Downward Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. To survive on the sun-drenched planet of Arrakis, it's important to cover yourself. Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.
- The desert planet Arrakis in Dune: Part Two has extreme temperatures and little water.
- Surviving on such a planet would require technology and adaptability.
- Three experts explain what it might be like to live on Dune's planet.
In a distant star system 20,000 years in the future, a sweltering planet with dry deserts and little water is home to blue-eyed, semi-nomadic inhabitants called Fremen.
Frank Herbert first described this harsh, fictional world of Arrakis in his 1965 novel Dune, which was recently adapted into a film trilogy. The second iteration of the trilogy, “Dune: Part Two,” hit U.S. theaters on Friday.
The film was shot in the desert outside Abu Dhabi, but we wondered what it would actually take to survive on a real Arrakis.
Although it would require some ingenuity and technology, it wouldn't be impossible, according to scientists we spoke to.
“There are populations that have lived in deserts for centuries and even millennia,” Seth Collings Hawkins, a wilderness medicine specialist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, told Business Insider.
What the planet Dune would look like in real life
“There are so many factors that make Earth habitable for humans,” Amy J. Kreykes, an aerospace medicine expert at the University of Texas Medical Branch, told BI.
This includes everything from the atmosphere to the distance from the sun to the available water.
“Everything is just uniquely perfect,” she said, “and really any deviation from that could make other environments hostile to human life.”
Dune's planet Arrakis has giant sandworms, a drug called spice that aids in interstellar travel, and two moons. However, it is not entirely unlike Earth.
According to experts, Frank Herbert did an impressive job in “Dune” and created a realistic world. Warner Bros. Pictures
When Dune: Part One came out in 2021, University of Bristol meteorologist Alexander Farnsworth and several other scientists used a weather forecast climate model to simulate the conditions of Arrakis.
They enter everything they could find from the Dune encyclopedia about the planet's geographical features, atmosphere, and astronomy.
There were a few places where the team's model differed from the descriptions in the book, such as the weather at the planet's poles and tropics.
Overall, however, Farnsworth said he was impressed by the world Herbert created.
“I think what surprised me most overall was how accurately Frank Herbert imagined a desert world without having a physics background or a supercomputer on which to do any calculations,” he said.
“He must have conducted extensive research into the various components of the Earth system to understand how such a world might function,” he added. In fact, Herbert said he researched the book for six years.
Based on their calculations, Farnsworth and the other researchers concluded that life on Arrakis would be possible, although probably not particularly pleasant.
Survive the lack of water
Nursing suits in “Dune” help protect characters from fatal dehydration. Warner Bros.
The planet Arrakis has no oceans, lakes, or tiny puddles on its surface. This is of course bad news for humans.
“There’s a rule of three,” Hawkins said. The human body can survive for about three minutes without oxygen, about three days without water, and about three weeks without food. “This would be the point at which your body would start to break down,” he said.
To survive such dry conditions on Dune, the fictional Fremen wear so-called nursing suits, which capture the body's sweat and other bodily fluids and convert them into drinkable water.
However, this concept is not entirely science fiction.
Hawkins called space the “ultimate water-scarce environment,” which is why the International Space Station's toilets convert nearly 85% of astronauts' urine into drinking water.
Moisture recovery is critical in environments where there is no external source. However, As important as water is, temperature is the real killer on Arrakis.
“You would probably get heat stroke before you died of dehydration,” Hawkins said.
Survive the extreme temperatures
If the lack of water on Arrakis doesn't kill you, the heat certainly will if you're not prepared. Warner Bros.
Unlike the book, Farnsworth noted in his scientific model of a real Arrakis that the tropics were more hospitable than the polar regions because temperatures were milder year-round.
At the poles, temperatures ranged from 158 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to -76 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Meanwhile, temperatures in the tropics would range from 56 to 113 degrees.
“So [at the poles] “It's not just heat stress, but also cold stress that living things have to contend with,” on a real Arrakis, he said.
So if you had the choice, you would prefer to live near the equator on Arrakis.
“The most feared consequence of being in this environment is heat stroke, where your brain literally burns out,” Hawkins said. Body temperature would rise to 106 or 107 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than fever.
Night travel would be the wisest way to get around Arrakis. Warner Bros.
“You just wouldn’t travel at all during the day,” he said. Everyone would find shelter until temperatures began to cool at night. In case you need to venture out during the day, you'll need something like a nursing suit.
“It really seems paradoxical [to cover yourself]“But we now know that a big part of the problem is radiation and heat from the sun,” Hawkins said.
Certain fabrics are both breathable and good at reflecting heat. Incorporating heat-conducting materials into clothing can help, but you'd still want some sort of internal fan or air conditioning, Hawkins said.
“With technology, we can actually add tools to help increase our time in the sun or in the hot environment without reducing the negative effects,” Hawkins said.
Survive the atmosphere
Lack of water isn't the only thing that would make growing crops on Arrakis difficult. Warner Bros.
When it comes to the composition of the atmosphere, “human needs are very specific,” Kreykes said.
The atmosphere on Arrakis is similar to that of Earth. It has a similar pressure, slightly less nitrogen (74.32% compared to about 78% on our planet) and slightly more oxygen (23.58% compared to 21% on Earth).
Despite the similarities, humans may still have a period of adaptation.
“Any time you start messing with the atmosphere and changing these parameters, it can have a significant impact on humans,” Kreykes said. “Any deviation would have to be examined very, very carefully to ensure habitability for humans.”
Arrakis also has slightly less carbon dioxide than Earth, which could affect plant growth. This would be another challenge in addition to limited water sources.
A glimpse of future Earth?
Earth is becoming more like Arrakis by the day as the climate crisis drives up global temperatures, but fortunately climate scientists are not predicting giant worms in Earth's future. Warner Bros.
While taming giant sandworms is a problem Earth will hopefully never have to deal with, parts of our planet aren't all that different from Arrakis.
For example, the Sonoran Desert along the Mexico-U.S. border recently reached 177 degrees Fahrenheit, one of the hottest surface temperatures on record.
Arizona, New Mexico and California have all faced drought or water shortages in recent years.
As the Earth continues to warm in the face of climate change, excessive heat and water scarcity will continue to affect not only humans, but also plants and animals worldwide.
One reason for the popularity of “Dune” and similar speculative fiction, Hawkins said, is that we can see elements of our own future in them, “and I think this story has that message for us.”