Ansibles

Ansible is a fictional device enabling instantaneous or near-instantaneous communication across vast interstellar distances, a concept that has become a staple in science fiction. The term was coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in Rocannon's World (1966) and has since appeared in many works, sometimes with different explanations of its mechanism.

In most settings, ansibles bypass the light-speed limit, allowing real-time messaging across galaxies and enabling distant civilizations to coordinate political, military, and trade affairs. Explanations of how an ansible works vary widely, ranging from quantum entanglement or subspace channels to entirely fictional physics.

Cultural impact and variations: It has become a widely used trope that raises questions about information flow, power, and the accessibility of knowledge across vast distances. Authors differ on reliability, latency, and access, leading to a range of social and political implications within fictional universes.

In the real world, the term has been adopted as the name of Ansible, an open-source IT automation tool maintained by Red Hat. It automates configuration, deployment, and orchestration across multiple machines using YAML playbooks and can operate without agents over SSH or WinRM.

See also: faster-than-light communication; Ursula K. Le Guin; Ansible (software).