Dune’s’ desert planet would be possible, according to scientists

What you might not be aware of is that the planet at the centre of the movie, Arrakis, is scientifically possible, according to experts.

If you are not clued up on Arrakis it is a desert planet that is home to a valuable mineral in the Dune universe called ‘spice’ which is mined using giant harvesters. As you can imagine being a desert planet isn’t a desirable place to be and to make it worse, water is such a scarce commodity that people have to wear suits that will harness the body’s water so it can be replenished and drank.

If that wasn’t bad enough, there are also gigantic sandworms that roam the deserts of Arrakis, which to put it bluntly, you just don’t want to encounter.

Now this might sound like far-flung ideas of a sci-fi writer but Herbert’s creation was based on some form of scientific study and according to new research would be a plausible planet if it existed.

Alexander Farnsworth, a climate modeller at the University of Bristol in England and colleagues developed a climate simulation for Arrakis in 2021, suggesting that despite challenges, human habitation could be feasible partially because Arrakis is drawn from “some sort of semi-science of looking at dune systems on the Earth itself.”

“Arrakis would certainly have a much warmer atmosphere, even though it has less CO2 than Earth today,” Farnsworth adds.

Arrakis’ climate differs from Earth’s, with less carbon dioxide but significantly more ozone, making the atmosphere warmer and potentially toxic for humans. While ozone could shield the planet from harmful radiation, extreme heat and lack of precipitation render polar regions uninhabitable.