Science Nonfiction Project // working title — v0.2 — pre-formation — 2026-04-06
// status: assembling founding cohort — writers, builders, bridge figures
Research // Landscape Audit
We mapped every significant organization working at the intersection of science fiction and science. The audit covers accuracy consultancies, academic centers, film festivals, corporate foresight studios, and long-term thinking institutions. There is white space.
White Space Summary
After auditing 10+ organizations, the gap is clear. The four things nobody combines:
Key References
Books
Anthologies // format models
Prospectus // v0.2
A working prospectus for the Science Nonfiction Project. Working title, pre-formation. This is a document in progress, made public intentionally.
// last updated 2026-04-08 — pre-formation stage
As Artemis II carries a crew to the Moon for the first time in fifty years, and further out than humanity has ever been, something is happening closer to home that deserves attention. The space and climate technology sectors are building extraordinary things. And yet, the public imagination hasn't caught up. The stories aren't being told. The narrative infrastructure that once fueled programs like Apollo, that turned a generation of kids into engineers, has thinned out at the very moment we need it most.
At the same time, science fiction is in a renaissance of near-future, grounded speculation. Writers, filmmakers, and game designers are hungry for access to the frontier science that would make their work sharper and more consequential. The best near-future fiction requires knowing what's actually possible. Most creators don't have a clear path into that world.
The gap between these communities is, in our view, largely a networking problem. And it feels like an important one to solve. The human imagination is starved right now, worn down by turmoil and infighting. Feeding it with stories grounded in real science and real ambition feels not just worthwhile but necessary.
The Science Nonfiction Project is an effort to build a persistent community connecting science fiction creators with active builders. The output is aimed at public imagination, policy, and interactive formats. Not Hollywood accuracy consulting. Not corporate foresight. Not academic anthologies written for other academics.
We want to produce narrative infrastructure: stories, prototypes, experiences, and conversations that help the public understand and engage with frontier science. Start with space and climate. Build toward something bigger.
Signal+Static serves as the editorial arm and media partner. The initiative is the applied platform where writers and builders actually meet, collaborate, and make things.
The landscape is more developed than most people realize. The NAS Science & Entertainment Exchange has run 4,000+ consultations since 2008. ASU's Center for Science and the Imagination has produced serious collaborative anthologies with researchers. SciFutures has proven that companies will pay for speculative output grounded in real science. XPRIZE commissioned SF anthologies tied to prize competitions. Imagine Science Films pairs scientists with filmmakers at an annual NYC festival. The Sloan Foundation funds science-themed cinema across Sundance, SFFILM, and six major film schools.
All of this is meaningful work, and we have deep respect for it. But from what we've found, there appears to be white space. We haven't found an organization that combines all four of these qualities at once:
We may be wrong. We'd love to be pointed to what we've missed. But if this gap is real, it feels worth filling.
The founding cohort has four archetypes:
At this stage, the ask is simple: join the conversation. The founding cohort will be small and carefully assembled. If this resonates, if you're a writer who wants to go deeper, a builder who knows you have a storytelling gap, or someone who already lives in both worlds, the door is open.
For sponsors and institutional partners: we're not raising money yet, but we're building relationships now. The right partners will help shape what this becomes.
This idea crystallized in a small room at SXSW 2026, during an open conversation among space builders, SETI researchers, orbital debris engineers, semiconductor manufacturers, science communicators, a NASA employee voicing real frustration with budget cuts and policy decisions, and a sci-fi novelist looking for a physicist to consult on their book. The PR problem surfaced immediately. The sci-fi connection surfaced right after. A 75-year-old who remembered Sputnik told the room he was deeply disappointed that we're still talking about going back to the Moon.
It was the most lively and motivated discussion I witnessed in Austin. The energy was unmistakable: something needs to exist that doesn't yet.
Get Involved
Four ways to connect, depending on your level of interest and what you bring to the table.
The lightest commitment. Get occasional updates on the initiative as it develops — new research, cohort announcements, events.
For writers, builders, and bridge figures who want to be founding members. The founding cohort will be 12–20 people, assembled carefully. Tell us who you are and what draws you here.
For organizations, companies, foundations, and institutions interested in supporting the initiative. We're building relationships before we're raising money. The right partners will help shape what this becomes.
No agenda required. If something here resonates and you want to make contact, this is the door.