Science fiction is a genre of fiction where the stories often deal with elements of science or technology and many of these imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature. In many of these stories some of the scientific elements, or most of it, are still pure imaginative speculation. Science fiction is therefore often called speculative fiction.

Science fiction should to some extent be related to science that is in existence at the time of writing, i.e. the science should not be completely unbelievable or implausible, for the reason that it will then venture into the genre of fantasy. Sometimes the boundary between science fiction and fantasy can get fuzzy, but the primary separation between the two genres concerns whether the story is plausible or not. Rod Serling (1924 – 1975), an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone, differentiated between science fiction and fantasy by saying: "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."

In Brave New Words (2007), Jeff Prucher defined science fiction as "a genre (of literature, film, etc.) in which the setting differs from our own world (e.g. by the invention of new technology, through contact with aliens, by having a different history, etc.), and in which the difference is based on extrapolations made from one or more changes or suppositions; hence, such a genre in which the difference is explained (explicitly or implicitly) in scientific or rational, as opposed to supernatural, terms."

Many of the settings or story elements in science fiction deal with settings that are contrary to the known reality. Some of these may include:

• A setting in outer space, on other worlds or planets, or involving aliens, or all of these elements combined

• A setting somewhere in the future, in a parallel universe, in an alternative timeline, or in a historical past that oppose known facts of history or archaeological finds

• Stories that engage scientific principles or technology that contradict known laws of physics or nature

• Stories that involve the discovery or the application of new scientific principles, such as time travel, or new innovations or technology, such as nanotechnology, faster-than-light travel or robots, or of new and different political or social systems

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