Abstract
More often than not, science fiction movies involve crisis management. A serious problem arises—alien invaders, natural disasters, or unforeseen consequences of some new technology, to name just a few—and a solution must be found urgently. The solution requires the best scientific minds and the latest technology, often preceded or followed up by military intervention. Indeed, much of real science is devoted to problem-solving. Natural curiosity, in response to puzzling observations, leads to all sorts of interesting questions about how the world works. The goal of basic research is to answer these fundamental questions, while applied research is aimed at solving specific, practical problems. But there are problems of a different sort, not all of which are solvable by science or technology.
The transmissions of an orbiting probe are causing critical damage to this planet. It has almost totally ionized our atmosphere. … The probe is vaporizing our oceans. We cannot survive unless a way can be found to respond to the probe.
—President, United Federation of Planets
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
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References
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Luokkala, B.B. (2019). How Can We Solve Our Problems? (Science, Technology, and Society). In: Exploring Science Through Science Fiction. Science and Fiction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29393-2_7
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