Wormholes, Black Holes, the Singularity & Time Travel
The short answer to the question, “how real is the science in the new sci-fi epic Interstellar?”:
“Very.”
Assuming you don’t know anything about physics (I don’t), suffice to say: the movie grew out an idea by Cal Tech Physicist Kip Thorne, who wrote a book on the subject (right).
His two-fold guidelines for the film’s director and screenwriters:
One. Nothing in the film should violate firmly established laws of physics, or scientists’ firmly established knowledge of the universe; and
Two. Speculation (often wild) about ill-understood physical laws and the universe will spring from real science, from ideas that at least some “respectable” scientists regard as possible.
–Kip Thorne, “The Science of Interstellar”
In practice, heeding guideline #1 meant no faster-than-the-speed of light space travel.
Which, in turn, required that Interstellar’s astronauts undergo long periods of hibernation — as opposed to the whiz-bang galaxy-leaping routinely done by the crew of the Enterprise on Star Trek.
The movie, by the way, is terrific.
