History Main / PhlebotinumDuJour

** Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s or [[DeusEstMachina artificial intelligences]] capable of [[RealityWarper altering reality at will]]; fiction tends to use ClarkesThirdLaw as a handwave excuse along the lines of "of ''course'' good enough technology can do that, humans are just too ignorant to understand how."

This happy state of affairs lasts only a certain period of time, however. Eventually, the general public comes to understand a certain piece of science enough that they're more likely to call BS and lose their WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief when they see it used in a blatantly impossible way. Or the concept simply becomes cliche once a new and more intriguing science comes along to take its place.

This can lead to readers of speculative fiction having difficulty reading works written a few decades ago and taking them seriously, because "''everyone'' knows [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning can't do that]], and neither can [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers radiation]]!" They didn't when the work was created, but oh well. That's just a difficulty you face when you write in this particular genre.

* Artisanal skill such as [[TheBlacksmith blacksmithing]]. Much like the arcane knowledge of scientists inspires notions of super-science even today, myths and legends often saw [[UltimateBlacksmith "he's a really good craftsman"]] as explanation enough for flying machines and the like.
* [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]] was widely practised in both Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. Alchemists tried to do all sorts of things, from turning base metals like lead into noble metals like gold, to making an elixir of immortality.

* [[ClockPunk Mechanical gears]] and optics (Creator/ETAHoffmann, Creator/LFrankBaum).
* [[SteamPunk Steam power]].

* Mesmerism (Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'').
** Do note that as originally understood (at least by its creator), Mesmerism was not hypnosis, but rather an intricate ritual combining mysticism and electricity to adjust what Mesmer called a person's "animal magnetism" or "[[LifeEnergy life force]]". It was not until later that it was realized that all of his electrical apparatus and magnetism theories were wrong, and he had instead accidentally invented hypnosis in the experiments/rituals.

** Starting with the discovery of X-rays in 1895 and the radioactivity of uranium in 1896. Got particularly popular after the discovery of radium in 1911, with various near-miraculous properties attributed to it. Very rapidly became much less popular in the 1920s when people learned what the [[SicklyGreenGlow green-glowing paint]] could do to you.

* Transistors (predecessor to {{Nanomachines}}).

* {{Genetic engineering|IsTheNewNuke}} and BioAugmentation.

* Nuclear fusion, particularly cold fusion.

* {{Quantum mechanics|CanDoAnything}}.
** Listen to a believer in some supernatural phenomenon or other explaining why it [[ArtisticLicensePhysics "really" is scientifically plausible]] and the word "quantum" will inevitably come up. Quantum mechanics has the advantage of having been around for 90 years (so everyone has a vague idea of what it is) but still requires advanced [[EverybodyHatesMathematics mathematics]] to actually understand.
* "Junk" DNA.

* TheSingularity.
** Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s or artificial intelligences capable of [[RealityWarper altering reality]] at will; fiction tends to grab ClarkesThirdLaw and run along with it, making no excuses but handwaves along the lines of "of ''course'' good enough technology can do that, humans are just too ignorant to understand how."

* Dark matter

* [[Alchemy Is Magic Alchemy]] was widely practised in both Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. Alchemists tried to do all sorts of things, from turning base metals like lead into noble metals like gold, to making an elixir of immortality.

* Alchemy [[Alchemy Is Magic]]. Alchemy was widely practised in both Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. Alchemists tried to do all sorts of things, from turning base metals like lead into noble metals like gold, to making an elixir of immortality.

* Pre-sci-fi:
** If we decide to count all the mythical herbs granting immortality or other powers as Phlebotinum, then herbalism is probably the oldest one in the book.
** Artisanal skill such as [[TheBlacksmith blacksmithing]]. Much like the arcane knowledge of scientists inspires notions of super-science even today, myths and legends often saw [[UltimateBlacksmith "he's a really good craftsman"]] as explanation enough for flying machines and the like.

* Early Phlebotinum:
** [[ClockPunk Mechanical gears]] and optics (Creator/ETAHoffmann, Creator/LFrankBaum).
** [[SteamPunk Steam power]].
** Electricity, particularly [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning]]. (FrankensteinsMonster)
*** Creator/JulesVerne was ''HUGE'' on electricity, with some of its uses proposed by him not being realized even today; all-electric ship-sized helicopter anyone?[[note]]The largest and heaviest helo now in production, the Soviet/Russian Mi-26, is roughly the size of a railroad car and is far from being electric -- it is powered by the two enormous turboshaft engines that guzzle kerosene by the tonne.[[/note]]
** Magnetism %% Make an Insane Clown Posse joke at your own peril.
** Mesmerism (Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar''). Do note that as originally understood (at least by its creator), Mesmerism was not hypnosis, but rather an intricate ritual combining mysticism and electricity to adjust what Mesmer called a person's "animal magnetism" or "[[LifeEnergy life force]]". It was not until later that it was realized that all of his electrical apparatus and magnetism theories were wrong, and he had instead accidentally invented hypnosis in the experiments/rituals.
** Vivisection or radical surgery (''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'')
** Radio waves and microwaves
*** One of Creator/HPLovecraft's characters uses a cathode ray tube against an EldritchAbomination. Oddly (or not so -- nowadays, you wouldn't expect an X-ray device to kill on the spot), it fails while old-fashioned fire and acid work fine.
** [[RadioactiveTropes Radiation and radioactivity]]: Starting with the discovery of X-rays in 1895 and the radioactivity of uranium in 1896. Got particularly popular after the discovery of radium in 1911, with various near-miraculous properties attributed to it. Very rapidly became much less popular in the 1920s when people learned what the [[SicklyGreenGlow green-glowing paint]] could do to you.
*** Creator/JulesVerne lived just long enough to feature this one in one of his last novels, "The Chase of the Golden Meteor", published posthumously in 1908.
** Eugenics (originally conceived [ba-dum-tsh] as being through [[SuperBreedingProgram selective breeding]]; the idea of [[DesignerBabies laboratory methods]] came later). [[ThoseWackyNazis The Nazis]] pretty much [[TropeBreaker destroyed the popularity]] of this phlebotinum, though they had help from [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] in other countries as well. When it resurfaces, it tends to be used by EvilutionaryBiologist villains or the otherwise morally ambiguous.
** ChemistryCanDoAnything, particularly the pharmaceutical type ([[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Cap's super-soldier serum]], [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll's formula]])
** [[FormulaicMagic Mathematical formulae]] (source of the original Johnny Quick's speed in ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', and much of the "magic" in Creator/HPLovecraft's works.)

* 1950s-1970s Phlebotinum
** Nuclear energy, including bombs, reactors, and [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers radiation-induced mutation]]
** [[ReverseThePolarity Polarity reversal]]
** [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain Untapped mental potential]]
*** Heavily popularized by Creator/JohnWCampbell, editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'', which became ''Magazine/{{Analog}}''; he was extremely open-minded towards the paranormal and encouraged his writers to use it, and that meant most important writers in science fiction for several decades.
*** "Indigo children", coined by NewAge psychic Nancy Ann Tappe in the '70s to describe children with special or supernatural traits. The idea proved especially popular in Japanese works (e.g., the "newtypes" of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', 1979), due to a belief that the atomic bomb blasts of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[BizarreBabyBoom altered the DNA of unborn children and subsequent generations]].
** [[SubspaceOrHyperspace Curved space]]
** Transistors (predecessor to {{Nanomachines}}).
*** In the original 1960s ''ComicBook/IronMan'' comics, the secret of Tony Stark's PoweredArmor was "tiny transistors ''[...]'' so powerful that they can increase force of any device a thousandfold!"
** [[FantasticPlastic Plasteel hardware]]
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywater Polywater]], a supposed polymerized form of water "discovered" by a Soviet scientist in the early '60s. Attempts in the West to replicate polywater were inconsistent, which sparked hysteria in the media over a perceived tech gap. By the '70s, polywater was proven be the result of contaminants (like human sweat) getting into ordinary water samples, discrediting the theory and the hype surrounding it.
*** A common belief regarding polywater is that it could convert ordinary water into more of itself, leading to a GreyGoo-like apocalypse scenario of all water on Earth becoming polymerized. This is the basis of the 1963 novel ''Literature/CatsCradle''.
*** ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The episodes ''[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]'' of the original series, and its eventual sequel ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow The Naked Now]]'' in ''The Next Generation'', both feature an intoxicating fluid based loosely on polywater (described as water that has somehow formed a dense chain of molecules).

* 1980s-1990s Phlebotinum
** {{Genetic engineering|IsTheNewNuke}} and BioAugmentation.
** [[UnrealisticBlackHole Black Holes]]
** Chaos Theory
** {{Antimatter}}
** Superstrings
** Eugenics made a brief resurgence during this time, with [[UsefulNotes/IQTesting race and IQ]] being a popular discussion in TheNineties. Also, evolutionary psychology explained everything. Often retitled as "Evolution in action", so as to try to make it seem "[[AllNaturalSnakeOil natural]]" and proper.
** {{Cyberspace}}, in conjunction with the rise of the Internet and advancing computer technology.
** Liquid Crystals (a minor example, but a few Soviet stories from that time feature LC {{artificial intelligence}}s).
** Nuclear fusion, particularly cold fusion. In 1989, there was a notorious experiment which claimed to achieve controllable, "cold" (i.e., no need for a huge facility or containment) nuclear fusion. It was soon found to be faulty, but a few stories ran along with the concept. Typical premise was that a humble scientist figured out the key to cold fusion and was hunted as a result, usually by Big Oil or other vested interests.

* 21st century Phlebotinum:

** Isolinear whatever
** Dark matter

** {{Quantum mechanics|CanDoAnything}}. Listen to a believer in some supernatural phenomenon or other explaining why it [[ArtisticLicensePhysics "really" is scientifically plausible]] and the word "quantum" will inevitably come up. Quantum mechanics has the advantage of having been around for 90 years (so everyone has a vague idea of what it is) but still requires advanced [[EverybodyHatesMathematics mathematics]] to actually understand.
** "Junk" DNA. 95-99% of our DNA is not currently expressed as proteins. Fiction likes to repurpose it as dormant superpowers, disk space for a message from ancient aliens, or the like. In reality, what we have found so far is old genes which we don't use any more (no longer being fish, proto-mammals, etc.), ancient malware (viral retrotransposons), regulatory code that indirectly controls gene expression, "introns" in the middle of genes that make it harder for viral DNA to latch on to them, and information-poor repeating sections which we still don't understand but which might be as unglamorous as physical spacers to aid the gene expression pathway.

** {{Pheromones}}
** [[MagicalParticleAccelerator Particle accelerators]]
** Aerogel
** Amorphous metals
** Smart materials
** Gravitational waves
** TheSingularity. Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s or artificial intelligence capable of [[RealityWarper altering reality]] at will. It tends to come with a handwave along the lines of "of ''course'' [[ClarkesThirdLaw good enough technology]] can do that, humans are just too ignorant to understand how."

*** A common belief regarding polywater is that it could convert ordinary water into more of itself, leading to a doomsday prediction of all water on Earth becoming undrinkable. This is the basis of the 1963 novel ''Literature/CatsCradle''.

** Mesmerism (Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar''). Do note that as originally understood (at least by its creator), Mesmerism was not hypnosis, but rather an intricate ritual combining mysticism and electricity to adjust what Mesmer called a person's "animal magnetism", or "[[LifeEnergy life force]]"; it was not until later that it was realized that all of his electrical apparatus and magnetism theories were pointless, and he had instead accidentally invented hypnosis in the experiments/rituals.

** Eugenics (originally conceived as being through [[SuperBreedingProgram selective breeding]]; [[DesignerBabies laboratory methods]] came later). [[ThoseWackyNazis The Nazis]] pretty much [[TrobeBreaker destroyed the popularity]] of this phlebotinum, though they had help from [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] in other countries as well. When it resurfaces, it tends to be used by [[EvilutionaryBiologist villains]] or the otherwise morally ambiguous.

* 2000s-2010s Phlebotinum:

** TheSingularity. Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s or artificial intelligence capable of [[RealityWarper altering reality]] at will. It tends to come with a handwave along the lines of "of ''course'' [[ClarkesThirdLAw a sufficiently advanced being]] could do that, we're just too ignorant to understand how."

This happy state of affairs lasts only a certain period of time, however. Phlebotinum becomes so ''last decade'' when it becomes a cliche, when the real science itself becomes better understood by the general public such that they are more likely to recognize scientific BS when they smell it (and lose their WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief), or when a new and more intriguing science comes along to take the place of yesterday's phlebotinum.

This can lead to readers of speculative fiction having difficulty reading works written a few decades ago and taking them seriously, because "''everyone'' knows [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning can't do that]], and neither can [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers radiation]]!" They didn't when the work was created, but oh well. That's one of the difficulties you face when you write in this particular genre.

The phenomenon of outdated phlebotinum tends to dog comic book superheroes in particular, at least if they have "[[ScienceHero science]]!" as any part of their background. (The magical and alien ones have less trouble with this - for now.) Often as part of a CosmicRetcon brought on by a CrisisCrossover, a hero or villain will have his or her [[MultipleChoicePast origin story updated]] to use a newer form of phlebotinum if the old one has gotten too stale and moldy for modern audiences. Compare MetaOrigin.

Here is a rough timeline of phlebotinum through the ages. The decades are very approximate -- [[UnbuiltTrope earlier, isolated examples]] may exist. Also, the expiration date of various phlebotinum varies widely; some types wear out in a decade while others are still in use thirty years after their introduction. "Soft" sci-fi can get away with using scientific theories that "hard" sci-fi has given up on, and of course a particularly clever writer may decide to dig up some rusty old phlebotinum and [[{{Reconstruction}} put a new shine on it]], just for kicks. So isolated examples of old phlebotinum in new bottles show up from time to time even though that particular phlebotinum is well past its sell-by date.

** Artisanal skill such as [[TheBlacksmith blacksmithing]]. Much like the arcane knowledge of scientists wowed people into notions of super-science in later periods, myths and legends often saw [[UltimateBlacksmith "he's a really good craftsman"]] as an explanation enough for flying machines and the like.

** Eugenics (achieved through [[SuperBreedingProgram selective breeding]], not via later [[DesignerBabies laboratory methods]]). [[ThoseWackyNazis The Nazis]] pretty much [[ValuesDissonance destroyed the popularity]] of this phlebotinum, though they had help from [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] in other countries as well. When it resurfaces, it tends to be used by villains or the otherwise morally ambiguous.
** ChemistryCanDoAnything, particularly the pharmaceutical type ([[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica the super-soldier serum]]; [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll's formula]]), although in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, ComicBook/TheFlash got his powers by having a bunch of random chemicals spilled all over him at the same time he got hit by lightning -- two phlebotina for the price of one! Note that all of the DCU speedsters were later {{retcon}}ned into being powered by [[DoingInTheScientist the mystical "Speed Force"]], probably to stop the endless process of phlebotinum decay going on with their "scientific" origins.

** "Junk" DNA. 95-99% of our DNA is not currently expressed as proteins. Fiction likes to repurpose it as disk space for a message from ancient alien visitors and the like. In reality, what we have found so far is old genes which we don't use any more (no longer being, say, fish), ancient malware (viral retrotransposons), regulatory code that indirectly controls gene expression, "introns" in the middle of genes that make it harder for viral DNA to latch on to them, and information-poor repeating sections which we still don't understand but which might be as unglamorous as physical spacers to aid the gene expression pathway.

** TheSingularity. Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s or artificial intelligence capable of [[RealityWarper altering reality]] at will. It also tends to come with a spectrum of handwaves along the lines of "oh, of ''course'' such an advanced being could do that, you're just [[ClarkesThirdLaw too ignorant]] to understand how."

** VirtualReality tropes, particularly {{Cyberspace}}, in conjunction with the rise of the Internet and advancing computer technology.

** TheSingularity. Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to AI or a SuperiorSpecies so hyper-advanced that they can [[RealityWarper alter reality]] at will. It also tends to come with a spectrum of handwaves along the lines of "oh, of ''course'' such an advanced being could do that, you're just [[ClarkesThirdLaw too ignorant]] to understand how."

** Mesmerism (Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'') Do note that as originally understood (at least by its creator), Mesmerism was not hypnosis, but rather an intricate ritual combining mysticism and electricity to adjust what Mesmer called a person's "animal magnetism", or "[[LifeEnergy life force]]"; it was not until later that it was realized that all of his electrical apparatus and magnetism theories were pointless, and he had instead accidentally invented hypnosis in the experiments/rituals.

** Artisanal skill such as [[UltimateBlacksmith blacksmithing]]. Much like the arcane knowledge of scientists wowed people into notions of super-science in later periods, myths and legends often saw "he's a really good craftsman" as an explanation enough for flying machines and the like.

** Artisanal skill such as blacksmithing. Much like the arcane knowledge of scientists wowed people into notions of super-science in later periods, myths and legends often saw "he's a really good craftsman" as an explanation enough for flying machines and the like.

** "Junk" DNA. 95-99% of our DNA is not currently expressed as proteins. Fiction likes to repurpose it as disk space for a message from ancient alien visitors and the like. In reality what we have found so far is old genes we don't use anymore (no longer being, say, fish), ancient malware (viral retrotransposons), regulatory code that indirectly controls gene expression, "introns" in the middles of genes that make it harder for viral DNA to latch on to them, and information-poor repeating sections we still don't understand but which might be as unglamorous as physical spacers to aid the gene expression pathway.

->''"Ah, carbon nanotubes. They are to modern half-assed science fiction what 'radiation' was to half-assed science fiction fifty years ago.''"

The phenomenon of outdated phlebotinum tends to dog comic book superheroes in particular, at least if they have "[[ScienceHero science]]!" as any part of their background. (The magical and alien ones have less trouble with this - for now.) Often as part of a CosmicRetCon brought on by a CrisisCrossover, a hero or villain will have his or her [[MultipleChoicePast origin story updated]] to use a newer form of phlebotinum if the old one has gotten too stale and moldy for modern audiences. Compare MetaOrigin.

Here is a rough timeline of phlebotinum through the ages. The decades are very approximate -- [[UnbuiltTrope earlier isolated examples]] may exist. Also, the expiration date of various phlebotinum varies widely; some types wear out in a decade while others are still in use thirty years after their introduction. "Soft" sci-fi can get away with using scientific theories that "hard" sci-fi has given up on, and of course a particularly clever writer may decide to dig up some rusty old phlebotinum and [[{{Reconstruction}} put a new shine on it]], just for kicks. So isolated examples of old phlebotinum in new bottles show up from time to time even though that particular phlebotinum is well past its sell-by date.

** Electricity, particularly [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning]]. (''[[{{Film/Frankenstein1931}} Frankenstein's Monster]]'')
*** Creator/JulesVerne was ''HUGE'' on electricity, with some of its uses proposed by him not being realized even today — all-electric ship-sized helicopter anyone?[[note]]The largest and heaviest helo now in production, the Soviet/Russian Mi-26, is roughly the size of a railroad car and is far from being electric — it is powered by the two enormous turboshaft engines that guzzle kerosene by the tonne.[[/note]]

*** One of Creator/HPLovecraft's characters uses a cathode ray tube against an EldritchAbomination. Oddly (or not so -- nowadays you wouldn't expect an X-ray device to kill on the spot), it fails while old-fashioned fire and acid work fine.
** Eugenics (achieved through selective breeding, not via later laboratory methods). [[ThoseWackyNazis The Nazis]] pretty much [[ValuesDissonance destroyed the popularity]] of this phlebotinum, though they had help from {{Social Darwinist}}s in other countries as well. When it resurfaces, it tends to be used by villains or the otherwise morally ambiguous.
** ChemistryCanDoAnything, particularly the pharmaceutical type ([[SuperSerum Super soldier serum]]; Dr. Jekyll's formula), although UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ComicBook/TheFlash got his powers by having a bunch of random chemicals spilled all over him at the same time he got hit by lightning -- two phlebotina for the price of one! Note that all of the DCU speedsters were later [[RetCon retconned]] into being powered by the mystical "[[MetaOrigin Speed Force]]", probably to stop the endless process of phlebotinum decay going on with their "scientific" origins.
** Mathematical formulae (source of the original Johnny Quick's speed, and much of the "magic" in Creator/HPLovecraft's works.)

** [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers Nuclear energy, including bombs, reactors, and genetic mutation]].

** [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain Untapped mental potential]].
*** Heavily popularized by Creator/JohnWCampbell, editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'', which became ''Magazine/{{Analog}}''; he was extremely open-minded towards the paranormal and encouraged his writers to use it--and that meant most important writers in science fiction for several decades.
*** "Indigo children", coined by New Age psychic Nancy Ann Tappe in the 70s to describe children with special or supernatural traits. The idea proved especially popular in Japanese works (e.g. the "newtypes" of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', 1979), due to a belief that the atomic bomb blasts of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[BizarreBabyBoom altered the DNA of unborn children and subsequent generations]].
** [[{{Hyperspace}} Curved space]]

*** In the original 1960s ''ComicBook/IronMan'' comics, the secret of Tony Stark's PoweredArmor was "tiny transistors (...) so powerful that they can increase force of any device a thousandfold!"

** [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Genetic Engineering]] and BioAugmentation.

** Eugenics (Made a brief resurgence during this time, with [[UsefulNotes/IQTesting race and IQ]] being a popular discussion in TheNineties. Also, [[strike:sociobiology]] evolutionary psychology explained everything.) Often retitled as "Evolution in action", so as to try to make it seem "[[AllNaturalSnakeOil natural]]" and proper.

** Liquid Crystals (a minor example, but a few Soviet stories from that time feature LC AIs).
** Nuclear fusion, particularly cold fusion. In 1989 there was a notorious experiment which claimed to achieve controllable, "cold" (i.e. no need for a huge facility or containment) nuclear fusion. It was soon found to be faulty, but a few stories ran along with the concept. Typical premise was that a humble scientist figured out the key to cold fusion and was hunted as a result, usually by Big Oil or other vested interests.

** [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything Quantum mechanics]]: Listen to a believer in some supernatural phenomenon or other explaining why it [[ArtisticLicensePhysics "really" is scientifically plausible]] and the word "quantum" will inevitably come up. Quantum mechanics has the advantage of having been around for 90 years (so everyone has a vague idea of what it is) but still requires advanced [[EverybodyHatesMathematics mathematics]] to actually understand.
** "Junk" DNA: 95-99% of our DNA is not currently expressed as proteins. Fiction likes to repurpose it as disk space for a message from ancient alien visitors and the like. In reality what we have found so far is old genes we don't use anymore (no longer being, say, fish), ancient malware (viral retrotransposons), regulatory code that indirectly controls gene expression, "introns" in the middles of genes that make it harder for viral DNA to latch on to them, and information-poor repeating sections we still don't understand but which might be as unglamorous as physical spacers to aid the gene expression pathway.

** Pheromones
** [[MagicalParticleAccelerator Particle Accelerators]]

** Gravitational Waves
** TheSingularity: Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, it usually refers to AI or a SuperiorSpecies so hyper-advanced that they can [[RealityWarper alter reality]] at will. It also tends to come with a spectrum of handwaves along the lines of "oh, of ''course'' such an advanced being could do that, you're just [[ClarkesThirdLaw too ignorant]] to understand how."

RadiationInducedSuperpowers

This can lead to readers of speculative fiction having difficulty reading works written a few decades ago and taking them seriously, because "''everyone'' knows [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning can't do that]], and neither can [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]]!" They didn't when the work was created, but oh well. That's one of the difficulties you face when you write in this particular genre.

** [[ILoveNuclearPower Nuclear energy, including bombs, reactors, and genetic mutation]].

* ILoveNuclearPower

*** [[PsychicPowers Indigo Children]] also tend to be popular in Japanese works, due to a belief that the atomic bomb blasts of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII altered the DNA of unborn children and subsequent generations.

** Virtual Reality

** [[MagicalParticleAccelerator Particle Accelerators]]. In particular, the LHC.

** TheSingularity: Taken strictly in separation from other phlebotina listed here, this means pretty much but a super-smart AI (achieved by whichever means), but it usually comes with a spectrum of handwaves along the lines of "oh, of course a super-smart AI could do it, you're just [[EvolutionaryLevels a few steps behind]] to be able to comprehend how, [[SonOfAnApe filthy ape]]" that serve as an explanation to everything else.

Here is a rough timeline of phlebotinum through the ages. The decades are very approximate -- [[UnbuiltTrope earlier isolated examples]] may exist. Also, the expiration date of various phlebotinum varies widely; some types wear out in a decade while others are still in use thirty years after their introduction. [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "Soft" sci-fi]] can get away with using scientific theories that "hard" sci-fi has given up on, and of course a particularly clever writer may decide to dig up some rusty old phlebotinum and [[{{Reconstruction}} put a new shine on it]], just for kicks. So isolated examples of old phlebotinum in new bottles show up from time to time even though that particular phlebotinum is well past its sell-by date.

** Mesmerism (Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'') Do note that as originally understood (at least by its creator), Mesmerism was not hypnosis, but rather an intricate ritual combining mysticism and electricity to adjust what Mesmer called a person's "animal magnetism", or "{{life force}}"; it was not until later that it was realized that all of his electrical apparatus and magnetism theories were pointless, and he had instead accidentally invented hypnosis in the experiments/rituals.

** Herbalism: probably the oldest one in the book, if we decide to count all the mythical herbs granting immortality or other powers as Phlebotinum.

* 2000s Phlebotinum: