“At least in Star Wars‘ spaceships, they can walk.” I heard an 8-year-old utter that while I attempted to explain the effects of reduced gravity on the International Space Station. Well, the kid had a point, but still, Star Wars is not real. It’s science fiction. Yet it was clear which one he and his classmates preferred.
I was surprised. If someone had asked me 20 years ago what was cooler – walking or flying (ok, floating) in space, I would have chosen the latter. I thought this might have been an isolated incident, but on a separate occasion another youngster declared that rockets were not as cool as an X-wing Starfighter.
I love to work with kids and teach them cool stuff about engineering and science. They are much smarter than adults and don’t try to manage my expectations. And as the border between science and sci-fi gets thinner, I expected kids to get more excited about real science than about the “imaginary” world of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and R2-D2.
So I am left with an open question: Why might science fiction be winning the race?
via Wired
June 7, 2012
