Newswise — Project Hail Mary is the latest sci-fi blockbuster to stretch the bounds of audience imagination and stir the curiosity of real scientists. But the science driving films like Project Hail Mary, Interstellar and The Martian isn’t all fictional: at UChicago, researchers exploring the cosmos and decoding the origins of life are making discoveries that would feel right at home on the big screen. This week’s Monday Outlook features scientists from UChicago and Argonne National Laboratory who can discuss the real-world science behind Project Hail Mary and other sci-fi films. As always, reporters can find scholars on any topic through our Media Resources page, our Academic Communicators Network, and our archive of Monday Outlooks. If you are on deadline and need to speak to someone, contact Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, director of media relations, at aelejalderuiz@uchicago.edu. Know someone who should be receiving the Outlook? Share the sign-up link here.
EXOPLANETS & ALIEN WORLDS
Project Hail Mary‘s plot hinges on a planet orbiting the star Tau Ceti — and the search for such worlds is very real. Leslie Rogers, assistant professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, studies the interior structure and habitability of exoplanets. She can discuss how scientists determine which exoplanets are rocky, which are ocean worlds, and which could genuinely host life.
PLANET FORMATION & ORIGINS OF LIFE
Rocky the Eridian from Project Hail Mary comes from Erid, a rocky, dense ammonia-atmosphere planet with liquid water — illustrating the idea that habitable worlds can differ substantially from Earth. Fred Ciesla, chair of the Department of Geophysical Sciences, studies how rocky planets form and acquire the chemistry for life. He can discuss potentially habitable planets like Tau Ceti e, and how scientists use meteorites to understand how planets form.
EXTREMOPHILE MICROBES
Project Hail Mary‘s Astrophage — a microbe that feeds on starlight and threatens to cause an ice age on Earth — isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. Dion Antonopoulos, director of Argonne’s Biosciences Division studies microbial communities in a variety of environments including extreme ones. He’s found that microbes don’t just survive harsh conditions — they actively reshape the chemistry and geology around them. He can discuss the implications for the search for life beyond Earth.
EXISTENTIAL RISK
Films like Project Hail Mary, Arrival and Sunshine show how scientists from different disciplines band together to solve global crises — as necessary in real life as in ficton. Daniel Holz is a physicist and founding director of the UChicago Existential Risk Laboratory (XLab). He can discuss XLab’s interdisciplinary mission to understand and mitigate the greatest threats to human civilization, including nuclear war, AI safety, biorisk, and extreme climate change.
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
Any story set across the cosmos raises a fundamental question: how big is the universe, and how old is it? Wendy Freedman, professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, has spent decades pinning down the Hubble constant to understand the origin and evolution of the cosmos. Freedman, one of Time Magazine’s 100 most Influential People in the World, can discuss the scientific realism behind Project Hail Mary.
QUANTUM MEMORY
Quantum computers may sound like science fiction—evoking advanced systems like TARS in Interstellar and F.R.I.D.A.Y. in the Iron Man series— but they are rapidly becoming a reality. And building them requires quantum memory. Gregory Grant, an Argonne National Laboratory postdoctoral researcher in quantum information science, can discuss how exotic crystals that store and transmit quantum information are achieving breakthroughs in qubit coherence.
ELECTRICAL MUSCLE STIMULATION
Astronauts in space for long periods need electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) to prevent atrophy. Pedro Lopes and his Human Computer Integration Lab have created different EMS wearables that stimulate muscle movement. He can discuss his lab’s work, including Embodied AI, which won the Best Paper Award at the prestigious CHI 2026 conference.