91TV

This event is part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition 2026.

As far back as Georges Méliès' 1902 masterpiece A Trip to the Moon, science and technology have played a major role on storytelling on screen – in cinemas and on TV. But which movies have got the science right, which ones have fallen short, how does science fiction influence science fact, and vice versa?

In this discussion, scientists, film and TV experts and sci-fi aficionados take a deep dive into the best in class to the worst offenders, from Interstellar to Armageddon.

Speakers include:

• – Award-winning science journalist, biochemist and host of the hit podcast Why Aren’t You a Doctor Yet?
• (by live video link) – Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland, founder of Silvec Biologics, science advisor on The X Files for 11 seasons and author of The Real Science of The X Files
• – Head of Collections and Principal Curator at the Science Museum, and project curator of its 2023 exhibition Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination
• – Editor-at-Large of Empire magazine and co-host of the Empire podcast and author of five books, most recently

Attending the event

This event will be held in Theatre 2 at the Royal Society on Thursday 2 July 2026, 3.20pm – 4pm.

• Free to attend as part of Summer Science Exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to seat availability. We recommend that visitors arrive 10-15 minutes before the session
• Eventbrite tickets for Summer Science Exhibition are recommended, with only a limited number of walk-up tickets released on the day
• Suitable for students aged 14+
• This talk will take place in person
• A recording of this talk will be available later on the
• Live subtitles will be available
• Travel and accessibility information and details on planning your visit - contact us directly to arrange any specific accessibility requirements
• Food and drink will be available for purchase at our onsite café

For all enquiries, please email us.