By Shao-Jie Jhou
Publication Date: 2026-04-06 18:20:00
The relationship between science and popular culture often looks like a one-way street: scientific discoveries inspire films, television and novels, especially in science fiction. But the relationship really goes both ways and goes beyond science fiction.
Popular culture increasingly shapes the way science is presented, discussed, and in some cases developed.
From Jurassic Park to The Last of Us to current debates about the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), fictional narratives offer more than just entertainment.
They provide the framework through which audiences—including scientists, policymakers, and funders—can understand complex scientific ideas and science itself. In doing so, they influence what seems possible and plausible, but also what we want and fear.
From Jurassic Park to reality
Their scientists were so concerned with whether they could that they didn’t think about whether they should.
This famous line from the fictional mathematician Ian Malcolm…
