time. On the other hand, at the end of Episode I, Yoda says "always two there are, the master and the apprentice", so they knew about the Rule of Two. How can this be explained? EDIT (given the answers) Let's list the things that happened, which apparently the Jedi were aware of: 1) 1000 years ago the Sith were almost wiped out (became "extinct") 2) 1000 years ago, because they were almost extinct, the Sith started existing through a single pair (master and apprentice) Given these two facts, why are they surprised? Yes, the Sith were extinct for 1000 years as a civilisation, but there are always two !

In the Star Wars universe, everything technologically seemed possible, i.e. and not limited to: members transplantation, interplanetary travel, holographic communication, supreme medical capabilities (Vader), gravitational levitation, artificial intelligence etc.. Bottom line , any thing from our technological fantasies today, literally existed. Have there been any evidence in the Star Wars universe of situations where there were technological challenges, or any mention of technological aspirations that didn't exist at the now and the then, where the characters were hindered? Answer Off the top of my head, their lightsabers seem to have a relatively limited battery life. On several occasions we see Jedi turning their lightsabers off (presumably in order to preserve the battery) rather than running them constantly. Additionally, their holographic technology seems quite clumsy. The images projected are translucent, blue and seem to flicker violently. Their scanners have limited ra...

I have heard rumors that there is Adult versions of the Harry Potter book series that were only released in Europe. Not porn type adult but more graphic in nature. In this series supposedly Dumbledore is gay. Is there any truth to this?

In Interstellar, The main characters are pursuing Plan B for saving humanity, whereby a human colony will be established via frozen embryos. At the end, Brandt (a woman) is a alone on the colony. What is the plan to bring the embryos to fruition? I remember a rapidly delivered summary, but was the plan really for her to deliver and raise ten children (girls, presumably) by herself? I figure that the initial plan probably involved the full crew, but even so...am I missing something? Answer As I recall, there was an offhand remark in the film about artificial wombs in which to gestate the embryos. So, Brandt would decant the first generation of children by herself and raise them to adulthood, after which they would raise second and subsequent generations and expand the colony, changing over from artificial to natural reproduction when the population grew large enough. To answer your exact question: Yes, the idea was for Brandt to raise ten or so children by herself -- although in the o...

Towards the end of The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren has one last fight: He's somewhat shaken, injured, and has just killed his father. Despite all of this he shows he still has enough energy to force push Rey into a tree, nearly knocking her out. We also know from the beginning of the movie he is powerful enough to stop a blaster shot in midair with the Force - this is important. As the beginning of the movie establishes his power, the audience are set up to believe our heroes stand no chance against this unstoppable power.- Yet when Finn comes charging at him with a lightsaber; instead of just pushing him over a cliff or into a hard object, Kylo engages with him. Opening himself up to injury. He completely fails to use the Force Push during the latter part of his fight with them, even when he is about to be defeated, he fails to use the Force Push. Possibly the one and only thing he can do that they cannot which would give him the upper hand! Why does he forget how to Force Push just ...

During the events of The Avengers , Loki notes that the Bifrost is still destroyed. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here, your precious Earth? Loki - The Avengers During Thor: The Dark World , the Bifrost is already rebuilt and operational. But at the beginning of Thor: The Dark World , Loki is brought before Odin and the conversation they have feels as though they had not really discussed Loki's actions during the Avengers before. How long has passed since the ending of The Avengers? Answer Two years after the events of Thor, one year after the events of Avengers. This was discussed in an interview with Kevin Feige , as being about a year or so: That leads me to suggest you are keeping a time line in your mind with these movies. We know Iron Man 3 took place six months after The Avengers. Jane mentions that Thor 2 happens like two years after the original and Scarlett Johansson recently said The Winter Soldier is like t...

I was doing some thinking about the paradoxes that arise during Back to the Future 2 when Marty, Doc and Jennifer travel to 2015 to see their future selves and help Marty's kid. It was shown that BTTF ( Back to the Future ) uses the Multiverse theorem to solve any paradoxes of changing the past and creating a new future timeline. I've created an info graphic to show all the jumps made in the BTTF series and the timelines they all created. Since Marty and gang went to the future at the start of Back To the Future 2 , why would Marty, Doc, and Jennifer have a life and presence there if going into the future is going into a version of the future where the time travel had existed? If Marty were to travel, the timeline he visits in the future would be a timeline where the gap from his travels would be him not existing the whole time, as if he left the universe, ceased to exist in that timeline, then started re-existing again when he arrives in the future. It was proven that that...

I know that Geordi's blind, but with his VISOR, he has exceptional vision with a range for a wide subspace spectrum. How does this compare with Data's android vision: Does Data have a comparable vision of the spectrum to Geordi, or is he limited to standard visible light like humans? Answer Think this really depends on what you're "looking for" (pun intended). There are examples where Geordi has the clear advantage (as mentioned by Richard: Generations being one example with the hidden door). However, it's never really explained how Data sees things (as far as you could consider his perception seeing). Geordi's vision is clearly augmented and he's unable to see "normally" (at least if you skip the latest movie adaptions, where he's got in-eye implants). In Data's case I'd assume his vision is artificially limited (unless specifically modified for plot reasons), simply to make him more human. So if you're looking for things ...

The device is square, the readout is square, maybe it should be called square-corder. Did the original tricorder only have 3 functions? I checked the Memory Alpha entry but it doesn't state the origin of the name or any requirement that it performs 3+ functions. Answer The name 'tricorder' relates to its three main functions (sensing, computing and recording) and is, according to the Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual , considered quasi-canon but written by Geoffrey Mandel , senior production artist and designer for TNG, DS9 and Voyager, an abbreviation of the device's full name: "TRI -function re CORDER" This is further backed up by the reference on tricorders in the (fully canon) Star Trek TNG Technical Manual and a similar description in the Voyager Technical Manual and a similar description in the DS9 Technical Manual and a similar description in the TNG Writer's Technical Manual

Would Harry have won (achieved the same exact outcome) in the Chamber of Secrets if he somehow would have been turned into a Squib for the duration? I'm trying to remember the whole end of CoS, I am failing to remember a single spell or magical thing Harry did during the entire set of events once he had entered the Chamber. Did Harry use magic in any (or at least significant) way in the Chamber of Secrets? (to be more specific, after the rock fall caused by misfired Memory charm, and until Fawkes flew the whole group up to the castle). Answer Synopsis: Nope; other than speaking the language of snakes, he did no magic. And speaking the snake's tongue may not even count. He did use Parseltongue to open the door, but I'm not sure if that counts as using magic. Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked strangely alive. He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed...

The spells that we know about in the Harry Potter world all seem to be either in Latin, derived from Latin, or resembling Latin. This makes sense for the European World, but there were likely witches and wizards in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These cultures would have developed independently, and the magical people in them would likely have still found ways to cast their spells. Do cultures with languages that did not derive from Latin use the same words and phrases that are related to Latin for their spells? Or did they have other phrases based on the languages in their cultures? Answer We don't know for sure, but we know for certain that it was not necessarily Latin based Ancient Egypt has wizards long before Roman empire. Bill Weasley dealt with the consequences professionally. Ancient Greece had wizards Based on newly revealed details about Newt Scamander prequels, Native Americans had wizards and traditions, which from my understanding are separate from European ones. Ho...

Anyone remember this show? I seem to remember the intro having the train-car traveling amongst some barren mountainous terrain. I seem to remember that each section of the car-train had a different purpose, like the medical car, and the weapons car, etc. And that's about all I can remember. I don't think it ran for more than a season, possibly not even completing a full season. Answer Here's a guess: Ark II Three young scientists travel around the country in the 25th century after the world has been ravaged by pollution. In their hi-tech RV, the titular Ark II, they study the land and help out those in need. Go here and here for more details, episode guides and pics. Watch a making-of documentary here . [embedded content]

In Batman-TAS several new characters are created. The Most famous obviously is Harley Quinn, but others such as Renee Montoya are also newcomers. Is there a list of new characters that were created just for the DCAU?

Move over Zanti Misfits! Though I chose Zanti Misfits as the primary reference I think that will have to change after viewing this video: [embedded content] While Mad Ants is a mediocre parody of the type of science fiction movie that I am seeking, the visuals and scenes are very close in appearance to the fleeting scenes I can recall from decades ago. In fact the first animated scene of an enlarged ant crawling near a 1950s contemporary house with a fearful human inside is so close to a scene I referenced many times below that I'm left wondering if the creator of "Mad Ants" saw the same movie that I'm looking for. If the ants are reduced in size to about one to two feet long and have the grayish termite look I illustrated below, then the scene would be identical to the one I recall. I will revise this question sooner rather than later because of this find which was the result of many months of searching into the early morning hours. I think this new video will help l...