In every sci-fi film or TV show, there is usually one easily recognizable trope - the panic-button. The big shiny candy-like button that erases history, ejects the warp core, blows the emergency seals, activates the self-destruct, sounds red-alert, engages the hyperdrive, activates the halide fire-retardants, or simply flushes the waste-disposal system is a regular character in most sci-fi.
It's curious, then, that the Big Red Button doesn't appear in your home or office! Wouldn't it be great to have one of those buttons, even if pressing it doesn't warn the sentries that the world-killer virus has escaped containment? What about your light-switch? Isn't that little flippy-lever overdue for a makeover?
