Star Wars Rogue One: What's Real Science & What's Fiction?

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DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) — A University of North Texas professor is using all the excitement surrounding the premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to analyze what could be real in the movie and what is absolutely fiction.

James Bruaer, a self-proclaimed life-long Star Wars fan say engineering principles that he teaches could explain what kinds of elements from the movie could become reality.

When asked what could immediately be written of as fiction he said, "The death star."

According to him there is no way the Death Star could ever become a reality.

Brauer added, "The amount of mass and resources that it would take is just staggering."

He also said, " We certainly don't have the technology for that", when addressing the question of whether we could travel at the speed of light,

Although, not practical he did say the At-At the All Terrain Armored Transport could be replicated in real life.

About the At-At Brauer said, "It's very slow and ponderous...it can deliver troops to wherever but it doesn't as efficiently."

Then there are the human like robots or droids.

Brauer told us we should not only expect this to become a reality, but that researchers are well on their way to bringing them to life.

He said, "We're close to artificial intelligence...It's probably going to be within our lifetime."

Brauer told us he enjoys drawing inspiration from the movie and connecting it to classroom lessons because of it motivates students to think about engineering.

He said, "It captures people's imagination, and it gets them thinking outside the box on some things that are possible."

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