--- title: "Neil deGrasse Tyson Complains That “Dune 2” Isn’t a Shining Beacon of Scientific Accuracy" description: "Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has scientific bones to pick with Dune's sand-thumping and worm movements." date: "2024-03-11" modified: "2024-03-11" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/neil-tyson-dune-2-accuracy" categories: - "Physics" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "movies" - "neil degrasse tyson" - "physics" - "the digest" --- # Neil deGrasse Tyson Complains That “Dune 2” Isn’t a Shining Beacon of Scientific Accuracy ![Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has scientific bones to pick with Dune's sand-thumping and worm movements.]() *\Image: Legendary / Warner Bros. / Futurism\* ## Not Suspending Disbelief Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson [once again]() has a scientific bone to pick with a motion picture. This time, [per *The Hollywood Reporter*](), Tyson's qualms are with the second installation of Dennis Villineuve's "Dune" series — a film in which a superhuman cohort of women use a special voice to perform mind control and a very bald Stellan Skarsgård floats through the air. But [as the scientist explained]() an appearance on the "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" last week, his issues aren't with the superhuman magic of it all. Instead, they lie in issues like sand physics. "Somebody didn't do the research on that," Tyson told the talk show host, making the case that if you pound your fist into a sand dune, it wouldn't actually produce a thumping sound the way it does in the film. "You can't thump sand." Colbert pushed back, positing that perhaps the giant sandworms in Dune — which the Fremen, the indigenous people of the fictional planet Arrakis, call by pounding sand dunes with special gadgets — might "hear things differently" than humans do. But Tyson stuck to his guns. "If you wanted to insulate yourself acoustically from your surroundings, fill the volume with sand," the astrophysicist responded. "No one will hear you." But, he added, "I've got to let it go because there's no movie without it." According to [online]() [forum]() [discussions]() and a [2017 study](), Tyson's right: sand is pretty good at absorbing noise. But, hey, they don't call it science fiction for nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QlmDRqgWu0 ## Wiggle It The sand thumping wasn't the astrophysicist's only concern with Arrakian physics. When the planet's massive sandworms move, they barrel forward in a straight line. But as Tyson points out, pretty much all legless, worm or snake-like creatures on Earth have to slither in S-shaped lines if they want to move forward. "Have you ever seen a snake chase you as a straight snake? No!" Tyson exclaimed. "They've got to curl, and they push off the curl." Colbert and Tyson then went back and forth with some worm movement theories; the former offered that perhaps they have some sort of propellant system on their underbellies, while the latter wondered whether they might simply be "pooping really fast." Why not! ([*Slate* also questioned]() the movements of the worms, with a biologist effectively coming to the conclusion that the hulking beasts are less like worms, and more like burrowing snakes.) At the end of the day, though, it's often these not-so-science-bound details that make science fiction so fun. What we're really dying to know? What Tyson thinks of [AMC's worm popcorn buckets](). **More on Neil deGrasse Tyson going to movies:** [*Neil Degrasse Tyson Is Fighting with a Retired Astronaut about "Top Gun: Maverick"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()