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Scientists say Dune’s desert planet could exist, and humans could survive there
Dune: Part Two has arrived in theaters to well-deserved rave reviews and has left many a moviegoer planning their next vacation to Arrakis – or at least they would be if it were a real planet.
However, a trio of scientists have revealed that a planet like Arrakis may not be confined to the realm of science fiction after all, although giant sandworms may still need to be left to the imagination.
Scientists say Dune’s desert planet could exist
Following the release of Dune: Part One in October 2021, researchers Alex Farnsworth, Michael Farnsworth and Sebastian Steinig from the Universities of Bristol and Sheffield in the United Kingdom set up a climate model simulation to investigate whether a desert planet like Arrakis could actually exist.
Incredibly, the simulation revealed that a world like that in Dune could well be out there in the universe and that humans could, in theory, survive there.
[Author Frank] Herbert outlined a richly-detailed world that, at first glance, seems so real we could imagine ourselves within it, said the researchers in an article published in The Conversation. We were very pleased to discover that Herbert had envisioned an environment that for the most part meets expectations.
We might need to occasionally suspend disbelief, but much of Arrakis itself would indeed be habitable, albeit inhospitable, the scientists explained.
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The trios research revealed just how harsh the conditions on Arrakis would be, with summer temperatures reaching as high as 158�F (70�C). What the simulation also uncovered was that winters on Arrakis would be just as unforgiving with temperatures dipping to as low as -40�F (-40�C) in the more hospitable mid-latitude regions of the world – the equivalent on Earth of North America, Europe and Asia as well as southern areas of South America, Africa and Australia.
In both instances, such temperatures would be deadly for humans without protection which is why the characters in Dune must wear stillsuits to recycle water from the body to keep its wearer cool and hydrated and why its recommended to take shelter during the day and travel by night while on Arrakis.
The researchers noted that cities like Arrakeen would suffer from both heat and cold stress, like a more extreme version of parts of Siberia on Earth which can have both uncomfortably hot summers and brutally cold winters.
What is most impressive about how realistic Arrakis is, is that author Frank Herbert created the planet back in 1965, two years before the first climate model was published by Nobel-winner Syukuro Manabe and at a time when computers didnt really exist.
The method behind Arrakis simulation
As part of their article in The Conversation, the trio of researchers also detailed how they went about creating their simulation of Arrakis and its climate.
We started with a climate model commonly used to predict weather and climate here on Earth, they said. To use these sorts of models you have to decide on the physical laws (well-known in the case of planet Earth) and then input data on everything from the shape of mountains to the strength of the sun or the makeup of the atmosphere. The model can then simulate the climate and tell you roughly what the weather might be like.
That data obviously wasnt available for a fictional planet like Arrakis but the team was able to use the incredibly detailed information found in the Dune novels as well as the accompanying�Dune Encyclopedia.�This featured details on the planets topography – how the land is laid out – and its orbit, which is circular, like that of Earths.
According to the scientists, Arrakis would have much less carbon dioxide than we have on Earth but the planet would get its extreme temperatures thanks to a larger quantity of ozone in the atmosphere which is around�65 times more effective�at warming the atmosphere than CO�.
After inputting the various computations into the model, it took more than three weeks for the supercomputer to crunch hundreds of thousands of calculations to simulate the climate of Arrakis.
Dune: Part Two is out now in theaters after riding a sandworm onto our screens on March 1, 2024.
