Shrink ray

In science fiction, a shrink ray is any device which uses energy to reduce the physical size of matter. Many are also capable of enlarging items as well.

Scientific angle

Science fiction writer and polymath Isaac Asimov wrote^[1]

Miniaturization doesn't actually make sense unless you miniaturize the very atoms of which matter is composed. Otherwise a tiny brain in a man the size of an insect, composed of normal atoms, is composed of too few atoms for the miniaturized man to be any more intelligent than the ant. Also, miniaturizing atoms is impossible according to the rules of quantum mechanics.

Depending on how those atoms were supposed to have been miniaturized, the man might or might not also weigh as much as he originally had; an observation that has been used to various effect over the years that Henry Pym has been featuring in comic books.

The problems of the miniaturized human do not stop there, however. Basic geometry governs such things as the relationship between cross-section, volume, and surface area. The miniature human being may be able to leap several times his own height, but he will also be shivering like a toy dog or a hairless cat outside in the middle of the night; and for much the same reason. It may be impossible for a one-inch high human to kill themselves in a fall of any conceivable height,^[2] but they may be able to drown themselves with a single drop of water.

Appearances in popular culture

Films and television

• The eponymous Doctor Cyclops in the 1940 horror film of that name shrank his victims by locking them inside an "Atomic Generator."
• In the 1958 movie Attack of the Puppet People, a scientist captures people and shrinks them to 6 inches in height with an ultrasonic wave device, so he can keep them as company. (He keeps them sealed inside special suspended animation canisters between "puppet shows".)
• The 1966 science-fiction film Fantastic Voyage (written by Harry Kleiner, novelization by Isaac Asimov) is plotted around such a device, allowing the miniaturized submarine Proteus to carry a crew inside a stricken scientist in an attempt to save his life. they have 1 hour to cure him before they re-expand to human size again
• In the episode "The Big Break-In" of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated TV series, Krang uses a remote-controlled minimizer device with a shrink ray to shrink down US Army bases, preventing them from attacking the Technodrome.^[3] In the episode "Funny, They Shrunk Michelangelo" of the same TV series captain Talbot Breech uses a miniaturizing ray to shrink US naval ships and put them into bottles as revenge on those who turned him down for the US Naval Academy.^[4] The same show also features the episode "Poor Little Rich Turtle" features Shredder using a shrink ray on the girl Buffy Shellhammer, who despite her young age runs a company, to force her telling a super rockt fuel formula her grandfather told her before he died.^[5]
• In The Penguins of Madagascar episode "Jiggles", Kowalski uses his shrink ray to shrink Jiggles to normal size.
• In an episode "Getting Antsy" of the 1991 Darkwing Duck cartoon, a villain Lilliput uses the ray to shrink buildings and landmarks of the fictional city St. Canard. He then employs ants to haul the shrunken buildings to a miniature golf, where they become part of the course. Eventually, Lilliput also shrinks the hero Darkwing Duck to an even tinier size.
• In an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door, titled Operation: M.I.N.I.G.O.L.F., after Numbuh 2 bests champion golfer, Rupert Putkin, in a game of mini-golf, Rupert seeks revenge. He builds a shrink ray to shrink down the world's greatest monuments and uses them in his own miniature-golf course. Afterwards, he shrinks Numbuh 2 and forces him to play a rematch in his smaller height. Later, Rupert plans to use Numbuh 2 as the golfball as he hits him into a hole that will activate his shrink ray to shrink the world. His plan fails when he misses and Numbuh 2 hits the reverse setting on the shrink ray, which zaps Rupert and makes him grow bigger, causing him to step on and crush his golf course. The shrink ray is destroyed subsequently, but Numbuh 2 remains tiny. He runs back to his friends in the treehouse, and they use him for ping-pong.
• In another episode of Kids Next Door, titled Operation: S.P.R.O.U.T., when Numbuh 4 swallows a brussel sprout, supposedly to make him an adult faster, his friends at Sector V take action. Numbuhs 1, 2, and 5 use a shrink ray to shrink down to the size of a booger. Afterwards, Numbuh 3 places them inside of Numbuh 4's nose, and they make their way to the stomach to recover the brussel sprout, before the shrink effect wears off. They are able to retrieve the massive sprout and make it out of Numbuh 4's body just before they re-expand to normal size. In the aftermath, Numbuh 4 returns home and accidentally eats liver, implying that they have to go on the same mission again.
• In the TV series, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, one of Jimmy's most-used inventions is his shrink ray, first introduced in his movie in which he shrank himself in order to sneak out of his house.
• In the 1996 Tim Burton's movie, Mars Attacks, the Martian Leader uses a shrinking ray to shrink and crush the President of the United States' main general, General Decker.
• In "In the Belly of the Boss", the third segment of The Simpsons Halloween special episode "Treehouse of Horror XV", the Simpson family is shrunk by Professor Frink.
• A shrink ray invented by Professor Wayne Szalinski is featured in both the movie and TV Disney series Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show.
• In a 1995 episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers called "No Small Problem", Dr. Blight invents a shrinking ray which Sly Sludge uses to shrink rubbish.
• In an episode of Home Improvement, Tim and Al shrink themselves using shrink rays to work deep inside of the engine.
• In Doctor Who, the Master uses a Tissue Compression Eliminator to shrink and kill people.
• In the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Unremarkable Voyage", Frylock builds a shrink ray (that can also enlarge items as well). Master Shake quickly gains control of the machine and proceeds to abuse its power for his own welfare. The shrink ray turns out to be faulty, however, as shrunken items return to normal size after a period of time.
• A Shrink Ray is a recurring device shown in Venture Brothers, although it never seems to actually work properly.
• In Despicable Me, Gru used the Shrink Ray to shrink the Moon and pocket it although the Shrink Ray has a consequence, the effects are only temporary and the bigger the mass of an object, the quicker the effect wears off, called the "Nefario Principle" causing Vector's Escape Pod to carry it to satellite orbit with Vector caught in it in space.
• In Innerspace, a naval aviator is selected as a guinea pig to participate in a project which places him in a submersible pod to be shrunk to microscopic size and injected into the body of a rabbit.
• In Gravity Falls, Dipper Pines was insulted by his twin Mabel Pines so he finds a crystal that he attaches to a flash light. One side enlarges things and the other shrinks things. It falls into Gideon's hands until the twins stop Gideon from shrinking Grunkle Stan and taking the Mystery Shack.
• In Dragon Ball Z they have capsules that can shrink entire houses down to pocket size.
• In Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its sequels, Honey I Blew Up the Kid and Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, the shrink ray was the primary invention used in the trilogy. Not only could it shrink people or other objects, but it could also reverse the effect to bring them back to normal size.
• In the episode "The Sound of Fear" from the Monsters vs. Aliens TV series, Dr. Crockroach uses a shrink gun to shrink Susan. After a few minutes, she will be back to normal.

In an episode of Phineas and Ferb Dr. Doofinshmirtz shrinks himself but misses his hand. Phineas and Ferb have also shrunk themselves twice.

In Barbie Life in the Dream House episode: "The Shrink-e-nator", Ken builds a shrink ray and then, he accidentally, shrinks Barbie and Racquelle.

In a WordGirl episode shrinking the ray Dr. Too-Brains uses a shrink ray to shrink cheese and shrunk Scoops and WordGirl

in The Electric Company episode shrink shrank shrunk many uses a shrinkinator to shrink the water bottle and the car but shrinks jessica and marcus and also shrank himself. In the end they return to normal Size

Radio

• The "Pertwee System of Infinite Acceleration" in the Dimension X episode The Professor Was A Thief was a shrink ray (Nov 5, 1950).

Literature

• Cold War in a Country Garden (Lindsay Gutteridge, Pocket 1973) concerns the adventures of miniaturized spies.
• The Atom, Ant-Man, The Wasp, and Doll Man are but a few of the comic book characters who had as a primary power the ability to shrink (usually by technological means).

Video games

• Duke Nukem 3D and Duke Nukem Forever have a shrink gun capable of shrinking an enemy, which allows the player character Duke Nukem to step on the shrunken foe, instantly killing it. A similar weapon appears in Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project.
• Engineers in World of Warcraft are capable of crafting a Gnomish Shrink Ray.
• The Eiffel Tower is reduced in size, then stolen, in the game Evil Genius.
• In the Men in Black game Crashdown, Agent Jay uses a shrink ray to shrink himself so he may fight a group of alien insects.
• Pandemonium! features a shrink ray power-up.
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops Zombie mode includes weapon called 31-79JGb215, which reduces zombies size for short time so they can be instantly killed no matter of weapon, or even by running towards them. Although this weapon is only seen in map Shangri-La.
• The game Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters features a shrink ray item, which Ratchet uses to enter keyholes and unlock them.

Other

The term "grocery shrink ray" has been used to describe a manufacturer decreasing the amount of product in a package while keeping the package price the same, as a scheme to implement a hidden price increase.

See also

• Leyden ball
• Raygun

References