spoiler Science in the MLP show

[Tel Locus 34]

In the show there have been countless nods and references be it pop culture, history, and in this thread I would like to ask about the scientific references and how much canon they hold in the show.  Now I've had some people when I've opened this up for discussion told me that "Magic, you can't explain anything." However there is a lot of times in the show that Science has been pushed to explain a few different things. 

 

In the Equestria Girls movie Rainbow rocks there was a pretty decent hint of Quantum Entanglement with that Journal. (What happens to one particle the other particle responds in kind despite the distance.)

 

In the Episode "It's about time" Fixed timeline theory of time travel was implied heavily in that episode, (When events transpired happen regardless of any intervention.) (Other media to use this theory is Terminator 1)

 

In the episode "What about Discord" The observer effect was mentioned. (In where anything done to observe an effect is messed up just because of the observer's wanting to be there.) (For instance checking the tires of your vehicle will inadvertently let some air out giving you a constant change in the reading)

 

And in the finale of season 5 the alternate timeline theory of time travel was used and I just loved it (In where you go back in time to prevent/cause an event to happen and that creates an alternate timeline where things are not the same, Drastic or benign changes might occur due to your interference.) (Examples of this include Sliders and Back to the future.) 

 

Now I'm not a scientist but this subject was always fun to me and I'd always like to think that Science is canon in the show. That magic is not the only supervising power and it has to obey it's own level of physics and scientific theory. After all "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is almost indistinguishable from science." I'd like to hear thoughts on this and see If anyone else has any other theories about this subject, possibly headcanons that there is a physics to the magical side of Equestria? 

[EQ_Theta 416]

If anything, I'd say technology incorporating both aspects of magic and science together is what got me thinking about how the two could coexist in Equestria. The Flim Flam Brother's machine in the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 episode is probably the first thing I could think of and that while it does have its own physics, it is fairly similar to what we know about our laws of physics.

 

Now if only science or magic could explain Pinkie Pie...

Edited December 17, 2015 by EQ_Theta

[Tel Locus 34]

Yeah that was my idea to that there is a group of scientists doing nothing but just studying everything about magic and working to unlock every detail of the subject to the atomic detail with white boards of complex formulas and all sorts of craziness. 

 

As for Pinkie Pie not even Discord would be able to understand her. 

[ASGARDIANBRONY 128]

magic and science can both be understood and even combined. I think magic in equestria, though it does have things that seemingly cant be explained like how friendship can defeat bad guys, is also partly quantum mechanics.

[Humphrey 49]

Any magic could be explained by science technology we do not possess yet. About Pinkie Pie, perhaps it is many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that allows her to exist.....

[smilesmile 7]

Science has not been my favorite subject but when its in the mlp world i often find my self enjoying it. But no one in the world can explain pinkie pie

[J. Brony 313]

Judging from what we've seen from Twilight and Doctor Whooves, I'd say that advanced technology and science exists in Equestria but it isn't as prevalent or widespread as magic is.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

The ultimate incorporation of science into MLP would have been if Twilight didn't bother trying to stop Starlight, because paradoxes are impossible in the real universe, therefore any difference in events in juxtaposition to the established history of her timeline would have been in a parallel universe.

 

Starlight jumps into the portal, Twilight walks away and has cake with Pinkie. Starlight stops the rainboom in a parallel universe, returns to that universe's present and finds it at war with Sombra. It's the ultimate self banishment.

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

Not sure if this relates.. But in "The journal of the two sisters", Celestia kinda explains that magic (unicorn and alicorn magic) require complex mathmatics..

 

"I'm trying to help him with the calculations, but it's proving far to problematic than either of us expected."

~Celestia (Explaining about helping Star Swirl with a spell he's been working on)

 

"... the Unicorns have their own theories and practices that differ from our ways. Amazing right?"

~Celestia (Saying about the how different Unicorn and Alicorn spells are when she explored Star Swirl's library for the first time)

 

and in another part

 

"This time Star Swirl noticed and asked what's wrong. That's when I broke the news to Star Swirl that while he traveled perfectly well through time, the equation still wasn't quite correct" ~Celestia (When she explained to Star Swirl that his time travel spell didn't work exactly as expected)

 

Calculations.. Problematic.. Theories.. Equation.. It's all sounding very mathematical/scientific to me

I'm pretty sure in one of the MLP comics I also read about the connection between magic and mathematics.. though subtle as it may have been..

Edited December 17, 2015 by AURAequine

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

There have been a couple of subtle hints that pony science is frighteningly more advanced than anypony might possibly suspect. Here are two screen captures I put together. Radiation suits and advanced biological isolation garments. Dear Celestia, what are those pony scientists playing at?

 

Let's not forget. It may only be fictional to them, but ponies are familiar with the concept of space travel. As implied by Rainbow's costume.

Edited December 17, 2015 by cuteycindyhoney

[cider float 2,535]

Magic can defy all laws of physics and gravity though, going through time was done merely from a scrap of parchment, how can you explain that with the science we have today?

 

Time travel done in this show was very basic and simplified, in other more sci-fi oriented stories there would be worst irrepairable circumstances.

Edited December 17, 2015 by cider float

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Science in FIM is like science in full metal alchemist, completely the same except when the writers decided its not

 

[Tel Locus 34]

 

 

Magic can defy all laws of physics and gravity though,

 

Not entirely If magic truly defied gravity then there would be no weight when a Unicorn preformed magical spells. Instead we see quite clearly multiple times that Twilight and others had to physically strain to lift objects from time to time. Also during instances of physical manipulation the more drastic the change the worse it got for them. (Mustaches was easier while wings actually made Twilight weak kneed and wobbling.)  

 

So magic doesn't defy the laws of nature or physics. Instead the more drastic the change in nature and physics the more strain the unicorn puts on their magical self. 

 

 

 

going through time was done merely from a scrap of parchment, how can you explain that with the science we have today?

 

This can go back to the rule on ability of the maker, As shown it is indeed possible to embue items with magic (The comic book, the imagination manifestation book, The cutie mark map, Etc." So It would seem quite possible that it's not a "Mere piece of paper" but instead there is a collection of formulas and matricies in the parchment because in the finale it was mentioned that "Changing the spell" on the parchment would change the time between 1 Week and 12 (I think) years 

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Not entirely If magic truly defied gravity then there would be no weight when a Unicorn preformed magical spells. Instead we see quite clearly multiple times that Twilight and others had to physically strain to lift objects from time to time.

Umm, correct me if I'm wrong but twilight performed a reverse gravity spell with sombra's stairs to avoid having to climb them all. Which shows them able to alter and fudge the power of gravity.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Unlikeable Pony

[Tel Locus 34]

I'm corrected. They have a method of altering gravity, But Gravity is still there. But far to my knowledge there is no magical scene where an object was rendered 100% weightless. Even the reverse gravity just changed Twilight's and Spike's Gravitational interaction from a pull to a push. 

[cider float 2,535]

Not entirely If magic truly defied gravity then there would be no weight when a Unicorn preformed magical spells. Instead we see quite clearly multiple times that Twilight and others had to physically strain to lift objects from time to time. Also during instances of physical manipulation the more drastic the change the worse it got for them. (Mustaches was easier while wings actually made Twilight weak kneed and wobbling.)  

 

So magic doesn't defy the laws of nature or physics. Instead the more drastic the change in nature and physics the more strain the unicorn puts on their magical self. 

 

 

 

 

This can go back to the rule on ability of the maker, As shown it is indeed possible to embue items with magic (The comic book, the imagination manifestation book, The cutie mark map, Etc." So It would seem quite possible that it's not a "Mere piece of paper" but instead there is a collection of formulas and matricies in the parchment because in the finale it was mentioned that "Changing the spell" on the parchment would change the time between 1 Week and 12 (I think) years 

Explain to me how Discord can change everything with the snap of his fingers?

 

Also you didn't explain how a piece of paper can help you travel through time. We got one of those?

[Tel Locus 34]

Cider one thing I have come to a conclusion for in all this is that magic adds to it's own laws of reality. Magic in the show is seen as normal and anything not associated with Magic is considered strange or Taboo (Everfree Forest). As such it is not much of a stretch to add the idea that magic may be it's own form of physics tacked onto what ever physics may be included into the show.

 

The parchment you are talking about might be a form of magical enchantment written in the paper like a computer code. Now if you want the physics side of it I could attempt to conceptualize the idea that the parchment when activated with the right amount of magical energy (1.21 gigawatts reference here.) The Scroll's physical properties take that magical energy and make it function in a certain way. (Much like that of a circuit board) It would create a temporal tear. To that effect we may not have a real life example of time travel through physics just yet.

 

As for discord creating things at a whim we have to understand once again there are various forms of magic. (Earth Pony magic Unicorn magic. Etc Etc..) Discords is the magic of Chaos, That is his only thing he does. So when he does something zany and seemingly out of nowhere that is his magical attribute, meaning that is all he knows. Much like how a Pegasus can fly or Earth ponies can be ludicrously strong. In a physics sense I have no idea. Discord is right up there with pinkie pie in terms of using physics due to not having a degree or even a clue in terms of all but the basic of formulas of how our world's physics work. So till there is someone that does have a degree that wants to look at how magic works in the show all we got is his attribute is "Random".

 

This is all speculation mind you and is mainly a result of sitting around for hours on end to my thoughts at work. I enjoy thinking about stuff like this and love drawing up my own personal headcanons.