We need a Dwarven Institute of Science.
I often find myself making quick little forts to test some theory I have, because I don't want to mess up my main fort. What if we played a succession game where we posed questions and then someone volunteered to download the fort and test out the theory? It would become a giant Dwarven Institute of Science! We would need a boringly safe and secure fort, but one with ready access to goblin test subjects, so that means a TON of cage traps as the main defense. We would need some cave in traps surrounded by cages as well, to deal with beasts.
Each experiment should be isolated as much as possible from the main fort. Ideally, one of the possible outcomes of each experiment should be a dead something. For instance, I want to know if water filtered through a grate will spread mud. I don't think it will. At the DIS, rather than simply filtering water through a grate and dumping it in a pit, we would lock a dwarf in a room with filtered water, a bucket, and a pit. If he can make a farm, we know that filtered water spreads mud. If he can't build a farm and dies of starvation, we know it doesn't. How long will it take dwarfs with various personality traits to go crazy in various circumstances? Will a dwarf eat his own pet if he gets hungry enough? What kills goblins faster, magma, or magma mist? Does adamantine protect from magma longer than steel? How quickly will a well in a busy meeting hall spread deadly contagion? How often can an elite goblin bowman shoot through fortifications ten tiles away? From six? From two? Will an elite goblin bowman on a rope shoot at a titan? What if he's locked in a watchtower? These are important questions, and gentledwarfs, we need answers!
The DIS would also serve as a demonstrator for various dwarven technologies, like reactors, repeaters, kitten operated spike traps, catapult stone movers, drop towers, and of course the ultimate goal of the institute will be to build a flying machine. I think we just need to build it entirely out of aluminum. Surely, that will be light enough to fly!
We could publish a thread of our questions and findings, call it "Ask Doctor Dwarf." Anyone up for this?