"Sci-fi is a catch-all term, really. Most folks might think of franchises like Star Wars or Star Trek when they hear it—imagining fantastical vistas with magic wizards and teleportation beams. And to be sure, the space opera is a prized staple in the genre's cabinet of curiosities; but the more interesting science fiction, or at least the type that sticks around in the old noodle, is the more grounded "hard sci-fi." With a greater emphasis on speculation and estimation derived from the scientific realities of their times, as opposed to the flights of fancy in their pulps, these are stories created by writers, directors, and artists with an eager eye on the horizon.
It is easy to walk out of a film and announce "that will never happen," but there have been plenty of times where the sci-fi of today turned out to be the scientific reality of tomorrow. Here are a few of those examples."
