Technically Fiction
Finding facts in the fantastic
- Animals
Have you seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster? Probably not
Floe Foxon is a data scientist by day. In his free time, he applies his skills to astronomy, cryptology and sightings of mythical creatures.
- Animals
Pikmin’s plant-animal mashups don’t exist — but sun-powered animals do
Corals team up with photosynthetic zooxanthellae. Some sea slugs steal chloroplasts. How might animals and plants team up in Nintendo’s Pikmin games?
- Tech
How to prevent the robot replication apocalypse
Today’s bot-building robots aren’t set on world domination. But scientists and philosophers want to keep future tech in check.
- Animals
Where does Godzilla get his atomic breath?
Some secrets of the kaiju’s atomic breath can be explained with creative applications of physics and biology.
- Tech
Could Star Trek replicators exist?
Experts break down what’s possible and what’s not for this classic science-fiction invention.
- Oceans
How would a mermaid sound underwater?
Human ears don’t work well in the water. A mermaid would need marine creature features to talk to and understand her aquatic friends.
- Plants
Could a plant ever eat a person?
For now, humans aren’t on the menu for carnivorous plants. But what would it take for one to consume a person?
- Health & Medicine
Humans might be able to hibernate during space travel
Scientists are studying how animals hibernate and developing new technologies to help humans sleep through space travel.
- Animals
Pokémon ‘evolution’ looks more like metamorphosis
Pokémon “evolve” into larger, more powerful forms within seconds, but this evolution more closely resembles another biological process — metamorphosis.
- Tech
Can we build Baymax?
Baymax may be science fiction, but soft robotics is not. Experts break down Baymax’s parts and show what’s coming in the future.
- Animals
How can Baby Yoda be 50 years old?
Animals with wings, big bodies or other protections from predators are more likely to evolve long lifespans.
- Animals
Splatoon characters’ ink ammo was inspired by real octopuses and squid
In Nintendo’s Splatoon game series, Inklings and Octolings duke it out with weapons that fire ink. How does this ink compare with that of real octopuses and squid?
