History Main / FoldThePageFoldTheSpace

* A variation in ''Rocketship Voyager''. While explaining various theories of FasterThanLightTravel to Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres uses a [[TechnologyMarchesOn slide rule]] to demonstrate folding space instead of a paper and pencil, and a bubble of alcohol floating in zero-gravity (from a squeeze-tube of [[MilitaryMoonshiner illicit moonshine]]) to demonstrate a warp bubble.

* A variation in ''Rocketship Voyager''. While explaining various theories of FasterThanLightTravel to Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres uses a [[TechnologyMarchesOn slide rule]] to demonstrate folding space, and a bubble of alcohol floating in zero-gravity (from a squeeze-tube of [[MilitaryMoonshiner illicit moonshine]]) to demonstrate a warp bubble.

* ''Rocketship Voyager''. While explaining various theories of FasterThanLightTravel to Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres uses a [[TechnologyMarchesOn slide rule]] to demonstrate folding space, and a bubble of alcohol floating in zero-gravity (from a squeeze-tube of [[MilitaryMoonshiner illicit moonshine]]) to demonstrate a warp bubble.

* ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' features a crew of space travellers whose job is to construct tunnels for intergalactic travel in a story set in a somewhat unified galaxy. These tunnels allow the public to travel from space to space in a way that's akin to an average commute, maintaining the consistency of time despite the actual speed of light between spaces. Newcomer ship clerk Rosemary Harper gets a crash-course on how tunnelling works from ship mechanic and resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Kizzy Shao, who begins by using her porridge and the space above it as an example of the distance their ship travels to "punch" a hole within the fabric of space. She's about to launch a blueberry across the counter with a spoon when she remembers she "can't fold porridge", and uses a much more foldable napkin instead. It plays out pretty much similarly with all the other examples, though emphasis is made on the work involved in keeping the sublayer (the "space" between space) from ripping apart after they've punched two holes through space.

--> '''Kizzy:''' Pretty much. It's like a doorway connecting two rooms, only the rooms are on opposite sides of town.

* ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' features a crew of space travellers whose job is to construct tunnels for intergalactic travel in a story set in a somewhat unified galaxy. Newcomer ship clerk Rosemary Harper gets a crash-course on how tunnelling works from ship mechanic and resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Kizzy Shao, who begins by using her porridge and the space above it as an example of the distance their ship travels to "punch" a hole within the fabric of space. She's about to launch a blueberry across the counter with a spoon when she remembers she "can't fold porridge", and uses a much more foldable napkin instead. It plays out pretty much similarly with all the other examples, though emphasis is made on the responsibility involved in keeping the sublayer (the "space" between space) from ripping apart.

* ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' features a crew of space travellers whose job is to construct tunnels for intergalactic travel in a story set in a somewhat unified galaxy. Newcomer ship clerk Rosemary Harper gets a crash-course on how tunnelling works from ship mechanic and resident Cloudcuckoolander Kizzy Shao, who begins by using her porridge and the space above it as an example of the distance their ship travels to "punch" a hole within the fabric of space. She's about to launch a blueberry across the counter with a spoon when she remembers she "can't fold porridge", and uses a much more foldable napkin instead. It plays out pretty much similarly with all the other examples, though emphasis is made on the responsibility involved in keeping the sublayer (the "space" between space) from ripping apart.

* ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' features a crew of space travellers whose job is to construct tunnels for intergalactic travel in a story set in a somewhat unified galaxy. Newcomer ship clerk Rosemary Harper gets a crash-course on how tunnelling works from ship mechanic Kizzy Shao, who begins by using her porridge and the space above it as an example of the distance their ship travels to "punch" a hole within the fabric of space. She's about to launch a blueberry across the counter with a spoon when she remembers she "can't fold porridge", and uses a much more foldable napkin instead. It plays out pretty much similarly with all the other examples, though emphasis is made on the responsibility involved in keeping the sublayer (the "space" between space) from ripping apart.

* ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' features a crew of space travellers whose job is to construct tunnels for intergalactic travel in a story set in a somewhat unified galaxy. Newcomer Rosemary Harper, who's onboard as a simple clerk, gets a crash-course on how tunnelling works from ship mechanic Kizzy Shao, who begins by using her porridge and the space above it as an example of the distance their ship travels to "punch" a hole within the fabric of space. She's about to launch a blueberry across the counter with a spoon when she remembers she "can't fold porridge", and uses a much more foldable napkin instead. It plays out pretty much similarly with all the other examples.
--> She held up the clean napkin, gripping two opposite corners. "Okay. You know the big grid-like spheres surrounding tunnel openings? [...] Those are containment cages. They keep space from ripping open any farther than we want to. You have to have one cage on each end of the tunnel." She gestured with the corners of the napkin. "So if we've got one cage at ''this'' end, and another cage at ''this'' end, we've got to construct a tunnel that effectively makes it so that ''this''" - she stretched the corners far apart from one another - "is the same thing as ''this''" - she brought the corners together.
--> Rosemary frowned. [...] "Okay, so, the cages are light-years apart. They're not in the same place. But...they behave as if they were in the same space?"
--> "Pretty much. It's like a doorway connecting two rooms, only the rooms are on opposite sides of town."
--> "So the only place the distance between those two points has been changed is...within the tunnel?"
--> Kizzy grinned. "Physics is a bitch, right?"
** The construction of these tunnels basically helps with shrinking the travel time down to an average commute, where time will be the same even if you're hopping between spaces. This is presented as the much better alternative to faster-than-light travel, which amounts to time travel and is also a logistical nightmare for the galactic governments.

* As noted above, in the Interstellar example, space being three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional means that if wormholes existed things would be more complicated, them being spherical and tunneling through an extra dimension --and that the similar comparison of a black hole with the funnel caused by something heavy put in an ellastic sheet is a simplification it being also a sphere. [[MindScrew Better not to think too much about it]].

-->'''Romilly:''' So they say you want to go from here, to there. ''[holds up a blank sheet]'' But this is too far. So a wormhole bends space like this so you can take a shortcut through a higher dimension. [folds paper and pierces it with a pen]'' Okay so, to show that they've turned three-dimensional space into two dimensions, which turns a wormhole in two dimensions? ... A circle. What's a circle in three dimensions?\\

* As noted above, in the Interstellar example, space being three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional means that if wormholes existed things would be more complicated tunneling through an extra dimension --and that the similar comparison of a black hole with the funnel caused by something heavy put in an ellastic sheet is a simplification. [[MindScrew Better not to think too much about it]].

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[[folder: Real Life]]

* As noted above, in the Interstellar example, space being three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional means that if wormholes existed things would be more complicated tunneling through an extra dimension --and that the similar comparison of a black hole with a funnel in an ellastic sheet is a simplification. [[MindScrew Best not to think too much about it]].

* On the way to the wormhole in ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', Romilly does some exposition talk to explain the wormhole idea to Cooper. Interestingly, the movie refers to the hole as a sphere rather than a tunnel, which seems scientifically correct.

A SubTrope of LaymansTerms and PhlebotinumAnalogy in which a character explains TimeTravel, FasterThanLightTravel, {{Teleportation}}, or [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormholes]] by folding a sheet of paper (or something similar) in half to illustrate the theory of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Usually they indicate two points at opposite ends of the sheet, then fold the sheet so that the points touch. If they really want to get their audience's attention, they might create their metaphorical wormhole by stabbing a pen through the two points.

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "[[Recap/StargateSG1S1E16Enigma Enigma]]", Omoc (Tobin Bell) explains their concept of interstellar travel to Daniel (Michael Shanks) with a stick, which he subsequently gets the wrong end of (apparently they don't fold space).

[[folder:Films]]

--> '''Romilly''': So they say you want to go from here, to there (holds up a blank sheet). But this is too far. So a wormhole bends space like this so you can take a shortcut through a higher dimension (folds paper and pierces it with a pen). Okay so, to show that they've turned 3-dimensional space into 2 dimensions, which turns a wormhole in 2 dimensions? ... A circle. What's a circle in 3 dimensions?
--> '''Cooper''': A sphere.
--> '''Romilly''': Exactly. A spherical hole.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/QuantumLeap'' Sam uses the term "string theory" to explain his leaping. Imagine your life as a piece of string, with one end (birth) and the other end (death). If you [[TimeyWimeyBall ball the string up]], every day of your life touches every other day out of order, so you can jump from one to another, therefore time travelling within your own lifetime.
* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode [[Recap/StargateSG1S1E16Enigma "Enigma"]], Omoc (Tobin Bell) explains their concept of interstellar travel to Daniel (Michael Shanks) with a stick, which he subsequently gets the wrong end of (apparently they don't fold space).

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[[caption-width-right:350:Einstein-Rosen Bridges made easy]]

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Enigma", Omoc (Tobin Bell) explains their concept of interstellar travel to Daniel (Michael Shanks) with a stick, which he subsequently gets the wrong end of (apparently they don't fold space).

* In the TV/StargateSG1 episode "Enigma", Omoc (Tobin Bell) explains their concept of interstellar travel to Daniel (Michael Shanks) with a stick, which he subsequently gets the wrong end of (apparently they don't fold space).

* Alluded to in ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' by referring to interstellar travel as "folding space". - '''SquarePegRoundTrope'''

'''UpForGrabs'''