Technically Fiction

Finding facts in the fantastic

  1. 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.

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  2. 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?

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

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  5. Tech

    Could Star Trek replicators exist?

    Experts break down what’s possible and what’s not for this classic science-fiction invention.

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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?

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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. 

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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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