The sitcom Big Bang Theory successfully presented its audience with a cocktail of science and comedy through its 12 year run on television. The show featured the lives and antics of four young scientists and their neighbor Penny, working in Pasadena, California.
While comedy was a key attribute on the show, the science was taken just as seriously. Each episode was reviewed by Dr. David Saltzberg, a physics professor at UCLA. Even though Dr. Saltzberg helped the show exhibit the laws of physics accurately, there are a few instances where the writers depicted science with some level of inaccuracy. Scroll below to see the 5 science facts the show nailed, and the 5 they totally messed up!
Nailed It: Schrödinger’s Cat
Any seasoned Big Bang Theory fan is aware of Schrödinger’s cat. In fact, we can thank this sitcom alone for helping us understand this complicated conundrum. In an early episode on the show, Sheldon uses the concept of Schrödinger’s cat as dating advice for both, Penny and Leonard. He explains that if a cat was placed in a box with a vial of poison programmed to open at a random time, the cat is to be regarded as both, dead and alive until the box is open.
This notion was repeated accurately to analyze other conundrums on the show in later seasons as well.
Messed Up: The Projectile Motion Equation
Many episodes on the show feature whiteboards filled with scientific equations. While these equations are scientifically correct most of the time, thanks to Dr. Saltzburg, there are times when a silly mistake gets in the way, making the equation inaccurate.
For example, in season 7, the group uses the letter ‘h’ to illustrate the height of the projectile in the projectile motion equation. However, all physics equations employ units rather than abbreviations. Therefore, using units for the remaining equation would result in an inaccurate answer without a unit.
Nailed it: Refrigerating Bread
Thanks to Sheldon’s genius mind, Big Bang Theory fans weren’t solely exposed to complicated scientific theories, but also to common scientific myths we believe in our daily lives. For example, in season 3 when Sheldon wants to borrow aw loaf of bread from Penny’s apartment, he explains that refrigerating bread isn’t ideal.
He describes that staleness in bread is caused by the crystallization of starch molecules at cold temperatures. Real science shows us that bread loses its freshness faster in fridges due to the components that make up starch molecules. Thus, in this scene, not only does Sheldon provide sound advice, but also nails this concept of chemistry.
Messed Up: The Wine Glass
Sheldon Cooper might be a genius, but he definitely gets a few facts wrong sometimes. Even though his doctorate lies in the realm of physics, he claims to possess knowledge about other fields as well, whether it may be dance, music or art. However, he is often wrong. For example, in an episode on the show, Sheldon claims that the sound created from hitting a wine glass is B Flat, when in fact it’s a B.
Nailed It: The Immortality Of Jellyfish
In the 6th season of the show, Leonard proposes the idea of immorality after studying jellyfish. He claims that jellyfish can live forever thanks to their ability to revert to their asexual state.
While this statement may leave you dumbfounded, there is actual science behind it. The jellyfish possesses the ability to regress back to its asexual state, resulting in it returning to an immature cell state. This can allow the jellyfish to live on forever.
Messed Up: Howard’s Space Mission
Howard embarks on a trip to space with a couple of Russian astronauts in season 5 of The Big Bang Theory. Even though he goes through intensive training before boarding the rocket-ship, his ability to enter space is scientifically inaccurate.
In the previous 4 seasons, the audience is made aware of Howard’s genetic risk towards heart disease, as well as his idiopathic arrhythmia. No one with such health conditions can travel or survive in space. The changes in gravity and pressure would make it impossible for him to have completed his mission successfully.
Nailed It: The Male Body Biology
While most sitcoms crack jokes about how the menstrual cycle of a woman affects her mood, the Big Bang Theory was the first sitcom to talk about the male hormonal cycle. When Leonard is left upset after his breakup with Penny, Sheldon asks him if he’s ‘manstruating.’
While this might not be a real word, it is true that men undergo unique monthly and seasonal hormonal cycles. Their testosterone peaks in November and lowers in April. Furthermore, men also go through PMS, or in their case, irritable male syndrome.
Messed Up: Super Asymmetry
The super asymmetry theory that finally lands Sheldon a Nobel Prize is obviously not a real scientific theory. The show states that this notion revolves around subatomic particles known as kaons and how they react to certain stimuli and situations.
Nothing like Super Asymmetry exists. Super Symmetry, however, is a real project being worked on by a team of over 3000 people, clearly exhibiting that it was impossible for two scientists alone to develop such an experiment. You can’t blame the writers for this one though. Coming up with an original Nobel prize-winning theory would take them manpower, funding and a whole lot more time!
Nailed It: Magnetic M0nopoles
In season 2, after winning a National Science Foundation grant, Sheldon gets to go to the North Pole for 3 months in order to search for magnetic monopoles (magnets with one pole). He invites his three best friends to accompany him on the journey. However, the group returns without being able to locate any such magnets.
This depiction of magnetic monopoles was accurately shown in the show, as the search for magnetic monopoles has not been successful in the real world yet either.
Messed Up: Weight Change
It is scientifically accurate the a 25lbs gain on any human body would reflect a change in shape or size. However, The Bing Bang Theory chose to ignore this fact when it came to Sheldon’s fluctuating weight. In the 4th episode of the first season, Sheldon claims he weighs 140lbs. Whereas, just 11 episodes later, Sheldon tells his sister Missy that he weighs in at a 165lbs. However, there is no physical rendering of this change on screen.
