Technically Fiction

Finding facts in the fantastic

  1. 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?

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  2. Chemistry

    Could we make vibranium?

    The ‘perfect’ metal may belong to the fictitious Marvel world of Wakanda, but scientists hope to one day mimic some of its key traits.

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  3. Animals

    Monstrous mammals would break the body rules

    Giant mammals and people thunder through our movies and books. But real mammals can only get so large before they can’t take the heat.

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  4. Physics

    Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity

    On TV, people in space walk around like they’re on Earth. How can science give real astronauts artificial gravity? Spin right round, baby.

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  5. Animals

    How do you build a centaur?

    A centaur has the torso of a human and the body of a horse. It may sound cool, but it wouldn’t work very well.

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  6. Tech

    Tracking Santa with science

    Santa may be magical. But the North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD) uses science to track his journey.

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  7. Plants

    Here’s how giant pumpkins get so big

    Cinderella took a ride in a pumpkin coach. Though real pumpkins do get big enough, here’s why their ride would be uncomfortable at best.

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  8. Archaeology

    Women like Mulan didn’t need to go to war in disguise

    Female skeletons in Mongolia show injuries like those of fighting men — evidence that they could be warriors, too.

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  9. Animals

    Minecraft’s big bees don’t exist, but giant insects once did

    Big bees buzz in Minecraft. In our world, blocky bees might starve and be stuck on the ground. Yet long ago, giant insects did roam our planet.

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  10. Genetics

    What would it take to make a unicorn?

    Onward’s dumpster-diving unicorns seem like an impossibility. But scientists have some ideas about how unicorns could become real.

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  11. Physics

    Frozen’s ice queen commands ice and snow — maybe we can too

    In the Frozen movies, Elsa magically manipulates snow and ice. But scientists, too, make snowflakes. If they reinforce it, architects can build with ice and snow.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Could Wednesday Addams really jolt a frog back to life?

    A spark that recalls some science history brings a dead frog to life in The Addams Family. Scientists are now using electricity to build the body.

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