Science Nonfiction Project // working title — v0.2 — pre-formation — 2026-04-06

Science Nonfiction
Project

// status: assembling founding cohort — writers, builders, bridge figures

Research // Landscape Audit

Who's in the field — and what they're not doing

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

Nobody is doing all four simultaneously

After auditing 10+ organizations, the gap is clear. The four things nobody combines:

Key References

Works worth knowing

Books

    Anthologies // format models

      Prospectus // v0.2

      The Initiative

      A working prospectus for the Science Nonfiction Project. Working title, pre-formation. This is a document in progress, made public intentionally.

      // last updated 2026-04-06 — pre-formation stage

      The Moment

      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 else is happening closer to home. The space and climate technology sectors are building extraordinary things, and the public can't imagine them. These industries have a storytelling deficit. The work is real, the ambition is vast, and the narrative infrastructure doesn't exist.

      Science fiction writers, meanwhile, need access to frontier science to make their work sharper, more grounded, more surprising. The best near-future fiction requires knowing what's actually possible. Most writers don't have a path into that world.

      The gap between them is mostly a networking problem. There's no persistent, bidirectional community built for this. No one has built the connective tissue. We intend to.

      The Initiative

      The Science Nonfiction Project is 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 move the needle on how the public understands and engages 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.

      What Exists and What Doesn't

      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. SciFutures has proven corporate willingness to pay for speculative output. 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.

      But none of them do all four of these simultaneously:

      • Persistent, bidirectional community, not project-based
      • SF creators with active builders, not just academics or Hollywood
      • Output aimed at public imagination and policy, not just entertainment or corporate foresight
      • Interactive, gaming, and experiential formats alongside writing and film

      → Full landscape explorer

      Phased Approach

      Phase 01 Cohort + Proof of Concept
      • 12–20 founding members: writers, builders, bridge figures
      • Virtual salon series pairing a writer with a builder, moderated and recorded
      • Published through Signal+Static and partner channels
      • The cohort names the project. Even the title is up for shaping.
      Phase 02 Format Experimentation
      • Design fiction hackathons where writers and engineers co-create speculative prototypes
      • Writers' rooms where SF authors workshop premises with real scientists
      • Game jams around climate or space scenarios
      • Low-cost, high-signal experiments testing which formats generate the most energy
      Phase 03 The Event
      • A culturotechnological festival, not a traditional conference
      • Tracks: interactive and gaming spaces, film/TV, builder demos, talks, hackathons, investor track
      • Reference models: Sundance New Frontier + Long Now seminars + game jam
      • Requires proven formats, cohort momentum, and a body of output

      Who We're Looking For

      The founding cohort has four archetypes:

      • Writers: Near-future SF authors with an appetite for real science. Speculative fiction, cli-fi, hard SF, design fiction. People who want their work to be sharper because they understand what's actually being built.
      • Builders: Engineers, founders, scientists working in space tech, climate tech, deep tech, biotech. People who know they have a narrative problem and want help solving it.
      • Bridge figures: People who live in both worlds. Scientists who write. Engineers who make games. Science communicators, speculative designers, interaction designers with an SF practice.
      • Institutional allies: Universities, foundations, labs, publishers who want to support and amplify the work without owning it.

      The Ask

      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 deficit, or someone who 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.

      → Get involved

      Origin

      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

      Find your path in

      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.

      // received — you'll hear from us when something worth sharing happens.

      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.

      // application received — we'll be in touch as the cohort takes shape.

      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.

      // received — looking forward to the conversation.

      No agenda required. If something here resonates and you want to make contact, this is the door.

      // received — thanks for reaching out.