3 Body Problem introduces a lot of new concepts as the show goes on, with aliens and advanced technology often being thrust into the spotlight.

3 Body Problem builds on existing technology from the real world as well as introducing new ideas on which to build the show’s story. Netflix’s adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem novel from 2008 touches on many sci-fiction tropes but leaves many of them largely unexplored. However, certain context clues and expositional scenes do reveal a great deal about the lore of 3 Body Problem. While certain aspects of the show’s canon are left intentionally open-ended, 3 Body Problem still addresses it all in some fashion.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution in 3 Body Problem is arguably the starting point of the entire story. From there, Ye Wenjie begins the extraterrestrial tale in motion, plunging the cast of 3 Body Problem into a figurative chess match with an alien species that will last four centuries. The coming conflict results in the development of tech that doesn’t exist in reality, although much of it does have a foothold in the real world.

What Is The Three-Body Problem? Real Science & Show Meaning Explained

The Netflix show uses a real scientific concept

The Three-Body Problem that characters like Jack and Jin experience in the San-Ti’s VR game is based on a real scientific quandary. For the most part, the problem is considered unsolvable. The movements of two bodies caught in one another’s gravitational pull are possible to predict by members of the scientific community. However, when a third body is introduced, the interactions become largely impossible to foresee for any meaningful length of time. The variables of the three bodies and how they interact with each other’s gravitational pull are simply too great.

The problem in the Netflix show specifically addresses the scenario in which the San-Ti find themselves. As Jin explains in 3 Body Problem season 1, episode 3, “Destroyer of Worlds,” the San-Ti’s homeworld has three suns. The planet’s chaotic movement between its trio of stars makes it impossible for the San-Ti to predict when a “Stable era” might arrive, and when a dreaded “Choatic era” will descend. The sporadic switch between safety and danger has led to the San-Ti’s scientific progress taking much longer than humanity’s due to the need to rebuild after each chaotic era.

The VR Game In 3 Body Problem

The San-Ti’s VR tech is centuries ahead of humanity’s

The glistening, silver headsets in 3 Body Problem may look familiar to gamers in the real world. The immersive tech shown in the Netflix adaptation is essentially a much more developed version of a gaming medium that exists in reality. In the show, the Virtual Reality headsets don’t just allow for simulated sight and sound but also engage all the other senses. The game lets players smell, feel, and even taste their artificial surroundings, making the game indistinguishable from real life. However, the game isn’t for entertainment.

The San-Ti somehow distribute the headsets to humanity’s brightest minds as an educational tool, possibly even with the hope that the San-Ti can be saved from the chaotic eras. Each headset is also tailored to the individual player, as proven when Jack tries to play Jin’s game in 3 Body Problem episode 2, “Red Coast” and is repeatedly killed in-game. The game also progresses through various levels, each with a cryptic, implied goal to help predict the coming of a chaotic era. However, the true aim of the game is revealed to be saving the planet’s people.

The characters in the game are all human, although the show confirms a few times that the San-Ti do not look like us. So, the VR game in 3 Body Problem has been adjusted to make humans more sympathetic to the San-Ti cause. In addition, while it’s not possible for players to don one another’s headsets, multiplayer mode is possible. Not only do Jack and Jin team up, but they also encounter players they don’t know, who are also trying and failing to solve the Three-Body Problem.

Are Auggie Salazar’s Nanofibers In 3 Body Problem Real?

Nanofibers in reality don’t quite live up to their abilities in 3 Body Problem

Along with VR gaming, Auggie’s nanofibers are another piece of tech that exists in the real world. The properties of the advanced material in 3 Body Problem are very similar to its counterpart in reality, but certain aspects have been exaggerated. According to Science Direct, real nanofibers have been, “Widely used in the fields of electrochemical substances, sensors, biomaterials, filters, etc.”

The incredible strength of Auggie’s nanofibers is what makes them less believable. The horrifying scene from 3 Body Problem episode 5, “Judgment Day,” which shows the ship and its inhabitants sliced into pieces by the fibers, does not reflect what the real technology is capable of. In addition, the production of nanofibers in the real world is far too expensive to allow for such quantities to be produced. Even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be capable of the macabre feat on display in “Judgment Day.”

The Multiple Timelines In 3 Body Problem Explained

The birth of Dr. Ye’s dark legacy is shown throughout the show

While most of 3 Body Problem takes place in the present day, the story doesn’t confine itself to a single time period. Dr. Ye’s exploits as a young woman are pivotal to the gradual arrival of the San-Ti, and the show reveals how it all unfolds. The very first scene in 3 Body Problem episode 1, “Countdown,” begins in 1966 Beijing – at the start of the Cultural Chinese Revolution. Ye Wenjie is then followed through the decades as she first contacts the San-Ti. 3 Body Problem also shows Dr. Ye meeting Mike Evans – a figure who goes on to be pivotal in further communication with the San-Ti.

There is a time jump between Dr. Ye being introduced to the cult aboard the Judgment Day and the present day. Most members of the human race are blissfully unaware that the San-Ti are on their way. However, the alien race makes its presence known by derailing the science of humanity, making the stars flicker, and showing a huge eye in the sky to drive home the fact that humanity is being watched.

Although it’s not shown on-screen, there’s also the implied future that lays in wait for humanity when the San-Ti reach Earth. The aliens halting scientific progress on Earth means the human race has no choice but to await the arrival of their new overlords, who could turn out to be their exterminators. As such, it could be that the human race’s days are numbered, with just 400 years left until they meet their end.

What Are Trisolarians? 3 Body Problem’s Aliens Explained

3 Body Problem’s alien race is making the long voyage to Earth

The San-Ti, also known as the Trisolarians, are an incredibly advanced alien race. Their long journey to Earth came at the request of Dr. Ye, despite a San-Ti pacifist intercepting the original message and warning her against the course of action. They are a space-worthy civilization, desperately seeking a new world on which to settle due to the intense downsides of their current home.

Although they are centuries away from physically reaching Earth, the San-Ti are capable of direct communication with humanity due to their pair of sentient, microscopic supercomputers known as Sophons. The Sophons also allow the San-Ti to spy on humanity in great detail, with the only thing not observable to them being the thoughts of the human race. As a result, almost any preparation carried out to defend Earth against the coming threat can be observed in real-time by the San-Ti.

Fear is one of the San-Ti’s greatest weapons when it comes to their attempts to subjugate humanity. Although it’s unclear if the countdown in 3 Body Problem that characters like Auggie can see would actually end in their death, that’s certainly the implication. Auggie’s shutdown of the nanofiber project is a direct result of the San-Ti projecting a countdown into her field of vision that gets dangerously close to zero – and Auggie isn’t the only scientist to experience the countdown in 3 Body Problem.

With the exception of the innovative and unusual “Wallfacer Project,” humanity has practically no way of getting ready for the arrival of the San-Ti without it being instantly discovered. The Wallfacers are three carefully chosen humans who are tasked with coming up with a defense strategy in their own heads that they never speak out loud. Although it may seem like a bizarre approach, it may be Earth’s best chance of holding off the mysterious villains from 3 Body Problem.