In Ender's Game , is Ender genetically engineered (along with Peter and Valentine) or are they just naturally gifted? Answer From Wikipedia Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genetic material in a way that does not occur under natural conditions. It involves the use of recombinant DNA techniques, but does not include traditional animal and plant breeding or mutagenesis. If I recall correctly, Ender's parents were assigned to one another, so he was the result of a breeding program, but not genetic engineering.

In Avengers vs. X-Men Program Guide (free at ComiXology ), why is the Wolverine depicted fighting in the Avengers side of the brawl instead of X-Men? Answer First off, this is a great question and not something I've spotted. I think the definitive answer will be given when we get to see the comics. But until then let us have a look at the other promo/teaser work: Here we see Wolverine Vs Captain America (possibly on Shield HQ)...But, wasn't Wolverine on the Avenger's side? Which side does he pick? In this last picture it's abundantly clear: Wolverine is caught in the middle of a fight between the two idealogical champions of both sides, Cyclops and Captain America and doesn't have a natural side top pick. The thing is, Wolverine isn't going to be on anyone's side but his. He's a maverick and he'll do what it takes to: keep Hope, the mutant 'messiah' safe. He's already been approached by Captain america to take sides and his response w...

Why could young Tom Riddle do wandless magic? Dumbledore recounts the following memory to Harry via the Pensieve in Half-Blood Prince : ‘It’s ... it’s magic, what I can do?’ ‘What is it that you can do?’ ‘All sorts,’ breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. ‘I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.’ Half-Blood Prince - pages 253-254 - UK - chapter 13, The Secret Riddle Are there canon examples of any other character(s) demonstrating such prodigious, purposeful, and focused magical skill at the mere age of eleven? What about wandless magic that is not accidental ? Answer Intentional wandless magic? Sure; look at Lily flying up from the swing-set, and making the flower flex. “Lily, don’t do it!” shrieked the elder of the two. But the girl had let go of the swing...

Given how old some of those blue blood wizarding families are, I'd expect many of them to run out of money unless they have income sources (ala Gaunts). Since there seem to be no feudal sources of income, Lucius Malfoy must have had some income source. What exactly was it? Did he hold a job? Selling Dark Artifacts to B&B doesn't seem like an income stream :) Answer The Malfoys have generational wealth (i.e. they inherit). It's only in the movie Chamber of Secrets that Lucius is represented as having a job at the Ministry; this is not reflected in the book. He is on the Hogwarts Board of Governors for at least two years SS/PS and CoS , but I suspect that is an unpaid position. According to Forbes, Lucius Malfoy is number 14 on the list of wealthiest fictional characters. ( SOURCE ) It seems to indicate that the Malfoys' money comes from inheritance rather than a profession. In all fairness, the Forbes list is from 2007. Here is the current 2011 Forbes Fictional ...

So I'm watching the LOTR trilogy and I'm on Fellowship of the Ring . It seems as if the Nazgûl actively avoid water, such as at the Bucklebury Ferry and the river at Rivendell. Does water harm the Nazgûl or lessen their powers in any way? Or are they just fussy and don't want to get their natty black robes wet? Answer In The Unfinished Tales , Christopher Tolkien wrote a passage concerning their fear of water. All except the Witch-king were apt to stray when alone by daylight; and all, again save the Witch-king, feared water and were unwilling, except in dire need, to enter it or to cross streams unless dryshod by a bridge.³ At the Ford of Bruinen only the Witch-king and two others, with the lure of the Ring straight before them, had dared to enter the river; the others were driven into it by Glorfindel and Aragorn. [Author's note.] And later on: My father nowhere explained the Ringwraiths fear of water. It is made a chief motive in Saurons assault on Osgilliath, and ...

This means I'm seeking the first three-dimensionally computer-modeled and rendered imagery used in Star Trek . We know there was extensive 3D CGI used in DS9 (Odo) and Voyager (USS Voyager). But what is the earliest use in TNG or any of the TOS movies? Note that to satisfy this question, there needs to have been a meaningful model built in 3D and then rendered, as I'm sure there was a lot of post-processing done by computer in TNG and there were many 2D images generated for effects (e.g. Okudagrams) and the line between what would constitute computer-generated 2D images and merely digital image manipulation would be kind of blurry. Manually generated images from multiple views that were meant to appear 3D do not count. Answer According to the CGI article on Memory Alpha : The very first CGI used was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , where Lucasfilm Graphics Group, then a subsidiary of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) , was responsible for the " Project Genesis ...

Warp plasma appears to burn green. (Obvious observation is obvious.) For example, in the Star Trek Voyager episode Fair Trade , weapons fire ignites a cloud of warp plasma that had been seeping out of a container with disabled safeties. The subsequent explosion is a rather intense green: (Yes, that's a person on fire, but it's OK - he's a drug dealer) In an earlier Voyager episode, Investigations : "Neelix manages to gain the upper hand and Jonas is knocked over the railing into the plasma-stream from a ruptured plasma conduit, incinerating him instantly." ( Memory Alpha ) I am unsure if the plasma had been ignited or was just leaking. In the real world, copper burns green, as does chromium and krypton gas is used in green neon signs. Why does warp plasma burn green? Is there a (pseudo-)scientific reason, or is it just part of the story? Does it burn this color in other Star Trek series? Answer I asked about plasma being able to ignite and burn at all over on P...

I have only seen a few episodes of the cartoon "X-Men: Evolution" on YouTube, and it seems that the story arcs are all mixed together. I saw a bit of a story arc involving Apocalypse in which he causes Magneto to destroy a spider which was a guardian to prevent his release. I also just saw season 4 episode 1 on YouTube in which Apocalypse seems to kill Magneto (and Mystique). Does anyone know all the episodes that make up this story arc? Answer The last two episodes of Season 4 cover the actual story arc itself. If you're looking for footage of Apocalypse fighting the X-men, that's where you'll find it. However, Evolution did drop a lot of build-up leading up to the actual story. The setup occurred in the season finale of the previous season, Season 3, which of course is resolving several previous episodes worth of build-up. It's generally a good idea to watch the series in order, start to finish; at 52 episodes, it's a bit of a time investment, but not ...

There was a film from the 80s on where young people can teleport anywhere they think. These guys are recruited to make studies with them, maybe from the government or a secret company which wants the take advantage of their habilities. I saw it at on cable TV around 1990-1997. Any clues? Answer I'm betting you're thinking of The Tomorrow People , which aired from 1973 to 1979, or the remake, released in the 1990s . The original series was produced by Thames Television for ITV. The Tomorrow People operate from a secret base, The lab, built in an abandoned London Underground station. The team constantly watches for new Tomorrow People "breaking out" (usually around the age of puberty) to help them through the process as the youngsters endure mental agonies as their minds suddenly change. They sometimes deal with attention from extraterrestrial species as well as facing more earthbound dangers with military forces across the globe keen to recruit or capture them for th...

In the Death of Superman storyline of the early nineties -- Doomsday gets out and escapes with one hand tied behind his back. The only time he gets fully out of these restrains was when the full Justice league attacked him with all of their powers, but until then -- he was basically restrained . How is this possible? Answer According to the Wikipedia article : Doomsday possesses extreme superhuman strength that, variable as it is, at one point enabled him to effortlessly stand his ground against the entire Justice League, including Superman and Orion.[19] He was able to break Superman's left arm with limited effort, as well as outmatch and beat Darkseid unconscious in combat.[17] However, his strength has limits: the immensely strong Calatonian alloy cables, in which he was entombed, continued to partially restrain during his initial rampage on Earth. It was never stated how long he had struggled to free his left hand before his escape. I also agree with Keith H Weston, in that ...

My son cried when Yoda died. He asked me why no one took care of him during his last days. Given that Yoda was around 900 years old, surely he would have lots of descendants to look after him. Why were his offspring so unfilial? Answer Yoda has no known family; his background is deliberately kept vague. From an interview with George Lucas: So he's a mystery character, he's a magical character. He has no background. He comes and he goes. He's the subversive secret mysterious stranger that enters the film and then exits at the end. [embedded content] Yoda's page at the Star Wars Databank lists his species as "unknown" and makes no mention of any family. In this answer , @Richard lists all members of this species to have appeared in any licensed Star Wars media. It's a short list (Minch, Oteg, Vandar, Yaddle and Yoda), and none of them are Yoda's kids. And this page , claiming that "the Children of Yoda and Yaddle were a bunch of weird asshole f...

A scientist creates a virus (bacteria?) which, when encountering a woman, implants a fetal clone of him, which the woman is pregnant with. Millions of his clones have already been born, and society is having a hard time accommodating them. The man is in hiding, working as a teacher in a special class for his clones. He is evaluating one particular young clone, who apparently suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, which was detected based on his unexpectedly low test scores. It's a short story, read in the 2000s or earlier. Answer This is The Cuckoo's Boy by Robert Reed. In the near-future title story, a lonely genius clones himself -- not once, but millions of times -- by creating a virus that affects pregnant women. Throughout the world, women give birth to baby boys with the genetics of Phillip Stevens. Then a few years later, a man with a mysterious past becomes a mentor to three of these clones -- and as their teacher, he tests and challenges them. Are these boys little m...

What is the relationship between First Formics War Marvel comics ( Formic Wars: Burning Earth and on) and Card/Johnston prequel book trilogy ( Earth Unaware , Earth Afire and Earth Awakens )? From rough descriptions of the comics, they sound like they cover similar or same materials. Are they simply comic tie-in to prequel books? Or just happened to cover similar stories? Answer Found the answer in Afterword to " Earth Unaware ". The comics were Card's idea, and the books were an offshot of the comics, covering the same events in more details. First, Marvel did adaptations of existing Ender books as comics Then, Card gave them idea to create new comics (what would become Formic Wars series) Then, they wrote the novels, as planned: So Scott and I had to make some concessions and exclude people and events from the comics that we knew would only exist in the novels In addition, Card was Executive Director and Creative Director of the comics: UPDATE : Found another cano...

Throughout Marvel's comic history, many characters have lifted Mjolnir, and most appear to gain some Thor-like armor when they do. Cases in point: Storm (yes, I know this image is technically Stormcaster) Beta Ray Bill Jane Foster Rogue One notable exception to this is Captain America. When he lifts Mjolnir, his outfit remains unchanged: Has there ever been any reason given as to why Captain America doesn't get Thor-like armor in this scenario? Also... The impetus of this question is Endgame, obviously, and while I would be okay with an answer from the Russo brothers in context of the MCU, I'm primarily interested in the comic side of things.

Superman's alter ego is Clark Kent. Unlike many other superheroes, Superman dresses up as a human to fit in. What makes the world so oblivious to Clark Kent's secret; Superman? (In regards his poor disguise). Answer Superman has always been a public figure, but he doesn't wear a mask. His entire face is visible to all, and he willingly has photos taken, kisses babies, etc. Batman, Flash, Green Lantern (the Hal Jordan version at least), etc. ALL wear masks to cover their faces. Their masks make people wonder what is beneath them. Similarly, since Superman doesn't wear a mask, many (if not most) people assume he has no secret identity. This is aided by the fact that he's always been very open about his back story - he's NOT human, just human-looking. He's openly admitted that he is the last survivor of an alien race, and that he's adopted Earth as his home. It is difficult for people to believe that someone with so much raw power, who has been so open, h...

We have a Word of God statement that there is at least one Jewish wizard at Hogwarts, Anthony Goldstein (it's in an answer here somewhere). But if so, why are only the Christian holidays celebrated? Shouldn't they either celebrate all holidays or none ? Answer J. K. Rowling is a Christian and as thus she wrote the books about Christianity. To me the religious parallels have always been obvious, but I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going. Harry Potter' Author J.K. Rowling Opens Up About Books' Christian Imagery - Open Book Tour She has said (under oath) that she never had plans to write any books about Judaism. Defense: You were never going to write a book on Harry Potter and Judaism, right? The Court: And what? Defense: It was never her intention to write a book about Harry Potter and the Talmud, isn't that correct? Rowling: I regret to say that is the case. Warner Bros vs R...

In the Red Dwarf episode, Timeslides (s3e5) , Dave Lister changes his personal timeline so that he was never gets stranded on Red Dwarf. It's explained that this means they never rescued Kryten and the Cat race never happened. It doesn't explain why Rimmer doesn't fade out. It was established a little earlier that Holly brought Rimmer back as a hologram to keep Lister sane. It still makes sense that the crew would have been wiped out, still. It also makes sense that Holly would have survived. But why, in this alternate timeline, does Rimmer exist? Also, why does Holly have the female face?

I love those flying disks in the senate of The Galactic Republic. How many disks were there? I googled, but without luck. A link says it 10000, but without citation. Is this ever mentioned in a book or other media? Answer 1024. Per the (canon) Ultimate Star Wars factbook. GALACTIC SENATE CHAMBER The Galactic Senate Chamber is the nerve centre of political activity on Coruscant. The huge open area is lined with 1,024 pods arrayed in concentric circles, each pod housing a delegation from an important planet, sector or political body. The pods are outfitted with anti-gravity repulsorlifts, so that when a politician wishes to address the assembled Senate, his or her pod detaches from the wall and floats into the open air in the middle of the chamber. The entire structure is fitted with voice-amplifying microphones and automatic translators, and hovercams constantly flit about to record the proceedings for the official record. At the centremost point of the Galactic Senate Chamber is th...

As a high school student just starting in science fiction, I read a short story collection in paperback that included this story – not quite a short-short, but not very long either. I think that it was written by a familiar author, since the collection was one of those “Best Of…” anthologies. Our hero is a sympathetic young guy trying to get ahead, in love with a beautiful neighbor, but hopeless in love. He rescues a miniature Minor Deity (and I've forgotten the mechanism – rescued from a cat perhaps?) and gets a wish in return. The catch is that since this is only a minor deity, the value of the wish is small – and I forget the actual value, perhaps $2.49. He asks for help winning at the races to help get the girl – and the minor deity says sure, but the payoff can only be $2.49. How about help rescuing her from a calamity like an earthquake? Sure, but the total damage can only be $2.49. Other alternatives are discussed, but the value can only be $2.49. Frustrated, our hero thinks...

If Batman met a clone of himself or a Batman from an alternate dimension, would we say: There are two Batmen or There are two Batmans You'd assume Batmen but Batman is his name, not his title. Have we ever seen any examples in canon? Answer This issue of Superman/Batman is called: Supermen/Batmen So I'd have to assume that's the correct way to say it. Grammatically, Batmans might actually be correct since it's his name and not his title, like you say. But Batmans just sounds wrong.

We know from the Death Star Technical Companion that the number of people aboard the first Death Star (including troopers, gunners, crew, pilots, staff, etc.) was 1,179,293. That's how many people Luke killed in a single Force-inspired instant. Then you add all the other people he's killed in his adventures (though as a friend of mine has said, that's essentially a rounding error in the death toll). How does that compare to the number of people directly killed by Darth Vader (including the sand people, even if he was technically still Anakin then) over his lifespan, off-screen or on?

In Harry Potter , was there a spell or magical tool to detect that a wizard was pure-blood, half-blood or muggle-blood? Or, did they simply use family information of a wizard? Was it possible for a wizard to hide his/her blood-status? Answer I think JKR contradicted herself here. On one hand, there are hints that blood status is detectable, as @Slytherincess and @Kristen's answers state. On the second hand, if so, there would be no point in Umbridge-chaired hearings to determine blood status that Hermione witnessed in DH when they infiltrated the Minitry - the hearing allowed people to "prove" their blood status by providing documentation. If you can determine someone's blood status magically, documentation and hearings are 100% superfluous and un-needed. "No," said Umbridge, "no, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here – Mafa...

What parts of the old Pottermore weren't carried over to the new Pottermore? Conversely, which parts of the new Pottermore weren't on the old Pottermore? (I'm only asking about the parts actually from JK Rowling. Not the stupid Buzzfeed clickbait articles.) Answer Parts of the old Pottermore not carried over: The artwork from the quizzes ( Sorting & Wand ) (note that the sorting quiz has changed) Dumbledore's Army Reunites at the Quidditch World Cup (Some artwork from the other QWC articles are missing) Book extracts ( Curses and Counter-Curses , The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 , A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration , One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi , The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection , Book of Spells [video] , Book of Potions [video] ) Spell (and potion) books ( The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 , The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 , Curses and Counter-Curses , The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection , Magical Drafts and Potion...

I'm trying to work out the name of a Science Fiction movie from the 80's where the female alien ( in human form ) drinks coffee by mistake and gets very drunk. It's all I remember from the film but I seem to remember it was really enjoyable! Any ideas? EDIT - I remember space and spaceship were involved too! Answer Something Is Out There was a mini-series on NBC in 1988. It was then turned into a TV-series . She brings her class and elegance to bear on the role here, her studious seriousness making for some appealing fish out of water comedy – especially amusing are the scenes with her getting drunk on coffee MoriaNZ Review

Starfleet is supposedly an exploratory and defense** fleet representing the entire Federation . Yet its command hierarchy is dominated by humans, its headquarters are on Earth, its flagship is a human-dominated vessel and almost all major battles are led by human commanders. I understand that the Vulcans are not into exploration and Andorians tend to be isolationist. But I'm surprised that none of the many races that make up the Federation seem to mind humans controlling their primary defense fleet, especially given that the Federation is about as cohesive as the UN security council when it comes to political matters. ** Or, in the alternate timeline, a scientific, humanitarian and peacekeeping force. (A related question, which I came across while checking for possible duplicates asks about non-human Starfleet vessels ) Answer There are numerous angles to go at this, and almost all of them place humans at the forefront: In the original series, Roddenberry wanted to depict the ...

This may be an obvious question but if you do math according to this question you get the average age of avatars to be 54ish years . This seems quite short. Therefore could theoretically be more then one avatar living at a time and Raava simple moves on at ones death. Does Raava pass onto the next avatar at death and birth or at some other time? Answer Wiki explanation of the Avatar Cycle Although it has never been explicitly stated that the next avatar is born immediately after the previous one dies, it is heavily implied that the Raava merges with the next Avatar at birth, or at least very near to birth: Air Avatar Yangchen is the oldest named reincarnation of the Avatar, followed by Water Avatar Kuruk , Earth Avatar Kyoshi , Fire Avatar Roku , Air Avatar Aang , and finally Water Avatar Korra . Yangchen died circa 345 BG (Before the Air Nomad Genocide, at the start of the 100 Year War). It is unknown how long she lived. Kuruk was born c. 345 BG and died in 312 BG, living approxima...

I have read this press release a couple of times. In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. Does this describe material set after Jedi, or published after? Is it also saying that only things published as "Legends" are now non-continuity? I have read that it is only films + Clone Wars + Rebels that are now in the main continuity but can't see this sourced by Lucas Film Story Group. Does anyone have a reference for this?

In WALL•E when Captain McCrea is fighting for control of the Axiom, he ends up forcing the ship to abruptly list when he's thrown off of Auto. This, of course, has the undesirable side effect of throwing everyone that was gathered on the Lido Deck out of their hoverchairs, and they all go sliding down the deck until they hit the walls of the ship. My question is: Why are they all thrown from their hoverchairs when the ship lists? It's not as if there's an actual up or down in space; down is a relative direction and usually happens beneath your feet. Especially when there's use of artificial gravity. The only reason we know that the Axiom is listing at all is because we see her doing so while the camera is fixed outside; to everyone else, it should've gone unnoticed. Answer Speculation In the trivia notes for the Axiom Pixar Wiki it says: When WALL-E first sees the Axiom, it is located behind the Horsehead Nebula. A large Nebula which is starting to form star clus...

This question What is the in-universe cost of a TIE fighter? Establishes that there's a second-hand market for military ships. Where are these ships available for sale? Who sells them, what's the main route-to-market (i.e from "in-service" to "out-service")? Are there any cases in SW literature where a character owns a second-hand fighter (of either denomination)? I know there are a few questions here, but I assume a good answer will cover the route to market with an example.

I don't expect a great answer till all parts are released, but at least, as per the current knowledge, what elements (plot, characters, events, ideas, dialog, items etc..) are known to be in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movie(s), which are taken from Tolkien legendarium (e.g. LOTR, Silmarillion, letters etc...) but NOT in the original "Hobbit" novel? Answer Just saw it! Many Tales are woven together that are only barely mentioned in The Hobbit . I'll just quickly write that a lot of the expanded material comes from the writings that were still about Middle Earth and mostly the Appendices of LOTR . Some of the material may also have come from earlier drafts of both The Hobbit and LOTR within its appendices. Radagast the Brown gets a much more extensive treatment than I would have ever expected and liberties were definitely taken with the timeline Tolkien indicates in his writing vs. what is depicted in the movie. There were also additional bits that neede...

When R2-D2 and BB-8 converse in The Force Awakens for example, is there any written record of what the two characters were saying to each other? I mean actual dialog, if it exists, and not something like ”BB-8 beeps excitedly” . Answer Nope. In the script it's all " BB-8 Beeps excitedly " and " BB-8 Bleeps mournfully ", and so on. As far as his ' conversation ' with R2-D2 is concerned, this is what you get: LOW WITH BB-8 as he rolls over and finds, under a dark and dusty tarp in a corner, R2-D2. BB-8 BEEPS at R2, pulls off the tarp and tries to start a conversation. But R2 DOESN'T RESPOND AT ALL. BB-8 tries again. Nothing. BB-8 NUDGES R2. Nothing. ... As BB-8 approaches R2-D2, the long dormant droid suddenly stirs. The droids beep at each other.

If lightsabers can cut through anything , why don't more people (especially bounty hunters) carry lightsabers as a simple cutting tool? It has been proven here why non-Jedi don't carry lightsabers as weapons . However, this questions asks whether there are non-weapon items based on lightsaber technology. But my question is different: If a non-Jedi can get ahold of a lightsaber, such as Boba-Fett, Grievous or Cad-Bane (the latter two who have used them as weapons, in fact), for example, why doesn't he keep one handy? It doesn't take Jedi training to use one safely in order to cut things. Han Solo has done it on occasion (on Hoth, for example, when he opened the TaunTaun) and didn't think twice about it. And in The Force Awakens , Finn easily used a lightsaber without any training whatsoever, so it's not a matter of possessing the Force that makes the item able to be used. [reasons why this is not a duplicate] This question was marked as a duplicate of this: Are...

I understand that he takes them as trophies from defeated opponents, but how does he get his first one? Does he defeat a Jedi without a lightsaber? If so, who? Or is he given one by a Sith? Or does he make his own (without force assistance)? Answer According to Wookieepedia, Count Dooku presented him his first lightsaber: The cyborg project was funded by San Hill to create a military leader that could counter Dooku's growing political influence in the Separatist Movement, although he presented the finished General Grievous as a twisted gift to Dooku. Though taken aback by his appearance, Dooku was pleased, and bestowed upon Grievous the title "Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies," planning to use him in his efforts to conquer the Republic. He presented him with his first lightsaber, the weapon of Sifo-Dyas, an old friend of Dooku's. This information comes from 14-page comic The Eyes of Revolution , from Star Wars: Visionaries , in which a fully cybonic "Sheel...

In the Hunger Games movies, Katniss uses a bow as her primary weapon. Not considering her actual shots (hitting her targets), does Katniss show how to properly use, hold, and handle a bow? Did Jennifer Lawrence have to learn how to handle a bow for this part, or did they simply just say, "Here, hold this fancy bow and pretend to use it"? Answer Jennifer Lawrence was trained by Olympic archer Khatuna Lorig. From this article : To prepare for her role as "Hunger Games" heroine Katniss Everdeen, Lawrence trained with professional archer and Olympian Khatuna Lorig to learn how to properly shoot with a bow and arrow. "She was lovely," Lorig told the Associated Press. "We had a great time coaching and working together." Given her connection to the film, Lorig was one of six Olympians featured in a recent Glamour spread. The Olympic archer, together with a few of her fellow female archers, will also grace the cover of an upcoming special-edition ...

Here's what I remember: Takes place in the future on a giant, bigger-than-a-planet spaceship found and now run by humans Humans are genetically altered and/or are enhanced with nanotechnology and have essentially become immortal and can be healed from almost any wound The surface of the ship is inhabited by former humans who have mutated into a new species, and live their entire lives in a kind of space suit The plot involves the discovery of a small planet within the ship that the protagonist is stranded on along with many others, and they form a civilization and live there for centuries Anyone know the name of this book? I can never remember it. Answer It's Marrow by Robert Reed . Good book. When a jovian sized, artificially-created structure enters the galaxy, a society of technologically advanced humans (capable of interstellar flight and functionally immortal) are the first to intercept and investigate it. Finding it to be an intergalactic ship, they decide to convert ...

I read a short story many years ago about a woman who lived in a time where women gave birth to organic industrial equipment. From what I can remember, it was a story at the end of a book of short stories, I don't know who wrote it. I remember something about the woman being told that she had produced an exceptional sample which could be used as a "ship mind" or something like that. There was a guy who tried to poison her while pregnant and make her miscarry. There was a letter at the end of the story congratulating her on now being allowed to have children of her own. Something about "motherhood"?

In the TNG episode Manhunt , we see that Lwaxana Troi can't read the mind of a hologram (as there is no mind there to read!), but her telepathic abilities are well-renowned. Hence, could she possibly read Data's thoughts? If so, would she read thoughts like those of a human, or would they be lines of code? Answer No. We see in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3. Episode 20 "Tin Man" that even the most powerful of Betazoids, Tam Elbrun, cannot read Data. Hence it would be extremely unlikely that Lwaxana would be able to read Data. From the Wiki site: "En route, Elbrun finds it impossible to filter out the thoughts of the Enterprise crew, but when meeting Data, he is puzzled by finding what he calls 'absence of mind', but also finds relief in developing a friendship with Data, who, being an artificial lifeform, has no thoughts to be read." Wiki Tin Man Episode Memory Alpha Tin Man Episode

I'm trying to find a children's/YA book. I remember it being about a family's robot that is about to be either destroyed or have its mind wiped. The boy that it belonged to orders it to run away to save it. I think it was thought to be defective for not following some of its prime directives. The story is set on either the Moon or Mars and the people live in domes. During the story, the boy meets up with the robot and both helps and is helped. I don't believe it was I, Robot. It wasn't a short story or stories, but a children's book. At a guess, I'd say it was written for 10-14 year-olds. I keep thinking the book was called "Run, Robot, Run" but I can't find it by that title. I don't know if it had a positronic brain, but it may have been something like that. I mostly remember that the book started off almost immediately with the child yelling "Run, robot, Run!" and most of the rest of the book being about the robot trying to esca...

In the movie the return of the king, Denethor was seen holding Boromir's broken horn. But in Two Towers it is shown that Faramir sees the boat bearing his dead brother floating past him on the River Anduin. There is also a quote in the book which indicates Faramir might have recovered the body. But in Gondor in after-days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars. But if Faramir had recovered the body of Boromir, people would have known since he was Captain-General of Gondor. Does Faramir recovers his brother's body or it floats into the sea?

For example, if a wizard were to dissolve some sugar in a bowl of water, or absorb some water into a sponge, or make some cake batter, could that wizard then Summon ONLY the sugar from the solution, the water from the sponge, or any specific ingredient from the cake batter but leave behind the water/sponge/batter?

Superman's costume is made from the blanket which he was wrapped in when he first landed on Earth. The alien properties of the blanket make the costume nearly indestructible. But, I think its stock is limited & it doesn't have replication/ regeneration properties etc. (Correct me if I am wrong). In an episode of Justice League , Toyman sent Superman to the future, when the Sun was red. Unfortunately, it looks like the costume also needs yellow Sun for indestructibility. Look what happened: How did he come back in action with an indestructible costume? In Justice League Unlimited , once the government's Cadmus project created a monster with Superman's DNA who was powerful enough to tear Superman's costume apart: But again, it was not a big problem for Superman. I don't know from where Superman got a shiny new costume in the same episode. Does Superman have access to Kryptonian cloth reservoirs? Are there other things I am missing? What's the secret behin...

In the latest Dark Horse Star Wars comic, Obi-Wan's ghost starts talking to Vader, mostly messing with him, but it occurred to me. Has any early Expanded Universe material had Obi-Wan reach out to Vader? Answer No. During the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope Obi-Wan was ensconced on Tatooine to keep an eye on Luke. While he had some contact with other fallen Jedi - notable the later Darth Krayt - he had none with Vader. There has also, as of June 2013 - I do not know the current comic series you're mentioning - never been a case of the two having contact via Force-ghost after Obi-Wan's death.

Just thought about this: What will happen if you cast a Vanishing Charm to a human? Will they to end up in "nothingness"? If that is true, then why was it not an unforgivable curse? Answer Regarding "What will happen if you cast a Vanishing Charm to a human": "Into non-being , which is to say, everything." (Minerva McGonagle, answering a riddle to enter Ravenclaw common room about "Where do Vanished objects go?". This means that if you cast a simple Vanishing Charm on a human, they will permanently vanish - though her answer may imply that their matter may be distributed around if taken scientifically and not philosophically. Note: Don't confuse Vanishing charm with Vanishing Cabinet which acted like a transporter and did NOT actually use the Vanishing charm despite sharing a name . As far as it being a "an unforgivable curse", there are 2 reasons: First, because the spell, as @beichst's answer noted, the spell isn't a p...

Maggy the Frog's prophecy of Cersei having and losing three children seems to be right on the money but for one thing: Either Cersei is lying to Cat in the 2nd episode about the "little black-haired beauty" who died in infancy, or Maggy was (wrong?) The "You win or you die" scene in the eponymous episode (Season 1 episode 7) doesn't provide any hints. Cersei cops to all of her living children being Jaimie's, but neither confirms nor denies any dead children between her and Robert. My best guess is that since it was Robert's custom to be away on a hunt during his wife's childbirth, Cersei killed the (born living) baby shortly after the birth. But that's just a guess since that would make her statements to Cat technically true, without entirely conflicting with Maggy's prophecy (Cersei felt no loss, and perhaps the baby wore no gold shroud). I'm pretty certain that there haven't been any more hints in the show (see my new answer be...

I know Davros created the Daleks and that story was told in Genesis of the Daleks , but when were they created, in relation to Earth's time? Answer There is no definitive answer to this. In A History of the Universe , it's dated at 4000 B.C.. This book is followed by AHistory (An Unauthorized History of the Doctor Who Universe) , where (in the second edition, the date is revised to 760 A.D. based on the Dalek Chronicles TV Century 21 comic strip (dubious canon, in my opinion). The Doctor Who: The Dalek Handbook has it even later, in 1500 A.D. Complicating matters further, there are two contradictory Dalek origin stories (although some have tried to unify these through alternate timeline stories). As well as Genesis of the Daleks , there was the very early (second serial of the 1st Doctor) The Daleks , which also had no confirmed date (possibly 1963, the year the Doctor was aiming for; 2263 in AHistory ; 2290 according to Doctor Who Monthly #75 ).

I can't imagine Justice League without Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern. My emotions are attached with this: But, I am getting this: Why did producers choose to not include Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern (they were also part of original seven members of Justice League in comics) in the movie? Answer Green Lantern GL's non-presence was discussed with the studio's bigwigs (Greg Silverman, president of creative development Warner Bros and DC producer Charles Roven) in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. They claim that it's down to three reasons; That Green Lantern is too important a character to simply turn up in an ensemble film. That they already have something Green Lantern-related in the works (presumably their slated 2020 " Green Lantern corps " movie). That introducing even more characters would be confusing for audiences. “[Green Lantern] is an incredible character. He’s actually multiple incredible characters,” Silverman says. “There’s re...