5 things about science that Stranger Things got wrong (& a couple they smashed perfectly)

Max getting lifted up in the air
Stranger Things was concluded with Season 5. (Image via Netflix)

Stranger Things was a mix of science fiction and horror, which was entertaining at all times and educational at some points. It was when the Duffer Brothers tried to pull off a Christopher Nolan in the season finale of the series that it became more scientific, as everything everyone knew about the Upside Down became "dead wrong."

We aren't a bunch of scientists, so it is, of course, a bit difficult to look for scientific things that the show did right and wrong. Thankfully, a Reddit thread turned out to be helpful in that, so it made writing this list a bit easier, so you can either look into that below or keep on reading because we'll be utterly brief.

However, we still had to find things that the show did right. But there were a thing or two too that we all have been coming across every now and then, like music reaching specific parts of the brain. That was the easy part, but you need to research more about that after reading. So, let's cross our fingers and take a dive into the list and hope that things won't go upside down.


Scientific things Stranger Things got wrong

A wormhole is a passage

The Upside Down in Stranger Things became a core part of the show, but the season finale revealed it to be a wormhole. Wormholes aren't inhabitable worlds, but this one was.


The entrances

If this is a wormhole, there needs to be a straight entrance and an exit, which would be its mouth. However, the last we checked in Stranger Things, there were multiple 'mouths' appearing almost anywhere throughout the show.


The gravity of Upside Down

Another thing to consider is the gravity of the parallel world we see in it. If you go by the Reddit thread, the user has noted that the gravity in the Abyss should be flipped, but it's unidirectional, going towards Hawkins or the earth.


Geometry of gates

Okay, this one's a bit tricky, but it got us thinking. The portals to the Upside Down on Earth opened on the floor are understandable, as they'll send you to the exact location in the Upside Down. This means if you enter from the floor under a lamp post, you'll come out from below the lamp post. But, in the show, if you enter from inside the wall of a house, you should come out inside that wall in the Upside Down, but you come out outside the house. That was one impeccable observation.


The MK-ULTRA Program

Finally, the MK-ULTRA Program is based on a real CIA initiative, where they tried to gain similar results as in Stranger Things. However, the only difference is that the real program never gave them the results, but MK-ULTRA did.


Scientific things Stranger Things got right

Music can reach specific parts of the brain

One of the things that might have come easily for the Stranger Things creators is music leading Max (Sadie Sink) to the real world. It's basically music therapy, and the show implies that music can reach parts of the brain that no other thing can. But don't get too loud, or that might damage your ears.


The psychology of human behaviour

Finally, the big baddie of Stranger Things is also a victim of the Mind Flayer's manipulation. And the monster used bad memories against him to let him loose on an evil path. If you look at real-life cases of such people, like Aileen Wuornos, you can understand it better.


Keep reading Soap Central for more lists like this.

Edited by Priscillah Mueni