the space time continuum as used in physics and/or science fiction.
For context, I have no background whatsoever in science
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Not sure I’ve ever heard the “continuum” part in any real science context, but spacetime is the word that refers to both space and time.
For most purposes, space and time are two different things. I can’t, for instance, rotate a stick so that it points forward in time. That just doesn’t make sense.
Normally, everything is moving forwards in time together. Myself, my cat, and my car are all marching forward through time side by side – my watch and my car’s clock are in agreement. *However*, by moving quickly through space or by sitting in a deep gravity well, our movement through time is partially replaced by our movement through space. The astronauts on the ISS experience time a little bit slower, because they are moving through space a little bit faster than I am. In this sense, time and space are somewhat interchangeable, but still not exactly the same thing. This is spacetime.
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