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Quiz about Science in Science Fiction
Quiz about Science in Science Fiction

Science in Science Fiction Trivia Quiz


Science fiction has given us many fabulous ideas--many of which are actually possible. Test your knowledge of these futuristic technologies!

A multiple-choice quiz by john_sunseri. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
john_sunseri
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
322,786
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
2182
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: SkipToggle (10/10), Guest 24 (7/10), Guest 4 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Let's begin with an idea that's appeared in many science fiction books, such as Simmons' "Rise of Endymion", Brin's "Heaven's Reach" and Banks's "Consider Phlebas". The basic concept is a swarm of solar satellites that would theoretically capture most of the sun's energy, but in fiction the concept has been expanded to theorize a globe of solid matter completely enclosing a star, capturing ALL the star's energy. What is this called? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Here's another science-fictional idea that's theoretically possible. Sometimes called a 'skyhook' or an 'orbital tower', the idea is to run a cable from Earth through a geostationary point to a counterweight way out into space, so you'd have a way to quickly and cheaply get things into orbit and out of the planet's gravity well. What is the name of this concept, found in Robinson's "Mars" trilogy, Niven and Barnes' "The Descent of Anansi" and Heinlein's "Friday"? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. A popular idea in science fiction is a spacecraft propelled by light--huge mirrors catch photons or solar winds from the sun, or light beams from Earth, and move the ship. The idea appears in Niven and Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye", Boulle's "Planet of the Apes" and Clarke's "Sunjammer". What is this idea called? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Another science-fictional concept which may actually happen someday is the idea that we humans create machines that are actually more intelligent than us--and then THOSE intelligences create more intelligent beings still, and so on, until, according to writer Vernor Vinge, "the human era will be ended". What is this concept called in books like Stross' "Accelerando", MacLeod's "Newton's Wake" and the Culture books of Iain Banks? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. A concept that's been around since 1959 has become more popular in recent fiction now that it's getting closer to reality. Examples include the Borg of "Star Trek" and their assimilation technology, Crichton's novel "Prey" and its microscopic robots, and Bear's "Blood Music". What is the scientific term for the controlling of matter on an atomic level or a molecular level? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. An 'electromagnetic catapult' is a frequent idea in science fiction. The theory is that a series of electromagnets propels a payload at high speeds in order to fling it into orbit or into space. The idea was first written about in Munro's "A Trip to Venus" in 1897, in which an 'electric gun' shot passengers from Earth to its sister planet. What is an 'electromagnetic catapult' better known as? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. It doesn't look like we'll ever be able to break the speed-of-light barrier, so trips to other stars will take a LONG time. Which science-fictional technique (popular in many, many books, including Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" and Niven, Pournelle and Barnes' "The Legacy of Heorot", and films like "Alien" and "Austin Powers") would allow us humans to make it to Alpha Centauri without dying of old age a fraction of the way there? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In early science fiction, giant animals were common (whether through chemical experiments such as those found in Wells' "The Food of the Gods", or nuclear testing as in "Them!", or just prehistoric creatures coming back to life, as in "The Deadly Mantis"), but science fiction authors rarely use the concept anymore. Which scientific principle are giant bugs and bunnies forbidden by? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. One of the insoluble (so far!) problems in science fiction is the lightspeed barrier. Some ingenious ways around the problem are space warps and black holes, tesseracts, multiverses and so on. But one scientific theory from the 1960's has given sf authors new hope--the concept of a subatomic particle that actually travels faster than light. Found in Benford's "Timescape", the graphic novel "Watchmen", and books by Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds and Isaac Asimov, what is the faster-than-light particle called? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Where would science fiction be without mechanical creatures? From Shelley's "Frankenstein" all the way up through Hollywood's "The Terminator", robots (like R2-D2) androids (like Commander Data) and cyborgs (like the Six Million Dollar Man) have become so important to the genre that it's hard to imagine sf without them. So--which science fiction author coined the word 'robotics' (not robot)? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Let's begin with an idea that's appeared in many science fiction books, such as Simmons' "Rise of Endymion", Brin's "Heaven's Reach" and Banks's "Consider Phlebas". The basic concept is a swarm of solar satellites that would theoretically capture most of the sun's energy, but in fiction the concept has been expanded to theorize a globe of solid matter completely enclosing a star, capturing ALL the star's energy. What is this called?

Answer: A Dyson sphere

Freeman Dyson claimed that the solid-matter Dyson sphere was impossible. His idea was, rather, myriad small collector satellites moving in complicated orbits around the sun, collecting the energy and beaming it back to Earth. But the prospect of actually building something big enough to enclose a star in a shell has proven irresistible to sf authors--in addition to the books listed, there have been others by Frederick Pohl, Peter F. Hamilton and Robert Silverberg. Niven's "Ringworld" (and the video game series "Halo") use a modified form of the Dyson sphere as a RING rather than a globe.
2. Here's another science-fictional idea that's theoretically possible. Sometimes called a 'skyhook' or an 'orbital tower', the idea is to run a cable from Earth through a geostationary point to a counterweight way out into space, so you'd have a way to quickly and cheaply get things into orbit and out of the planet's gravity well. What is the name of this concept, found in Robinson's "Mars" trilogy, Niven and Barnes' "The Descent of Anansi" and Heinlein's "Friday"?

Answer: Space elevator

The 'space elevator' idea was first proposed by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895, and has been refined ever since. The big problem with the idea is coming up with a substance that would be strong enough to support its own weight across 35,000 km of space. Recent breakthroughs in carbon nanotube technology suggest that the idea is quite possible in the future, and would save a lot of money and energy in putting payloads into orbit and beyond--but the dangers are equally important. Should such a cable snap, most of it would burn up in the atmosphere, but some of it would still slam into Earth.
3. A popular idea in science fiction is a spacecraft propelled by light--huge mirrors catch photons or solar winds from the sun, or light beams from Earth, and move the ship. The idea appears in Niven and Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye", Boulle's "Planet of the Apes" and Clarke's "Sunjammer". What is this idea called?

Answer: Solar sail

A solar sail (or 'light sail', or 'photon sail') is a very promising technology that would enable spaceships to travel large distances without being required to carry fuel. NASA has tested the concept in vacuum chambers and found it workable, and Russia, Japan and America are all working on tests that will actually take place in space.
4. Another science-fictional concept which may actually happen someday is the idea that we humans create machines that are actually more intelligent than us--and then THOSE intelligences create more intelligent beings still, and so on, until, according to writer Vernor Vinge, "the human era will be ended". What is this concept called in books like Stross' "Accelerando", MacLeod's "Newton's Wake" and the Culture books of Iain Banks?

Answer: The Singularity

The idea of computers becoming smarter than humans is very old--one might make an argument for "Frankenstein", but there've definitely been a lot of books detailing the subject even before 'singularity' became the popular term, from "Colossus" to "Demon Seed" to the Berserkers series.

The singularity excites much interest among certain sf writers--in some scenarios, all available matter (including planets, cosmic dust and...us) is converted into ever-greater computing machines. In others, cosmic intelligences decide to actually leave this realm of physics and go into black holes or other exotic retreats.
5. A concept that's been around since 1959 has become more popular in recent fiction now that it's getting closer to reality. Examples include the Borg of "Star Trek" and their assimilation technology, Crichton's novel "Prey" and its microscopic robots, and Bear's "Blood Music". What is the scientific term for the controlling of matter on an atomic level or a molecular level?

Answer: Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology (the 'nano' refers to the size of the materials being dealt with--a nanometer is one billionth of a meter) deals with VERY small bits of matter. For comparison, the diameter of a DNA molecule is 2 nanometers in length. The idea is to create specific atoms or molecules that act as machines or factories--theoretically, you could set up a nanotech machine that would produce anything you asked it to--a cybertech Goose laying golden eggs for all mankind. Of course, in Crichton's book he postulates that such a swarm of nanobots could wipe out humanity. Crichton wasn't the sunniest of sf authors.
6. An 'electromagnetic catapult' is a frequent idea in science fiction. The theory is that a series of electromagnets propels a payload at high speeds in order to fling it into orbit or into space. The idea was first written about in Munro's "A Trip to Venus" in 1897, in which an 'electric gun' shot passengers from Earth to its sister planet. What is an 'electromagnetic catapult' better known as?

Answer: Mass Driver

Mass drivers also appear in Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (in which Lunar settlers use one to attack Earth with rocks) and the 1936 movie "Things to Come". Construction of a mass driver large enough to launch ships into orbit from Earth is theoretically possible--though the track necessary to build up escape velocity would be hundreds of miles long--but not cost-effective at the current time.

It would be much easier and cheaper to build mass drivers on the Moon, where the gravity is weak and the atmosphere nearly non-existent.
7. It doesn't look like we'll ever be able to break the speed-of-light barrier, so trips to other stars will take a LONG time. Which science-fictional technique (popular in many, many books, including Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" and Niven, Pournelle and Barnes' "The Legacy of Heorot", and films like "Alien" and "Austin Powers") would allow us humans to make it to Alpha Centauri without dying of old age a fraction of the way there?

Answer: Cryonics

Cryonics (or cryogenics) is the preservation of human bodies (and, hopefully, brains) via low-temperature treatment. In other words, freezing people, and then thawing them out at the other end of the journey. The technology is there to freeze humans, certainly--the first man to try the technique out was Dr. James Bedford, in 1967.

He's still frozen in a facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Unfortunately, it's thus far impossible to thaw cryonics subjects, though proponents of the procedure hope that nanomedicine or bioengineering might eventually solve all the problems.
8. In early science fiction, giant animals were common (whether through chemical experiments such as those found in Wells' "The Food of the Gods", or nuclear testing as in "Them!", or just prehistoric creatures coming back to life, as in "The Deadly Mantis"), but science fiction authors rarely use the concept anymore. Which scientific principle are giant bugs and bunnies forbidden by?

Answer: The Square-Cube Law

The square-cube law (or cube-square law) states that when you square an object's size, you cube its mass. Thus, a gamma-irradiated bug would double in size, but its mass would be eight times its previous mass, and it wouldn't be able to move--its muscles wouldn't be strong enough to lift it from the ground. Such a bug would have serious trouble breathing and pumping blood, as well. So King Kong isn't feasible in the real world, unfortunately.

Here's the law: "When an object undergoes a proportional increase in size, its new volume is proportional to the cube of the multiplier and its new surface area is proportional to the square of the multiplier."
9. One of the insoluble (so far!) problems in science fiction is the lightspeed barrier. Some ingenious ways around the problem are space warps and black holes, tesseracts, multiverses and so on. But one scientific theory from the 1960's has given sf authors new hope--the concept of a subatomic particle that actually travels faster than light. Found in Benford's "Timescape", the graphic novel "Watchmen", and books by Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds and Isaac Asimov, what is the faster-than-light particle called?

Answer: Tachyon

The science is a bit confusing (quantum mechanics ain't for novices like me!), but it seems that even tachyons (which are still hypothetical--we can't see the little buggers) won't provide us with a quick and easy way to break the lightspeed barrier; if they exist, they're too unstable to be used to transmit information. Benford had his future humans, living in a horribly destroyed world, try to send a message back to us so that we might change our ways and prevent that dystopian future.

It's a fascinating idea.
10. Where would science fiction be without mechanical creatures? From Shelley's "Frankenstein" all the way up through Hollywood's "The Terminator", robots (like R2-D2) androids (like Commander Data) and cyborgs (like the Six Million Dollar Man) have become so important to the genre that it's hard to imagine sf without them. So--which science fiction author coined the word 'robotics' (not robot)?

Answer: Isaac Asimov

The word 'robot' comes from Karel Capek's 1920 play "R.U.R.", but Asimov made a science out of it. His 1941 short story "Liar!" (one of the stories collected in "I, Robot") used the word 'robotics' for the first time, meaning the engineering and underlying science behind robots.

Asimov also created the Three (later four) Laws of Robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

He added the Zeroth Law later: "A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm." This meant that a robot COULD hurt a human, if it were to save the greater mass of humanity from harm.
Source: Author john_sunseri

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