History Main / UnscientificScience

A subtrope of HollywoodScience.

* In a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to bypass the RuleOfCool, the explanation for how GunKata works in the movie ''{{Equilibrium}}'' is that experts were able to review thousands of gunfights and calculate the most likely trajectories of enemy fire, allowing a practitioner to dance around speeding bullets without getting shot. This makes the laughably silly assumption that enemy combatants will not aim at their target to start with ([[FridgeLogic "Of course I can see him, Carl, but tradition says I have to shoot]] ''[[FridgeLogic this]]'' [[FridgeLogic way!"]]), will continue to fire where they first pointed their weapon no matter what the target is now doing, and will not simply adjust their aim a little to hit the guy who just pirouetted two feet over to the left. Experts who actually have studied real shootouts unanimously conclude the best way to survive a gunfight is to [[BoringButPractical get behind the best available cover and hope for a miracle]].

* In a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to bypass the RuleOfCool, the explanation for how GunKata works in the movie ''{{Equilibrium}}'' is that experts were able to review thousands of gunfights and calculate the most likely trajectories of enemy fire, allowing a practitioner to dance around speeding bullets without getting shot. This makes the laughably silly assumption that enemy combatants will not aim for a target to start with, will continue to fire where they first pointed their weapon no matter what the target is now doing, and will not simply adjust their aim a little to hit the guy who just pirouetted two feet over to the left. Experts who actually ''have'' studied real shootouts unanimously conclude the best way to survive a gunfight is to [[BoringButPractical get behind the best available cover and hope for a miracle]].

* In CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs, main character Flint Lockwood invents a machine that turns the weather into food by "mutating" water. Water, as we all know, does not have a genetic code.

* In CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs, main character Flint Lockwood invents a machine that turns the weather into food by, long story short, "mutating" water. Water, as we all know, does not have a genetic code.

* ''[[Literature/ThePendragonAdventure The Reality Bug]]'' by D. J. [=MacHale=]. In it, the Reality Bug tries to break out of fantasy into reality. The explanation is that jumpers are somehow giving the bug physical power.

* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' is full of this, and it's {{played for laughs}}. For example, the engine of the starship Heart of Gold needs to generate infinite improbability, but it is only possible to generate finite amounts of improbability, which led physicists to say it's virtually impossible to build one. Then someone reasoned that a ''virtual impossibility'' is the same as a ''finite improbability'', and thus it could be built.

** In "A Clone of My Own", the Planet Express Ship can travel faster than the speed of light, according to Farnsworth. When Cubert calls him out on how blatantly wrong this is, Farnsworth explains that scientists increased the speed of light.

* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' is full of examples {{played for laughs}}. For example, the engine of the starship Heart of Gold needs to generate infinite improbability, but it is only possible to generate finite amounts of improbability, which led physicists to say it's virtually impossible to build one. Then someone reasoned that a ''virtual impossibility'' is the same as a ''finite improbability'', and thus it could be built.

* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' is full of this. For example, the engine of the starship Heart of Gold needs to generate infinite improbability, but it is only possible to generate finite amounts of improbability, which led physicists to say it's virtually impossible to build one. Then someone reasoned that a ''virtual impossibility'' is the same as a ''finite improbability'', and thus it could be built.

* In IAmNumberFour, the Loriens have seemingly magical powers. It's explained... that it happened by evolution. And apparently, these adaptations were to protect the planet they lived on. We're genuinely not sure whether or not the authors intended for this to make sense or not.
* ''[[ThePendragonAdventure The Reality Bug]]'' by D. J. [=MacHale=]. In it, the Reality Bug tries to break out of fantasy into reality. The explanation is that jumpers are somehow giving the bug physical power.

* [[ThePendragonAdventure The Reality Bug]] by D. J. MacHale. In it, the Reality Bug tries to break out of fantasy into reality. The explanation is that jumpers are somehow giving the bug physical power.

* The ''{{Animorphs}}'' series has a couple. The biggest one is in ''The Mutation''. The Nartec apparently used to be people who mutated after their island 'sunk'. This makes no sense. The explanation? Radiation sped up their mutation. Not only are the odds of radiation giving everyone in a given group the exact same mutation slim to none, but the radiation also seems to have caused the adaptation in a matter of seconds.

When a writer explains something blatantly scientific with something else that's blatantly (or not so blatantly) unscientific, he has shown an example of Unscientific Science. For example, a writer might explain why two characters can hear each other in space by saying that someone has put air into space.

* [[ThePendragonAdventures The Reality Bug]] by D. J. MacHale. In it, the Reality Bug tries to break out of fantasy into reality. The explanation is that jumpers are somehow giving the bug physical power.

** In "The Deep South", the inhabitants of Atlanta evolved into humans due to consuming caffeine. Made even more hilarious by the fact that this is basically what happened in the ''Animorphs'' book ''The Mutation'' (the example above), only here, it's played for laughs.

* In IAmNumber4, the Loriens have seemingly magical powers. It's explained... that it happened by evolution. And apparently, these adaptations were to protect the planet they lived on. We're genuinely not sure whether or not the authors intended for this to make sense or not.

When a writer explains something blatantly scientific with something else that's blatantly (or not so blatantly) unscientific, they've shown an example of Unscientific Science. For example, a writer might explain why two characters can hear each other in space by saying that someone has put air into space.

[[AC:Literature]]
* The {{Animorphs}} series has a couple. The biggest one is in The Mutation. The Nartec apparently used to be people who mutated after the island they lived on 'sunk'. This makes no sense. The explanation? Radiation sped up their mutation. Not only are the odds of radiation giving everyone in a given group the exact same mutation slim to none, the radiation also seems to have caused the adaptation in a matter of seconds.
* In the MaximumRide series, the gang have wings and other bird-like attributes, and Erasers are basically werewolves. This is explained by the fact that their DNA was altered. Apparently, there is one specific gene for bird wings (which there actually isn't), and there's a gene that allows humans to… transform into werewolves? The more you think about it, the less sense it makes.

* Parodied a couple times in {{Futurama}}.
** In ''A Clone of my Own'', the Planet Express Ship can travel faster than the speed of light, according to Farnsworth. When Cubert calls him out on how blatantly wrong this is, Farnsworth explains that scientists increased the speed of light.
** In ''The Deep South'', the people of Atlanta evolved into humans due to caffeine. Made even more hilarious by the fact that this is basically what happened in the Animorphs book The Mutation (the example above), only here, it's played for laughs.

Lots of overlap with ArtisticLicense of all forms.

!!Examples of this trope include:

** In ''The Deep South'', the people of Atlanta evolved into humans due to caffeine. Made even more hilarious by the fact that this is basically what happened in the Animorphs book The Mutation (the example above), only here, it's played for laughs.
* In the MaximumRide series, the gang have wings and other bird-like attributes, and Erasers are basically werewolves. This is explained by the fact that their DNA was altered. Apparently, there is one specific gene for bird wings (which there actually isn't), and there's a gene that allows humans to… transform into werewolves? The more you think about it, the less sense it makes.

-->Examples of this trope include: