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Stargates are large, ring-shaped devices in the '' Stargate '' Science Fiction Universe that utilize advanced technology for nearly instantaneous personal travel across the vast distances of space. These devices were first seen in fiction with the 1994 film '' Stargate '', directed by Roland Emmerich , and then subsequently in the TV series '' Stargate SG-1 '' and '' Stargate Atlantis '' (as well as the animated series '' Stargate Infinity ''). The Stargate is the central Plot Generator of these productions, allowing for stories focused on a small team of Protagonists exploring other planets and meeting other races on foot, rather than the more prevalent, grandiose "space opera" of interstellar starships seen elsewhere in science fiction. Stargates are typically 22 feet (6.7 m) in diameter and made of a fictional heavy mineral called Naqahdah (''see Here for actual constitution''). The gates are almost always seen standing vertically. They are marked out by nine 'chevrons' spaced equally around their circumference, and roughly 39 symbols displayed on an inner ring. MGM Official Website for '' Stargate SG-1 '', trivia, URL: http://www.stargatesg1.com/stargatehb.html In the mythology of the and other galaxies, millions of years ago. Collectively, these comprise what is often called the "Stargate Network", which facilitates travel throughout the cosmos. Stargates are present on many planets but to primitive peoples they are no more than relics carrying associations of the divine and sacred, or of fear, as evidenced by such names as "Ring of the Gods"Several early ''SG-1'' episodes, e.g. and "Circle of Darkness"1. Thus the plot of ''Stargate'' effectively begins when the US Air Force discover how to use the device discovered on Earth'' Stargate '' (1994). NAME AND ORIGIN The idea of the Stargate was invented by the writers of the original '' and '' Star Wars ''. The Stargate was further developed conceptually by the creators of the spin-off TV series '' Stargate SG-1 '', Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner . The concept of a Stargate is based heavily in Theoretical Physics , particularly that of Black Hole s and Wormhole s. Some scientists believe that a wormhole is a warping of Spacetime causing space to become "folded" and can allow for "shortcuts" through space. This view is not widely held to be true,2 especially of travel for human beings, as such wormholes are held to be created by black holes, the Gravity of which would destroy any potential traveller.3 A Stargate is held to create an "artificial", controlled black hole of sorts, yielding a "stable wormhole". The idea of a "''). The Stargate picks up on this conception, emphasising the "watery puddle" for the sake of an Alien mystique, and explaining it all in terms of advanced technology. The origins of the Stargates are expounded upon in great detail in '' Stargate SG-1 '', the follow-up TV Series to the film, which involves a rich background of alien races, each of which have discovered the Stargates separately and grown around them. The Alterans, (also known as the Ancients), who built the gates, appear to have called them ''Astria Porta''. The Jaffa and Goa'uld call them the ''Chaapa'ai'', and the English word "Stargate" is supposedly a direct Calque of this word. Oddly enough, it seems that ''Chaapa'ai'' is itself a calque of ''Astria Porta''. In the Pegasus galaxy, villagers know them as ''Rings of the Ancestors'' and variations thereof. It is also common to hear one being referred to as "the ring", "the Annulus ", or quite simply "the gate". OPERATION OF STARGATES The film ''Stargate'' rushed very quickly over how a Stargate actually works and is operated, but the subsequent TV shows go into this area in a great amount of detail. In ''SG-1'' it is explained that the Stargate generates a Wormhole between itself and a remote gate by being supplied with a threshold amount of raw electricity, and that the destination gate is singled out by a process known as "dialing", described below. Objects in transit are broken down into their individual Atoms and then reconstructed on the other side, yet walking through a Stargate is superficially no different from stepping through a doorway. Dialing 's Dialing Computer compiling an address.]] Each location served by a Stargate has its own unique "address", which is a combination of six or more non-repeating"seven symbols chosen from a pool of 38 non-repeating candidates, that's about 63 billion possible combinations." 4 symbols appearing on the dialing Stargate. By "dialing" these symbols in the correct order, the traveler can select a destination. The show is very consistent with the mechanics of address-dialing. The process involves associating a unique symbol of the inner ring to each of at least the first seven of the chevrons on the outer circumference. The main "address" is invariably dialed first, followed by the gate's "origin" symbol, which acts as the final trigger for the completion of the address sequence. As each symbol is dialed, the chevron is said to "engage" and usually responds by lighting up or moving. When the final symbol of an address is dialed, that chevron is said to "lock" and the wormhole opens (this terminology is arbitrary and often interchangeable, but preferred by the recurring character Walter Harriman ). If the address is incorrect or does not correspond to an existing or otherwise functional Stargate, the last chevron will not lock, and all of the chevrons will disengage. There are 3 ways that a Stargate has been seen to be dialed:
Addresses 's theory of how Stargate symbols translate to physical coordinates.]] The symbols used to comprise addresses are actually images of Constellation s. By identifying six constellations in space, a single point can be extrapolated that corresponds to the destination desired'' Stargate (1999). It is assumed by the show that this is enough to identify the position of any Stargate within a galaxy. The symbols dialed are often referred to as "coordinates", and are written as an ordered string; for example, this is the address used in the show for the planet Abydos : . Eight-symbol addresses were introduced in the episode , to connect to Stargates in a different galaxy. The eighth symbol acts as a type of "area code"5. Such connections, in comparison to seven symbol codes, required substantially more energy to complete a functional wormhole — much more than any standard dialing method can provide. So far, a ") and the Ori have shown the capability to establish an intergalactic wormhole by tapping the energy extant in a black hole7. Nine-symbol addresses have never been dialed, and their purpose is as yet unknown. The eighth and ninth chevrons are so rarely used that Stargates are often seen with those two chevrons embedded within the stone platform that holds the gate upright (see the image at the top of this article). This has often led to the misconception that a Stargate only has seven chevrons. Dial Home Device See Also: Dial-Home Device The Dial-Home Device, almost always referred to as the "DHD" for short, is depicted as a pedestal-shaped device with a round inclined control panel on top, consisting of two concentric circles of "keys", and a translucent red hemisphere in the center; the keys represent the symbols on the rim of the Stargate and the central hemisphere serves as an " Enter " key to activate the Stargate once a destination has been dialed. The DHD also provides power for the Stargate and has been shown to include a complex programming interface that is not normally needed by the operator The show makes it clear that every Stargate originally had its own DHD, located directly in front of the gate and facing it. Over time, however, some DHDs have been damaged or lost. This has been the source of plot-difficulties for the protagonists on several occassions, as it is still possible to travel to a Stargate that lacks a DHD, meaning that dialing home again will be much more difficult, if not impossible. One of the primary functions of the MALP that precedes an SG Team is to confirm the presence of a functioning DHD. The Wormhole Once an address is dialed, the gate is said to have created a stable Wormhole between itself and the gate dialed. The creation process is depicted with great consistency, and hence has become one of the defining Motif s of ''Stargate''. It involves the generation of the "puddle of water" portal which lasts roughly 2 seconds, and is completed by the ejection of an unstable energy vortex called the "kawoosh", resembling a surge of water or quicksilver. The "kawoosh" is portrayed as a symbol of the Stargate's power, invariably causing characters to be awed, reflecting or imbuing the awe of the audience, and any matter contacted by the "kawoosh" effect is destroyed. It is explained that the power for the wormhole is drawn solely from the point of origin (i.e. the dialing Stargate's power source). One of the most basic and repeated axioms of Wormhole Physics , the (fictionalised) field of study pioneered by Samantha Carter , is that unless an extraordinary amount of energy is being generated at either end, a wormhole can only be maintained for 38 minutes at a time. The actual portal of a Stargate appears inside the inner ring when an address is correctly dialed. This has the appearance of a vertical Puddle of water, called the Event Horizon by the show. In non-fictional parlance, an event horizon is the surface of a Black Hole through which one could pass into a ''theoretical'' wormhole; the magic of the Stargate technology is thus to form a Space-time distortion (wormhole) without the gravitational effects of a black hole. The wavering undulations characteristic of water are said to be "fluctuations in the event horizon"8 according to Samantha Carter . This puddle may then be entered (usually accompanied by a water-like sound), and the traveller will emerge from a similar pool at the destination Stargate. The show makes it clear that transit is strictly one-way; the episode " A Hundred Days " demonstrates that matter attempting to enter an incoming wormhole is destroyed. The gate is meant to be entered from the same side as the "kawoosh"; the show has not demonstrated what happens when someone tries to enter from the wrong side. The show is ambiguous in how it displays wormhole travel. Transit is sometimes almost instantaneous, and other times it may last up to 20 seconds. Most commonly the process lasts about 3 seconds. Passage through a Stargate is usually accompanied by a visual effect of shooting through a tunnel in space, and it is unclear whether this is meant to be a First Person traveller's-eye-view representation, or just a visual aid. The former interpretation, though technically impossible (as a traveller's eyes are, along with the rest of his or her body, deconstructed into their individual atoms in transit), is often suggested by the show, as novice travellers often emerge from the gate trembling as if they've been on a " Rollercoaster ride"9, and the character Charles Kawalsky describes travel like "pull COMPLEXITIES OF STARGATE FUNCTION Stargates are immensely complex, and are the masterworks of the Alteran race. Often through complete accident, some further function is discovered by SG-1 . A detailed description of the further functionality of the Stargate is given below; you may wish to skip this section if you are only after an overview of the Stargate. Secondary gates Some planets are known to possess "secondary" or "backup" Stargates. The second Stargate is normally inactive, with the primary Stargate receiving all incoming wormholes. If a Stargate experiences a power surge while an outgoing wormhole is open, the other end of the wormhole automatically "jumps" to the next closest gate in the network. In the case of a planet with two gates, the other inactive gate is used as the backup. On at least one occasion, a Stargate was hit by an energy weapon as SG-1 team members were using it to return to Earth. This caused them to be transmitted to a second, previously unknown gate on Earth that was located beneath the ice of Antarctica .11 However, the ability to defer an incoming wormhole to a nearby gate appears to be something more than a failsafe, as it is seen as a defensive measure in the episode " Prototype ". The Dial-Home Device (DHD) is apparently responsible for determining whether a Stargate is primary or secondary. The Russians, in their position of controlling the secondary gate, were able to use their DHD to override the American Stargate's (the SGC's) reception of incoming wormholes to retrieve their own returning Stargate exploration teams. In the absence of a DHD (as in the two-year period on Earth between the disconnection of the Russian gate and its rental to the United States), the primary gate is apparently determined by which gate has a power source attached to it. Matter transmission When an Object passes through the event horizon, it is not immediately transferred to the destination Stargate, but rather the portion that has passed through is dematerialised and held in some kind of Hyperspatial Buffer . An object that hasn't completely passed through the event horizon may be pulled out again, and its atoms will rematerialise from the buffer as it is extracted. The gate does not begin transmitting an object until it has entirely passed through the event horizon. This ensures that only complete objects are transferred. If a Stargate is shut down while an object is halfway through, the portion that is already through the event horizon ceases to exist. A Stargate transmits matter in Discrete Unit s. Before an object is transmitted through the matter stream from the originating Stargate to its destination, the object must completely cross the event horizon of the wormhole. Matter travelling through a Stargate wormhole retains any Kinetic Energy it had while entering the event horizon, so a person running into one Stargate will hit the ground running upon emerging from another Stargate. Also, any matter that has entered the event horizon, but has not been transmitted through the wormhole, will remain in a state of suspension. This has been used to "store" people in medical need.12 This is however a dangerous manoeuvre, as any matter that is through the event horizon but not yet transmitted will cease to exist when the Stargate shuts down. If the Stargate's wormhole is shut down improperly before a transmitted object rematerializes the matter stored in the hyperspatial buffer may be recovered, but the buffer will be cleared by the unstable vortex (kawoosh) which wipe the buffer clean to receive new information. To recover an object that is stored in the buffer you must create an event horizon without connecting to a wormhole, if you do connect to a wormhole the "kawoosh" will destroy the information required to rematerialize the object.13 The transmitting Stargate does not allow the air molecules of the local atmosphere to pass through. If it did, this could be disastrous should a receiving gate be located in a vacuum. The gate also prevents water from passing through if the Stargate is submerged. This is odd however since in the Stargate Atlantis Episode "Inferno" lava passed through the gate and would have emerged in the gate room in Atlantis had the forcefield not be activated. This is explained in one episode by Carter14, saying that the Stargate differentiates between objects attempting to pass through the event horizon and things that would naturally exert pressure, such as water. Gate obstruction A wormhole is prevented from forming if a significant obstruction is present inside the Stargate's ring. Consequently, it is fairly common for Stargates to be semi-sealed or permanently sealed by burying them; this action invalidates that Stargate address. Another means of controlling travel through a Stargate is by placing a barrier a minuscule distance (less than two micrometres) from the event horizon, which allows wormholes to be formed but prevents the reconstitution of matter upon arrival through the gate. The Iris on the Earth Stargate and the Iris Shield on the Atlantis Stargate perform this function and are an effective defense while still allowing radio communication through the open wormhole. Iris-type barriers suppress the kawoosh. Several aliens, including the Asgard and the Nox have demonstrated the ability to open a wormhole without the "kawoosh". Power source Power is always required to establish an outgoing wormhole, usually from the DHD, but any Stargate can receive a wormhole whether it has a power supply or not; the dialing gate is the one that supplies power to both. In a few cases, Stargates have been dialed "manually" when more sophisticated means were not available. This was accomplished by providing sufficient raw power to the gate and then rotating the symbol ring by hand to lock each chevron (e.g. " The Torment Of Tantalus " and " Prisoners "). Power can be fed directly into the Naquadah that comprises the gate; a lightning strike has been shown to be sufficient. The Stargate that establishes an outgoing wormhole determines how long the wormhole is held open, and can generally close the wormhole at will. There are inconsistencies in how this is portrayed in the series. Sometime the gate appears to stay open without anything passing through it — other times it snaps closed as soon as the last person has emerged. Durability of Stargates -enhanced nuclear blast.]] The Stargates themselves are particularly resistant to damage or destruction: in one case, a Stargate survived a direct hit from a meteor,15 whilst another was still capable of creating a stable wormhole while on a planet near a newly-formed black hole.16 A Stargate has also been seen to continue functioning whilst entering a sun,17 though it was protected by a portable forcefield for a portion of its journey. In the ninth season of ''Stargate SG-1'' the made contact with the Stargate a moment before the explosion, perhaps harnessing an Ori -induced power; the shield surrounding the Stargate could have absorbed the blast; or the bomb may have simply not been powerful enough. However, there ''have'' been incidents when a Stargate was destroyed. Anubis used a piece of Ancient technology to destroy the SGC 's Antarctic gate, and used a weapon of his own creation to destroy the gate on Abydos. Exceptions Normally, a wormhole can only be maintained for slightly more than thirty-eight minutes. This time-limit has been exceded on three occasions: first, when the Earth gate was connected to a gate in proximity to a black hole (" A Matter Of Time "); second, after an energy-producing water maintained the power for a gate while a Russian vehicle had its transmitter stuck (" Watergate "); third, Anubis used a weapon made by the Ancients (or with their technology) to slowly feed energy to a Stargate, eventually causing it to explode (" Redemption "). Also, the Ori possess the ability to keep a Supergate open indefinitely between galaxies (" Beachhead ") but this is most likely due to the use of a black hole as a power source. Other uses of a Stargate In several episodes of the series, the Stargate network was used for a purpose other than interplanetary travel. These extra functions of the Stargate are, however, usually discovered by a fluke, and were not intended in the design of the network and individual Stargates. Two such occurrences regard the Stargate's interaction with time, such as " 1969 ", in which the SG-1 team accidentally travels backward in time to the year 1969, as a result of the matter transmission stream passing through a Solar Flare . This resulted in a slingshot phenomenon which sent their matter back to Earth, but to a much different time. Carter intentionally uses this phenomenon in the episode " 2010 ", where she uses advanced technology to predict a flare and send a message back in time. Time is also a factor in the episode " Window Of Opportunity ", when a scientist uses a failed time machine built by the Ancients to isolate a region defined by 14 Stargates from the rest of the space-time continuum, causing a Time Loop . In several episodes, the Stargate, and the cobbled-together dialing program utilized by the SGC, nearly were the cause of disaster. In the episode " Red Sky ", the bypassing of a system error caused the Stargate to introduce atoms of a Super Heavy Element into the center of a star, causing the star to become unstable. In the episode " Ripple Effect ", the passage of a stargate matter stream through a black hole caused the creation of a passageway into alternate realities. Finally, one Stargate can be caused to dial multiple other gates simultaneously, allowing a blast wave such as that of the Dakara Superweapon to extend almost indefinitely throughout the galaxy, as is seen in " Reckoning ". PLOT SURROUNDING THE STARGATES The ''Stargate'' film begins in 1928, when the titular alien device is first discovered and unearthed at Giza . It quickly skips to the "present day" (1994), in which an unsuccessful archaeologist Daniel Jackson is giving a lecture about his outlandish theories that the Pyramid s were not built by the Pharaoh s. After he is laughed away, an aged Catherine Langford meets with him, and recruits his Egyptological talent, taking him to a top-secret military base at Creek Mountain, where he is instructed to decipher the unique Hieroglyph s present on a set of cover-stones. He realises that the indecipherable glyphs are in fact not words but images of Constellations , such that by identifying 7 of them a position in space can be extrapolated. He is then shown the Stargate itself, uses his new understanding to identify the 7th symbol, and the gate is opened for the first time. It was thought that only two Stargates existed, connecting Earth and the planet Abydos , which was visited in the film. At the beginning of the ''Stargate SG-1'' series, however, a large set of additional valid coordinates were discovered engraved in ruins on Abydos. Because the coordinates pick out stars, and because time leads to Stellar Drift , other addresses were impossible to dial until Samantha Carter reworked the dialing system on Earth to account for this movement. The alien race encountered in the original movie is later developed in ''SG-1'' as the Goa'uld , the dominant evil power in the Milky Way. The leaders of this race, the System Lords , pose as Gods and use the Stargates to cart slaves between worlds; this accounts for why many peoples encountered on other planets either fear the Stargate or associate it with the Gods, and also why they are human. For a long time it was thought that the Goa'uld were the builders of the Stargate network, but it was later discovered that they had merely made use of the relics left behind by the Ancients. For most of '' Stargate SG-1 '', Earth is under constant threat from the Goa'uld, and is no match for their superior technology. The top-secret base is dubbed The SGC (Stargate Command), and teams are gathered that will use the Stargate to travel to other planets for the sake of building alliances and procuring technology that could help to defend Earth. The primary team is called SG-1 , and the series follows their adventures. At the climax of ''SG-1'' THE MILKY WAY'S STARGATES A Milky Way Stargate has thirty-nine inscribed symbols on the inner ring. When dialing, this inner ring rotates until the dialed symbol is aligned with the seventh chevron, at which point the ring pauses, the seventh chevron moves down and up, and the appropriate chevron in the sequence engages. In the '' Stargate SG-1 '' series, an engaged chevron glows red. In the original '' Stargate '' film, all of the chevrons use this motion, and none of them glow red. With 39 symbols, the Stargate Network in the Milky Way has: :38×37×36×35×34×33 = 1,987,690,320 possible addresses. 8-symbol addresses will yield: :38×37×36×35×34×33×32 = 63,606,090,240 possible addresses. However, not all of them represent valid coordinates (i.e. ones where a Stargate is present). Most sets of destination coordinates do not have a Stargate located at them; there are sufficiently few valid coordinate sets that randomly dialing the Stargate is largely futile. Because the gate on Earth was found without a DHD, the Stargate team on Earth developed the technology to interface with the gate in order to power it and dial it by the use of computers. In '' Stargate SG-1 '', when dialing the Stargate using a DHD, its inner ring does not spin, it simply just activates each chevron as they are entered on the DHD. Some species in the series (such as the Nox ) possess the ability to instantanously activate a wormhole, thus being able to dial the gate without using a dialing device. The Giza Stargate's symbols The Stargate found at Giza , Egypt was the first discovered by humans of Earth, and was the one used by the SGC for a long time to explore other galaxies. Its symbols are as follows:
PEGASUS' STARGATES
ORI "SUPERGATES" See Also: Supergate (Stargate) In the ninth season of ''Stargate SG-1'', it was discovered that the Ancients, originally called the Alterans, were not native to the Milky Way, but originated from another galaxy more distant from Earth than the Pegasus galaxy. While it is not known what the Stargates in the Origin galaxy look like, their presence is implied by the fact that the Ori (Alterans who remained behind and did not follow the others of their kind to the Milky Way) were able to send Priors (religious messengers) to the Milky Way through a Stargate. Since the transport rings used in the Origin galaxy are white and pearly in appearance, it is fair to assume that the Origin Stargates have a similar appearance. Any gates in the Origin galaxy would far predate both the Pegasus system gates and the Milky Way system gates. The Ori have demonstrated a far greater knowledge of Stargates and wormhole physics than anyone in the Milky Way with the possible exception of the Ancients. On at least two occasions2021 they attempted to create a massive Stargate, 300 to 400 metres in diameter, which was made of individual modules which formed the ring around what Lt. Col. Carter called a " Supergate ". The lack of an inner track on the supergate suggests that it must be remotely dialed. By means of a blackhole this connection is permanent. MAKING OF THE STARGATE Two full Stargate Prop s were originally built for the ''SG-1'' Pilot , the second of which was reconstructed from the prop used in the Film . They are made of Steel and Fibreglass , and are 22 feet in diameter. The second prop is less detailed, and is used for exterior scenes; in the pilot it was used solely on the planet Chulak . The primary one, however, is quite sophisticated. It is fully automated, and capable of rotating and emitting light. This is achieved by the use of a specially-designed 22-foot circular Gear , which turns the inner ring on a precise Pinion drive wheel, using an eight Horsepower electric motor. The top seven chevrons emit Laser pulses which are read by a sensor fed into a computer responsible for the gate's movement, which is consequently able to start and stop the rotation very quickly. This main prop is kept almost immovably at the permanent set of the SGC , at Bridge Studios, Vancouver .Production notes for ''Stargate SG-1''; URL: http://www.rdanderson.com/stargate/productn/productn.htm There are further Stargate props which are no more than two-dimensional or semi-three-dimensional (jar-lid shaped) Stargates, being more lightweight and so easier to erect on location. These are always filmed front-on to preserve the illusion. If a shot involves the Iris , this is added in post-production, as the mechanics of it opening and closing would be very difficult to build. However, when a Stargate is filmed with just a closed Iris (i.e. without it moving), a tangible prop is inserted into place. ]] The visual effects for ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis'' are predominantly produced by the company ''Rainmaker''. The "kawoosh" effect, both in the film and series, on account of being "difficult to achieve"Stuart Bradley, special effects supervisor, ''SG-1''., was generated only once and recorded from various angles; this recording is the same used for all kawoosh shots. Rather than being a jet of water, it is actually the image of high-pressure air being blasted ''into'' a tank of water. The effect was achieved by mounting a jet airplane engine two feet above a water tank, and using its 180 mph windstream to create the sufficient water displacement. In post production, the surrounding water was removed with computer editing, and the image of the air-jet pasted into the centre of the opening Stargate. To cut down on costs, the opening of a Stargate is often just ''implied'' rather than shown, by a costless sound-effect followed by distinct lighting effects characteristic of light being shined through water (as the event horizon is depicted). The DVD commentary for ''Stargate SG-1'' explains that these effects are produced by reflecting light off a large sheet of Aluminium . The Stargate itself is nearly always filmed against a Blue Or Green backdrop, not only making it easier to paste the kawoosh imagery onto the scene, but also facilitating the superimposition of the "event horizon ripple effect", which is entirely Computer Generated . On occasion, the Stargate itself is also completely swapped out for a computer generated model, usually in cases where it is being moved, or is depicted in space. Series producer Robert C. Cooper explained that it often costs a lot to erect a Stargate on location, and so in some cases offworld gates are also entirely a visual effect GateWorld interview, URL: http://www.gateworld.net/articles/interviews/cooper01.shtml. OTHER USES OF THE STARGATE CONCEPT The basic concept of a Stargate did not originate with the movie ''Stargate''. ''. Other writers have since used the name. In the PC MMORPG '' Eve Online '', a large object called a stargate lets you travel between solar systems. Stephen Robinett's book "''Stargate''" (1976) revolves around the corporate side of building extra-dimensional and/or transportational stargates. In the novel, the stargate is given the name "Jenson Gate", after the fictional company which builds it. Authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince also write of "''The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt''". The book details an alternative theory which ingrains the term Stargate with Egypt's past: either the pyramid itself is a gateway to the stars (because of the shafts pointing to a star) or the building of Heaven on Earth based on geographical location of the great and outlying pyramids (cf. Orion ). Common envisioning ) in front of the Stargate-like Guardian Of Forever .]] There is a widespread conception within science fiction culture of what a "portal" should look like, with a large proportion of such devices bearing resemblances to a Stargate. The "ripple effect" is the most common part of this conception. Examples include the "warp gates" in '' Jak 3 '' which are rings containing a rippling blue substance used for transportation; a portal in '' ReBoot '', created by the characters Megabyte and Dot displays a rippling "event horizon"; and the "Waygates" in '' Warcraft III '' which bear a shimmering portal. The '' episode " To The Death ". Common functions The concept of "gates" that can span huge distances are used abundantly in science-fiction to cast protagonists into new territory. In the PC game '' Outcast '' ( Appeal ), stargate-like devices called "the Daoka" can be used to travel between the many regions of the game world Adelpha, and in the PC game '' Master Of Orion '' by Microprose "Stargates" can be built to orbit individual star systems. The games '' Primal '' ( SCEE ) and '' Turok The Dinosaur Hunter '' feature gateways that allow instantaneous travel between locations. Portals of this kind are particularly popular in computer games as they can be used to neatly split a game into Level s. An early precursor to Stargate-like devices can be seen in the television series '' Buck Rogers In The 25th Century '' (1979-1981), where travel between stars was also accomplished by a stargate network, similar to Jumpgate s in other series. Each stargate carries a designation such as "Stargate 4." These stargates however were only shown as a diamond-shaped quartet of stars that shimmered when a vessel was making transit. Controversially, in the 1982 '' Fringeworthy '' role-playing game, travellers use a device that very much resembles a stargate to travel to other dimensions. It was also built by an ancient race long gone. Some members of the gaming industry have claimed that the movie ''Stargate'' directly plagiarized from this game22. Other games involving Stargate-like devices include '''' ( Gamecube ), in which a number of ring-shaped dimensional portals allow the main characters to travel between a "Light" and "Dark" version of a planet; and '' Homeworld 2 '' (PC), in which "Hyperspace Gates" serve as the centerpiece of one of the game's final missions; these are massive rings that create wormholes capable of transporting matter great distances. Other similar concepts In a '' Star Wars '' novel, an ancient system of "Hypergates" were used by an extinct alien species known as the Gree Enclave. These were nowhere near as sophisticated as the "Gates" of the Stargate Universe, and are considered an inferior technology to the abundant "hyper-drives" of the ''Star Wars'' universe. In C. J. Cherryh's '' Morgaine '' series (1976), a set of "gates'" potential for facilitating Time Travel makes them a danger to Causality and therefore to the future of civilization. The title character is engaged on a centuries-long quest that takes her from world to world via the gates, setting each gate to Self-destruct just after she has used it to move on to the next. Dan Simmons' '' Hyperion '' universe (1989) contains devices called "farcasters" which permit instantaneous travel between them via dialed or permanent connections. Farcasters can be either terrestrial in the form of doors or rings, or orbital in the form of rings. These were discovered to be part of a plot by the AI TechnoCore to use human brainpower to assist in the creation of the "Ultimate Intelligence", a sort of machine God . After this was discovered, the farcaster network was destroyed. SEE ALSO
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