Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV Ariel Waldman 9780762481668

Explore the science behind some of your favorite popular science fiction tropes--from escaping a black hole to riding a space elevator to the stars-in this illustrated guide from NASA advisor and host of the popular Tested podcast OffWorld.

Whether it's researching new technology, theories, or possible extraterrestrial situations, the showrunners and directors of our favorite science fiction shows and films are often extending the boundaries of real science, leaving viewers and fans to wonder, "Could this really happen?"

In Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV, author and filmmaker Ariel Waldman dives into the fascinating real science behind some of the most beloved space-themed science fiction tropes, from faster-than-light travel to AI ships, hypersleep, and imagining life on other planets. Each chapter dives into a particular situations or scientific questions that frequently show up in science fiction pop culture. Aided by interviews with a diverse range of scientists, educators, authors, and journalists, Out There takes science fiction fans, movie geeks, and popular science lovers on a journey to the farthest depths of space, revealing how thin the gap between fiction and reality can be.

Ariel Waldman creates imaginative projects that explore the world below our feet and beyond our atmosphere. She is the author of What's It Like in Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There and hosted and produced the show OffWorld, which explored all things space exploration and pop culture. As an Antarctic explorer, Ariel embarks on expeditions to film life under the ice, which became the subject of her TED Talk. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a consultant to the Science & Entertainment Exchange.
Previously, Ariel has served as the advisory chair to NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program and the co-author of a congressionally requested National Academy of Sciences' report on the future of human spaceflight. An art school graduate who pivoted to science, she was recognized by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change in citizen science. When not in Antarctica, she lives in San Francisco.