A subtle mistake in Project Hail Mary has left the science and research community collectively raising an eyebrow and quick to call it out.

Released in theaters in March, the new sci-fi film follows Dr. Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling), who wakes up alone in a spaceship, and as his memory slowly returns, he discovers his mission is to stop a mysterious substance from killing Earth’s sun. At one point, as he conducts research, Grace runs two test tubes side by side, creating an unbalanced centrifuge.

Project Hail Mary’s Unbalanced Centrifuge Bothers The Entire Science & Research Community

After seeing the unbalanced centrifuge in Project Hail Mary, the science and research community took to social media to explain how the scene defies the most basic lab techniques. For instance, @scientistwhoreads shared a simple video on Instagram showing what a balanced centrifuge is supposed to look like:

On X, @B_bimbobilia was shocked that Ryland Grace, a science teacher, didn’t counterbalance his centrifuge, saying, “I watched Project Hail Mary! And right after Artemis II launched 💕 It made me wanna get back into STEM 🥹 I love what humans can do [.] That being said. WTF HE DIDNT COUNTERBALANCE THE CENTRIFUGE?? A TEACHER!!!”

@NosuSuishinV2 shared a reaction GIF from the movie captioned, “STEM people at the moment when Grace didn’t balance the centrifuge in Project Hail Mary”

@dubsa98 says, “Saw Project Hail Mary last night and the only thing I’ll say is that there’s one scene where Ryan Gosling’s character runs two samples in a fully unbalanced centrifuge. Someone needs to be fired for that“

@coasterclairee says, “I think Project Hail Mary would be a 100% perfect film if he balanced his centrifuge”

On Instagram, @allybnerdy shared a video explaining how a centrifuge works using makeup:

@aznnewb also shared a simple video showing what a balanced centrifuge should look like:

@zion.lights shared a video explaining how a centrifuge works and Project Hail Mary‘s major mistake:

On Reddit, u/cskamosclow shared a post titled “The 1 Project Hail Mary Scene triggering a Biologist,” saying, “This isn’t a spoiler for the book or film but… At one point in the movie Ryland Grace spun his tubes on a centrifuge but didn’t balance them properly (I think there were 3 on 1 side and none on the other!) Apart from that it’s a fantastic film and I definitely want to read the book now!“‘

u/According-Order461 says, “I just saw Project Hail Mary in early showing… it was great!!! But at some point, Dr. Grace (his PhD is in molecular biology btw) runs 2 samples in an unbalanced centrifuge. Like really? Thankfully, they do use pipette tips when they pipette.”

Project Hail Mary’s Unbalanced Centrifuge Explained

On his way to Tau Ceti, Grace begins researching a solution for the film’s central threat, a microorganism known as astrophage that could kill the Sun. He uses standard lab equipment, such as spectrometers and microscopes, and even operates a centrifuge with two sample tubes sitting side by side, rather than opposite each other to maintain balance.

One explanation for this is that there are some modern self-balancing centrifuges that could, in theory, handle this uneven setup. Another explanation could be that Grace is still suffering from amnesia, and his memory of basic lab techniques still hasn’t returned to him yet at this point.