The Most Essential Part of Dune Lore

Want to survive Arrakis, the desert planet at the center of the Dune franchise? You’ll need a stillsuit. We take a look at whether they’re possible or not.

Arguably the single most celebrated science fiction novel of the 21st Century, Frank Herbert’s Dune has long been a cultural phenomenon. Partly as a countercultural symbol thanks in part to some of its more mind-expanding themes, but mostly as a towering work of science fiction, with Herbert applying an almost textbook flavor to the original novel’s many appendices to explore the ecology of this fictional world. A key piece of this involves answering the question of how human life as we know it could survive on a world that has virtually no moisture, let alone running water. Which brings us to the topic of this week’s episode: the stillsuit.

A stillsuit is worn by natives of Arrakis to preserve and recycle their own body’s precious moisture, allowing them to last for longer periods in the open desert. When worn properly, it’s a head to toe covering that recaptures everything from the moisture in your breath to basic perspiration to, um, other bodily functions, stores it in pockets, and allows you to drink it as necessary. It’s a little gross, sure, but it’s also an iconic piece of brainy sci-fi tech that seems like it would have solid grounding in the real world.

But does it? You’ll have to watch the latest episode of Does it Fly? right here or check it out on our YouTube page to see what we found!

SUGGESTED VIEWING

We’ll make this easy on you: to get the gist of what we’re talking about this week, all you really need is Denis Villeneuve’s two incredible sci-fi epics Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024). These are two of the best sci-fi movies of the last 25 years and they’re as close to a perfect adaptation of Herbert’s original novel as you’re going to get.

You might also have some nostalgia for David Lynch’s somewhat bizarre 1984 Dune movie, which boasts a killer Toto score, some stunning visuals and production design, and Sting in pointy underwear. Otherwise, though…stick to the Vileneuve version.

And if you want a look at roads not taken for the franchise, the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, about an absolutely bonkers Dune movie that almost got made in the 1970s is as mind-expanding in its own way as Herbert’s original book. Highly recommended.