Scientists join superheroes at Awesome Con

On 16–18 June, approximately 60 000 fans of comic books, science fiction, fantasy, and gaming converged on Washington, DC, for the fifth annual Awesome Con, billed as “a comic-con that embraces all aspects of geekdom and pop culture.” Attendees flocked to panels such as “The History of Dragons in Film,” “The Law for Video Game Creators—IP,” and a Q&A with Star Trek and Big Bang Theory actor Wil Wheaton.

In previous years, Awesome Con has embraced the parts of fandom that love science as well as science fiction. In 2016 it hosted a “Science Fair” sponsored by the Science Channel that included panels on exoplanets, cyborgs, and Mars. This year, a full-blown “Future Con” became part of Awesome Con’s programming. Over the course of the three-day affair, Future Con panels and events highlighted convention-goers’ interest in science—and scientists’ own interest in pop culture.

Science fans ask probing questions

The Science Channel, NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, NSF, and the American Physical Society were just a few of the scientific organizations that lent their sponsorship and expertise to the weekend’s Future Con events. Popular panels included “Harry Potter and the Genetics of Wizarding,” “Indistinguishable from Magic: Nanotech in Sci-Fi,” and “IBM Watson: Superman or Supercomputer?”

The first Future Con panel, “The Moon: Cornerstone of Solar System Science,” kicked off the event by taking an audience question, one that arguably set the tone for the weekend. The con-goer wanted to know more about the theory that Earth’s moon was created by a collision with a protoplanet, and whether there were any competing theories about the Moon’s origins.

Throughout the weekend, Future Con audience members showed enthusiasm for, and knowledge about, science. A NASA panel on the upcoming 21 August total solar eclipse drew spirited applause for panelist Ernie Wright’s striking eclipse visualizations. Speakers at “Alien Climates on Planets Near and Far” received questions about tidally locked exoplanets, the habitable zone, and how exactly scientists could know the surface temperature of an exoplanet.

Perceptive audience questions often got to the heart of a current scientific challenge. One audience member at the “Alien Climates” panel asked about the possibility of advanced microscopic life that bore little resemblance to life on Earth. “This is the challenge of being an astrobiologist,” NASA scientist Giada Arney replied. “We have one example of a planet with life, and it’s here. It’s really hard to extrapolate from n = 1.”

Several scientific organizations worked to capitalize on con-goers’ enthusiasm by joining Awesome Con’s Exhibit Hall. Booths from NSF, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society (APS) rubbed elbows with exhibits offering Wonder Woman T-shirts and Game of Thrones beer mugs. APS showcased its Spectra series of educational comic books, designed to teach students about concepts like power and force. NIST set out a bench where kids could combine two polymers to grow a “gnome.” The NSF booth included an “Ask a Scientist” table with a rotating cast of real scientists available to answer questions.

Scientists are fans too

Other panels during the weekend explored the intersection between science and science fiction. Historian of science Matthew Shindell and astrophysicist Grant Tremblay were the cohosts of Awesome Con’s biggest attraction: a panel with actor David Tennant, known for his work as the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who, Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, and Hamlet in, well, Hamlet. (Tennant did, in fact, receive several questions about his Shakespearean roles during the audience Q&A.)

Shindell and Tremblay, both Doctor Who fans, had great fun with the Doctor’s famous line “Time doesn’t work the way you think it does,” which Tremblay deemed “close to being accidentally right.” Tremblay linked the show’s depiction of time travel to current theories about the nature (or nonexistence) of time; Shindell reminded audience members that Doctor Who was first shown in the US alongside the PBS science series 3-2-1 Contact.

Many of the scientists shared their own pop culture passions with the Awesome Con audience. Ravi Kopparapu, known for his work modeling potentially habitable exoplanets, said that Star Trek was his first inspiration for studying planets outside our solar system. Panelists on “You’ve Heard of Black Holes—We Reveal the Truth” unanimously chose Interstellar‘s black hole as their favorite sci-fi depiction. Jared Espley, a space scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told the audience at “Mars―Past, Present, & Future” that he needed to be home in time for his regular game of Dungeons & Dragons. Several panelists arrived in costume; Elizabeth MacDonald, a specialist on the ionosphere and magnetosphere surrounding Earth, used a pair of Sun earrings, a NASA T-shirt, a fluffy skirt, and space-print leggings to illustrate how plasma generates the northern and southern lights.

It often isn’t clear whether this kind of partnership between science and entertainment sparks interest in science (see, for example, Charles Day’s post on the second Awesome Con ). Still, many of the Future Con panelists felt there is a connection—that fictional stories have the potential to make someone fall in love with science. NASA scientist Hannah Wakeford, who specializes in exoplanet research, said that “sci-fi and fantasy shows help us explore [exoplanets] too, with our imagination.” Ann Merchant from the National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange spoke passionately about the Exchange’s work providing science consulting to studios such as Marvel.

James Green, NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director and a guest on a panel about “The Amazing Collaboration Between Hollywood and Real Space Exploration,” argued that even the most implausible superhero movies can inspire viewers to learn more if science is used in their world-building. “If these kinds of movies spark an interest in the Higgs boson, that’s the start of a journey.”