You hit the nail on the head with this: "Hollywood thinks that most people in the audience won't know if it's realistic or not so why bother?" People reading Carl Sagan, for example, are going to expect a certain level of accuracy. In general SciFi readers have an interest in science, whereas Star Trek fans seem able to put up with a lot more, reversed polarity, widgets in order to propel the plot. The level of factual accuracy and detail should be tailored to the audience. Just my 2 cents.

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