The Best Use of Science in TV and Film in 2016

As another year draws to a close and we prepare to look ahead to a new year full of hope and promise, we can’t help but thinkÂ back on 2016 and take stock of all it had to offer. The last 12Â months have yieldedÂ amazing scientific achievements and stunning discoveries. AsÂ interest in science continues to grow, we’re seeing this fascination reflected in our favorite TV shows and movies. The best of these engage our intellect, ignite our curiosity, and inspire conversations with others that last far longer than the runtime of the show or movie itself. It’s these spectacular 2016 standouts on both the big and small screens that we’ll revisit today.

In TV, a number ofÂ trends stood out. The use of cutting-edge technology to battle perceived threats remains popular, whether in the long-running seriesÂ Person of Interest or the new Syfy endeavorÂ Incorporated. Futuristic colonies,Â either in space likeÂ The Expanse or on Earth itself likeÂ Colony andÂ The 100, also serve as rich backdrops for dramatic tension. But one of the biggest sci-fi trends in TV this year was time travel, as seen in such varied interpretations as 12 Monkeys,Â 11.22.63,Â Timeless,Â Frequency, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash. That last CW superhero series shares the sci-fi concept of alternate realities with the Amazon adaptation,Â The Man in the High Castle, which goes all-in on this aspect in itsÂ second season. Even 2016’s darling seriesÂ Stranger ThingsÂ featured a competent and compassionate high school science teacher who gladly imparted his knowledge upon his young students. It’s just too bad that the show is rooted more in dice rolls and demogorgons than hard science, but I’m not complaining.

As for movies, 2016 was a year in extremes which saw a lot of films do some simple hand-waving in place of science while others made it a cornerstone of their plot. There were your typical big-budget and super sci-fi cinematic experiences likeÂ Star Trek Beyond,Â Independence Day: Resurgence, and the upcoming filmÂ Passengers, which seems to be asking some interesting philosophical questionsÂ at the very least.Â Equals filled in the year’s requisite future-set romance in a society that has outlawed emotion, whileÂ Morgan attempted to capitalize on the philosophical cachet ofÂ Ex Machina by focusing on an artificially intelligent female humanoid.Â The 5th Wave found Chloe Grace Moretz attempting to save her brother from an alien invasion, and Paul Feig attempted to stand besideÂ his female-ledÂ GhostbustersÂ in the fight against Internet trolls, but neither was completelyÂ successful. The good news is that there were definitely some scientific gemsÂ available for our viewing pleasure in 2016.

But these are just the runners-up! Check out the gallery below for our favorites, and be sure to let us know your thoughts (and any shows we missed) in the comments!

Image: Paramount Pictures

Gallery

INTO THE INFERNO: Let's lighten things up a bit with a nature documentary from Werner Herzog, shall we? This fantastic and wide-ranging film is based on visits to active volcanoes in Indonesia, Iceland, North Korea, and Ethiopia. In Herzog's signature style, the documentary goes far beyond the amazing scenery and powerful displays of nature captured by his camera lens. He seeks to explore various volcanoes and their place in human history as a way to better understand our own origins as a species. Herzog narrates the philosophically and anthropologically inclined film while sharing in a scientific dialogue with University of Cambridge volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer throughout. But don't let his dulcet tones rock you to sleep, because at any moment the filmmakers may find their lives at risk from exploding lava bombs, deadly pyroclastic flows, and even gunmen in hostile territories. It's far from a dry, fact-based presentation on the nature of volcanoes, however, as there's as much attention paid to religion and culture as there is to science. Along the way, we meet palaeoanthropologist Tim White of University of California, Berkeley, who is unearthing 15,000-year-old human remains along with his team, Indonesian carpenters who are hard at work building a Roman Catholic church in the shape of a dove (though it looks more like a chicken head), and even North Korean officials whose unique mythology shapes their understanding of everything, including volcanoes. It's a fascinating film that delivers solid scientific information from a wide range of subjects while also entertaining, and maybe even expanding the mind. (Honorable Mention goes to Herzog's other 2016 documentary, 'Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World.')