View source for Ansible

{{short description|Fictional machine capable of faster-than-light communication}}
{{About|a fictional communication device||Ansible (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
The term '''''ansible''''' refers to a category of fictional technological devices capable of [[superluminal communication|superluminal]] or faster-than-light (FTL) communication. These devices can instantaneously transmit and receive communicative and informational data streams across vast distances and obstacles, including between star systems and even across galaxies. As a name for such a device, the term ''ansible'' first appeared in a 1966 novel by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]. Since that time, the broad use of the term has continued in the works of numerous science-fiction authors, across a variety of settings and continuities.<ref name=Sheidlower/> Related terms are '''''ultraphone''''' and '''''ultrawave'''''.<ref>{{Cite book |last =Prucher |first =Jeff |title =[[Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction]] |date =2007 |publisher = Oxford University Press, USA|isbn =978-0-19-530567-8 |chapter =ultrawave |chapter-url =https://archive.org/details/bravenewwordsoxf00pruc/page/254/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year =2011 |title =Ultrawave |encyclopedia =[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url =https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ultrawave |access-date =2022-12-04 |last =Langford |first =David |author-link =David Langford |editor-last =Clute |editor-first =John |editor-link =John Clute |edition= 4th |editor3-link =Graham Sleight |editor3-first =Graham |editor3-last=Sleight |editor2-first =David |editor2-last =Langford |editor2-link =David Langford}}</ref>

== Coinage by Ursula Le Guin ==
[[Ursula K. Le Guin]] first used the word ''ansible'' in her 1966 novel ''[[Rocannon's World]]''.<ref name=Sheidlower/><ref name=Bernardo/> Etymologically, the word was a contraction of ''answerable'', reflecting the device's ability to deliver responses to their messages in a reasonable amount of time, even over [[interstellar communication|interstellar]] distances.<ref name=Quinion/>

The ansible was the basis for creating a specific kind of interstellar civilization, where communication between far-flung stars is instantaneous, but humans can only travel at [[relativistic speed]]s. Under these conditions, a full-fledged [[galactic empire]] is not possible, but there is a looser interstellar organization, in which several of Le Guin's protagonists are involved.<ref name=LeGuin2022/>

Although Le Guin invented the name ''ansible'' for this type of device (further developing its details in her fictional works), the broader concept of instantaneous [[Superluminal communication|superluminal]] or FTL communication had already existed in science fiction. Similar communication functions were included in a device called an "interocitor" in the 1952 novel ''[[This Island Earth (novel)|This Island Earth]]'' by [[Raymond F.&nbsp;Jones]], and the [[This Island Earth|1955 film]] based on the novel. Similarly in 1954, another of these devices called the "Dirac Communicator" appeared in [[James Blish]]'s short story ''Beep'', which was expanded into the 1974 novel ''[[The Quincunx of Time]]''.<ref>Nicholls, Peter "Dirac Communicator" in [[John Clute|Clute, John]] and Nicholls, Peter eds. (1995) ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, p.&nbsp;337. {{isbn|0-312-13486-X}}.</ref> Additionally, [[Robert Heinlein|Robert A. Heinlein]], in his 1958 novel ''[[Time for the Stars]],'' 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 [[Relativity of simultaneity|simultaneity]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== 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]]'' (1969), Le Guin writes that the ansible "doesn't involve radio waves, or any form of energy. The principle it works on, the constant of [[Absolute simultaneity|simultaneity]], is analogous in some ways to [[gravity]]&nbsp;... 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]]'' (1974), Le Guin tells of the development of the theory leading up to the ansible.<ref name="LeGuin1974" />

Any ansible may be used to communicate through any other, by setting its coordinates to those of the receiving ansible.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} They have a limited [[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]], allowing 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== 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",<ref name=LeGuin1974/> the name has also been adopted for devices capable of communication at finite speeds that are faster than light.

=== Orson Scott Card's works ===

American author [[Orson Scott Card]] in his ''[[Ender's Game (series)|Ender's Game]]'' novels used the term "ansible" as an unofficial name for the "Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator" device, which transmits information across infinite distances with no time delay.<ref name=Card1977/> In the first ''[[Ender's Game]]'' novel (1985), Colonel Graff states that "somebody dredged the name ''ansible'' out of an old book somewhere".<ref name=Card1977/> In an answer on the question-and-answer website [[Quora]], Card explained why he chose to appropriate LeGuin's term "ansible" instead of developing a new in-universe name for one:

<blockquote>
In a FTL universe, you have several levels. [If you] can travel hyperfast, but no radio signal can outstrip [outrun] your ship, [then] you have to carry the mail with you. It's like the way things were between Europe and America before the laying of the successful transatlantic cable. But once it was laid, messages could be sent long before a ship could make the passage. That is like the ansible universe in Ursula K. LeGuin's early [[Hainish Cycle|Hainish]] novels. Since I needed to use exactly that rule set, why not use the word – an excellent word – which I apply in the same way we all say 'robot,' an invented word that has entered the language, [and thereby] pay tribute to the writer from whose works I learned the word.<ref name=QuoraOrsonScottCard/>
</blockquote>

Card's ansible in the ''Ender's Game'' universe works via fictional subatomic particles called ''philotes''.<ref name=Card1991/> The two [[quark]]s inside a [[pion|pi meson]] can be separated by an arbitrary distance, while remaining connected by "philotic rays".<ref name=Card1991/> Card's version of the ansible also features in the video game ''[[Advent Rising]]'', which he helped write the story for.<ref name=EnderScript/>

=== Usage by Other Authors ===
{{Refexample section|date=September 2021}}

==== Usage of "Ansible" or Derived Terms ====
Numerous other writers have included ansibles. Notable examples include:
* [[Vernor Vinge]], in the 1988 short story "[[The Blabber]]."<ref name=Vinge>{{cite book |last=Vinge |first=Vernor |author-link=Vernor Vinge |title=Threats & Other Promises |year=1988 |publisher=Baen |location=Riverdale, NY |isbn=0-671-69790-0 |page=254 |chapter=[[The Blabber]] |quote='It's an ansible.' 'Surely they don't call it that!' 'No. But that's what it is.'}}</ref>
* [[J. M. McDermott|Joe M. McDermott]], in the 2017 novel ''The Fortress at the End of Time.''<ref name=McDermott2017>{{cite book |last=McDermott |first=Joe M. |title=The Fortress at the End of Time |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYvUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5 |year=2017 |publisher=[[Tor Books|Tom Doherty Associates]] |isbn=978-0-7653-9280-0 |page=1 |quote=We are born as memories and meat. The meat was spontaneously created in the ansible's quantum re-creation mechanism, built up from water vapor, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and various other gases out of storage. The memory is what we carry across from one side of the ansible to the other, into the new flesh.}}</ref>
* Thomas Happ, in the 2021 [[Metroidvania]] ''[[Axiom Verge 2]]'', uses the term for superluminal - and transdimensional - communication terminals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beginner's Guide - Basics and Features |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/axiom-verge-2/Beginner%27s_Guide_-_Basics_and_Features |url-status=live |access-date=26 October 2025 |website=IGN}}</ref>
* [[David Wellington (author)|David Wellington]], in the 2024 novel ''Revenant-X''.<ref name=Wellington2024>{{cite book |last=Wellington |first=David |author-link=David Wellington (author) |title=Revenant-X |year=2024 |publisher=[[Orbit Books|Orbit]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-316-56935-4 |pages=18, 105, 147, 150, 261, 364 |quote=If we can find an ansible connection, we can send a signal back to Firewatch back on Earth, ask them to exfiltrate us, but that'll take what? |quote-page=18}}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Moon]], in the 1995 novel ''Winning Colors.''<ref name=Moon1995>{{cite book |last=Moon |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Moon |title=Winning Colors |edition=mass ppb. |year=1995 |publisher=Baen |location=Riverdale, NY |isbn=0-671-87677-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/winningcolors00eliz/page/89 89] |quote=...when I was commissioned, we didn't have FTL communications except from planetary platforms. I was on ''Boarhound'' when they mounted the first shipboard ansible, and at first it was only one-way, from the planet to us. |url=https://archive.org/details/winningcolors00eliz/page/89}}</ref> and the novel [[Vatta's War]]
* [[Jason Jones (programmer)|Jason Jones]], in the 1995 computer game ''[[Marathon 2: Durandal]].''<ref name=Jones>{{cite video game |developer=[[Jason Jones (programmer)|Jones, Jason]] |developer2=Kirkpatrick, Greg |date=November 24, 1995 |title=[[Marathon 2: Durandal]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=[[Bungie]] |quote=A connection [?ansible] was left; awaiting the next quiet [?peace]; and though destroyed by the threes, it will scream over the void one time.}}</ref>
* [[L.A. Graf]], in the 1996 ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' novel ''Time's Enemy''.<ref name=Graf1996>{{cite book |last=Graf |first=L.A. [Cercone, Karen Rose; Ecklar, Julia] |title=Time's Enemy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCKooiecpz0C&pg=PT161 |series=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine |volume=''Invasion'', Book 3 |year=1996 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-6715-4150-7 |page=203 |quote=The two Dax symbionts can communicate with each other across space, instantaneously, because they're composed of identical quantum particles. I've become a living ansible, Benjamin.}}</ref>
* [[Neal Asher]], in his Polity series of novels including ''[[Gridlinked]]'' (2001), in which the [[runcible]], named in homage to the ansible,{{cn|date=April 2025}} is an interstellar wormhole generator/teleporter.
* [[Dan Simmons]], in the 2003 novel ''[[Ilium (novel)|Ilium]].''<ref name=Simmons>{{cite book |last=Simmons |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Simmons |title=Ilium |edition=hbk. |year=2003 |publisher=Eos/[[HarperCollins]] |location=New York |isbn=0-380-97893-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ilium00simm/page/98 98] |quote=I can see Nightenhelser madly taking notes on his recorder ansible. |url=https://archive.org/details/ilium00simm/page/98}}</ref>

==== Other Depictions of FTL Communication====

Many authors have depicted FTL communication devices in their fictional works without necessarily using the term "ansible."

* [[Christopher Rowley]], 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.<ref name=Rowley1986>{{cite book |last=Rowley |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Rowley |title=[[Starhammer]] |orig-year=1986 |edition=mass ppb. |year=1986 |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |location=New York |isbn=0-345-31490-5 |page=151 |quote=...the technology of the Deep Link, which gives us instant communications access across the deeps.}}</ref>
* [[The New Jedi Order]], 1999, featured enemies, the Yuuzhan Vong, use organic communication devices known as villips, which can transmit over infinite distances thanks to telepathic connections formed while being harvested in groups.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* [[Philip Pullman]], in the 2000 novel ''[[The Amber Spyglass]]'', part of the ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy.<ref>Kleczkowska, Katarzyna. "Science and scientists in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman." Dyskurs oswojony. Nauka w zwierciadle (pop)kultury. Kraków, 2016. 77–90.</ref>
* [[Liu Cixin]], in the 2008 trilogy ''[[Remembrance of Earth's Past]].''{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* [[Kim Stanley Robinson]], in the 2012 novel ''[[2312 (novel)|2312]]''.<ref name=Robinson2012>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Kim Stanley |author-link=Kim Stanley Robinson |title=2312 |url=https://archive.org/details/23120000robi |url-access=registration |year=2012 |publisher=[[Orbit Books|Orbit]] |isbn=978-0-316-19280-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/23120000robi/page/227 227]}}</ref>
* [[Becky Chambers (author)|Becky Chambers]], in her Wayfarer novels, including the 2014 novel ''[[The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet]]'', and 2016 novel ''[[A Closed and Common Orbit]].''{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* L.J Cohen in the 2014 novel ''Derelict.''{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* [[Neon Yang]], in the 2017 novella ''Waiting on a Bright Moon.''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Yang|first=JY Neon|date=2017-07-12|title=Waiting on a Bright Moon|url=https://www.tor.com/2017/07/12/waiting-on-a-bright-moon/|access-date=2020-09-10|website=Tor.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
{{div col|colwidth=30}}
* [[Interstellar communication]]
* [[No-cloning theorem]]
* [[Quantum entanglement]]
* [[Superluminal communication]]
* [[Tachyon]]
* [[Tachyonic antitelephone]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Bernardo">{{cite book |title=Ursula K. Le Guin: A Critical Companion |last1=Bernardo |first1=Susan M. |last2=Murphy |first2=Graham J. |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport, CT |edition=1st |year=2006 |isbn=0-313-33225-8 |page=18}}</ref>

<ref name="Card1977">{{cite book |last=Card |first=Orson Scott |author-link=Orson Scott Card |title=[[Ender's Game]] |orig-year=August 1977 |edition=mass ppb. |year=1994 |publisher=[[Tor Books]] |location=New York |isbn=0-8125-5070-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/endersgame00card_1/page/249 249] |quote=What matters is we built the ansible. The official name is ''Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator'', but somebody dredged the name ansible out of an old book somewhere and it caught on.}}</ref>

<ref name="Card1991">{{cite book |last=Card |first=Orson Scott |title=Xenocide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FKkPEODeDT0C&pg=PA40 |year=1991 |publisher=Orbit |isbn=978-1-85723-858-7 |pages=40–46}}</ref>

<ref name="EnderScript">{{cite web |title=''Ender's Game'' (2013) movie script |website=Springfield! Springfield! |url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=Enders-game |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419122304/https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=Enders-game |archive-date=2018-04-19}}</ref>

<ref name="LeGuin1974">{{cite book |last=Le Guin |first=Ursula K. |author-link=Ursula K. Le Guin |title=The Dispossessed |orig-year=June 1974 |edition=mass ppb. |year=2001 |publisher=Eos/[[HarperCollins]] |location=New York |isbn=0-06-105488-7 |page=276 |quote=They print Reumere's plans for the ansible. 'What is the ansible?' 'It's what he's calling an instantaneous communication device.'}}</ref>

<ref name="Quinion">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-ans1.htm |work=World Wide Words |title=Ansible |last=Quinion |first=Michael}}</ref>

<ref name="Sheidlower">{{cite web | editor-last=Sheidlower |editor-first=Jesse |editor-link=Jesse Sheidlower | date=July 6, 2008 | title = Ansible n. | work = Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction (HD/SF) | via = JessesWord.com | url=http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/16 | access-date=2025-01-02 | quote = This work-in-progress is a comprehensive quotation-based dictionary of the language of science fiction. The HD/SF is an offshoot of a project begun by the Oxford English Dictionary (though it is no longer formally affiliated with it). It is edited by Jesse Sheidlower.}}</ref>

<ref name="QuoraOrsonScottCard">{{cite web |title=Why did Orson Scott Card choose to reuse the word "ansible" for an FTL communication device instead of developing a new in-universe name for one -- Quora|website=Quora|url=https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Orson-Scott-Card-choose-to-reuse-the-word-ansible-for-an-FTL-communication-device-instead-of-developing-a-new-in-universe-name-for-one |access-date=2024-02-18}}</ref>

<ref name="LeGuin2022">{{Cite book |last=Le Guin |first=Ursula K. |author-link=Ursula K. Le Guin |title=Worlds of Exile & Illusion |date=15 March 2022 |publisher=[[Tor Books|Tor]] |isbn=978-1-250-78126-0 |series=Tor Essentials |location=New York, NY}}</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{cite book |ref=none |title=Ursula K. Le Guin |editor-first=Harold |editor-last=Bloom |publisher=[[Chelsea House]] |location=New York, NY |edition=1st |year=1986 |isbn=0-87754-659-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/ursulakleguin00bloo }}

{{Ursula K. Le Guin}}
{{science fiction}}

[[Category:Faster-than-light communication]]
[[Category:Fictional technology]]