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Reverse Polarity: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:reversepolarity_1149.jpg|link=Exterminatus Now|
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'''Harley Quinn:''' I don't know... [[Take That|but it always works on]] ''[[Star Trek|Star Quest]]''.|''[[Gotham Girls]]'', "Cold Hands, Cold Heart"}}
When a major obstacle in a [[Science Fiction]] show is resolved purely through the judicious application of [[Techno Babble]], the characters have successfully Reversed the Polarity. It seems that every futuristic gadget or space ship subsystem performs some miraculous function if only you route the power through it ''backwards''. [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Urban legend has it]] the expression originated on ''[[
A type of [[Applied Phlebotinum]], Reversing the Polarity is the be-all end-all technical solution for any problem. Usually only thought of at the very end of the show ("Captain... we could reverse the polarity of the positron toilet and send a stream of charged crap particles ''toward'' the Romulans, rather than ''away''..."). It always works. Always.
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* Subverted in one of the fiction-chapters of ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]''. After the Roundworld is transformed into a snowball (Ice Age), the Dean proposes (after four glasses of sherry) to "get [[Magitek|Hex]] to reverse the [[Magi Babble|thaumic flow]] in the cthonic matrix of the optimized bi-direction [[Arc Number|octagonate]]" to fix it. The Archchancellor replies that he would prefer a non-gibberish opinion.
** Also in ''Discworld'', there's a spell called the "Rite of Ashk Ente" which summons Death to you, in order to partake in his wisdom. Alberto Malich thought that if the spell makes Death go to you, then performing it ''backwards'' would make Death go ''away''. However, he soon finds out that there is another way to consider the spell backwards: sending you directly to Death (which, oddly enough, worked out pretty well for him).
* In [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''Scourge the Heretic'', the jury-rigged device to keep a machine going "reversed the polarity of the neutron flow" (a clear [[Shout
** Considering the amount of tropes invoked and subverted in the book and the fact that the above-mentioned machine simply ''didn't work'' due to the tampering, this can probably be considered deliberate.
* Kemren the "Purple Mage" in ''[[Thieves World (Literature)|Thieves World]]'' generated [[Mana]] by means of [[Magic From Technology|waterwheels]]. It gave him a lot of extra power, but running those waterwheels backwards was enough to beat him.
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** She also did actually get her homemade [[Applied Phlebotinum|naqadah]] reactor working by reversing the polarity of a [[Unobtanium|trinium]] plate in ''Learning Curve''. "Reversing the polarity" sounded more professional than "aw shit I put it in backwards".
** And in "200", during a [[Star Trek]] parody, Mitchell as [[The Captain]] asks Carter to reverse the polarity in an overly dramatic manner.
* ''[[
{{quote| '''The Doctor:''' Really shouldn't take that long to reverse the polarity. Must be out of practice.}}
** ''Doctor Who'' also provides a rare example of polarity reversal ''not'' working. When Nyssa and Tegan are rapidly aged every time the Doctor tried to take off the ship in ''Mawdryn Undead'' due to... something or other, the Fifth Doctor attempts to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. This only causes them to de-age into children. [[MST3K Mantra|Try not to think about it.]]
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*** Parodied again in the new-series episode "The Almost People". An {{spoiler|exact duplicate of the Eleventh Doctor, called a 'ganger'}} is created. As he tries to process the Doctor's multiple regenerations, he goes a little weird; one point he says the "neutron flow" variety, only a few lines later to say, using Four's voice; "Would you like a [[Trademark Favourite Food|jellybaby]]?" and then, in Eleven's voice, ''"Reverse the jellybaby of the neutron flow!"''
** The Doctor's sonic screwdriver once had its polarity reversed to turn it into an electromagnet and draw back a heavy bolt.
* ''[[Space Cases]]'': Catalina is having some trouble with the concept from her textbook. "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow? What's that all about?" Aren't [[Shout
* Paul Chuckle is always using this in ''[[Chucklevision]]''. At one point he reverses the polarity of a UV light (which helps plants grow) to shrink his brother Barry.
* In the second season ''[[The Man From UNCLE (TV)|The Man From UNCLE]]'' episode "The Minus-X Affair", THRUSH scientist Lillian Stemmler is developing a pair of drugs. One ("Plus-X") heightens the senses of the recipient to an almost superhuman degree. The other ("Minus-X") is intended to incapacitate its victims. And how is Minus-X made? Obviously:
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== Radio ==
* Lampshaded nicely in the ''[[
* The ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' radio play "Lost Souls" plays this trope entirely straight, with the world saved from disaster by reversing the polarity of the positron flow. CERN apparently approved the science, and the impression is the writer was delighted to have found a context where the phrase ''actually made sense''.
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* [[Irregular Webcomic|Serron]] suggests reversing the polarity [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2201.html of something].
* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' has Misho point out the implausibility of this: "[http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0148.html SOL DAMNIT THAT SHOULDN'T DO ANYTHING EVEN IF IT IS POSSIBLE!]"
* Lampshaded in [[
{{quote| 3: Perhaps if we reverse the polarity of--<br />
2: Oh, that's your answer to everything! }}
* Done [http://exterminatusnow.comicgenesis.com/d/20100926.html here] in [[Exterminatus Now]], to shut down the Void. Complete with references to both [[Star Trek]], Ghostbusters, and a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade.]]
* Used in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=856 here]. Annie is trying to fake a [[Relationship
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* Live sound reinforcement mixing consoles have a "phase" switch on every input which is really just a [[Reverse Polarity]] switch. This is often used when placing two microphones on the same sound source directly facing each other. If there are 2 microphones on a snare drum, one above facing down and a second below facing up, the engineer will usually [[Reverse Polarity]] on the bottom mic.
* Converting a voltage follower with gain into a comparator with hysteresis is as simple as reversing the polarity of the amplifier.
* In classical Chinese thought, if the Yellow River runs clear when it should be muddy, or muddy when it should be clear or anything that should be Yin is Yang (or vice versa), it is considered an omen that the ruling dynasty has lost the [
* The Earth literally reverses the polarity of its magnetic field every couple of hundred thousand years. Scientists are not entirely sure what happens to life when it happens, but you can bet it will be the solution to ''somebody's'' problem.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_electrophoresis
** Similary, the magnetic field of the sun itself rearranges itself so that at any point, in eleven years it'll be the exact same pattern, only backwards (and when it goes another eleven to twenty-two years, it gets back to where it started).
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* Electrolytic coating. If the given polarity makes a metal condense on the electrode, the reversed current will dissolve it back.
* Vascular plants get rid of air bubbles in the xylem by reversing the flow of water during the night.
* In [
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
[[Category:Reverse Polarity]]
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