Science meets sci-fi
Last night a different kind of event, held in the library at Burlington House, brought together science with sci-fi and fantasy.
Our panellists were all superhero-loving scientists, led by Dr Raychelle Burks, an analytical chemist and pop-culture enthusiast, who has written on the science of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.
Dr Danielle Lee, the non-chemist in the room, studies animal behaviour and ecology. A TED Fellow, she also holds a staggering amount of knowledge of the superhero genre.
Dr Suze Kundu is one of our 175 faces of chemistry, and a passionate science communicator and researcher. She’s also one of the authors of “The Secret Science of Superheroes”, which answers questions such as “how many eggs does Spiderman need to eat for breakfast?”
The panellists were energetic and enthusiastic, but no-one in the audience knew what to expect as Raychelle, Danielle and Suze stood up to introduce first themselves, and then their favourite superheroes…
“This is going to be a different kind of talk from what you’re used to”, said Raychelle, “because there are no free rides – you’re going to be asked to contribute!”
Fortunately the audience was more than happy to oblige. They were asked to name their own favourite superheroes, and then pick which of their strengths they most admired.
Chemists, physicists, biologists and comic book fans, across all age groups, all got stuck in immediately, and the room was soon buzzing with suggestions. The range of not only science knowledge, but the superhero genre, was extremely impressive.
Real science
The first suggested superhero was Jean Grey, from X-Men, whose psychic abilities are impressive but terrifying. "I worry about this”, said Suze, “because where does it stop?!"
From there the ideas just kept coming. They were fantastical, but the science being discussed was real. A biologist in the audience suggested the ability to edit genes at will, so our superhero could incorporate characteristics and powers from different animals.
Another audience member suggested protective clothing that self-assembled and disassembled as needed, and another brought up the concept of self-healing materials.
The science became more ambitious when someone suggested the ability to control entropy, enthalpy, and Gibbs free energy, and this power, along with gene editing, became the central concept for our imagined hero. More animal powers were discussed, like the strength of armadillo armour, and the indestructibility of the micro-animals, tardigrades. We used plants and fungi as well, with excitement in the audience rising as we imagined what it would be like to photosynthesise on the go.
As the ideas flowed, our guest illustrator Matt Lawrence sketched them on a tablet, which was projected onto the screen at the front of the room. Our imagined superhero slowly took shape on the board, with powers and gadgets being added at an eye-watering rate.
The finished superhero was named Delta Gene, with the symbol for the negative change in Gibbs free energy emblazoned on their chest.
Collaboration and learning new things
James, who works in public engagement for the Biochemical Society, and Alan, who works for an education games company, participated enthusiastically in the evening, and were among those who were reluctant to leave at the end, sticking around to chat to the speakers and other audience members.
"I learned so much from it" said James, "and not just from the speakers. I didn’t know what a tardigrade was, and I didn’t know what entropy was, which actually [Alan] explained to me, which was helpful! And I learned about new superheroes – a whole range of them."
"My favourite thing was just how informal it was – everyone was shouting out and contributing – it was so collaborative and really nice."
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