History Main / ItRunsOnNonSensoleum

* ''MerryGearSolid'' offers a bunch of nonsensical reasons for why things work the way they do, usually powered by puns and synonyms. For instance, a moldy jam sandwich can be used to counteract radar jamming, because the mold in it absorbs jam.

* Most of Kim's inventions in ''DresdenCodak'' involve some form of nonsensoleum.

** Subverted later: [[spoiler: Riku is a dysfunctional [[DoctorWho Time Lord]] and booze is his version of the TARDIS.]] Axel immediately points out that this is [[WMG/TimeLord exactly like something he'd read on TV Tropes]].

* Reportedly IsaacAsimov hated everything that Steven Spielberg ever made that used future tech because the explanations for how the tech worked didn't make scientific sense. Conversely, he loved the ''StarWars'' series because it didn't end up resorting to this trope.

* Stanislav Lem has sci-fi stories set after the Discovery of the Energetic Potential of Lemon Juice.

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* Devisors from the ''WhateleyUniverse'' run on this trope, although they sometimes get devices that are ''close'' to reasonable. This is annoying to those with both [[GadgeteerGenius Gadgeteer]] and Devisor traits, since they don't know if what they built either obeys the rules of science or ignores the rules of science, in which case they can't patent and mass-manufacture it. The only test is if someone else can build it.
* The [[http://trollscience.com troll]] [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/troll-sciencetroll-physics science]] meme has lots of this, along with an amount of InsaneTrollLogic.
* The Freeeze Ray (it freezes time!) from [[DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]] runs on 'Wonderflonium'.
** "Do Not Bounce"
* Oh man, ''TheMysterySphere''.
* In one of the more glorious cases of OffTheRails ever, a certain CrazyAwesome player [[http://irolledazero.blogspot.com/2013/10/suethulu-basically-end.html builds a spaceship that runs on stupidity]], and thus takes advantage of his GM's utterly vile and inane world to aquire unlimited power.
* This is pretty much the premise of ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. The Foundation collects strange objects, creatures and people, lists the ways they contradict the known laws of the universe, and note that these things still function somehow.
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* In one of the more glorious cases of OffTheRails ever, a certain CrazyAwesome player [[http://irolledazero.blogspot.com/2013/10/suethulu-basically-end.html builds a spaceship that runs on stupidity]], and thus takes advantage of his GM's utterly vile and inane world to aquire unlimited power.[[/folder]]

** Mocked in a fictional Doctor Who scene in {{Extras}}:

* The Chronoskimmers from ''WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego'' run on "fact fuel" generated by crew members answering history questions.

*** Curiously this contradicts the previous statement about having changed the speed of light.
*** Careful. The light that made it to Omicron Persei 8 was "old light," so to speak, that is light that was generated ''before'' the change in the speed of light, thus it traveled at the speed for which a lightyear was still accurate (distance traveled in one year at 2.99x10^8 m/s). The only really odd thing is that a lightyear was not redifined. However, with this series, they probably just didn't want to change the numbers on the traffic signs. It gets worse in [[TheMovie the movies]], especially ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs Bender's Game]]''.

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*** In fact, averting the above is precisely the reason why it's done the way it is. RussellTDavies wanted to avoid ''Franchise/StarTrek''-ish TechnoBabble, where shows that take themselves more seriously would have the nonsensoleum described in great detail at great length in a dead-serious manner, as if you were a student and the writers were putting a lecture on the effects of neutrino flux on the phase-matrix of warp inducers in story form. As such, the Doctor will instead say "Think of X" and then tell you "[[{{Dissimile}} It's nothing like X]], but [[LiesToChildren if it makes you feel better]], think of it as an X." or come up with things like time being "great big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff." In-universe, this is given as or implied to be the Doctor basically being ''so'' much more advanced than humans that he's only capable of sharing so much of his knowledge - slowing his thought process down to explain things is hard for him, and sometimes there is simply no way to ''ever'' make a {{Muggle}} truly understand how something like a Weeping Angel works, and really, all you ''need'' to know is "Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."[[note]]But don't look them in the eyes.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''

** In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', when Hex (a non-electronic computer composed primarily of ants marching through glass tubes) becomes unstable, its rationality is restored by by ''typing the words'' "dried frog pills" into it. (This may have been inspired by the [[http://www.multicians.org/cookie.html Cookie Monster virus]], one of the first computer viruses.)

*** The method by which they hope time travel will be invented: A recipe for ''unscrambled eggs''.[[hottip:* :That is to say, eggs that ''were'' scrambled but now aren't.]]

*** In fact, averting the above is precisely the reason why it's done the way it is. RussellTDavies wanted to avoid ''Franchise/StarTrek''-ish TechnoBabble, where shows that take themselves more seriously would have the nonsensoleum described in great detail at great length in a dead-serious manner, as if you were a student and the writers were putting a lecture on the effects of neutrino flux on the phase-matrix of warp inducers in story form. As such, the Doctor will instead say "Think of X" and then tell you "[[{{Dissimile}} It's nothing like X]], but [[LiesToChildren if it makes you feel better]], think of it as an X." or come up with things like time being "great big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff." In-universe, this is given as or implied to be the Doctor basically being ''so'' much more advanced than humans that he's only capable of sharing so much of his knowledge - slowing his thought process down to explain things is hard for him, and sometimes there is simply no way to ''ever'' make a {{Muggle}} truly understand how something like a Weeping Angel works, and really, all you ''need'' to know is "Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."[[hottip:*:But don't look them in the eyes.]]

* Calvin of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' invents devices that run on nonsensoleum, especially a cardboard box capable of traveling through time, transforming Calvin into an animal, or duplicating him. These are all the same box, the only changes being what direction the box's opening is facing and what's scribbled on its side[[hottip:*:apparently the box is just a casing, since the transmogrifier device is small enough to be housed inside a toy squirt gun as well]]. Hobbes [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] these inventions by saying, "It's amazing what they can do with corrugated cardboard these days."

** Though interestingly, sometimes things ''will'' have a scientific basis, such as their plan to experience forty hours of sunlight by flying around the world in "Summer Belongs to You." Amusingly, ''this'' was the one time one of their friends decided to exhibit ArbitrarySkepticism--he may not understand their usual insane take on science, but he ''knows'' a day isn't that long![[hottip:*: Although it's very strongly implied that he was just pretending not to believe them to be a {{Jerkass}} and/or goad them into going through with it..]]
* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' uses nonsense technobabble from time to time. But the show's favorite science to use in this manner is sociology: almost all of the Brain's schemes are satirical shots at trends in American culture, and treat human behavior with the same dignity that this trope usually treats science.

* This was the WordOfGod explanation (and heavily implied in the stories -- although so much of history was lost to the characters that ''they'' never figured it out, there are clues for the reader that this is what is going on) for why TimeTravel took the main character to a fantastic version of the past in LarryNiven's Svetz short stories -- which would eventually lead to ''RainbowMars''. They had managed to invent Time Travel... but since Time Travel was actually impossible and could only work in fiction, it took them to a fictionalized version of the past. Hence Svetz bringing back Moby Dick -- complete with a dead Ahab -- when he was sent to find a whale, after a close brush with the Leviathan.

*** When he was introduced (long before Haki), Luffy's grandfather Garp also displayed the ability to hurt Luffy, claiming he was able to because of ThePowerOfLove.

*** In fact, averting the above is precisely the reason why it's done the way it is. RussellTDavies wanted to avoid ''Franchise/StarTrek''-ish TechnoBabble, where shows that take themselves more seriously would have the nonsensoleum described in great detail at great length in a dead-serious manner, as if you were a student and the writers were putting a lecture on the effects of neutrino flux on the phase-matrix of warp inducers in story form. As such, the Doctor will instead say "Think of X" and then tell you "It's nothing like X, but if it makes you feel better, think of it as an X." or come up with things like time being "great big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff." In-universe, this is given as or implied to be the Doctor basically being ''so'' much more advanced than humans that he's only capable of sharing so much of his knowledge - slowing his thought process down to explain things is hard for him, and sometimes there is simply no way to ''ever'' make a {{Muggle}} truly understand how something like a Weeping Angel works, and really, all you ''need'' to know is "Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."[[hottip:*:But don't look them in the eyes.]]

And then, sometimes, there's a kind of jokey science fiction which [[RuleOfCool doesn't even care]] if it's total rubbish. It may explain the scientific principles on which the [[AppliedPhlebotinum phlebotinum]] works, but the principles are so outlandish and/or obviously not true that the audience just has to shrug and say, "[[RuleOfFunny Well, it's comedy]]". In a sense, this is research failure done deliberately. In this case, science just exists as a means to get characters in a particular place at a particular time. It's a tool used in storytelling, not the story itself.

* The ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' dub gives us a great short example, with Simon wondering how Gurren Lagann's leg gets patched up and Kamina shouting "FIGHTING SPIRIT!" at the top of his lungs as a presumed explanation.
** He's right though. They were presumably repaired by Spiral Power, which comes from fighting spirit. In this case, Nonsensoleum is ''[[AwesomenessIsVolatile the most powerful force in the universe]]''.

** [[spoiler: Or, rather, Simon refuses to play God...he probably COULD revive the dead but doing so might lead to [[AwesomenessIsVolatile Spiral Nemesis]].]]
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' completely nonsensical explanations are given out for how certain abilities work. You might think this is accidental and that the series is being serious. It is, in a way, but it's later lampshaded when the seventh Level 5 gives an explanation for how he does what he does. It sounds just like every other explanation for how abilities work, but then someone who actually knows what he's talking about pipes up and says that that makes no sense at all and it can't possibly work. Turns out the Level 5 has no idea how it works either. Moral of the story? Don't question the pseudoscience, of course it's rubbish. Enjoy your popcorn.

** Fighter also survives a freefall by using his Paladin abilities to block the ground.

** And the Infinite Improbability Drive's invention also used Nonsensoleum. They already had a Finite Improbability Generator, but needed an Infinite one to take in the whole universe for use as a drive, and frustrated scientists declared this "virtually impossible" - it took one of the lab cleaners to figure out that a "virtual impossibility" is also a "finite improbability", so he could use the Finite Improbability Generator to create the Infinite Improbability Drive [[spoiler:or, in fact, teleport its core component, the Heart of Gold/Golden Bail, there from where it had been hidden from the Krikketers]]. Furthermore, the Finite Improbability Generator is powered by a "fresh cup of really hot tea", as it runs on the unpredictability of the Brownian motion of the water molecules.

*** In fact, averting the above is precisely the reason why it's done the way it is. RusselTDavies wanted to avoid ''Franchise/StarTrek''-ish TechnoBabble, where shows that take themselves more seriously would have the nonsensoleum described in great detail at great length in a dead-serious manner, as if you were a student and the writers were putting a lecture on the effects of neutrino flux on the phase-matrix of warp inducers in story form. As such, the Doctor will instead say "Think of X" and then tell you "It's nothing like X, but if it makes you feel better, think of it as an X." or come up with things like time being "great big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff." In-universe, this is given as or implied to be the Doctor basically being ''so'' much more advanced than humans that he's only capable of sharing so much of his knowledge - slowing his thought process down to explain things is hard for him, and sometimes there is simply no way to ''ever'' make a {{Muggle}} truly understand how something like a Weeping Angel works, and really, all you ''need'' to know is "Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."[[hottip:*:But don't look them in the eyes.]]

* ''MountainTime'' has a car that [[http://mountaincomics.com/2009/10/07/ex-lion-tamer/ runs on hollandaise and emits shampoo]], and another one that [[http://mountaincomics.com/2009/08/05/five-part-special-part-8/ travels through dimensions]] when Billy Joel music plays on its tape deck.

And then, sometimes, there's a kind of jokey science fiction which [[RuleOfCool doesn't even care]] if it's total rubbish. It may explain the scientific principles on which the [[AppliedPhlebotinum phlebotinum]] works, but the principles are so outlandish and/or obviously not true that the audience just has to shrug and say, "[[RuleOfFunny Well, it's comedy]]". In a sense, this is research failure done deliberately.

* Dear God, ''TheMysterySphere''.