10 TV Shows That Got Science Completely Wrong
Just say the pill is magic, Limitless, you'll be made fun of less - we promise.
TV often seems convinced that science and magic are the exact same thing. Now, the smart writer confines this delusion to science fiction or science fantasy, where it CAN basically be magic, but if all writers were smart we'd definitely be paid a lot more than we often are (sigh).
There are many TV shows out there, both acclaimed and otherwise, that simply get science dead wrong. Now, in fairness, science can be something of a buzzkill to telling a fun and engaging story, so the occasional science flub can absolutely be forgiven, provided that the story is good. But when it isn't, your focus zeroes in on such flubs because the illusion is already non-existent for you.
These shows, both good and bad overall, took science and told it where it can go stick its beaker.
10. Southern Blotting - X-Files
DNA testing is something a lot of TV shows get wrong, especially in previous decades when even less was known about them. And while The X-Files typically got it right in the science department (at least in the original run), no show looks 100% good in their first season. So, it should come as no surprise that there's at least one pretty glaring hiccup there.
In the season 1 episode "The Erlenmeyer Flask", Scully uses a laboratory technique known as Southern Blot - typically used as a means of detecting a specific DNA sequence in a blood or tissue sample - to learn if she has an alien disease. Most if it is shown correctly, save for the timeframe in which this takes place. Normally, Southern Blotting takes around 72 hours to yield any kind of results. In the episode, Scully is done in about 3.
Which is why this entry is at the bottom, since this was obviously done under the time constraints of a TV episode timeslot. But nevertheless, a 72-hour process being condensed down to a mere 3 is a pretty glaring trip-up in how DNA testing works.