Could a “Dune” Sandworm Exist in Real Life?

Giant, worm-like creatures that live in desert environments are a staple to sci-fi. But there are ecological and evolutionary limits to consider when deciding if a species like that featured in “Dune” could actually exist here on Earth, biologists say.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Digital Producer: Ana Aceves
Production assistance:
Robert Boyd, Shyla Duff, Christina Monnen

Archival:
Daniel I Goldman / Georgia Tech
Dorit Hockman
coconinoco / Flickr
Charles (Chuck) Peterson / Flickr
Tom Simpson / Flickr
Shawn Erdely, US / Flickr
Lucas Helle, CL / Flickr
Pham Thanh Loc, VN / Flickr
N.Style, RU / The Noun Project
Alina Oleynik, Ukraine / The Noun Project
Sasha Sash, UA / The Noun Project
Anna Sophie, DE / The Noun Project
Pond5
Alastair Potts
Storyblocks
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
Xiaobo Lyu & Han Wang / UW Madison
Peter Andrus / Wikimedia
Loki austanfell / Wikimedia
FinnHK / Wikimedia
Dr. Roshan Nasimudeen / Wikimedia
Bruno C. Vellutini / Wikimedia
Dinosaur Zoo / Wikimedia

SFX:
InspectorJ / FreeSound
kwahmah_02 / FreeSound
monica137142 / FreeSound

Music:
APM

© WGBH Educational Foundation 2021