Fish People, and the Coelacanth: Bizarre Sci-Fi and Bizarre-er Science
Let’s begin where all good science fiction does: somewhere completely bonkers. Take "Doctor Who", a show that routinely features humans in rubber lizard suits. One storyline posits that Earth was originally ruled by reptilian humanoids—the Silurians—who evolved millions of years before humans and now live underground in stylish, fluorescent-lit bunkers. Meanwhile, in Japanese science fiction, we have "ningyo" - ancient fish-human hybrids with big eyes, big feelings, and a tragic backstory involving bioluminescence and heartbreak. These stories sound absurd. Until, of course, you remember that scientists don’t even agree on what a fish is. That’s right - if you ask a group of marine biologists to define a fish, you’re likely to start a fistfight at an academic conference. What it is depends on if you’re a taxonomist, a chef, or a time-traveling lobe-finned fish. The current working definition is something like: "It lives in water, has fins, swims, and has verteb...