Force fields, energy fields that prevent particles from passing through, have been a staple of science fiction since the early 20th century. Real-life constructs have similar properties, including plasma and the Earth’s magnetic field, which protects the planet from solar radiation. Fictional force fields have been used as dramatic devices in movies and TV shows, and in comics, characters can create force fields through high-tech devices or innate abilities. The workings of force fields are rarely explained in fiction or reality.
A force field is an energy field with the ability to prevent particles, radiation or physical objects from passing through it. A force field will often allow other substances, such as light, to pass through, making the force field partially or completely invisible. These fields have been a staple of science fiction in film, literature, and comics since the early 20th century. Real-life scientific constructs have some of the properties of fictional force fields.
The concept originated with science fiction writers from early 20th century pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, and Doc Savage. Movies and television shows such as Star Trek and Star Wars used them as dramatic devices during spaceship battles. In later years, Star Trek also applied the device for practical matters, such as an airlock between the ship’s atmosphere and the vacuum of space. In most cases, the force field was a practical way to solve story problems; its actual workings have rarely been discussed.
As science fiction and superhero comics rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, the concept found even greater use. Numerous characters, both good and evil, could create force fields, either through the use of high-tech devices or as an innate ability. Foremost among the latter was the Invisible Woman, a member of the Fantastic Four superhero team. Shortly after the character’s creation in 1961, writer Stan Lee realized that he needed an offensive weapon to accentuate his invisibility. Again, only a few exceptionally creative writers have attempted to explain the actual processes used to create comic book force fields.
Scientific research and experimentation have created devices capable of duplicating field effects. Plasma, an ionized gas, has been proposed as a lightweight radiation shield for long-range spacecraft. An electrically charged net would have to surround the vessel for this type of force field to be effective. The plasma window uses a magnetic field to create a plasma-filled area that has many classic properties of a force field, including separating the vacuum from the atmosphere. Its main drawback is that enormous energy is required to create even a small plasma window.
In many ways, the Earth’s magnetic field, a natural phenomenon, is a kind of force field. Created by the movement of liquid iron in the planet’s core, the magnetic field is an invisible spheroid that extends thousands of kilometers around the Earth. It protects the planet from solar radiation that could otherwise deprive the Earth of its atmosphere and prove lethal to living things. The electrons moving in the magnetic field deflect this radiation, which in turn consists of electrons emitted by the sun.
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