Syfy's new series Caprica may seem like fanciful alternate-universe sci-fi, but the robotics technology behind its newly minted Cylons is based in part on real science.  he show runs its scripts past Malcolm MacIver, a robotics expert and a professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at Northwestern University, who vets them for the accuracy of their science. (He was also a consultant on the upcoming Tron Legacy movie.)