We know the Vanderbilts and Astors. It’s time to get acquainted with the Downings, Van Hornes, and Bannisters, too.

The first space race was about flags and footprints. Now, the new race is to build there, and doing so hinges on power.

Ridley Scott and his filmmaking team depicted a future Los Angeles beset with darkness and a never-ending downpour of rain for “Blade Runner” — never mind that its source material, Philip K. Dick’s ...