Doctor Who Week: Looking At A Real Scientific Hypothesis Inspired By The Show

There are lots of real life discoveries and inventions based on science fiction. But Doctor Who’s “science” is often more science fantasy than science fiction… isn’t it?

Doctor Who is well known for its monsters and aliens. The series is full of out there foes that have some basis in scientific possibility. The Daleks were once humanoids altered by genetic manipulation while the Cybermen were humans who had technological parts grafted onto them to the point that their humanity was lost. Even the Rutans- glowing jellyfish-like creatures- have some basis in the fact that life off-Earth would be extremely different in biological structure and appearance.

But one of the most out there is the race called the Silurians… Isn’t it?

The Silurians were a race of human-like reptillians who first appeared in Doctor Who & The Silurians in January through March of 1970. The Silurians were a race of warriors and have recurred in the series often since their debut. The difference from the Silurians and many of the foes the Doctor faced were that the Silurians originated from ancient Earth, dating back millions of years.

In 2018, astrophysicists Adam Frank and Gavin Schmidt proposed the “Silurian Hypothesis” in a paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology. Inspired in part by the Silurians, the two hypothesized that there may be a way to learn whether there were any advanced civilizations on Earth dating back millions of years. It’s next to impossible that any fossil record would exist of such living species, but the duo pointed out there are other ways to look for signs of such a civilization.

The duo wrote: “While we strongly doubt that any previous industrial civilization existed before our own, asking the question in a formal way that articulates explicitly what evidence for such a civilization might look like raises its own useful questions related both to astrobiology and to Anthropocene studies.” They also proposed other ways to search for such a society, such as increased radiation in the geological record, climate changes and anomalies in sediment.

It’s a fascinating though experiment, and one of the cooler ideas that spun out of science fiction.