Four key ways the science of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' is surprisingly sound

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• Scientists who love Star Wars say the movies are science fantasy, not science fiction.
• That distinction means the audience is immersed in an alternate universe where not all forces act the way they do on Earth.
• But there are a few very believable ways the franchise employs technology and physics to craft a credible story.

You might assume that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," which is still set in a "galaxy far, far away," would have little to do with the physics life on Earth.

But a high-profile physicist disagrees.

Kevin Grazier is a planetary physicist who designed the software NASA used to explore Saturn on its Cassini mission. Grazier, a computer science professor at West Point, also made sure the cinematic science was sound in films like "Gravity" and the TV series "Battlestar Galactica."

He acknowledges that you have to suspend a good deal of scientific disbelief to get on board with some parts of "The Last Jedi."

The idea that a lightsaber that can cut, melt, and burn through just about anything, and the notion that Jedis can use a force to project themselves into distant battlegrounds are both pretty far-fetched. For a devoted Star Wars fan like Grazier, that's okay.

"Does it matter if that science is inaccurate? No," he told Business Insider.

But there are a few surprising ways that some of the franchise's boldest ideas are grounded in not-so-far-off scientific principles and technology.

Here are four of the coolest ways that the characters in Star Wars are (almost) like us.