Science is an enormously powerful engine of new knowledge. That always has the potential for destruction. Scientific activism is based on the idea that scientists need to take responsibility for the technologies they produce. But it can be difficult to see the possible connections between abstract research and applications. For example, I'm helping to produce new technology in my work on how massive stars are born.
Stars form when cool interstellar gas clouds collapse under their own gravity.
Most of the time this process results in a star about the size of our sun. Very rarely, though, a giant star 10 or even 100 times that big forms instead. To figure out how all this works, I'm building a computer simulation of massive star formation, which means developing new technology. I'll admit that I can't see any practical applications of my work in the near future. I asked Gottfried how people in my situation can be responsible about the technologies we create.