Sci Fi / Sci Fact
Experts from the MacDiarmid Institute take an idea from fiction and see how it stands up to scientific scrutiny.
Navigation for Sci Fi / Sci Fact
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The Truth Behind Tinfoil Hats
Claims that a tinfoil hat will protect the wearer from electromagnetic fields and mind control have been around for many years but do they actually work? Justin Hodgkiss joins Bryan Crump to answer… Read more Audio
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Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a green crystal-like material found on Superman's home planet - Krypton. The radiation from the rock weakens Superman. Professor Bill Williams tells us if there are any real life… Read more Audio
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Black Widow Fighting Pheromones
Scarlett Johansson's character in Black Widow has to fight pheromones in order to beat the evil villain. Anindita Sen explains how pheromones work and whether they could control humans. Read more Audio
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MacGyver's Laser
MacGyver was an 80s icon, with his mullet and ability to turn anything into a tool to save the day. Karen Thorn looks at one episode where the action hero turns some historical artifacts into a laser.
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The Philosopher's Stone
The Philosopher's Stone in the Harry Potter books can change metal into gold and create an elixir of life. Erin Leitao tells Bryan Crump whether either ability is within our reach. Read more Audio
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Total Recall: Turbinium from the planet Mars
In Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a construction worker who recovers memories as life as secret agent trying to stop the mining of Turbinium on the planet Mars. Read more Audio
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The Ghostbusting Proton Pack
The Ghostbusters would never have caught their prey without proton packs. Emily Kendall talks to Bryan Crump about how they worked in the movies and whether they could work in real life. Read more Audio
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Octiron on Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Kate Andrew tackles Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books in this episode, with a particular focus on the Octiron, the element of magic which makes up the disc's hub. Read more Audio
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Spiderman's Web
Spiderman swings from the top of New York's high-rises, fighting crime and beating super-villains. But could spider silk really hold up a full-grown man? Dr Paul Hume and Bryan Crump discuss the super… Read more Audio
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The Terminator
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator is a cyborg sent back in time to change the future. Duncan McGillvray discusses the metal that makes up the murderous robotic endoskeleton. Read more Audio
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Wonder Woman's Feminum Wristguards
Wonder Woman can stop bullets with her Feminum bracelets but, apart from needing the reflexes to achieve this, could any material that's light enough to wear on your wrists do that? Read more Audio
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Theranos
10 Jun 2024Elizabeth Holmes is serving prison time for fraud after convincing the world she had developed a simple blood test that could diagnose a range of diseases. Professor Duncan McGillivray looks at… Read more Audio
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Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak
Colm Healy chats about the magic of material science and possible real life equivalents to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Read more Audio
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The Interstellar Black Hole
Spoiler Alert: In the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar, an astronaut gets sucked into a black hole but manages to communicate with his daughter and find his way out. Richard Easther tells us the… Read more Audio
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Avatar: Unobtainium
Greedy corporations seeking Unobtainium are the bad guys in James Cameron's Avatar movie franchise. Associate Professor Nicola Gaston discusses the parallels between the fictional mineral and solid… Read more Audio
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Batman: The Caped Crusader
Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni chats with Bryan Crump about the scientific plausibility of Batman's cape and some of his other gadgets. Read more Audio
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The Star Trek Tricorder
The Starship Enterprise crew's tricorders have a multitude of uses, from scanning a new planet's surface to staff health checks. Dr Michel Nieuwoudt chats about whether we could even construct such a… Read more Audio
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Recreating Ringworld
In Larry Niven's 1970 science fiction novel, Louis Wu and his companions crash land on a rotating ring world constructed by aliens. Dr Chris Bumby and Bryan Crump discuss whether we might one day… Read more Audio
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Venom and the Spiderman Symbiote
24 May 2024Symbiotes are extraterrestrial parasites that appear in the Marvel Comics Spiderverse. In particular, Venom is a symbiote who attaches to journalist Eddie Brock. Dr Paul Hume chats with Bryan Crump… Read more Audio
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Badassium
22 May 2024Dr Krista Steenbergen takes a look at 'A New Element' as invented by Tony Stark and used in Ironman 2. Read more Audio
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Exoplanets
20 May 2024Many of the planets that feature in sci fi storylines end up sounding and looking a bit like Earth. Associate Professor Jan Eldridge chats about the chances of that. Read more Audio
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Tenet
17 May 2024In Christopher Nolan's Tenet a CIA operative is tracing the origin of objects that are travelling back through time. Professor Bill Williams talks about the realities of time travel. Read more Audio
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Corrodium
15 May 2024Mutants feature heavily in many sci fi stories, from X-men to Godzilla. Chemistry expert Bill Jia talks Corrodium, a mutant-making material from the Ben 10 cartoon series. Read more Audio
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Arc Reactor
13 May 2024Tony Stark's arc reactor fuels his flying Ironman suit. James Rice joins Bryan Crump to discuss the real life equivalents to this palladium core fusion power source. Read more Audio
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The Subtle Knife
10 May 2024The subtle knife slices through the fabric of reality to different worlds. Dr Mike Price discusses the science behind alternate universes and implements that might helps us get to them. Read more Audio
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Beanstalk
8 May 2024We know a lot of work goes into getting plants to grow bigger and produce more. But what are the chances of getting a beanstalk to reach the clouds? Dr Nate Davis gives it some thought in this episode… Read more Audio
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Wildfire
6 May 2024Wildfire is a liquid so flammable, unstable and explosive it doesn't stop burning until you put sand on it. UK science communicator Kit Chapman discusses this Game of Thrones substance. Read more Audio
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Vibranium
4 May 2024Black Panther's suit and Captain America's shield are both made of Vibranium, but realistically could any metal absorb, store and release kinetic energy? Read more Audio
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Cuendillar
4 May 2024Dr Matt Cowan, from the McDiarmid Institute and Engineering department of Canterbury University, talks about Cuendillar - a substance from the Wheel of Time series - which gets tougher, the more you… Read more Audio
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The White Suit
4 May 2024It would at first appear to a solution to all laundry woes, but the White Suit from the 1950's movie The Man in the White Suit is not without its issues. Associate Professor Geoff Willmott discusses… Read more Audio
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