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An Apple Pie From Scratch

The blog's flagship series, detailing realistic worldbuilding--based on current research--from a world's overall place in the universe to the minutiae of everyday life. It also details the construction of an example world, currently named "Teacup Ae". Though these are intended to be read in order, each "Part" is also written to be somewhat self-contained and understandable out of order.

• Part I: Time and Place 
• When could life have first appeared in the Universe?
• What could have prevented intelligent life in the past?
• Where in the universe could life appear today?
• What will become of the universe and life in the far future?
• Part II: Stars
  
• What are the main varieties of stars and why do they vary?
• Apart from those like our sun, what other types of stars could host habitable worlds:
• Red dwarfs?
• White dwarfs?
• Red giants?
• Neutron stars?
• Black holes?
• Brown dwarfs?
• Could tidal-locked planets be habitable?
• Could habitable planets exist in systems with multiple stars?
• How could I estimate the realistic properties of a fictional star?
• What sort of orbits are stable in binary systems?
• Supplement: Simulating Star Evolution with Starpasta
  
• Part III: Orbits
  
• How do orbits work?
• How can I describe an object's orbit?
• What happens in orbital systems with 3 or more massive bodies?
  
• Part IV: Planets and Moons
• Formation and Orbits
• How do planets form in star systems?
• What sort of planetary systems can we expect as a result?
• How closely can we pack planet orbit together?
• Could we put multiple planets in the same orbit?
• Which planets and moons should be tidal-locked?
• How do moons form?
• Which planets can have moons?
• How do rings form?
• Size and Surfaces
• How can I determine a planet's size from its mass?
• How can I estimate a planet's temperature?
• What sort of surfaces could I see on an alien planet?
• What sort of minerals or other solids might there be on the surface?
• What determines the atmosphere it will have?
• What sort of oceans could it have?
• What will the skies above the planet look like?
• Habitability

• What's the habitable zone?
• What special conditions might extend the range of the habitable zone?
• How do I calculate the habitable zone?
• How big or small could a habitable planet be?
• Could ocean worlds, carbon worlds, or metal-rich worlds be habitable?
• Does a habitable world need...
• A large moon?
• A nearby gas giant?
• A short day?
• Could moons be habitable?

• Part V: Tectonics
• Constructing a Plate Tectonic History  
• Alternatives to Plate Tectonics
• Supplement: Using GPlates
• Part VI: Climate
• Global Forcings
• Biomes and Climate Zones
• Climate Zones of Exotic Worlds
• Tidal-Locked Planets
• Supplement: Modeling Climate with ExoPlaSim
  
• Part VII: Geology and Landforms
• Tectonics and Volcanism
• Erosion and Deposition
• Constructing Global Terrain 
  

Climate Explorations

A series using ExoPlaSim to explore the different climates possible with a variety of different climate forcings.

• Temperature 
• Obliquity 
• Day Length
• Eccentricity
• Mini-Explorations
• Shifted Poles 
  
• Supplement: Climate Model Scripts 

Public Climate Data Explorations

A series looking at publicly available climate model datasets from previously published research that can be interpreted as climate zone maps.

• Future Supercontinents
• Habitable Mars
  

Hurried Thoughts

Shorter posts just taking a single thought experiment or discovery and running with it for a bit.

• Time Dilation Loop
• Late Tidal-Locking Planets
• Phanerozoic Koppen-Geiger Climate Maps
• You Can't Feed a Society with Mushrooms 
• You're Wrong About Tidal-Locking 
• Multiple-Moon Tides 
  

Tools and Resources

Basically what it sounds like, a list of various applications or informative web pages I've referenced in the blog or are related to its content. Entire websites or series I consider informative resources are still in the sidebar.

Infographics

A collection of interesting infographics made either in the process of writing the blog, or as a supplement to it. There aren't many so far, but I have plans for later. 

Miscellanea

A few odds and ends I've worked on over the years not directly related to the blog or worldbuilding:

Alterations to Existing Posts

For the convenience of regular readers, a page keeping track of any substantial changes made to posts after they are first posted.