Stranger Things According to Science: What’s Real, Reasonable, or Totally Absurd

Warning: Spoilers in Season 4 of Weird things

Some narrative components and details Weird things me for sure Weird thingsbetween S.ottosopra, Demogorgons, Mind FlayerExperimental programs and life forms between a stranger And thehorror. But if we’re in some ways sticking to all intents and purposes in science fiction, there’s a whole gamut of elements The first four seasons Which has a form of scientific realism.

No, we’re not saying – obviously – that the Upside Down could be real, but that scientific theory (and in some cases also the evidence already collected) acknowledges some elements of the series at least as aspects of possibility, which is indicative of the utmost care taken by the Dover brothers in screenwriting and setting. It can be said, without fear of exaggeration, that some elements of the story are. Freely inspired by real scientific findingswhich is no coincidence to give the series that looks improbable plausibility Which greatly strengthens emotional engagement. But let’s go in order.

What if the inverted part is more under it?

Let’s start with the cutest little animals. The Demogorgons That has accompanied us since the first season and demodog The ones that appear per second are actually no different from some of the more unique (and sometimes annoying) creatures that inhabit The depths of the oceans. Species that have adapted to live in very inhospitable conditions, between very intense pressures due to the upper water column, and very small amounts of oxygen and food, Cold temperatures and almost total darkness This is due to the fact that very little sunlight can reach this depth.

Let’s talk about creatures Vital lighting or transparent, from species such as monkfish, vampire squid, goblin shark, jaw fish, etc. Even if they are aquatic species – unlike invertebrates, which are inhabited by terrestrial or volatile species – some aesthetic similarity It cannot be denied. For the survival of these species, the presence of microorganisms capable of carrying out the synthesis processes necessary to maintain ecosystems plays an essential role, especially in a context where Availability of organic molecules It is inherently very low. Features that, in general, make the depths of the sea not too far from the sotosubra.

The other way: the inverted as a parallel universe or a distant world

An alternative possibility, which examines the inverted situation as a whole and not just its inhabitants, is that this world can be configured as parallel dimension (it was explicitly mentioned in the first series), or anyway as an alternate world for the terrestrial world. Except for the scenographical elements that make everything rather unpleasant, and a perfect overlap with Hawkins’ topology, it can be rationally said that the sotosubra A place far from Earth Where the rules of biology are different. In pure theory, it might be reasonable to imagine life forms based on Biochemistry different from that of the earth (For example, it is not based on carbon but on other elements).