But Not For Long! 

Once Thought Impossible… 

Things like Jules Verne’s submarine the Nautilus and flying to the moon were, at the time (1864), thought not only impossible, but outlandish. There were times my great grandmother, born in the late 1800’s, still had trouble believing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon even though her grandson, my father, helped build the lunar lander which took them there. How could mankind move from horse drawn buggies to spaceships in the span of less than a hundred years? Not only these events, but things like credit cards, television, cell phones—all were depicted in science fiction and thought too far-fetched to ever come true. 

And What Else Can We Expect? 

What things posed by science fiction writers can we look forward to seeing become reality? Donovan Alexander, in his article Science Fiction Ideas and Technology That Could Be Possible in the Distant Future, lists such things as:  

• proof of the “existence of the multiverse” which was discussed in Stephen Hawking’s final published paper (unlimited versions of Stephen Hawkings, Elvis, and Betty White) 
• “subliminal learning” (like Trinity uploading and instantly understanding ‘How to fly a helicopter’ in The Matrix) courtesy of “Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip”   
• “increasingly intelligent Artificial Intelligence” (could have used them to do my pre-calc in college)  

Just recently, scientists have made a breakthrough in fusion reactors which could provide cheap, environmentally friendly and inexhaustible energy; think of the “Mr. Fusion” power source in the Back to the Future Delorean. It’s now becoming a reality. Alexander says, “Science fiction has the uncanny ability to predict our future,” because “science fiction and modern technology are correlated”. 

Follow the Science… 

Many sci fi writers like myself closely follow the headlines of scientific breakthroughs and listen to what scientists hope to achieve. If a vaccine for AIDS is created, it’s not a big jump in our imagination to propose in our novels that a vaccine for cancer (or even zombie-ism!) will be developed. Andy Weir’s The Martian shows we need only a bit more technology to move from science fiction to the reality of colonizing Mars. So maybe we’re not that crazy, right? We’re just ‘forward thinkers’. For me specifically, I’ve used the current research in cell regeneration of scientists using the axolotl salamander in my manuscript The Excalibur Vow as the Creature (Adam) searches for a means to correct his physiology. My sci fi manuscript has advanced spaceships and strange worlds which have been researched for hundreds of years (if you go from ancient astronomers and the first chariot). In my middle grade trilogy, Evolution Revolution, a squirrel learns not only how to use simple machines like the wheel, he also learns how to think logically. Could that really happen? Absolutely, because squirrels are clever and even NASA Rover and MIT scientist Mark Rober (who makes exploding packages for porch thieves and other cool stuff) has had all his obstacle courses solved (and he learned that squirrels figure out how to cheat!). You can see for yourself here. Check out all the videos.) 

Sadly, Some Science Is… Impossible 

Things like: 

• “time machines” (Sorry, H.G. Wells) 
• “light sabers” (goodbye, Jedi) 
• “reanimation from cryonic suspension” (no crossing the universe now),  

• “gravitational shielding” (that’s one law no one can break), and  
• “teleportation” (reducing a human to atoms and reassembling. Where are the directions?) 

are contrary to known physics and engineering, explains George Dvorsky in 10 Futuristic Technologies That Will Never Exist.” That’s a bummer. 

But We Can Dream… 

So, while some things will forever remain impossible, for my fellow sci fi and spec fic writers and me, it doesn’t mean the impossible doesn’t make a good story. 

Right, Mary Shelley?