research to research anything, you need a research center. it can be destroyed by enemy attacks ( it's not easy to destroy, 3500 hit points are needed). you don't need any manpower but a lot of time to build a new one. There are four kinds of inventions that can be researched: basic researches ( needed for following inventions) ships ( without ships, no movement in space ;) ) buildings and probes production to produce ships you need a shipyard. like the research center it can also be destroyed by attacking fleets (also 3500 hit points). you can only produce ships that you have previously invented in a research process. recycle ships all the ships in your base can be recycled. you get the manpower free to produce new ships. (you will not loose points this way)