100 Phasing (Star Trek)
Description
This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.
100 Phasing (Star Trek)
"What is phasing? It seems to be mentioned everywhere these days!"
Star Trek seems to have this notion of "phased" as a state or quality
of matter and energy. Things can be offset slightly in a time-like
dimension from our "phase" of the universe. The idea being that if you
and I have different "phases" we can't interact with each other
without using special particles or fields or the usual [TECH].
This is borne out in "The Mind's Eye" [TNG], where Geordi lists the
five states in Sub-Quantum Transformational Relativity:
* asymmetrical
* inverted
* phased
* standing
* universal
Phasers set on kill appear to work by violently phasing their target
into one (or more) different phases. Ouch. This explains rather nicely
why they just disappear and don't go "boom". Chronotons, which have
been linked to time travel and associated effects, are also mentioned
with regards to phasing a few times.
"The Tholian Web" [TOS] - The U.S.S. Defiant and Captain Kirk get
trapped in an "interphase" rift, phasing in and out.
"The Next Phase" [TNG] - Geordi and Ro and a Romulan get accidentally
phase-cloaked within the Enterprise. They can walk through walls and
people. (They don't fall through the floor, though.) A high-intensity
sweep with anyons return Geordi and Ro to normal phase.
"Time's Arrow" [TNG] - Phased creatures from Devidia Two are
travelling through a portal to 19th Century Earth to steal neural
energy. A subspace field can be used to align the phases of the
Enterprise crew and the creatures.
"The Pegasus" [TNG] - The Enterprise uses a phase-cloak developed
illegally many years ago by the Federation earlier to escape from an
asteroid. The cloaking device phases the entire ship.
"Relics" [TNG] - Scotty couples the transporter phase inducers to the
pattern buffer to create the suspension effect. Given that
transporting involves conversion to a beam of matter and energy, and
that you can transport through walls, that beam better be phased or
there'll be some big nasty holes whenever people transport.
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