The Science Behind Sci-Fi

Sci-fi movie directors will often have scientific advisors, so their movies have added scientific credibility. Take the movie, WALL-E. While WALL-E the robot is the loveable star, the depiction of fat and lazy humans of the future is less delightful.

The inspiration for these characters actually came from NASA research. One real and serious side effect of living in space for long periods of time is muscle and bone loss. Without gravity, muscles don’t have to do much to move around, and bones lose calcium and strength. After a while, without proper exercise, we would simply become large jelly blobs, unable even to stand.

Sometimes scientists could do with their own Hollywood advisors. In 1977 when Star Wars was released, the idea that in “a galaxy far, far away” there could exist countless planets was nonsense in the eyes of scientists. They thought that the formation of planets was a fluke. Now it seems that half the stars out there may have planets.

A strong element of sci-fi is the idea of alien worlds – places so foreign and unnatural to us that they must be from another planet altogether. But what if they weren’t? What if those strange creatures and plants you see on the big screen could be found right here on Earth? James Cameron is probably one of the most famous sci-fi film directors today. Did you know he is also an avid scuba diver and regularly incorporates ocean life into his work?

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