When you think of sci‑fi, you picture mind‑blowing locations – the sky‑piercing citadel of The Empire Strikes Back, the rain‑slick alleys of Blade Runner, or the endless deserts of Dune. The genre constantly drops us into unforgettable settings. The kicker? Those places aren’t all fantasy; you can actually set foot in real‑world spots that look like they were lifted straight from a screenplay. Below are ten genuine locations that feel like they belong in a science‑fiction saga – from floating farms to glow‑in‑the‑dark highways and beyond. This is the ultimate “10 real life” list for fans who crave a taste of the impossible, right here on Earth.

10 New York’s Floating Cities

From the Nautilus to Snowpiercer, sci‑fi has long adored high‑tech vessels that act as moving metropolises. While none of those cinematic leviathans have docked yet, two ships cruising near New York City come pretty close.

First up, the Science Barge – a sleek, self‑sustaining greenhouse run by NY Sun Works. Moored in the Hudson, it runs on wind and solar power, heats itself with vegetable oil, and harvests rainwater for its crops. Think of it as a futuristic farm bobbing on the river – the perfect refuge for anyone who loves lettuce when the world ends.

The second vessel is a lot less leafy and a lot more locked down. The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, floating near the Bronx in Long Island Sound, is the world’s largest prison ship. Housing roughly 800 inmates, it was built to ease Rikers Island’s crowding. At a price tag of $161 million, it boasts 100 cells, a law library, and even a basketball court on the deck – a concrete‑jungle‑gym for felons.

9 The Glow‑In‑The‑Dark Highway

When we picture the car of tomorrow, we usually think of electric motors, not the roads they’ll cruise on. Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde decided the answer lay in bioluminescent jellyfish, creating the planet’s first glow‑in‑the‑dark stretch of road.

Partnering with Heijmans, Roosegaarde transformed Highway N329 outside Oss, Netherlands, using a photo‑luminizing powder that soaks up sunlight by day and glows a soft green by night. The luminous stripes replace traditional streetlights, potentially saving energy on a 500‑meter (1,600‑ft) segment. He hopes other nations will follow suit.

Future plans involve painting weather‑symbol icons – like snowflakes that light up when temperatures dip – onto the pavement. Those symbols are still in development, but if the paint endures the daily traffic grind, it could forever change nocturnal driving.

8 Gardens By The Bay

Fans of James Cameron’s Avatar have long wished for a real‑world Pandora. While we can’t erase the film’s rhino monsters or sky‑soaring wolves, Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay offers a close‑to‑alien experience.

The park’s hallmark is its 18 “Supertrees,” towering 25‑50 meters (80‑160 ft) and wrapped in 200 species of ferns and flowers. Eleven of these steel giants contain photovoltaic cells that power the park, harvest rainwater, and connect via sky‑bridges that sparkle after dark.

Beyond the Supertrees, the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome house over 200,000 plant varieties, from baobabs to fynbos. Climate‑controlled and powered by waste‑to‑steam turbines, these biomes feel like living arks where technology and nature coexist in harmony.

7 The National Radio Quiet Zone

The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia is a massive radio dish the size of the Washington Monument, weighing 8 million kg and covering 8,000 m². It isn’t a tourist telescope; it’s a listening post for the faint whispers of the universe.

Because extraterrestrial signals arrive weaker than a drifting snowflake, the dish needs a pristine radio environment. Anything that emits radio waves – even the cafeteria microwave – is either banned or heavily shielded. In 1958, the FCC declared a 34,000 km² (13,000 mi²) “National Radio Quiet Zone” around Green Bank, roughly the combined size of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Within this zone, power lines are buried 1.2 m underground, residents rely on dial‑up phones and ham radios, and a specialized “radio‑wave police” patrols for rogue emissions. Though modern tech makes enforcement tougher, the zone remains a rare 1950s‑style sanctuary for deep‑space listening.

6 The Soviet Lightning Machine

Deep in the woods outside Moscow lies a forgotten laboratory of tubes, coils, and massive capacitors – a Marx generator built by Soviet engineers decades ago. This contraption could unleash a bolt of lightning more powerful than every other Russian generator combined, though it only fires for a fraction of a second.

The device was used to test how materials withstand intense electrical discharges. Legend says it once shocked a Sukhoi Superjet, proving its raw power. Today, the silent machine stands as a relic of Cold‑War ambition, a reminder of humanity’s fascination with harnessing the sky’s fiercest force.

5 Rjukan, Norway

For over a century, the valley town of Rjukan sat in perpetual shadow, hemmed in by mountains that blocked sunlight from mid‑September to early March. Founded by industrialist Sam Eyde for his Norsk Hydro factories, the residents endured months of darkness.

Eyde attempted a workaround with a cable car that shuttled people to the mountain’s peak, offering brief sunlit moments. The real breakthrough came when artist‑engineer Martin Anderson installed three solar‑powered heliostats atop the mountain, 450 m (1,500 ft) above the town.

These computer‑controlled mirrors track the sun and reflect its rays down into the town square, bathing 600 m² (6,500 ft²) of space in bright light. Rjukan isn’t alone; Italy’s Viganella uses a single steel mirror to warm its streets, but Rjukan’s trio of mirrors remains the most powerful real‑world “sun‑machine.”

4 Hong Kong’s AI Metro

Hong Kong’s subway boasts a 99.9 % on‑time record, thanks largely to a cutting‑edge AI created by engineer Andy Chun. The algorithm crunches massive data sets to schedule repairs, optimizing the workload of 10,000 weekly maintenance workers.

Before the AI, engineers manually plotted tasks, a time‑consuming process that often left crews scrambling. Chun interviewed countless experts, translating their knowledge into a rule‑based system. The AI scans a digital model of the entire network, spots needed fixes, and evaluates countless solution paths to pick the most efficient route – all while staying within safety regulations.

The result? Two days of planning shaved off each week, granting crews an extra 30 minutes per night and saving roughly $800,000 weekly. As the AI grows smarter, full‑automation of the subway might be on the horizon – a scenario that feels straight out of a dystopian screenplay.

3 The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex

Driving across North Dakota’s endless prairie, you might stumble upon Nekoma, a sleepy town that hides a concrete monolith: the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex. Though it lacks a pointed tip, the flat‑roofed pyramid sports four “eyes” – concentric circles that serve as radar dishes looking skyward.

Built in the 1970s for $6 billion, the structure was part of a missile‑defense system designed to detect and intercept Soviet ballistic missiles. Its four radar “eyes” scanned for incoming threats, while underground tunnels and silos housed Spartan anti‑ballistic missiles ready to fire.

Operational for less than a year, the complex shut down in February 1976 after safety concerns arose, and its tunnels were flooded. The government later sold the massive concrete pyramid for $530,000 to the Spring Creek Hutterite Colony, a pacifist community that now lives amid the relic of Cold‑War paranoia.

2 Americana, Sao Paulo

Alternative‑history lovers often wonder, “What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War?” In a real‑world twist, after the 1865 surrender, Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil invited disgruntled Southern planters to start anew south of the equator.

Around 10,000 Confederates accepted, and roughly 40 % stayed, founding the town of Americana in São Paulo. These “Confederados” recreated a slice of antebellum America: Baptist churches, the Stars‑and‑Bars flag, biscuits, black‑eyed peas, and even Southern‑style balls.

Today, the town’s vibe has softened, but descendants still speak fluent English, celebrate an annual festival with period costumes, and hoist the Confederate flag – a living, breathing what‑if scenario nestled in Brazil’s heart.

1 Monkey Island

Islands have always been sci‑fi playgrounds, from Doctor Moreau to Jurassic Park. In Liberia’s Farmington River lies a lesser‑known island teeming with over 60 chimpanzees – affectionately dubbed “Monkey Island.”

The story begins in 1974 when the New York Blood Center opened the Vilab research facility in Liberia, using chimpanzees to study diseases like hepatitis because they’re the only non‑human species susceptible. After the lab closed in 2005, the chimps were relocated to this island, where they now live under the care of local teams partnered with the Blood Center.

Today, the chimp community thrives, receiving regular food, medicine, and veterinary attention. Though they’re not plotting a primate uprising, the island offers a poignant, real‑world echo of the “Planet of the Apes” mythos.

Awhile ago, we told you about 10 Devastating Nuclear Events and Accidents. Included was the story of Stanislav Petrov, the man who single-handedly saved humanity from nuclear annihilation on September 26, 1983. In a very short time frame, the fate of the world was saved by Petrov’s quick thinking. History is littered with these singular world-changing events.

American history is no different, and there are many incidents that could have drastically changed, or even destroyed, America. Altered versions of these “What If” events are a popular genre of science fiction called “alternate history.” To help visualize their Alt-Histories, authors often supply maps of the ALT-USA… and that’s precisely what we’re going to take a look at today. Warning, though: Below Be Spoilers.

10. The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle is a TV show based on Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name. In this universe, history diverged from our own when Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated by Giuseppe Zangarast in 1933. This was based a real event, but in our history Zangarast missed FDR and killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak instead. In Dick’s history Roosevelt was killed, and without him America struggled under the Great Depression and became extremely isolationist. This allowed the Axis powers of World War II (Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan) to become victorious in Europe and in the Pacific.

By 1945, the Axis powers have invaded North America from both the Pacific and the Atlantic. A Nazi atomic bomb in Washington DC forces America’s surrender, and the occupation creates the division of the United States between Germany and Japan; much like how, during our timeline, Germany was divided into the East and West. The events in The Man in the High Castle TV show take place in the 1960s, and maps show that Germany and Japan had split America between them with a small neutral zone separating the two.

9. Revolution

Revolution was an American post-apocalyptic NBC TV show that takes place in 2027. In this universe, a mysterious 2012 event called “The Blackout” caused all electricity to permanently cease to function. The show, produced by JJ Abrams, followed the survivors as they deal with the consequences of a world without electrical power.

After the Blackout, America descends into chaos and fragments as technology reverts back to pre-electricity, steam-powered tech. Most of the action in the TV show takes place in the Monroe Republic, which is made up of Northeast America. The character Monroe was able to seize power after setting up a tyrannical military dictatorship that takes away the guns of its people. The West Coast is dominated by the California Commonwealth, and Texas exists as a separate republic… which is pretty much par for the course. The Southwest is abandoned to the desert, and a reemergence of a nomadic lifestyle takes over in the Midwest Plains Nation.   

8. Southern Victory

Celebrated science fiction author Harry Turtledove created an alternate universe called Southern Victory. In 1997 he released the first of 11 alternate history books, How Few Remain. In this universe, history diverges during the American Civil War (which you probably guessed based on the title) on September 10, 1862. In real life on this day, a Confederate messenger lost Top Secret Order 191, which outlined the South’s invasion. With these secret plans, the North was able to check the invasion and slog on to eventual victory. In Turtledove’s universe the secret plans weren’t lost. This allows the South to successfully launch a surprise invasion and defeat the Union Army of the Potomac, and eventually the South captures Philadelphia. Capturing such a large city enables the United Kingdom and France to ally with the Confederate States of America, forcing an end to the war with the South declaring independence from the United States on November 4, 1862.

On the map you can see how America wasn’t able to afford buying Alaska from Russia, and the Second Mexican Empire (which at the time was still ruled by the Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I) crumbles into poverty. In our universe, Maximilian ruled Mexico until he was killed in 1867. In Turtledove’s history the bankrupt Mexico allows the South to purchase the northwestern regions of Sonora and Chihuahua, giving them access to the Pacific. The series continues with North and South being mortal enemies who ally with other world powers to fight each other over the next hundred years.  

7. Jericho

In the CBS TV show Jericho, a shadow government plans a coup via a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in America, using small bombs smuggled to their targets in cargo vans. After the bombs detonate, civilization breaks down and the American government is destroyed. The first season of the show dealt with a small town as it tried to keep its citizens alive during the aftermath of the nuclear attack.

The show pulled in low numbers and was canceled after one season. Jericho’s fans revolted and launched an online campaign for CBS to do a second season, sending nuts to CBS (it actually makes sense in the context of the show, if you haven’t seen it). Eventually, over 20 tons were mailed to the network. This online outcry was an “unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime-time television series.” CBS caved and made a second season, where it was revealed that civilization had returned but the coup planners had only succeeded in seizing Western America, while Texas became independent (that seems to be a theme in these kinds of alternate histories) and the Eastern USA stopped enough nuclear bombs that some form of federal government survived the WMD attack.

Even with the successful nuts viral campaign, CBS still canceled the show after the second season. However, the universe lived on in comics, which revealed that the East and West USA fragmented into smaller nations while some parts of America were occupied by UN forces.

6. The Handmaid’s Tale

Celebrated author Margaret Atwood first published her book The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985. A 1990 film adaptation of the same name was released, and in 2017 Hulu adapted it into a critically acclaimed series. In Atwood’s America, a polluted country is wracked by falling fertility rates, which cause huge civil unrest. A staged attack wipes out the President and most of the federal government. In the chaos, a Christian Fundamentalist movement calling itself the “Sons of Jacob” seize control. Some surviving elements of the government flee to the West, where America still exists, while east of the Rockies is ruled by a new government called “Gilead.”

The new Christian theocracy decrees Baptists are heretics and brutally suppresses its followers, causing much of the American South to be in continuous revolt. Gilead is able to keep the remnants of America and the world at bay by threatening to use nukes that are seized after coup’s success. A number of areas are radioactive, implying that there was nuclear sabotage or that Gilead demonstrated its nuclear might. Condemned criminals and opponents of the new regime (which are often one and the same) are sent to these areas as “clean up” teams, but due to their high mortality these men and women really face a death sentence.

5. Dies the Fire

Stephen Michael Stirling’s Emberverse series spans 14 novels, with the first book Dies the Fire being released in 2008. More installments are expected as the series chugs right along.

In the Emberverse universe a mysterious event called “The Change” alters the laws of physics, throwing the world into chaos. After the Change, modern technology stops functioning, throwing the world back into the Iron Age, with people arming themselves with swords and bow and arrows. Large population areas collapse when food runs out, and from the ashes of urban centers emerge large cannibal groups that create “Death Zones.” From more rural areas, city-states emerge. This is the universe that Dies the Fire sees for post-apocalyptic America.

4. A Canticle for Leibowitz

Walter M. Miller, Jr. first published A Canticle for Leibowitz in 1959. The award-winning book is considered a classic and has never been out of print. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that takes place 600 years after a horrible nuclear war, which sparked a movement to destroy all knowledge called the “Simplification.” During this movement, all books are destroyed except for some hidden away in a Catholic monastery, the Abbey of Saint Leibowitz, in the deserts of the American Southwest.

After all knowledge is wiped out during the Simplification, America reverts to tribal, feudal societies. Sometime in the 600 years after WWIII, the Catholic Church relocates from Rome, Italy, to New Rome, somewhere in the former United States. Surrounding New Rome are a number of Catholic papal states. Also emerging from the fragments of Western civilization are the Empires of Texarkana, Laredo, Denver. Back at the Abbey of Saint Leibowitz, the monastery keeps its vast collection of pre-war books and knowledge alive by painstakingly copying them by hand. From these books, civilization is reborn.  

3. The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins released the first book of her Hunger Games trilogy in 2008, and the novels were adapted into the blockbuster series starring Jennifer Lawrence as the story’s heroine, Katniss Everdeen. Over their cumulative worldwide releases, the four movies pulled in almost $3 billion dollars. So… we’re guessing you’ve probably seen at least one of them.

The Hunger Games takes place sometime in the future after a great war. Rising sea levels have swallowed up vast parts of North America, leaving a new nation called Panem to rise. This dystopian nation is divided into 12 districts that each specialize in specific goods or services.

A lot of the story takes place in District 12 (D12), which is thought to be in the coal-rich Appalachian region. D11 grows grain, and D10 raises livestock. Both are very large, given their tasks of feeding an entire nation. Close by is D9, which processes the food. D8 produces and treats textiles, while D7 specializes in forestry. D6 specializes in research and development, while D5 does genetic research. D4 is on or near the ocean, while D3 works with Information Technology and D2 specializes in weaponry and training peacekeepers. D1 produces luxury goods for the Capitol District and has a diamond mine – possibly the now-commercially closed Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine. The secret, rebellious District 13 is hidden away in bunkers thought to be in the Northeastern part of America.

2. Crimson Skies

Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy created the Crimson Skies universe first for a board game released in 1998, and then a video game franchise produced by Microsoft Game Studios beginning in 2000.

History diverges from our universe when, in the 1930s, a series of deadly diseases devastate America and the country becomes increasingly isolationist to the point where the federal government devolves all power to the states, leading to the Balkanization of the United States into a series of small regional-states. With no federal government to pull the nation together interstate highways decay while at the same time aviation technology takes off. With a focus on air travel, roads and trains are abandoned in favor of the skies. With so many city-states there are many grievances, which quickly turn into open war. From the chaos of near constant warfare, large groups of air pirates raid commerce and other settlements.

1. The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead has been airing on AMC since October 31, 2010, and is based on a comic book series of the same name created by Robert Kirkman. Even with declining ratings over the last couple seasons, the show was renewed for a ninth season and Forbes’ Paul Tassi has talked about how the series should catch up to the comic books by season 9 or 10. After that, Kirkman hopes the show will diverge from its source material (which it has already started to do, given a few major cast and character shakeups).

In this alternate reality, America has been overrun by a zombie virus that reanimates the dead. The story starts off with the main character, Rick Grimes, waking up from a coma to find the world overtaken by the undead. He and a group of survivors first go to Atlanta, and then after meeting another group head to the nation’s capital, Washington DC – which is the general area around which the show now takes place. The main locations are the Alexandria Safe-Zone south of the capital, the Hilltop colony north of DC, and in the urban core of the city, Ezekiel’s Kingdom. They fight against Negan and the Saviors, who are based east of Washington DC at The Sanctuary. Everything outside of these areas is more or less abandoned, given over to the hordes of the walking dead.

Oh, so that’s where they got the title.

Jon Lucas covers WW1 live, 100 years ago. You can follow the action on Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram