Technically Fiction
Finding facts in the fantastic
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Health & MedicineHere’s why Rapunzel’s hair makes a great rope ladder
The fairy tale ‘Rapunzel’ features a princess with a lifesaving head of hair. Could someone really use their hair as a ladder? Sort of.
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OceansWhat makes Aquaman special? He can take a lot of pressure
The new Aquaman movie makes life under the sea look pretty glamorous. In fact, we puny humans probably couldn’t take the pressure.
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PhysicsHarry Potter can apparate. Can you?
In the world of Harry Potter, wizards apparate and disapparate with ease. How would that work in the non-magical world? Physics has some answers.
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MicrobesBacteria and bugs will save us from the zombie apocalypse
Don’t fear the undead. Here’s how the body’s cells, microbes and insects will eat a zombie before it ever goes looking for brains.
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PhysicsDoctor Who’s TARDIS is bigger on the inside — but how?
The TARDIS looks like a old police box on the outside. But on the inside, it’s got plenty of space. How does that work? It just takes a wormhole and a tesseract or two.
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TechStar Wars‘ cutest droids would get stuck on the beach
On screen, R2D2 and BB-8 travel over every type of terrain. But in real life, any sandy path would stop these droids short.
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AnimalsNature shows how dragons might breathe fire
Fire-breathing dragons can’t live anywhere outside of a book or TV. But nature provides some guidance as to how they might get their flames. If they existed, anyway.