Template Break: Episode Two or Again About Portal Mechanics
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Pseudosciences Post.

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Hello, readers of the [Portal 2](/games?search=Portal 2) blog. And a special hello to the readers of the Portal blog! It seems that it’s time to continue the conversation that once began in the blog of the first part of the game.

The first doubts about something being wrong might start to torment the player still in the chamber that Wheatley moves around ("Idiot. He’s dragging us to himself"). Portals can be successfully placed during movement. However, one can calm oneself here with the thought that the portals do not move relative to each other, and in the future, they cannot be placed on moving surfaces. However, the game’s finale puts a fat cross on a whole series of various hypotheses, and even existing blueprints of the portal gun do little to aid understanding.

So, what follows from the final scene?

  • The field of operation of the portals is not limited to Aperture Science: there are no devices "in the walls". However, there is a caveat: one portal does remain inside.

  • The maximum speed of the "flight" of the "projectile" is close to the speed of light.

  • Changing the position of portals relative to each other does NOT lead to the disappearance of the wormhole.

  • The emergence of a portal on a moving surface is POSSIBLE.

From Cave's speeches, one can glean information that they were already shooting at the Moon in the '50s. Accurately. And they've abducted astronauts there. Also, the Borealis ship is located within Aperture Science, which wouldn’t be so easy to "steal" at such depths. So most likely, portals were also involved here.

Speed

The portal opened on the Moon approximately two to three seconds later. Light takes slightly less time to travel from Earth to the Moon. However, in the Laboratory, portals did not open instantaneously, and "flight" can be visually monitored. Something is amiss.

Possible options are as follows:

  • The "portal beam" possesses some incredible friction in the atmosphere. But then there arises another problem: the surrounding space should be heating up tremendously from such a mockery. Moreover, it would still take quite a bit of time (compared to a second) to exit the atmosphere.

  • The beam goes into warp. A wild hypothesis, but still a possibility.

  • At present, the most logical option: the beam moves with significant positive acceleration.

Device and Principle of Operation

Describing the internal structure of the gun does not make much sense — it is detailed in the nearby blueprints. There’s not much interesting there, and the only thing we are concerned about is the principle of operation. Quite "simple": creation of a wormhole through two micro black holes. Also, the Device has several ways to reboot the system if something goes wrong. From a technical standpoint, this would look like an explosion inside the wormhole. The consequences for the surrounding space are unpredictable.

Theoretically, according to Aperture Science, the Device can be used in the shower curtain industry. However, more practical applications have already been described by me previously. Portal 2 confirmed that what is described in the post does not contradict the game world and added only four new informational details:

  • Most likely, a wormhole can be opened on almost any relatively flat surface, or the required material is extremely cheap. No other rational explanation has been found for why portals in the game can be opened even in deep "backstage".

  • Different materials exhibit different "portal conductivity". Currently, two indicators of this value are known: "conducts" and "does not conduct". However, the lunar surface shows quite good results, and — surprisingly — the gel made from lunar dust.

  • It is hard to say why a portal cannot be opened when hitting a moving surface head-on. It’s possible that to open such wormholes, the second one must reach a certain speed at the moment of impact.

  • Theoretically, the range is unlimited, so the portal gun could be used for interstellar travel. The only question is how our Earth would not get flooded with lava afterward. Moreover, it cannot be ruled out that the Moon is a unique example of a portal-conductive celestial body..

Conclusions?

Overall, the principles of portal operation have become much clearer. It is now known how, where, and thanks to what the gun works, the general specifications are known.

However, questions about numerous possible paradoxes have now arisen.

In the proposed picture, of course, the wall simply presses against the circle of the portal on the second wall. However, if one presses hard and, from such mockery, one of the walls breaks... And this is just the simplest example. You could also shoot at "real" big black holes. There are many things that can be done. What the result would be is anyone’s guess.

Do not touch the working end of the Device! And thank you for your attention.