Best products from r/AskScienceFiction

We found 21 comments on r/AskScienceFiction discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 166 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/AskScienceFiction:

u/captainNematode · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

Some questions and hypotheticals to probe your intuitions:

Someone you deeply care for is scanned and reassembled while sleeping dreamlessly (or under anesthesia, or whatever). Two of them lie side by side before you. Do you kill one without regret? Is it harder to kill one than it is to kill an extremely high fidelity video game model of one?

You say goodnight to your romantic partner of choice and go to sleep beside them. While you both sleep, someone sneaks into your bedroom and painlessly kills them. You wake up to see the intruder standing over their lifeless body. You are angry and upset. The intruder says "it's all good dude, I scanned them before killing them! Here's their saved brainstate (or whatever)". Do you laugh it off? And maybe kick the intruder out for playing such a hilarious practical joke?

Unbeknownst to you, you were copied yesterday and your copy has since slept a dreamless sleep (or is still saved somewhere and hasn't been created yet). Are you more comfortable with killing yourself then and there and being reformed from the save-state, or taking a 24-hour amnestic?

Is the badness of death continuous or discrete? Presume you're entirely, 100% OK with the perfect fidelity copying thing. Now wiggle some of the atoms around. Are you still 100% on board? Wiggle some more atoms. Change your favorite flavor of ice-cream to rum raisin, but leave everything else intact. Make your colon half an inch longer. Tuvan throat singing is now overwhelmingly your favorite sort of music. Etc. Still ok with it? Those things aren't really integral to your identity, are they? Or is the death of the "original", instead of being a neutral act, now 5% as bad as death sans "copy"? Now approach the process of copying from the other direction -- instead of having a perfect copy, you find out that "Sam" exists. Sam's your distant kin, and they sorta like the same things you do. They're willing to step into your shoes when you get vaporized. Are you now slightly reassured at the prospect of death?

-------------

I myself wouldn't step into the copy-destroy-reconstruct machine (except in certain circumstances), but would be inclined to do a piece-by-piece mind upload. I'm not nearly certain enough that copies are meaningfully "me" to risk death in the former manner, but my intuitions don't balk nearly as much at the latter. Perhaps the question's even arbitrary, and you can just as well imagine agents who value their "particular" configuration of matter as well as those who value only the pattern that configuration represents, or those who value both, or those who value neither. That said, in a sci-fi universe, I'd be totally in favor of creating "back-ups" before performing risky activities, if only because a lot of what I value doesn't have to do with me, personally, and the backups could fulfill those goals just as well in the event of my untimely demise (I'd also be in favor of just creating more of me, but that's a separate discussion).

I've another question for those who believe it doesn't matter, or that you don't die in any meaningful respect when you step in the teleporter: how certain of this are you? As in, give me a number, p equals what? Are you 99% certain? That still leaves 1% chance you die meaningfully (and there's still uncertainty about that probability estimate). How great a benefit do you have to receive to gamble on that uncertainty?

As for sci-fi books that investigate the question of personal identity, I recommend Permutation City.

u/soldiercross · 2 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

All Star Superman will teach you everything you need to know in life.
Batman Long Halloween, Dark Victory, all of Grant Morrisons run on Batman (RIP, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin Reborn, Batman INC).

Here's a few reading lists, pick your favorite characters and start looking for the TPB. Id highly recommend not picking up Civil War, it's really meh. And Planet Hulk is a much much better read than WWH (WWH is cool but the story itself is much less intimate).

http://imgur.com/a/bfzNr


Im also going to recommend the first 18 issues of Animal Man and Swamp Thing in the new 52 from a few years ago, up until the Rotworld Arc finishes. The first 12 issues of each are fantastic, with some AMAZING art. Infact, Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing from the 80s is entirely unreal.

Final recommendation, Sandman if you want a trip in terms of storytelling. Fantastic series, but it would eat up all your gift cards, but if you're curious and want a taste there is a really nice collection centering around one of the main characters http://www.amazon.com/DEATH-Deluxe-Edition-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1401235484

u/xavion · 6 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

> You have to sharpen them

They make wooden clubs that survive enough strikes strong enough to reduce rocks to gravel or warp lead cannonballs, why would you need to sharpen a quill enough to be a concern? Also, there's probably also a spell for that even if they don't just use the various magical ways to make something massively more durable.

> you need to get new ones

If magic can make a single robe last you decades, including through all of your teenage years despite the huge amount of growth that occurs in them, somehow I don't think replacing things is going to be quite as much of a concern as you think.

> you have to keep dipping them in ink which gets everywhere

Self inking quills, magic solved that problem of having to ink them yourself. They've even created ways so they don't use ink at all, although there can be side effects of that depending on the method used.

> a whole pack of them for a... well for you it would be like, a couple of knuts or whatever you call them

This seems wrong, so some quick maths. A quick google gives this, pack of 10 BiC black ballpoint pens for £2.50. Nice simple figure right? Should be a good judge of price, given how the brand is very well established. That wasn't the only one I looked too, others are pretty consistent.

Anyway, given the exchange rate of galleons to GBP we can get a price of about 8 sickles 18 knuts, or about 250 knuts, as a knut is only worth about one penny. That's pretty close to about one cent USD for reference, be closer to 1.5 cents USD really. This means you could buy your pack of 10 biros, or you could pay Hermione's Daily Prophet subscription for over 8 months assuming it's a daily paper.

Of course, the only way this works is if magic makes things a lot cheaper, but why wouldn't it? For an actual example of something that costs only a few knuts in the wizarding world, the Daily Prophet. Although, we have no idea how much quills cost, but if they're in line with things like the Daily Prophet or drinks (both hot chocolate and butterbeer were 2 sickles each) a price of only a few knuts wouldn't be unusual.

Even if pens were used, it should still be vastly cheaper to get them through magical sources than muggle ones, as muggle ones simply can't compare to the price of basic items.

> Some use electricity but there's entirely mechanical ones.

Not likely to be much of an issue anyway, I mean they can make radios and cars use magic instead of electricity, why not typewriters? Then again, if quills are any indication a magical typewriter would probably be capable of doing some things regarding word processing that we can't do with modern computers. They do print anyway, look at how they have a newspaper with printed text.

Magic has a simply monumental advantage in things like language and speech processing, only with the most modern technology are we catching up, and something like the quills which can transcribe and sensationalize on the spot are still beyond what we can do.

u/davidahn · 4 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

Are you talking about the fictional origins of these lyrics? Because these ARE the original lyrics; "Everyone knows Juanita" is an original song written by Adrian Molina and Germaine Franco for the 2017 Pixar movie, Coco.
https://acadianasthriftymom.com/2017/11/29/the-meaning-and-love-behind-the-music-of-disneypixar-coco/ (the writing of Juanita is discussed 2/3 of the way down)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073LZD7PH/ (see back of CD cover, left lower corner for writing credits)

I too started researching the same thing you all are researching (what were the lyrics to the original Mexican song?), but then it occurred to me, what if it SOUNDS like an old Mexican song but it's an original song written for the movie? Turns out they did a convincing job of making it sound like a Mexican ranchera.

I do agree with the theory that the authors probably implied "knockers" with the euphemistic "knuckles."

u/Rappaccini · 7 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

As was said, 616 is the main universe, which allows for cross-title character interactions. It's pretty messy, full of inconsistencies etc., but on an individual comic level it works so people don't generally notice that much.

The best way to get into comics is to read completed trade paperbacks, at least in my experience. These are generally story arcs by a specific creative team, and are usually very consistent and don't require too much background knowledge. An example of this might be Superior Spider Man. Generally, series are released as issues and then storylines of these issues are combined into TPBs.

Additionally, if you like consistency, this guy makes a case that early Marvel books were the Golden age of consistency Even though they're dated, the storylines progressed characters in real time, having them age, develop, and refer to previous storylines in appropriate situations. Compare this to modern times, when storylines end and general ideas aren't really built upon by subsequent books.

u/TJ_McWeaksauce · 14 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

This scene took place in Superman / Batman: The Search for Kryptonite.

If you're interested in seeing how Batman and Superman's complicated friendship plays out in the comics, I'd recommend any "Superman / Batman" or "World's Finest" book. For example, in The Search for Kryptonite, Superman decides to take on the formidable task of finding every single piece of kryptonite on Earth and dispose of it, and Batman agrees to help. In the end, they succeed (of course, because they're Superman and Batman), and Superman entrusts Batman with what he calls the very last piece of kryptonite in the world. This is what Batman does with that shard of kryptonite.

If you're also interested in the first time that Batman and Superman have met, this event has been retold on numerous occasions. This article lists several examples.

As for BvS, that was a pile of horseshit, in my opinion.

u/grantimatter · 2 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

You might like JLA: New World Order for a straight-up story of well-known heroes having to think their way out of a puzzle that seems intractable.

I'm also fond of the old Madman comics - some of the supporting characters are totally REALLY brainy, and Madman himself isn't especially strong or superpowered in the conventional way. He has quick reflexes, and is a really fast learner.

You might also get something out of Swamp Thing, especially Alan Moore's run. The hero there is perfectly capable of "punching the bad guys" but in nearly all of the stories, the conflicts are more spiritual or cerebral - the solution comes about from understanding a thing, not beating a thing into a pulp. (There are some whatchacall "mature themes" in some of these books, but they really are good stories.)

u/elementalmw · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

IF the earth was able to survive the sun's transition into a red giant then Supe's would gradually lose his powers as he uses up the yellow sun radiation stored in his cells but is unable to replenish it.

There was a great Elseworlds story that addresses this BUT because it's somewhat of a spoiler I won't mention the title.

Those who don't know what I'm referring to and don't care about spoilers can click here to find out.

EDIT: If anyone is curious as to just what will happen to earth as the sun ages I suggest checking out "Death from the Skies" by Phil Plait a very interesting and fun read.

u/Anticode · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

You might like this as well.

Great for self defense (pokey!) but also great for rescue.

u/chibbell · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

Might I suggest A Darkling Sea by James L Cambias. Quite a good book about future humans observing just such a species. Inevitably first contact is made and the story stays intelligent and interesting throughout. The author does a great job of representing aliens as, well, alien.

edit: added my amazon link

u/RhynoD · 3 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

There's a huge variety of scifi weaponry used in different media. If you want a good smattering of possibility, try the Battletech books: lasers, particle cannons, missiles, and magnetic rail guns.

There are so many different creative kinds of weaponry out there, and creative ways for them to help drive the plot. For instance, in Dune, there are lasguns and personal shields. Lasguns are basically just laser blaster type guns, similar to what you'd find in Star Wars. They interact with personal shields, though, in a way that either vaporizes both the person with the gun and the person with the shield, or possible releases the energy of an atomic bomb. As a result, very few people are willing to use lasguns. The personal shields also prevent anything moving too quickly from getting past it, which means bullets also don't work. Low-tech hand-to-hand weapons like swords become hugely important in that society, which affects how the setting unfolds and how Paul is able to be successful.

Or there's the phaser and photon torpedoes of Star Trek, which do...more or less whatever the plot in that episode requires them to do.

If you're going to write in the genre, you really should try reading a bit more. I might also recommend Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. For the record, Card is an awful human being and I dislike supporting him. But I can't deny that he's a good scifi writer, and the linked book in particular is a good resource if you want to be a scifi writer.

u/Kariolization · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

Awesome! If it's your first Lovecraft story you're in for a treat. No one captures the fear of the unknown like Lovecraft did. He writes of entities unnameable and indescribable, hidden horrors so far beyond our comprehension that we are left to imagine (if we even can) what grotesque forms they could take. Expect to encounter ancient forgotten civilizations, cosmic monstrosities, alternative planes of existence, extradimensional deities, all of the above.

Lovecraft never wrote any novels, mostly poems, short stories and a novella. A great thing about them is that they are all interconnected. You would be best off buying an anthology. I highly recommend these two:

Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft

Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of the Macabre

u/Namuhyou · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

My god they are amazing. The first book is Wizard's First Rule. The main character is Richard Cypher who likes to live in the woods and helps people travel around there. One day he spots this beautiful woman being followed so he helps her out and then everything changes. Richard doesn't like magic but he will do anything for Kahlan, and slowly as his world changes around him he finds he can never go back to his simple life as he is the seeker of truth and even more than that! I can only explain book one because I'll give Richard's secrets away, but it's super good and the author is not afraid to explain the gory details of humanity and war. My favourite books of all time!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wizards-First-Rule-Sword-GOLLANCZ/dp/075288980X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454163241&sr=1-1&keywords=wizards+first+rule

u/Angel2j · 6 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

FOUND IT!! /u/EdwardCoffin found it for me!!
Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Dydeetown-World-F-Paul-Wilson/dp/0671698281

It's probably a ridiculous story, but I liked it when I was younger, so I thought I'd read it again.

Woo!!

Edit: So...um...I forgot about the t-rexes, apparently. This book is probably going to be hilarious when read by an adult. Phooey.

u/Sallymander · 3 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

The Book, "Soon, I will be Invincible" tackles some good "realities" of being a meta. Two cyborgs that have massive upkeep costs and anti-rejection meds, a half human-half alien that has trouble keeping food down because her anatomy rejects both species foods, A fairy that people that just gets humored because everyone knows fairies don't actually exist, and a super genius that suffers from an obsession of trying to take over the world at the same time depression knowing that if it wasn't for that he could actually save the world and help it grow more than anyone else.

The book is brilliantly written as it looks at the superhero genre. It wears a lot of it's inspiration on it's sleeve as many of the characters have very obvious parallels to characters in The Justice League.

u/slappymcnutface · 9 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

I haven't seen the movie, and I'm not much of a book reader, but I do love all things zombies and of all the zombies things I've seen or read I loved World War Z the book.

It's a very easy, light read. But in my opinion it's the best, more realistic and rational zombie book. Hell, it was written by the guy who wrote the Zombie Survival Guide.

u/ChairmanGoodchild · 1 pointr/AskScienceFiction

The Tines from Verner Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep are incredibly awesome, unique beings. They're doglike creatures who live in packs of collective intelligence that communicates across their composite bodies by soundwaves.

Too few Tines in a group organism, and they don't have enough brain power to think properly. Too many, and they jam up their own soundwave frequencies and can't think properly.

All of the implications of this are thought out very well by Verner Vinge. What happens when members die, when new members are born, what happens when packs get too close to each other, what happens when members of individual packs get too far away from each other for soundwaves to travel effectively and so on. Everything is done on a rock-solid hard science fiction foundation. It's a great book.

u/arcsecond · 66 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

I don't know how canon it is, but the Millennium Falcon Workshop Manual shows that the whole of the yt-xx00 class ships are fairly configurable with a center cockpit option as well.

In this case, having the cockpit off to the side opens up more internal space for cargo (cargo which is likely to be heavy (heavier than a human and a wookiee at least), mass balancing being an important aspect of accurate spaceflight), so if you expect your ship to be in vacuum 95% of the time, it makes a lot of sense to free up that extra space in the center of the ship.

u/BlackIsis · 5 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

You may find the Colonial Marines' Technical Manual helpful here -- the United States Colonial Marine Corps has numerous conflicts with other nations, including China and Japan, I believe.

http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Colonial-Marines-Technical-Manual/dp/1781161313

Edit: IIRC, the manual also has a map of showing the "arms" of human colonization (the US has one, China another, etc). Sadly, I do not have my copy with me. It is an excellent technical reference in general though, if you are curious about the workings of the USCMC, and also has a very good section on space combat.

u/Lee_Ars · 50 pointsr/AskScienceFiction

Yes, because when Gorman says "a xenomorph may be involved," he's not talking about the movie's aliens. He's using the word—correctly—to refer to an unknown non-terrestrial form of life. He's basically saying, "There may be non-humans of some sort down there."

(The fact that the marines had never before encountered the aliens and Gorman is using "xenomorph" as a generic term is easily provable, since the marines clearly have no fucking idea what the aliens are, how they reproduce, or how to fight them. If Xenomorph-with-a-capital-X actually referred to the movie's eponymous aliens, then none of the marines would be shocked and yelling "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING" etc etc when the Xenomorphs-with-a-capital-X actually show up.)

Nobody seems particularly surprised that "a xenomorph" is involved, so it seems pretty clear that they've encountered other xenomorphs (i.e., other alien life of some sort) before.

Also, they mention Arcturians in conversation ("It don't matter when it's Arcturian!"), and that seems likely to be another non-human race.

If you want to go slightly non-canonical, the Colonial Marines Technical Manual mentions several times that there are lots of non-human sentients in the galaxy.