News Planetary Science

The desert planet in ‘Dune’ is plausible, according to science

But giant sandworms are (thankfully) improbable

From a cloud of sand, three giant worms emerge. Their circular mouths are open displaying rows of long teeth that curve into their throats. At least two dozen people dressed in dark full-body suits flee toward the camera across an open expanse of sand from the giant worms. The people seem nearly as small as insects in comparison with the huge worms.

Arrakis, the fictional planet in Dune, would be inhospitable but livable for humans, researchers say. But the giant sandworms depicted in the movies (as in a scene from Dune: Part Two depicted here) and books are implausible.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

By Tina Hesman Saey

Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel Dune has been praised for its worldbuilding.