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Quinn Mallory, a graduate student of physics specializing in string theory, creates a device capable of opening vortices to alternate universes. With a little help from his double from another universe, he develops the technology to the extent that not only can he send items through the gateway he created, but also, with the use of a timer, to return them to their point of origin. He uses himself as his first living "guinea pig."

Sliding Machine[]

The sliding machine created by Quinn Mallory was an attempt to generate antigravity. But the machine is capable of generating an Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge, a gateway connecting one dimension from another. People and objects can pass through this gateway from one parallel dimension to the next. The sliding machine creates an electrical field, concentrated on two points; the location of the Slider and the corresponding point in a parallel universe. This field is so strong that it literally rips a hole in the fabric of space, connecting the two universes by a tunnel, called a "wormhole." The sliding machine then lines the wormhole with exotic matter, a form of matter that can support the incredible pressure it's under. In this way, the wormhole is shaped into a tunnel that people or objects can pass through. Once the journey is complete, the sliding machine removes the exotic matter, shuts off the electrical field, and the Bridge collapses.

Travel into the new dimension does not change their relative position in time or space. If they slide at three o'clock Monday morning near a tree in Golden Gate Park, they will appear in their new dimension at the same relative place and time on the new world.

Einstein-Rosen bridge[]

The Einstein-Rosen Bridge (more commonly known as the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge- ERP) is a tunnel connecting two universes. It was developed by physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. They came up with the idea that if an object had strong enough gravity, it could warp space, creating a tear that would link parallel universes. The only known object in the universe with that kind of force is a black hole. Anyone who could enter the black hole would find an opening or "wormhole" that would take them to another universe. That's the Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

The problem with the Bridge is that the same force that warps space would crush anyone who tried to enter the black hole. Until recently, it was believed that no one could do it. But in 1963, mathematician Roy Kerr came up with a way that someone could approach the black hole, avoiding the force, to enter the wormhole. On Sliders, Quinn Mallory succeeded in the final step, creating a Bridge that allows people and objects to safely enter a wormhole to cross into another universe.

In episodes where there are other Sliders, their Wormholes are almost always red. This was never explained in the series.

Season 1 Portal[]

Season 2 Portal[]

Season 3 Portal[]

Season 4 and 5 Portal[]

Timer[]

Sliders - Timer

The original timer.

The timer is a handheld device that resembles a mobile phone or remote control. The Sliders have a finite amount of time to stay in each world, a time which is beyond their control, and is revealed on the timer's display upon arriving on the parallel Earth. The only time they are able to leave a parallel Earth is when the timer hits "zero."[1] If they do not slide at that time, they will not have another opportunity to slide for another 29.7 years.[2] It is mentioned again in several more episodes. The timer has frequently been lost, stolen, or damaged during the slides. However, it is almost always recovered, repaired, or replaced before they are scheduled to slide.

An Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge is opened by pushing a button on the timer's face that sets the machine to open a wormhole to a new dimension. The user of the timer can choose where the gateway appears by aiming it at a location. However, he cannot choose where the gateway forms in their new dimension. The Sliders have used a total of 4 timers that were currently used on the show. The Original Timer,[3] the Egyptian Timer,[4] Rickman's Timer,[5] and Logan St. Clair's timer.[6]

Different timers have different countdown times — if you miss the window on one timer, you could still slide out with another.

In the first two seasons, the prop of the timer is a rebuilt Motorola cellular phone, however it changes in later seasons to a television remote.

Geographic Spectrum Stabiliser[]

The geographic spectrum stabiliser is a component of the timer that determines where or how far away from their original position the will emerge in the next earth. The original timer had a short radius. In Double Cross, Logan St. Clair switched the Sliders' GSS with her own, which covered a range of 400 miles, between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Time Zones[]

References[]

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