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Fold the Page, Fold the Space

117 statements
22 feature instances
23 referencing feature instances

Fold the Page, Fold the Space	type	FeatureClass
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	label	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	page	FoldThePageFoldTheSpace
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	comment	A character explains Time Travel, Faster-Than-Light Travel, Teleportation, or 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. Truth in Television: the piece of paper explanation has become so ubiquitous that it turns up in many real-world scientific explanations of wormholes and space/time. Sub-Trope of Layman's Terms and Phlebotinum Analogy. See also Currency Conspiracy, where folding a dollar bill can be used as "proof" of The Conspiracy.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	fetched	2023-07-06T18:28:46Z
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	parsed	2023-07-06T18:28:47Z
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	isPartOf	DBTropes
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1c34acd2	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1c34acd2	comment	A variation in Rocketship Voyager. While explaining various theories of Faster-Than-Light Travel to Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres uses a 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 illicit moonshine) to demonstrate a warp bubble.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1c34acd2	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1c34acd2	featureConfidence	1.0
Rocketship Voyager (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1c34acd2
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1f30cee7	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1f30cee7	comment	In the My Teacher Is an Alien series, a random alien explains the ship's movement using a noodle-like alien food. The book also makes a point that said alien knows the general theory but can't explain the mechanics of how it works, because he's not actually an engineer, much as how most people have only a vague idea of how an internal combustion engine works.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1f30cee7	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1f30cee7	featureConfidence	1.0
My Teacher Is an Alien	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_1f30cee7
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_3ea61695	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_3ea61695	comment	Doraemon: The Record of Nobita : Spaceblazer has the spaceship belonging to Ropporu and Chammy unexpectedly having their back hatch connecting to the floorboards of Nobita's bedroom after Ropporu tried escaping the Garutite Corporation's mooks via hyperspace. As Nobita tried pondering the concept of hyperspace travel, Ropporu rolls a piece of A4 to demonstrate how it works. Nobita, being The Ditz, then questions if the galaxy's indeed made of paper, how much paper would it take to create an actual universe. (cue Ropporu doing a Face Fault)
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_3ea61695	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_3ea61695	featureConfidence	1.0
Doraemon: The Record of Nobita : Spaceblazer	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_3ea61695
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_453a04b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_453a04b0	comment	One episode of The Fairly Oddparents made this literal, the show being about Reality Warper fairies and all. Namely, Timmy wishes the family RV could get to Canada faster, and his fairies dutifully make the North American continent fold up accordingly.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_453a04b0	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_453a04b0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Fairly OddParents!	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_453a04b0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_49e5d731	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_49e5d731	comment	The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet features a crew of space travelers whose job is to construct wormholes, or 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 tunneling 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.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_49e5d731	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_49e5d731	featureConfidence	1.0
Wayfarers	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_49e5d731
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_4c7abe35	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_4c7abe35	comment	In Lighthouse: The Dark Being, Dr. Jeremiah Krick used his titular lighthouse to create a portal device. His theory follows this trope to the letter, but when he gets it working, it instead creates a portal to a Parallel Universe, which he perceives as his portal crumpling a second sheet of paper against ours.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_4c7abe35	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_4c7abe35	featureConfidence	1.0
Lighthouse: The Dark Being (Video Game)	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_4c7abe35
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_587db2f9	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_587db2f9	comment	In Halo: First Strike, slipspace is described by marking two points in a sheet of paper and scrunching it into a ball to shorten the distance.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_587db2f9	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_587db2f9	featureConfidence	1.0
Halo: First Strike	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_587db2f9
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5d84baa1	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5d84baa1	comment	Subverted in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, in which Ford Prefect starts with a napkin, and subsequently completely fails to explain to Arthur Dent why Milliways is protected from the destruction of the Universe.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5d84baa1	featureApplicability	-0.3
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5d84baa1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5d84baa1
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5dc24695	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5dc24695	comment	Happens in Déjà Vu (2006) when Doug demands a Layman's Terms explanation for how the scientists established a live feed connection to a timeline four days in the past. Denny holds up a blank sheet of paper and then folds it to explain how they folded space and time to create a wormhole into the past.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5dc24695	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5dc24695	featureConfidence	1.0
Déjà Vu (2006)	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_5dc24695
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_61484102	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_61484102	comment	In A Wrinkle in Time, the protagonists are shown an ant walking across a cloth, how it has to travel such a far distance to get from one side to the other. But, by folding the cloth so that the two ends are right beside each other, the ant can travel the whole distance by only going a few steps. This demonstration is where the title of the book comes from.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_61484102	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_61484102	featureConfidence	1.0
A Wrinkle in Time	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_61484102
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_6ce0d19c	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_6ce0d19c	comment	In Quantum Leap 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 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.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_6ce0d19c	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_6ce0d19c	featureConfidence	1.0
Quantum Leap	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_6ce0d19c
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_70814599	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_70814599	comment	Mentioned in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Enigma". When Daniel takes Omoc outside to send a FTL transmission to the Nox, he asks Omoc to explain how his message can cross interstellar distances in an instant. At first reluctant (due to the Tollan rule about not giving technology to younger races), Omoc takes a branch and bends it, so that the ends touch, explaining that the distances seem to be far away, until you merge the points together (paraphrasing). Daniel assumes he's talking about space folding, causing Omoc to shake his head in disappointment and shut up on the subject.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_70814599	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_70814599	featureConfidence	1.0
Stargate SG-1	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_70814599
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_7c038c18	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_7c038c18	comment	Phineas and Ferb: In the series finale "The Last Day of Summer", Candace and Doofenshmirtz accidentally trap the world in a "Groundhog Day" Loop and notice that the day gets shorter with every loop, erasing parts of the world in the process. Baljeet explains this phenomenon using a paper towel. He uses a hook to rip a strand from the paper towel, representing the disruption in the time-space continuum, and keeps ripping the paper shorter and shorter until nothing is left. His conclusion is that, left untreated, the time loop will eventually whittle down the universe into nothingness.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_7c038c18	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_7c038c18	featureConfidence	1.0
Phineas and Ferb	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_7c038c18
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_90f42a9b	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_90f42a9b	comment	In The Wheel of Time, Rand uses this with a cloth to explain his method of Thinking Up Portals to a female channeler. Since the Mars and Venus Gender Contrast is hard-coded into the magic system, she's quite disturbed by the notion of distorting and puncturing the fabric of reality, while he's equally confused by her own method of somehow turning the destination and origin points into the same location.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_90f42a9b	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_90f42a9b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Wheel of Time	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_90f42a9b
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9b38e5f3	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9b38e5f3	comment	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 elastic sheet is a simplification; it being also a sphere. Better not to think too much about it.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9b38e5f3	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9b38e5f3	featureConfidence	1.0
Interstellar	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9b38e5f3
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9dd34381	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9dd34381	comment	In Dark (2017), the inventor Tannhaus uses a rolled-up sheet of paper to demonstrate time travel via wormhole to a visitor.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9dd34381	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9dd34381	featureConfidence	1.0
Dark (2017)	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_9dd34381
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_ab389730	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_ab389730	comment	In The Ballad of Black Tom, Suydam's explanation for going Outside is: Imagine a cotton ball stuck to a strip of adhesive tape. Now imagine crumpling the tape, so that many different points touch the same cotton ball. The ball represents the room we're in.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_ab389730	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_ab389730	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ballad of Black Tom	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_ab389730
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_b7db5642	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_b7db5642	comment	In Episode 5 of Stranger Things, the science teacher uses this method to explain to our kid heroes how they could create a doorway to the "Upside Down" dimension. He takes a paper plate, folds it and pierces it with a pen.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_b7db5642	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_b7db5642	featureConfidence	1.0
Stranger Things	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_b7db5642
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_c1e861db	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_c1e861db	comment	Skeleton Crew: Not physically demonstrated but the analogy is made in "Mrs Todd's Shortcut". Homer discovers evidence that Mrs Todd's shortcuts are taking fewer miles than are in a straight line between the trip origin and its destination, something that would be impossible in reality. Mrs. Todd compares the shortcuts to folding a map to bring two points closer together, suggesting she has discovered a warped version of reality, akin to a wormhole.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_c1e861db	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_c1e861db	featureConfidence	1.0
Skeleton Crew	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_c1e861db
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_dcbaf050	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_dcbaf050	comment	Jane tears a page out of the book she wrote in Thor: Love and Thunder and folds it to demonstrate how wormholes work. For bonus points, she asks the man she's explaining it to if he's seen Event Horizon and Interstellar.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_dcbaf050	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_dcbaf050	featureConfidence	1.0
Thor: Love and Thunder	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_dcbaf050
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_e096101e	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_e096101e	comment	In Agent Carter: Phantom Pain, Sue Storm uses this to demonstrate an Einstein-Rosen Bridge to Peggy and her associates. She only demonstrates creating a bridge from Los Angeles to New York, however, and elaborates that Cassandra Romulus' plans don't seem to have an actual destination at the other end of the tunnel. She also coins the term "wormhole" during her explanation.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_e096101e	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_e096101e	featureConfidence	1.0
Sixes and Sevens (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_e096101e
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_eef6621b	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_eef6621b	comment	In Event Horizon, the ship's designer William Weir (Sam Neill), demonstrates the concept with the centerfold page from a magazine.
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_eef6621b	featureApplicability	1.0
Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_eef6621b	featureConfidence	1.0
Event Horizon	hasFeature	Fold the Page, Fold the Space / int_eef6621b

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Fold the Page, Fold the Space	processingCategory2	Dialogue
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	processingCategory2	Hyperspace Index
Fold the Page, Fold the Space	processingCategory2	Speculative Fiction Tropes
Doraemon: The Records of Nobita, Spaceblazer / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Rocketship Voyager (Fanfic) / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Déjà Vu (2006) / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Event Horizon / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Interstellar / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Thor: Love and Thunder / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
A Wrinkle in Time / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Halo: First Strike / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Hogfather / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
My Teacher Is an Alien / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Revolving Door / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Shades of Magic / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Skeleton Crew / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Starman Jones / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Wayfarers / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Quantum Leap / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Starfinder (Tabletop Game) / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Everspace 2 (Video Game) / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space
Isaac Arthur (Web Video) / int_b5b507b0	type	Fold the Page, Fold the Space

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