I find it interesting how some pieces of technology make it into the common vernacular, even though they do not actually exist. Most people know what a light saber, cyborg and a tractor beam are, though nobody’s actually ever used any of them.

One that I’ve been noticing getting more and more use is the electromagnetic pulse, or emp. This is basically a magnetic bomb that takes out all electrical devices in a given radius, whilst being harmless to living creatures. I first saw it being used in The Matrix to kill off the squiggly robots that attacked the heroes’ ship. Then, I thought nothing of using it myself in Ratchet Deadlocked to disable an electrical turret that was giving me grief. In the fourth season of 24, it was used to prevent Jack from hacking into a company’s files. And a few days later I saw it again in Serenity.

It gave me pause to consider; what is it about a piece of imaginary* technology that makes it become ubiquitous? How do you invent technology that is readily acceptable to audiences and other writers?

I think some of the following conditions probably apply:
- Must make physical common sense in the universe in which it exists;
- Must instinctively remind audiences of existing technologies;
- Must be realistic (i.e. have limitations, side effects, etc);
- Must achieve a result that is truly impossible with existing technology;
- Its properties must be easy to grasp - an evocative name, a simple and powerful effect, few extraneous properties. Audiences must know at once what can and cannot be done with this tool or weapon.

What do you think?

* According to my research, EMPs currently exist only as a side effect of nuclear blasts, but the EMP bomb per se, though it is being researched, has not yet been built.