At least in science fiction (and probably in real life), advancements in science stem from personal pain, often from personal obsession. Writer-director Emily Robyn Clark’s short film Ouroboros touches upon this.
Sofia (Angelica Conception) is a scientist obsessed with time travel. She may have found the key through the Ouroboros Equation, which makes it potentially possible to capture a soul traveling through time. That soul is her recently deceased mother, Samara (Tai Beasley), who abandoned her as an infant.

“…makes it potentially possible to capture a soul traveling through time.”
Running barely over three and a half minutes, Ouroboros is way too short. I’m pretty sure money was an issue. Writer/director Clark wisely chose to focus her props on the lore of Ouroboros, featuring maps and ancient symbols, rather than making it look like an unnecessarily expensive laboratory.
Yet, the three minutes present the essential narrative rather than focusing on what science fiction is known for — the human element. Why is Sofia searching for her mother outside of the obvious? I think there is a good idea in Ouroboros. But its very short runtime is missing a bit of meat to the story.