ZPM shape

[Ancientechexpert]

Are there any opinions as to why the Ancients constructed the zero point module the way they did? Why did they make the end jagged, rather than make it a perfect cylinder?

[escyos]

Maybe that was beyond their control or maybe it had to be designed that way.

[Darian]

I think that it was designed so that it could transfer the energy to where ever it is needed for example shields will need more power then lights so therefore it wont destroy Atlantis by mistake http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/st...1215465955.jpg

[Dundee30]

Perhaps because of the design. . . :-)

[Trig]

Given a lot of tech was crystal based it was probably because thats the shape the crystals grew in..

[Varifold]

Meh, I am fairly certain that the guys who came up with the ZPM concept art didn't think much of it beyond "yeah, gotta be somewhat crystal-ish and somewhat arcane/exotic".

But let's think very informally about general technology design. How you'll design your tech entirely depends on the "type of energy" that's being used to drive it. For instance, our current technology is signal-based and mostly electronic, so you'll find lots of cables in various sizes and shapes at all levels of abstraction. You can even think of some aspects of high-level source code as being virtual cables, due to the very nature how our technology works internally and how we think about mathematics. That kind of thinking is reflected in how we visualize source-code in all sorts of diagrams. More or less the same is true for signal-based optoelectronics/photonics/fluidics.

Things get interesting if you consider technology that is readily available to us, but we haven't mastered yet by a long shot, e.g. neural circuits in biological organisms; while the connections between the single cells appear to be cables, they are to be understood wholly differently. Dense neural circuitry, e.g. brains, cannot be understood from a signal-based perspective, here the information is encoded in excitation patterns and their interactions (and iterations thereof, i.e. encoding information in interactions of interactions of interactions of ... interactions of patterns, where every excitation may create or annihilate other patterns, etc.) The energy source for this wonderful bionanotechnological machine is highly delocalized (much more intelligent and reliable choice of power distribution than three localized ZPMs, by the way) and can be found in every single excitable component of the aforementioned circuitry.

So, getting back on topic: The shape of an alien energy source reflects the internal design of their technology. Alteran/Ancient technology is probably photonic/polaritonic/plasmonic/unknown, and it uses the energy that a ZPM generates directly without any need for conversion. The design of a ZPM allows for direct interfacing with that kind of technology, just like our copper cables do it for us. The crystal ZPMs are made of are probably "smart" in the sense that there is no need for a transformer of any kind to convert the various energy levels to something the actual circuit can deal with without blowing. I can imagine that at this level of technological development it's completely sufficient to take a crystal that you want to power up and just hold it to the ZPM (i.e. let them touch). The crystal the ZPM is made of notices a local drop in surface energy and controls the flow of energy "innately".

By the way, your picture is incorrect, I *think*. There is no singularity at the center of a ZPM. That would be too simple for a race like the Ancients. It's a disconnected region of spacetime which zero-point energy is being tapped into. It's like trying to create a bubble in spacetime and then cutting off the "neck" that connects it to our spacetime. The device that spans across our spacetime into the disconnected patch of spacetime is at the center of a ZPM. Or that's how I usually imagine this and the concept of "subspacetime".

/end technobabble, back to real papers

[Dundee30]

Maybe it's due to compatibility with the unit.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

It's a bit like asking why AA batteries are round with one end that sticks up a bit?

Why aren't they square with a bit that sticks in instead?

[Starsaber]

It could be to make sure it gets put in the correct way. With the battery example above, if you put the battery in the wrong way, it causes problems. Imagine how big the problems would be if a ZPM was put in "backwards".

[Anubisone]

Dense neural circuitry, e.g. brains, cannot be understood from a signal-based perspective,

Scientists already connected human eye neoron-tissue of the back of an eye with electronic equipment. Name it a success.

[jeremyadamson]

Are there any opinions as to why the Ancients constructed the zero point module the way they did? Why did they make the end jagged, rather than make it a perfect cylinder?

My personal idea is that the "mini universe in a bottle" as mckay calls it, produces a lot of raw energy, and if you notice, the zpm appears to be made from the same crystals the goauld and tokra use for data storage. I think these crystals are programming to turn that raw energy into usable power. think dc to ac.

[Atlantisrulez]

I think it's just the crystals natural formation, maybe just cut into a cylinder so they could fit it into the device.

[McAvoy]

Probably needed to be designed/grew/built that way. Why is the base round? Why is it multi-colored?