The fictional Stargate setting contains a number of elements and other compounds unique to it, as well as fictional properties for real elements and compounds.
Hoffan drug[]
The Hoffan drug is introduced in the episode "Poisoning the Well" as a weapon against the Wraith. The product of generations of Hoffan work in concert with Dr. Carson Beckett, the drug makes the user immune to Wraith feeding and in addition causes fatal organ failure in the Wraith. The drug has a 48% mortality rate, though the Hoffans elect to take it nonetheless and are destroyed by the Wraith because of it. In "The Kindred", it is revealed that the Wraith Michael recovered the drug from the ruins of Hoff and has distributed it on many planets as part of his campaign against the Wraith. Michael's drug is refined from the original, with a lower but still significant (30%) mortality rate.
Maclarium[]
Maclarium is an artificially-synthesized super-heavy element with an atomic weight of over 200, named after its fictional creator, Dr. MacLaren. Originally named HU-2340, in the episode "Red Sky" SG-1 attempts to introduce it into the sun of the planet K'Tau, hoping to neutralize foreign plutonium atoms and thus stop a reaction that would eventually render K'Tau uninhabitable.
Naqahdah[]
Weapons-Grade Naqahdah (top) and Liquid Naqahdah (bottom)
Naqahdah /ˈnækwɨdə/ (also spelled "Naquahdah" or "Naquadah") is a fictional, superheavy metal used in Stargate SG-1. It is also in the original Stargate movie, though never named, only described as a quartzite-like material. Also, even trace amounts of the element react to the presence of other sources of energy, a major plot element.
A variant spelling of the name, "naquahdah", is sometimes seen in various sources (including the official sites) but the "u" is not present in the instances where the word is spelled on-screen. The name originates from the Egyptian village Naqada.
Diagram of a naqahdah-enhanced, nuclear warhead nicknamed "Goa'uld Buster," from "The Serpent's Lair."
Naqahdah is the basis for all the technology of the Gatebuilders known as the Ancients [Alterans]. When the ancients left the Milky Way, much of their technology was scavenged by the Goa'uld making this material the basis for their technology as well. Naqahdah is used to handle the massive energy requirements in order to create a stable wormhole by a device known as a Stargate, which is composed almost entirely of Naqahdah.
Naqahdah has a dull grey sheen in its natural form, and is known to possess two, possibly three allotropes: Liquid Naqahdah, which fluoresces green and is used to power staff weapons, Heavy Liquid Naqahdah (mentioned in a dream sequence, [1] leaving its existence in true Stargate canon questionable), and Naqahdriah, which is an unstable heavy isotope—Naqahdah's equivalent of Uranium-235. The Goa'uld have many mining operations on various planets extracting the mineral to be refined into Weapons-Grade Naqahdah. One could assume raw Naqahdah ore is only found mixed with other elements, similar to how Uranium exists in nature only as a component of pitchblende. Refining the element to what the Goa'uld call "Weapons-Grade" thus condenses it considerably. Weapons-Grade Naqahdah is so dense, in fact, that it generally requires two Jaffa to carry a piece of it roughly the size of a common housing brick.
Naqahdah is very rare, and does not exist naturally in Earth's solar system. It is not stated why this is the case, but the Goa'uld dominated Earth for a considerable amount of time, and they would of course have attempted to extract every trace of the material available—and possessed more than enough slave labor to do so. At least some of Earth's naqahdah supply comes from P3X-403, where, as a result of a treaty negotiated by Daniel Jackson with the native Unas, the Unas work the mines and turn over the naqahdah to the SGC. The Unas agreed to do this both to prevent the humans from desecrating Unas holy sites while mining it themselves, and to facilitate the SGC's war against the Goa'uld, whom the Unas, having been the Goa'ulds' first host species, despise considerably.
Technologically, naqahdah is of considerable value to just about every advanced race. As the only known material to interact with neutrinos, which are used to energize the material, and a superconductor capable of storing and converting many types of energy, including electrical and thermal forms, naqahdah is important in high-energy applications such as weapons, propulsion mechanisms (including hyperdrives) and force-field technologies. The refined weapons-grade metal has been shown to amplify the effects of both standard chemical and nuclear explosions, exploited by the System Lord Ra to create an enhanced nuclear warhead which was ultimately used against him. This effect has also been used by Earth forces to produce enhanced warheads and bombs, including a "gate-buster" capable of producing a multi-gigaton blast. Naqahdah itself can be used as an explosive; compact reactors utilising its energy-production properties can be set to overload, producing an uncontrollable chain reaction. The use of naqahdah as an energy source appears akin to standard nuclear fission reactors, although the radiation generated appears to be far more limited, shown by the lack of shielding used on naqahdah generators. Naqahdah has also been seen to react violently with potassium. The mechanism of this reaction is unknown, but not believed to be entirely chemical, evidenced by radiation release. The Goa'uld used this property to create a bomb implanted within a living person in order to (unsuccessfully) attempt to destroy the Earth Stargate.[2] The sheer utility of the element makes it prone to being used inefficiently—the Goa'uld use it in just about everything right down to the masks they wear to falsify their divinity to their slaves. Most other races conserve the scarce resource for use in weapons and power sources.
Naqahdah is also an integral part of the Goa'uld's physiology; its reaction to nearby concentrations of the element is almost a necessity to use their technology. A Goa'uld can also use this reaction to locate the Stargate on a given planet if one exists, and even to sense the presence of other Goa'uld at close range, which also holds true with Tok'ra and Jaffa. The host of a Goa'uld symbiote carries naqahdah in his or her blood which remains in their system, even if the symbiote is removed, the only exceptions being artificially cloned symbiotes and the Goa'uld who remained on their native homeworld (known only by its SGC designation, P3X-888), found to have no naqahdah. To explain this inconsistency, it is believed that heavy use of naqahdah-based technology, such as the sarcophagus, may have introduced the metal into their systems centuries after they left P3X-888.
Naqahdah is apparently also the standard medium of exchange within the area that is or has been under the dominion of the Goa'uld; weapons-grade naqahdah is preferred by the traders of the Lucian Alliance.
Naqahdriah[]
Naqahdriah (also spelled "Naquahdriah" or "Naquadria") /nəˈkwɑdɹiə/ (US) or /nəˈkwɒdɹiə/ (UK) is a highly unstable variant isotope of naqahdah with considerably greater energy-production capacity — and correspondingly greater explosive potential.[3] Naqahdriah emits highly lethal radiation, which claims the life of Daniel Jackson in "Meridian". Even non-lethal exposure causes brain damage, resulting in delusions and/or schizophrenia.[4] The energy released by naqahdriah can catalyze nearby naqahdah into more naqahdriah in a self-sustaining reaction.[5] Naqahdriah occurs naturally only in the nation of Kelowna on the planet Langara.[3] The episode "Fallout" reveals that these deposits are the product of experiments conducted by the Goa'uld Thanos millennia ago, which ended in an extinction-level event and the catalysis of small amounts of surface naqahdah into naqahdriah.
The human Kelownans rediscovered naqahdriah and use it to construct weapons of mass destruction for their cold war against two rival nations.[3] However, their use of the naqahdriah bomb to bring their enemies to the negotiating table also causes a subterranean naqahdriah chain reaction that almost obliterates their entire continent.[5] The Kelwonan Jonas Quinn brings naqahdria to Stargate Command in protest of his government's weapons program.[3] Naqahdria allows the Earth X-302 fighter to be fitted with a far smaller hyperdrive than would otherwise be possible, although its instability limits the drive's utility to short, unguided jumps.[6] The Earth ship Prometheus also initially uses naqahdriah in its hyperdrive, though again the element's instability causes problems on its first flight.[7] The Earth Mark IX "Gatebuster" nuclear bomb is enhanced with naqahdriah and is designed to detonate the naqahdah in a Stargate to create a massive explosion.[8]
Neutronium[]
Neutronium is a super-dense element key to Asgard technology and in the construction of human-form Replicators.[9] The Asgard time dilation device on Halla is protected by a shell of solid neutronium.[10] The new Asgard homeworld, Orilla, is rich in neutronium, which leads it to be targeted by the Replicators.[9] The nanite Asurans are also based on neutronium, and the abundant deposits of neutronium in the crust of their homeworld proves to be the final key to their defeat in "Be All My Sins Remember'd". Earth has obtained supplies of neutronium, code-named "pre-assembled masonry panels", for its own nanite experiments.[11]
Tretonin[]
Tretonin is a drug extracted from Goa'uld symbiotes, introduced in "Cure". The drug reproduces the symbiote's healing powers, allowing perfect health and extended life, while also suppressing the user's natural immune system as the symbiote does. Tretonin was created by the Pangaran civilization, using the spawn of the Tok'ra Queen Egeria. Egera, hoping to stop them from exploiting her in this way, sabotaged her offspring so as to make the Pangarans dependent on the tretonin for continued survival. After she is freed, she offers the information needed to wean the Pangarans off the drug.[12] The Tok'ra eventually develop a synthetic version of tretonin, which is first tested on the Jaffa in "Birthright". Despite initial concerns about replacing the source of their strength and longevity,[13] tretonin use eventually becomes widespread amongst the Jaffa, freeing them from their dependence on the Goa'uld. Tretonin is ineffective in a small number of Jaffa.[14]
Trinium[]
Trinium is fictional metal first introduced in "Spirits", which is of great value to Stargate Command. Though weak and brittle in its raw form, when refined it is 100 times lighter and stronger than steel. After the iris over Earth's Stargate is destroyed in "A Matter of Time", a trinium-titanium replacement is installed. Trinium is used in the production of Earth's starships, such as the Prometheus.[7] In "Evolution", a trinium dart is used to pierce the armor of a Kull Warrior. Trinium is also a key component in Tollan technology.[15] The hull of the advanced Asgard ship O'Neill is composed of an alloy of trinium, carbon, and naqahdah.[16]
References[]
- ↑ "Absolute Power"
- ↑ Cassandra, see "Singularity"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Meridian" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Shadow Play" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Fallout" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Redemption" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Prometheus" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Beachhead" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "New Order" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Unnatural Selection" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Outcast" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Cure" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Orpheus" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Birthright" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Between Two Fires" (Stargate SG-1)
- ↑ "Small Victories" (Stargate SG-1)
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