An ansible is a category of fictional devices or technology capable of near-instantaneous or
faster-than-light communication
Superluminal communication is a hypothetical process in which information is sent at faster-than-light (FTL) speeds. The current scientific consensus is that faster-than-light communication is not possible, and to date it has not been achieved in ...
. It can send and receive messages to and from a corresponding device over any distance or obstacle whatsoever with no delay, even between star systems. As a name for such a device, the word "ansible" first appeared in a 1966 novel by
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
. Since that time, the term has been broadly used in the works of numerous science fiction authors, across a variety of settings and continuities.
[ A related term is ultrawave.
]
Coinage by Ursula Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin coined the word "ansible" in her 1966 novel ''Rocannon's World
''Rocannon's World'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, her literary debut. It was published in 1966 as an Ace Double, along with Avram Davidson's ''The Kar-Chee Reign'', following the tête-bêche format. Though it i ...
''.[ The word was a contraction of "answerable", as the device would allow its users to receive answers to their messages in a reasonable amount of time, even over interstellar distances.][
The plot device of the ansible was the basis for creating a specific kind of interstellar civilizationone where communications between far-flung stars are instantaneous, but humans can only travel at relativistic speeds. Under these conditions, a full-fledged ]galactic empire
Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...
is not possible, but there is a looser interstellar organization, in which several of Le Guin's protagonists are involved.
Although Le Guin invented the name "ansible" for this type of device, fleshed out with specific details in her fictional works, the broader concept of instantaneous or faster-than-light communication
Superluminal communication is a hypothetical process in which information is sent at faster-than-light (FTL) speeds. The current scientific consensus is that faster-than-light communication is not possible, and to date it has not been achieved in ...
had previously existed in science fiction. For example, similar communication functions were included in a device called an interocitor in the 1952 novel ''This Island Earth
''This Island Earth'' is a 1955 American science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold, starring Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason. It is based on the 195 ...
'' by Raymond F. Jones, and the 1955 film based on that novel, and in the "Dirac Communicator", which first appeared in James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his ''Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel ''A Case of Conscienc ...
's short story "Beep" (1954), which was later expanded into the novel ''The Quincunx of Time
''The Quincunx of Time'' is a short science fiction novel by American writer James Blish. It is an extended version of a short story entitled "Beep", published by ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' magazine in 1954. The novel form was first published ...
'' (1973). Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
in ''Time for the Stars
''Time for the Stars'' is a juvenile science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published by Scribner's in 1956 as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The basic plot line is derived from a 1911 thought experiment in special relativi ...
'' (1958) employed instantaneous telepathic communication between identical twin pairs over interstellar distances, and like Le Guin, provided a technical explanation based on a non-Einsteinian principle of simultaneity.
In Le Guin's works
In her subsequent works, Le Guin continued to develop the concept of the ansible:
* In ''The Left Hand of Darkness
''The Left Hand of Darkness'' is a science fiction novel by U.S. writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, it became immensely popular, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction. The novel is set in the fictiona ...
'' (1969), Le Guin describes that the ansible "doesn't involve radio waves, or any form of energy. The principle it works on, the constant of simultaneity
Simultaneity may refer to:
* Relativity of simultaneity, a concept in special relativity.
* Simultaneity (music), more than one complete musical texture occurring at the same time, rather than in succession
* Simultaneity, a concept in Endogeneit ...
, is analogous in some ways to gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
... One point has to be fixed, on a planet of certain mass, but the other end is portable."
* In '' The Word for World Is Forest'' (1972), Le Guin explains that in order for communication to work with any pair of ansibles, at least one "must be on a large-mass body, the other can be anywhere in the cosmos".
* In ''The Dispossessed
''The Dispossessed'' (in later printings titled ''The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia'') is a 1974 anarchist utopian science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, one of her seven Hainish Cycle novels. It is one of a small number o ...
'' (1974), Le Guin tells of the development of the theory leading up to the ansible.
Any ansible may be used to communicate through any other, by setting its coordinates to those of the receiving ansible. They have a limited bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
, which only allows for at most a few hundred characters of text to be communicated in any transaction of a dialog session, and are attached to a keyboard and small display to perform text messaging.
Use by later authors
Since Le Guin's conception of the ansible, the name of the device has been borrowed by numerous authors. While Le Guin's ansible was said to communicate "instantaneously",[ the name has also been adopted for devices capable of communication at finite speeds that are faster than light.
]
Orson Scott Card's works
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...
, in his 1977 novelette and 1985 novel ''Ender's Game
''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub ...
'' and its sequels, used the term "ansible" as an unofficial name for the philotic parallax instantaneous communicator, a machine capable of communicating across infinite distances with no time delay.[ In ''Ender's Game'', a character states that "somebody dredged the name ''ansible'' out of an old book somewhere".][
In the universe of the ''Ender's Game'' series, the ansible's functions involved a fictional subatomic particle, the philote.][ The two ]quark
A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...
s inside a pi meson
In particle physics, a pion (or a pi meson, denoted with the Greek letter pi: ) is any of three subatomic particles: , , and . Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson. Pions are the lightest mesons and, more gene ...
can be separated by an arbitrary distance, while remaining connected by "philotic rays".[ This concept is similar to quantum teleportation due to entanglement; however, in reality, ]quark confinement
In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), color confinement, often simply called confinement, is the phenomenon that color-charged particles (such as quarks and gluons) cannot be isolated, and therefore cannot be directly observed in normal conditions be ...
prevents quarks from being separated by any observable distance.
Card's version of the ansible was also featured in the video game ''Advent Rising
''Advent Rising'' is an action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by GlyphX Games and published by Majesco Entertainment. The game was released on May 31, 2005, for Xbox and on August 9, 2005, for Microsoft Windows. Its story wa ...
'', for which Card helped write the story, and in the movie ''Ender's Game
''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub ...
'', which was based on the book.[
]
Other writers
Numerous other writers have included faster-than-light communication devices in their fictional works. Notable examples include:
* Christopher Rowley
Christopher Rowley (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He is also a former journalist and television screenswriter.
Christopher Rowley was born in 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts, to an America ...
, in his 1986 novel ''Starhammer'', describes the Deep Link, an instantaneous interstellar communicator. Most commonly used for messaging, it is capable of voice and video conversations as well, although the latter only at great expense.
* Vernor Vinge
Vernor Steffen Vinge (; born October 2, 1944) is an American science fiction author and retired professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He is the first wide-scale popularizer of the technological singu ...
, in the 1988 short story "The Blabber
''The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Vernor Vinge. The stories were first published from 1966 to 2001, and the book contains all of Vinge's published short stories from that ...
"
* Elizabeth Moon
Elizabeth Moon (born March 7, 1945) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her other writing includes newspaper columns and opinion pieces. Her novel '' The Speed of Dark'' won the 2003 Nebula Award. Prior to her writing career, sh ...
, in the 1995 novel ''Winning Colors''[
* Jason Jones, in the 1995 computer game '' Marathon 2: Durandal''][
* ]L.A. Graf
Julia Ecklar (born 1964) is a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, John W. Campbell Award–winning science fiction author and a singer and writer of filk music who recorded numerous albums in the Off Centaur label in the early 1980s, inclu ...
, in the 1996 ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...
'' novel ''Time's Enemy''[
* ]Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
, in the 2000 novel ''The Amber Spyglass
''The Amber Spyglass'' is the third novel in the ''His Dark Materials'' trilogy by Philip Pullman. Published in 2000, it won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the first children's novel to do so. It was named Children's Book of the Yea ...
'', part of the ''His Dark Materials
''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follows ...
'' trilogy.
* Neal Asher
Neal Asher (born 4 February 1961) is an English science fiction writer. He lives near Chelmsford.
Career
Both of Asher's parents are educators and science fiction fans. Although he began writing speculative fiction in secondary school, he did ...
, in his Polity series of novels including ''Gridlinked
''Gridlinked'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Neal Asher. His first novel, it was published by the Macmillan Publishers imprint Pan Books in 2001. It contains elements of the technological inventiveness of hard science-fiction wit ...
'' (2001), in which the runcible
"Runcible" is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear. The word appears (as an adjective) several times in his works, most famously as the "runcible spoon" used by the Owl and the Pussycat. The word "runcible" was apparently one of Lear's favour ...
, named in homage to the ansible, is an interstellar wormhole generator/teleporter
* Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...
, in the 2003 novel '' Ilium''
* Liu Cixin
Liu Cixin (, pronounced ; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel '' The Three-Body Problem'' as well as the 2017 Lo ...
, in the 2008 trilogy ''Remembrance of Earth's Past
''Remembrance of Earth's Past'' () is a science fiction series by Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The series is also popularly referred to as ''Three-Body'' from part of the title of its first novel, '' The Three-Body Problem'' (). The series details ...
''
* Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...
, in the 2012 novel '' 2312''[
* Becky Chambers, in the 2014 novel '' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet''
* ]Neon Yang
Neon Yang, formerly JY Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction best known for the ''Tensorate'' series of novellas published by Tor.com. The first ''Tensorate'' novella, '' The Black Tides of Heaven'', was a finali ...
, in the 2017 novella ''Waiting on a Bright Moon''
* Joe M. McDermott, in the 2017 novel ''The Fortress at the End of Time''[
* Thomas Happ, in the 2021 console and PC video game '']Axiom Verge 2
''Axiom Verge 2'' is a Metroidvania video game by American indie developer Thomas Happ Games. It is the sequel to ''Axiom Verge'' and was released on August 11, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows (exclusive to the Epic Games Sto ...
''
See also
* Faster-than-light communication
Superluminal communication is a hypothetical process in which information is sent at faster-than-light (FTL) speeds. The current scientific consensus is that faster-than-light communication is not possible, and to date it has not been achieved in ...
* Interstellar communication
Interstellar communication is the transmission of signals between planetary systems. Sending interstellar messages is potentially much easier than interstellar travel, being possible with technologies and equipment which are currently available. Ho ...
* No-cloning theorem In physics, the no-cloning theorem states that it is impossible to create an independent and identical copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state, a statement which has profound implications in the field of quantum computing among others. The theore ...
* Quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles are generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state of ...
* Tachyon
A tachyon () or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light. Physicists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are not consistent with the known laws of physics. If such partic ...
* Tachyonic antitelephone
A tachyonic antitelephone is a hypothetical device in theoretical physics that could be used to send signals into one's own past. Albert Einstein in 1907
presented a thought experiment of how faster-than-light signals can lead to a paradox of caus ...
References
Further reading
*
{{science fiction
Faster-than-light communication
Fictional technology