In attempting to develop a compact and practicle nuclear fusion reactor, the Minovsky Phyics Society developed a radical new fusion reactor named the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor. Named after its inventor, Dr. Minovsky, this reactor was "radical" due to the fact that it is the first "clean" fusion reactor, emitting zero neutron radiation. The nuclear equation was:

2He3 + 1H2 -> 2He4 + p (energy released: 18.35 MeV)

The reactant used is a rare isotope of helium known as helium-3 (ie 2 protons and 1 neutron in the nucleus). Helium-3 is used to fuse with a deuterium atom (heavy hydrogen) to form the stable Helium-4 and a single proton. Since the proton is positively charged, it can easily be trapped within a magnetic field. The main practical problem with this reaction is that Helium-3 is extremely rare... there are little deposits on Earth and the Gundam world's fusion reactors rely on the constant supply of helium imported from the outer solar system by the Jupiter Energy Fleet.

The Minovsky Particle

In UC 0065, the researchers of the Minovsky Physics Society noticed a strange electromagnetic wave effect within the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor that could not be explained by conventional physics. Within a few years, they had identified the cause: a new elementary particle generated by the helium-3 reaction, which was named the Minovsky particle. The Minovsky particle has near-zero rest mass - though, like any particle, its mass increases to reflect its potential or kinetic energy - and can carry either a positive or negative electrical charge. When scattered in open space or in the air, the repulsive forces between charged Minovsky particles cause them to spontaneously align into a regular lattice structure called an I-field.

PART II: THE I-FIELD

The I-field creates an interference effect, called the Minovsky effect, that blocks low-frequency electromagnetic waves such as radio and microwave transmissions - even infrared radiation is affected, though not blocked entirely. The I-field itself is invisible, and can be detected only by its effects.

With the rise to power of Archduke Degin Zabi and the creation of the Duchy of Zeon, the Zeon military immediately seizes on the military applications of this discovery. In UC 0070, Zeon military researchers confirm that, by scattering large quantities of Minovsky particles, they can temporarily nullify radar and radio communications and reduce combat to visual range. Minovsky particle scattering is a standard feature of the Gundam world's space warships, though most mobile suits lack this capability.

In UC 0071, Zeon researchers create the super-compact Minovsky fusion reactor. Instead of the conventional magnetic field, this improved version of the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor uses an I-field to confine and compress the reactor fuel, triggering a fusion reaction. The Minovsky particles produced as a byproduct of the helium-3 fusion reaction are thus recycled to keep that reaction going. The Minovsky particles that form the I-field lattice also help catalyze the fusion reaction, in a process similar to the muon-catalyzed fusion investigated by real-world scientists during the 1950s. This super-efficient design is only a fifth as large as an equivalently powerful Minovsky-Ionesco reactor.

Other I-field Applications

Since it's made up of charged particles, the I-field is unable to permeate through metal, water, the Earth's surface, or other electrically conductive materials. Thus, at low altitudes it's possible to generate an I-field cushion between the underside of a vessel and the ground, yielding a gravity-countering buoyancy. This principle is used in the Minovsky craft system introduced during the One Year War and eventually made standard on all space warships, though it's not until decades later that the Minovsky craft system is miniaturized enough to be installed in mobile suits. Another application of the I-field, and probably the one most familiar to the viewer, is the I-field barrier. This generates a dense I-field in the space surrounding the barrier generator, which can deflect the beam weapons derived from Minovsky physics. The barrier has no effect against lasers or against physical attacks such as missiles, and within the barrier's radius beam weapons function with their usual lethality.

Though the high power requirements and immense heat of the I-field barrier rule out its use on all but the most exceptional mobile suits, it's used by mobile armors such as the MA-08 Big Zam and the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam. Even in a full-sized mobile armor, the heat factor is still problematic, and the Big Zam is able to sustain the barrier for only 15 to 20 minutes. Since the basic principle of the I-field barrier is similar to that of the Minovsky craft system, it's relatively easy to combine the two systems, and a mobile armor with one of these gimmicks often has the other.

PART III: THE MEGA PARTICLE

The magical art of Minovsky physics has one more trick up its sleeve. Due to the repulsive forces between positive and negative Minovsky particles, large amounts of energy are required to compress an I-field lattice. If enough energy is applied, and the I-field sufficiently compressed, the Minovsky particles ultimately fuse into massive, electrically neutral mega particles.

The energy used to create the mega particles is expressed as both mass and velocity. No longer subject to the electrical forces that maintain the I-field lattice, the particles burst out of the I-field. This stream of heavy, fast-moving particles, unlike a conventional charged-particle beam, cannot be deflected with magnetic fields. In UC 0070, Zeon researchers exploit this phenomenon to create the fearsome mega particle cannon.

The new weapons derived from Minovsky physics are referred to by the generic term "beam weapons." There are actually two distinct varieties of beam weapon - one that uses regular Minovsky particles, and another that employs the mega particles formed by fusing positive and negative Minovsky particles. As beam weapons continue to evolve, the technology is used to produce defensive devices and even propulsion systems.

PART IV: THE MEGA PARTICLE CANNON

The ubiquitous mega particle cannon - variously referred to as the beam cannon, beam gun, mega beam cannon, ad nauseum - is the standard armament of the Gundam world's warships and mobile armors. This weapon fires a focused beam of massive, high-velocity mega particles, which cannot be deflected by magnetic fields and tears through any conventional armor material.

To create the mega particles, a cannon-toting vehicle must first gather Minovsky particles from the vehicle's fusion reactor. The Minovsky particles are collected in a device called an energy condenser, where they are compressed in a high-density I-field until they fuse into mega particles. The performance of the mega particle cannon is thus limited by the reactor's ability to produce Minovsky particles.

Though it quickly becomes the standard armament of space warships, the mega particle cannon's high energy requirements and the sheer bulk of the energy condenser at first preclude its use in mobile suits. The Duchy of Zeon's MS-05 Zaku and MS-06 Zaku II are thus armed with conventional projectile and missile weapons, rather than beam weapons.

PART V: THE BEAM RIFLE

In order to work around the mega particle cannon's energy demands, the Earth Federal Forces develop the E-cap (a contraction of "energy capacitor"). This device stores Minovsky particles in a high-energy compressed state, so that only a small amount of additional energy is required to trigger their fusion into mega particles. The E-cap is charged by energy condensers at the mobile suit's home base or carrier ship, and then functions like a battery until its supply of particles is exhausted, at which point the weapon becomes useless. During the One Year War the Federal Forces perfect the E-cap and use it to create a miniaturized mega particle cannon called a beam rifle, with which their first prototype mobile suits are equipped.

The limited capacity of the E-cap proves to be a significant shortcoming. The RX-78 Gundam, for example, can only fire about 15 shots from its beam rifle before exhausting the E-cap's supply. Shortly after the end of the war, the beam rifle is further refined to use a removable E-cap module called an E-pack. A mobile suit equipped with spare E-packs can thus swap them in during a battle to replenish its beam rifle's particle supply.

Mega Particle Cannon Variants

The basic principles of the mega particle cannon and beam rifle are employed by a long list of spinoffs. Here are a few variations on this weapon design...

----The self-sufficient mega bazooka launcher used by the MSN-00100 Type 100 combines a powerful mega particle cannon with a dedicated reactor. The mega bazooka launcher even has its own thruster system, making it independently mobile - the only thing it needs the mobile suit for is aiming.

----The FXA-08R Mega Rider, a development of the mega bazooka launcher which also serves as a support craft for transporting mobile suits, has its own cockpit so that it can be operated independently. Meanwhile, the MSZ-006 Z Gundam's hyper mega launcher is a scaled-down version of the mega bazooka launcher. Lacking its own propulsion system, the mega launcher must be carried by the mobile suit.

----The MSA-010 ZZ Gundam's hyper mega particle cannon is a powerful built-in mega particle cannon, powered by the mobile suit's own reactors. Its mega particles are produced by a highly compact mega condenser. However, firing the weapon depletes the ZZ Gundam's energy reserves, rendering it powerless and immobile.

----The beam smartgun used by the MSA-0011 S Gundam and MSZ-006C1 Z Plus is likewise powered by the mobile suit's reactor. The frame structure that connects the beam smartgun to the mobile suit serves as a conduit for both energy and sensor data, making the weapon highly accurate.

----The Variable Speed Beam Rifle or VSBR, a new type of beam weapon introduced around UC 0120 and first installed in the F90-V and F91 Gundams, lets the pilot change the velocity of the emitted mega particles. A slow beam produces increased raw damage over a wider area, while a fast beam yields higher penetration - in this mode, it's capable of piercing a beam shield! Despite the "beam rifle" nomenclature, the VSBR is actually connected directly to the mobile suit's reactor. It's typically integrated into the mobile suit's movable frame structure, and is equipped with apogee motors to increase the mobile suit's manueverability.

----The beam launcher is another application of this speed-control technology. This bazooka-like weapon, powered by an ordinary E-pack rather than by the mobile suit's reactor, fires slow-moving mega particles for increased damage. It's introduced simultaneously as an optional weapon for the F90III-Y Cluster Gundam, F91 Gundam and XM-07 Vigna Ghina, and later becomes a fairly common weapon.

----At the same time, the RX-99 Nu Gundam and its Generative Beam Rifle Device, or G-BRD, are introduced. This VSBR-like weapon is powered by its own built-in reactor and includes supplemental thrusters, enabling it to serve as a booster for the Nu Gundam's core fighter.

----The mega beam rifle used by the LM312V04 V Gundam and LM314V21 V2 Gundam, and the mega beam cannon wielded by the ZMT-S29 Zanneck, are later applications of the VSBR's mega particle acceleration technology. The Zanneck's cannon, capable of firing on ground targets from the stratosphere, is likely the most powerful weapon ever wielded by a mobile suit.

PART VI: THE BEAM SABER

Unlike the beam weapons discussed above, the beam saber doesn't use mega particles. Instead, it emits high-energy Minovsky particles to form a blade-shaped I-field, and then fills this I-field shell with superheated plasma to produce a lethally effective cutting blade. The Minovsky particles are stored by E-cap in the beam saber's hilt, which is recharged by the mobile suit's reactor when the saber is returned to its socket. Thus, once activated, beam sabers don't rely on the mobile suit's reactor and can be thrown or discarded as decoys (as demonstrated in Gundam 0083).

As the beam saber's I-field enclosure repels plasma, it not only keeps the blade's contents in but also keeps other blades' contents out, allowing one beam saber to block another. And, since the I-field can be formed into a variety of simple shapes, it's pretty trivial to create exotic variants like the beam tomahawk, beam sword, beam sword/axe, beam fan, beam mace, beam cutter and beam tonfa etc.

PART VII: THE BEAM SHEILD

The first defensive application of beam saber technology is the beam barrier projected by the RX-93 Nu Gundam's fin funnels. This barrier creates a geometric shell around the mobile suit, with a fin funnel at each vertex and planes of energy akin to beam saber blades forming the surfaces of the shell. Unlike the classic I-field barrier, this beam barrier deflects physical attacks and missiles as well as beam weapons. It can, however, be collapsed by a sufficiently powerful attack.

By about UC 0120, the decreased size and increased power output of modern mobile suits make it possible to use a simplified version of this barrier on all mobile suits. This beam shield is composed of a simple plane of energy, radiating from a central generator unit, which can be used like a physical shield to deflect enemy attacks. Since the edges of the beam shield are as deadly as a beam saber blade, the mobile suit's computer automatically deactivates sections of the shield that would otherwise lop off the mobile suit's own limbs.

Though it's limited to a single direction - and, like its beam barrier ancestor, can be collapsed by a powerful attack - the beam shield's lower energy requirements and effectiveness against every type of weapon make it a perfectly satisfactory alternative to the I-field barrier. By about UC 0150, even some warships are equipped with beam shields.

The mega beam shield wielded by the LM314V24 V2 Assault Gundam is a throwback of sorts to the Nu Gundam's beam barrier. In addition to a central generator unit, it uses three remote-controlled barrier bits to form the vertices of an oversized beam shield.

PART VIII: THE NEWTYPES

The idea of Newtypes is central to the Gundam series. The term "Newtypes" refer to those humans who have advanced to the next step of human evolution. Jion Daikun, he famous scientist in the Gundam world believes that it was man's living in space, away from the stress of Earth, that allowed Newtypes to appear.

The Newtypes have supremely high mental abilities. Their minds allow them to cope and process more information faster and be more responsive than the average human. They have a sense of awareness for each other as they can sense another Newtype's movements over a vast distance. Newtypes have superior mind and body coordination, quicker reflexes and a sisth sense that warns them of potential danger (similar to the JEDI's in Star Wars if you want a Western parallel). Newtypes are often prejudiced against yet feared. "Normal" humans, referred to as "Oldtypes", which compose the majority of humanity often ridicule Newtypes, yet fear their superior abilities. As the wars continual to occure betweem Earth and the space colonies, Newtypes begin to play a crucial role. One Newtype pilot in an MS is more than a match for 40 Oldtypes. Hamman herself claimed that only those who can fully the abilities of the Newtypes will be able to succeed.

As scientists learn more and more about the powers of Newtypes, they begin developing advance weapons specifically designed for Newtypes, such as the Fin Funnels and the Psychommu Systems. Newtypes are rare, and they don't often realize that they are a Newtype until they faced personal dangers or traumas.

Some of the more famous and powerful Newtypes includes Amuro Ray (Nu-Gundam pilot), Char Anzable (Sazabi Pilot), Judo Axxxxa (ZZ-Gundam pilot), Seabrook Arno (Gundam-F91 pilot), Lalah Sun (Elmeth pilot) and the most powerful of them all..... CARMILLE VIDAN (Z-Gundam).

Enhanced Humans

In pursuit of creating an "Army of Newtypes", scientist attempted to artificially enhance an normal human (Oldtype) with various drugs and mental tests to rival the fearsome Newtypes. These "people" are called Enhanced Humans, the most famous Enhanced Human to appear in the Gundam series will undoubtedly be Four Murasame from Zeta-Gundam (Carmille's girl). The suffering that Four faced during the "Enhancement Process" was torturing to say the least.

PART IX: FIN FUNNELS PSYCHOMMU SYSTEMS

Fin Funnels are small pod-like devices that consist of a small propulsion device and a weapon. The movement and attacks made by these devices are controlled by Newtypes through a mobile suit's psychommu system. Due to its small size, Fin Funnles are hardly noticable, but only Newtypes are able to control and use these advance weapons.

These funnels are vast, agile and devastatingly powerful, able to destroy enemy targets before they notice that they are under attack. One of the most well known MS with funnels is undoubtedly Amuro Ray's Nu-Gundam, with the 6 Fin-Funnels streched across the MS's back.

Psychommu systems

In 0079, Kishiria Zabi picked psychologist Dr. Anton Flanagan to form what would later be known as the Newtype Research Institute (NTRI) on the neutral colony of Side 6. Within six months, the Flanagan group, in conjunction with Jion researchers, developed the first psychommu (short for psychic communication) system. The psychommu system allows a Newtype pilot to control their mobilesuit with the speed and power of thought.

The first unit equipped with a psychommu system was the Mobilearmor Elmeth. Piloted by Lalah Sun, a very powerful Newtype, she was able to dispatch four Union cruisers using remote units, also controlled through the psychommu, called funnels. The Earth cruisers were destroyed while still trying to discover who was attacking them.

The Biosensor is another type of psychommu system, so far only seen in two units: the Zeta Gundam, and The O. Instead of reading a mental command from the pilot, the Biosensor gets its instructions directly from the pilot's impulses. This direct connection makes the Biosensor even deadlier, and the Newtype factor comes into play even more. The Zeta Gundam, piloted by Camille Vidan, is still considered one of the most powerful mobilesuits in the Gundam world. Of course, everything has a side effect, and using the Biosensor can have dangerous consequences. Since the system directly intergrates the pilot's mind with the mobile suit, the pilot can easily suffer from information overload during prolonged sessions of combat. This places a colossal mental burden on the pilot and those that can not cope will simply collapse. Even the most powerful Newtype, Carmille Vidan, can not handle the pressure... as seen at the conclusion of the tragic ZETA-Gundam, where he sank into a coma due to information overload.

PART X: THE ZERO SYSTEM

In the After Colony Era (Gundam Wing), Newtypes no longer exist, instead a device strangely familar has been used to enhance the pilot's ability, giving them temporary Newtype ability. This device was named the ZERO SYSTEM, in which the 5 scientists (its inventors) claimed, "should have never been invented."

This device works on the basic principle of integrating the pilot's brain waves with the actual Mobile Suit. All information that are detected by the system's sensors are immediately transmitted to the pilot's brain directly. It bypasses the normal human receptors of sight (eyes), sounds (ears), taste & smell (tongue and nostrils) and touch (touch sensors) and striaght to the brain. Furthermore, any information or thoughts that the pilot is contemplating or pondering about will also be detected by the ZERO SYSTEM. The system will then analyse and edit these "thoughts" and transmitt the "thoughts" back to the pilot's brain within nanoseconds. Thus, the reaction-time of the pilot is almost down to zero, as the system has become his "eyes and ears" so to speak. The neuro-sensory-system of the pilot will be stimulated and his combat skills increases exponentially.

The ZERO SYSTEM was installed into 2 mobile suits only: The WING GUNDAM ZERO & GUNDAM EPYON

Dangerous Side-Effects

Similar to the Psychommu systems in the UC era, the ZERO SYSTEM also have some dangerous side effects. Just like ZETA-Gundam's Biosensor, the ZERO SYSTEM places immense mental burden onto the pilot's brain. The average pilot can not cope with this pressure, and their brain will suffer from information overload, inducing them to lose sanity.

The ZERO SYSTEM has another even more dangerous side effect. As mentioned before, the ZERO SYSTEM tracks down all enemy targets and feed them directly into the pilot's mind. Furthermore, it will also analyse any thoughts that the pilot have in his mind. Thus, if there are no physical targets nearby, the ZERO SYSTEM will continue to search for potential enemies, anything that lurks within the pilot's brain (anything that slightly annoys him or have doubt about) will be interpreted by the system as an "enemy". The system will then edit this information and transmitt it back into the pilot's brain immediately. Now a simple idea or thought has turned into a "real enemy" in the pilot's mind, and he will not stop until that "enemy" is destroyed. Once that has been done, the process restarts again and the pilot will find his next "enemy". Therefore, the danger with the ZERO SYSTEM is that it causes the pilot to see anything that is remotely threatening, or anything that makes him angry, as his enemies... inducing him into a continual killing spree until the pilot dies from information overload.

Only Heero Yuy (otherwise known as "The Perfect Soldier"), and the eventual owner of the WingZERO was able to master this system successfully. Miliando Peacecraft was also able to control it to an extent.

PART XI: MOBILE DOLLS

The mobile dolls are a new breed of fighting machine. These all fully mechanical Mobile Suits, except that it contains no cock-pit. The entire mobile doll is controlled by a central computer, and this computer makes all the battle decisions by itself. In comparison to a normal pilot, Mobile dolls are extremely powerful. The computerization allows for fast reaction time and co-ordination as well as pin-point accuracy in aiming and attacking. Mobile Dolls are no longer restricted by human limitations, they can fight at high intensity without suffering from exhaustion (in contrast to a normal human pilot, who will get tired inevitably), can perform radical maneuvers that would have otherwise put too much strain on the human pilot's body. Furthermore, a group of Mobile Dolls can be extremely devastating as they can coordinate and attack/defend as one. Miliando Peacecraft just added simple military stategy formations into the central computer and his legions of Mobile Dolls wreck havoc upon the enemy.

However, although they may be superior to the average pilot, they are still no match for the powerful Gundam Pilots. Since Mobile Dolls lack personality, their movement and attack patterns become predictable and are easily destroyed by the Gundams.

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