Open up those Pip-Boys and make sure all your skill points are in science, because today we’re separating scientific fact from fiction. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a deep dive into the “Fallout” franchise.
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00:00Nope. It says Goosey.
00:03But hey, that's something. You don't meet a natural-born vault dweller every day.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're taking a deep dive into the Fallout franchise.
00:13Open up those Pip-Boys and put all your skill points into science
00:16because today we're separating scientific fact from fiction.
00:23Oh gosh.
00:25Number 10. Mutations.
00:26A bunch of us got stuck out here in the world and got a full-on blast of heat and radiation.
00:32Turned us into a pack of walking corpses.
00:35In the world of Fallout, it's commonly understood that radiation can cause genetic mutations in humans and in animals.
00:42Broadly speaking, that's true in real life as well,
00:44although Fallout's version of mutation uses a bit of artistic license.
00:55In reality, radiation-induced genetic mutations are complex and virtually always bad.
01:01Radiation exposure can and does alter DNA,
01:04but think less turning you into an immortal ghoul
01:07and more causing cancer and potential birth defects in your future children.
01:11Radiation-induced mutations are random in the real world and can affect any part of the genome.
01:16What precisely happens next depends on many factors,
01:20including the type of radiation, dose, and duration.
01:23In Fallout, meanwhile, mutations are generally much more predictable
01:27and can grant superhuman abilities as well as dramatic physical changes,
01:31which is just science fiction all over.
01:45Number 9. Energy weapons.
01:54Vault dwellers may find themselves short on bullets in the Wasteland,
01:57but conveniently, the universe of Fallout is replete with an arsenal of energy weapons.
02:02From gatling lasers to plasma rifles, directed energy weapons are staples in the game and show.
02:07Perhaps fortunately though, the streets of the real world are not also flooded with the same.
02:13In our lives, such futuristic firearms can't currently be produced at scale.
02:17The technology needed requires an incredible amount of money,
02:20as in Pentagon-level money.
02:22So why bother when conventional weapons can do the same general job for much less cash?
02:27The physical limitations too are prohibitive.
02:30From heat loss and heavy weight to beam control and power costs,
02:34genuine everyday energy weapons don't give enough bang for the buck.
02:37Even if, in Fallout, they're all the rage.
02:44Number 8. Contaminated food and water.
02:53Ash cream and apple pie.
02:56Readers of the Wasteland Survival Guide know that food and water can be as dangerous as a yaoguai.
03:01Essentially, all food and water in the wild will be irradiated.
03:05In the games, that's no biggie.
03:06It'll heal you or feed you for just a small rad hit, which you can heal later.
03:11But unsurprisingly, in real life, irradiated food and water presents a much larger risk to your health.
03:17Radiation creates something called URPs, or unique radiolytic products in food.
03:22By consuming these substances, you'd be granting them a direct line towards mutating your DNA.
03:27At high enough levels then, URPs can leave a person with acute radiation sickness, organ damage, and they can even lead to death.
03:35So all of us here highly recommend that you avoid that tin of irradiated cram.
03:48Number 7. Power armor.
03:53What kind of model is that?
03:55It's the T-60.
03:56This may come as something of a surprise, but power armor actually is real.
04:00That being said, don't expect any hulking T-60s in the here and now just yet.
04:04War never changes, but technology does.
04:07Slowly.
04:08That in mind, current iterations of real world wearable exoskeletons are mainly designed to help soldiers and first responders carry heavy loads by hand.
04:16They're less power armor and more power loaders.
04:19Still, there are predictions for much more to come.
04:21Protective plating and combat uses could be next, although debates over practicality rage.
04:35As it stands, power armor's applications are limited.
04:38The weight constraints of heavy materials like steel, or the durability constraints of light materials like aluminum are both significant problems.
04:45More importantly, however, is the lack of long-lasting power supplies.
04:49We don't have any fusion cores lying around in the real world.
04:59Number 6. Underground vaults.
05:16In some respects, Vault-Tec got the science right.
05:20Shelters really do need to be underground.
05:22The soil absorbs the ambient radiation, protecting the structure and the people inside.
05:27Airflow would be an issue, but a surmountable one.
05:30In reality, what's known as a Kearney air pump can provide a steady supply of breathable air, pump out CO2, and keep radiation at acceptable levels.
05:39The real issue, though, is the time.
05:41Typically, such shelters are not meant to be long-term solutions to humanity's survival.
05:45It's hard to imagine a large enough stockpile of food and water to sustain a whole community over generations.
05:58In real life, fallout shelters are generally to help a small group of people hopefully survive for a few weeks or so.
06:04But in the game and show, there's no telling how long you could hole up in one.
06:12Then a hole in the ground for rich folks to hide in while the rest of the world burned.
06:18Number 5. Radaway vs. Prussian Blue.
06:31In both the Fallout universe and in ours, radiation exposure can be fatal.
06:35But in Fallout, it's a much more solvable problem.
06:39Pop some Radex to shield yourself from RADs and Radaway to heal any exposure. Easy.
06:48Real life, by contrast, is more complicated.
06:50Although there are some options.
06:52Iodine tablets are like our version of Radex, saturating the thyroid gland with stable iodine so that the uptake of radioactive iodine isotopes can be prevented.
07:02Prussian Blue, on the other hand, is basically paint.
07:05It also binds to cesium and thallium isotopes in the intestines, however, preventing absorption by organ tissues.
07:11Unfortunately, iodine and Prussian Blue don't always work and can't prevent all types of radiation or large quantities.
07:18They're a little like what we see in Fallout, but nowhere near as reliable.
07:22Prussian Blue only removes radioactive cesium and thallium from the body.
07:26It does not remove other radioactive material or prevent external radiation exposure.
07:31Number 4. Superhuman Strength.
07:36Much like Captain America in the MCU, the weird science of Fallout can grant ex-vault dwellers and couriers superhuman strength.
07:46I'm fine. I'm fine.
07:48You had a rotten human tooth lodged in your shoulder. You're not fine.
07:53Unfortunately, outside of the game, human beings are limited by both physiology and physics.
07:58Where do you guys get your power from?
08:00Our muscles are constrained by the size and number of muscle fibers, the efficiency of our nervous system, and the availability of energy.
08:08All of which means that even the best athletes and the world's strongest people have physical limits.
08:13You can raise those limits to a degree through long-term training and enhancements, but realistic muscle growth and performance can only be pushed so far.
08:21And more importantly, real non-Fallout humans are creatures of bones, ligaments, and tendons.
08:28Even with musculature capable of enhanced feats, then our joints can only allow so much.
08:33You happen to be a doctor, would you?
08:35Of course, I happen to be looking for one.
08:38Number 3. Cryonics.
08:40The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper in the vault.
08:44In the world of Fallout, Vault-Tec was a leader in many scientific fields, including cryonics.
08:50Vault dwellers and executives alike managed to escape the Great War of 2077 by freezing themselves for centuries in a secure vault.
08:57More broadly, cryostasis is a cornerstone of speculative science fiction, theoretically allowing humans to outlive disease and travel in deep space.
09:06The real science behind the practice is still in its infancy.
09:09Cryonics is really an extension of emergency medicine.
09:12And we've yet to evolve the technology beyond its most important hurdle.
09:16Freezing, especially over the long term, damages tissue.
09:20Cells are disrupted and the liquid in the body crystallizes.
09:23And people don't just wake up from that.
09:25Cryonics will only be possible if and when researchers either find a way to prevent this damage or discover a form of revival that repairs it.
09:33A lot of people say, what happens if the power goes out?
09:35The answer is absolutely nothing because no energy is needed to maintain the temperature.
09:39Number 2. Advanced Robotics.
09:41So, you guys use pre-war technology to find and collect pre-war technology to make sure no one has pre-war technology?
09:49I mean, yeah.
09:51When you say it like that, I mean, yeah, it's weird.
09:54Despite its mid-century modern aesthetic, the technology of Fallout is both futuristic and, at times, awe-inspiring.
10:01Before the Great War, humanity had reached an apex in the field of robotics.
10:05Combat robots like Assultrons terrorize the battlefield, while suburban families rely on Mr. Handy for household chores.
10:12Welcome.
10:13What the fudge?
10:14Fudge? There's no fudge here.
10:16Only a General Atomics International Mark IV.
10:19That's what I am. You seem to be a woman.
10:22And that may indeed be what our future holds in this world as well.
10:25Yes, for now, engineers are still working on ways for robots to navigate simple obstacles like stairs.
10:31But rapidly advancing models are expected.
10:34As with many technologies, the robots in Fallout have a ready supply of fuel, often nuclear in nature.
10:40That part may be different in real life, with the powering of domesticated and combat robots more likely to resemble charging an electric vehicle.
10:49Perhaps they would struggle in a real-life apocalypse, but they are on their way all the same.
10:54What? No! What a disgusting idea!
10:58I'm simply going to harvest your organs.
11:02Huh?
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11:19Number 1. Wildlife
11:21It just occurred to me...
11:23We're definitely picking up an abomination of some kind or another.
11:26I'm just not sure... I'm not sure we're tracking the right abomination.
11:30One rare bit of good news about the Fallout games and their relation to what would really happen
11:35is that they generally misunderstand the length of time it takes for nuclear fallout to dissipate.
11:40I really think you should go home. You are not safe here.
11:45That's what people keep telling me.
11:48While the soil and local animal life would absorb lethal doses of radiation in the short term,
11:53it perhaps wouldn't take centuries to vanish, as it does in the game.
11:56In fact, and circumstances depending, it could be that much of the worst radiation would vanish in days or even in hours,
12:03more widely and perhaps a few years or a couple of decades.
12:07All of which means that wildlife would eventually return in abundance and without extra heads.
12:12Chernobyl is a real-life example.
12:14In the years since the infamous nuclear meltdown, local plants and animals have flourished,
12:19the soil is rich, the landscapes are pristine, and thankfully, there isn't a single radroach in sight.
12:34What do you think about the science of Fallout?
12:36Has it helped you to get hooked? Let us know in the comments below.
12:42Who you are or how you know the things that you do, but you are going to get across that wasteland.
12:49And we're gonna do it together. Okay? That's a promise.
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13:12You