The Astrophysicist Who Loves Space Operas

The twelfth episode of the SFFF features Mookie chatting up the genre with Princeton astrophysics grad student turned tech consultant Ed Powell, where they immediately launch into hard science, bad science, and unraveling state of a genre that used to dream big and think smart. 

Ed walks in with his PhD, his plasma-physics past, and his lifelong obsession with Clarke and Asimov. He remembers buying The Sands of Mars on the Jersey shore; Mookie counters with his own gateway drug, Asimov’s nonfiction. From there, the two discuss the difference between "hard" sci-fi grounded in real physics, the "space opera" where the tech is mere geeky atmospherics and moody backdrop. 

They bring up Her, Alita, Terminator, the whole spectrum — as the conversation widens into deep space and deeper cynicism. Mookie shares the Dark Forest hypothesis, Hawking’s worry about SETI, humanity’s tendency to destroy anything it finds — including itself — and the depressing likelihood that our species wouldn’t handle first contact any better than we’ve handled anything else. Ed agrees, and offers the planetary-colonizer version: every advanced civilization in human history used its tech advantage to crush someone weaker. Why would aliens be different? Why would we be?

From there you both tear into Hollywood’s relationship with science — the good, the bad, and the bloviating. Apollo 13 gets credit for its engineering accuracy and slapped for its cinematic liberties. The Martian gets praise for its cleverness and a punch to the throat for that idiotic Iron Man scene the studio couldn’t resist. 2001, Forbidden Planet, Silent Running, the golden era they both grew up on.

They cover aliens, AI, spaceflight, bad editors, good engineering, nostalgia, disappointment, hope, fear, quantum brains, audiobooks, collapsed attention spans, and how most modern sci-fi publishing these days has the structural integrity of a flimsy 50s movie set, but without the old school charm and nostalgia. Where have all the good sci-fi times gone? Perhaps indie authors are the spark!

The Guest

Ed Powell received his PhD in Astrophysics (Plasma Physics and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion) from Princeton University and has worked as a contractor for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community since graduating. Today he owns his own consulting company specializing in systems and simulation architecture and engineering.