The hill I will die on: If Hollywood blockbusters must dabble in science, can’t they get the small stuff right? | Helen Pilcher

Project Hail Mary, Jurassic Park: from dino-mosquitoes to a spaceship’s roar, pointless mistakes on the scientific details make me wince

On the advice of my teenage son, I recently went to the cinema to see Project Hail Mary. The film has science in it. I am a science writer and so he was convinced I would like it.

Imagine my surprise partway through, however, when I found myself seething so hard I thought I would combust. Ryland Grace – the main character and a molecular biologist who should have known better – had just put two plastic tubes into a centrifuge NEXT to each other!

Helen Pilcher is a science writer and author of Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth and This Book May Cause Side Effects