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The '''flux capacitor''' was the core component of Doctor [[Emmett Brown]]'s [[time travel]]ing [[DeLorean time machine]] and the following [[Jules Verne Train]]. Brown stated that the flux capacitor "is what makes [[time travel]] possible."
 
The '''flux capacitor''' was the core component of Doctor [[Emmett Brown]]'s [[time travel]]ing [[DeLorean time machine]] and the following [[Jules Verne Train]]. Brown stated that the flux capacitor "is what makes [[time travel]] possible."
   
==How it "worked"==
+
==How it worked==
 
{{Dialogue|Doc|It works! Ha ha, IT WORKS! I FINALLY invent something that works!|Marty|You bet your ass it works|The conversation between Doc Brown and Marty McFly after the latter shows him the completed flux capacitor in the DeLorean time machine}}
 
{{Dialogue|Doc|It works! Ha ha, IT WORKS! I FINALLY invent something that works!|Marty|You bet your ass it works|The conversation between Doc Brown and Marty McFly after the latter shows him the completed flux capacitor in the DeLorean time machine}}
[[File:BTTF-game-SS-09.jpg|thumb|The flux capacitor depicted in the BTTF game.]]
 
It is not made clear exactly how the flux capacitor worked. It consisted of a box with three small, flashing [[wikipedia:incandescent lamp|incandescent lamps]] arranged as a "Y", located above and behind the passenger's seat of the time machine. As the car neared 88 miles per hour, the light of the flux capacitor pulsed faster until it had a steady stream of light, which one was not supposed to look at as indicated by the [[Dymo]] warning label placed across the glass panel. The stainless steel body of the DeLorean also had a beneficial effect on the "flux dispersal" as the capacitor activated, although Doc was interrupted before he could finish explaining it fully. Accessing the flux capacitor safely required disconnection of the capacitor drive, as the Dymo warning label at the top of the unit pointed out.
 
   
 
[[File:Flux-Schematic.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Doc shows Marty what he drew after having a vision]]
 
[[File:Flux-Schematic.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Doc shows Marty what he drew after having a vision]]
On [[November 5]], 1955, Emmett Brown came up with the idea of the flux capacitor after slipping and bumping his head while standing on his toilet to hang a [[clock]]. The idea came to him in a vision he had after being knocked out. He drew an inverted Y-shape with wires and stated "flux compression". He also performed some mild calculations on the paper.
+
On [[November 5]], [[1955]], Emmett Brown came up with the idea of the flux capacitor after slipping and bumping his head while standing on his toilet to hang a [[clock]]. The idea came to him in a vision he had after being knocked out. He drew an inverted Y-shape with wires and stated "flux compression". He also performed some mild calculations on the paper.
   
  +
{{noncanonstart}} 
In order to travel through time, the vehicle integrated with the flux capacitor needed to be traveling at 88 mph (140.8 [[wikipedia:kilometers per hour|km/h]]), and required 1.21 [[wikipedia:gigawatt|gigawatts]] of power (1,210,000,000 [[wikipedia:watt|watts]]), originally supplied by a [[plutonium]]-powered nuclear reactor. However, for the time machine's return trip (from 1955 back to 1985), plutonium was not available, so a lightning rod was connected directly into the flux capacitor and was used while the vehicle sustained 88 mph. Plutonium was used once again for a trip forward in time at least 30 years, and at some point thereafter the plutonium reactor was replaced by a "[[Mr. Fusion]]" home energy generator from the future that was fueled by extracting hydrogen atoms from garbage.
 
  +
Since coming up with the idea, Doc spent many years and most of his family fortune trying to get it to work.  By [[1962]], he had invented the [[temporal field capacitor]]. It was a prototype time machine that was able to send objects through time, but only during the lifespan of the device. It could only send objects forward through time, as sending objects even a few minutes into the past would cause a buildup of [[flux energy]]. If an object was sent any further back than that, the arrival of the object would overheat the capacitor and start an electrical fire. The problem with the build-up of flux energy was solved by the flux capacitor, allowing time travel to the future, as well as the past.
  +
{{noncanonend}}
  +
 
[[File:BTTF-game-SS-09.jpg|thumb|The flux capacitor depicted in the BTTF game.]]The flux capacitor consisted of a box with three small, flashing [[wikipedia:incandescent lamp|incandescent lamps]] arranged as a "Y", located above and behind the passenger's seat of the time machine. As the car neared 88 miles per hour, the light of the flux capacitor pulsed faster until it had a steady stream of light, which one was not supposed to look at as indicated by the [[Dymo]] warning label placed across the glass panel. The stainless steel body of the DeLorean also had a beneficial effect on the "flux dispersal" as the capacitor activated, although Doc was interrupted before he could finish explaining it fully. Accessing the flux capacitor safely required disconnection of the [[capacitor drive]], as the Dymo warning label at the top of the unit pointed out.
  +
 
In order to travel through time, the vehicle integrated with the flux capacitor needed to be traveling at 88 mph (140.8 [[wikipedia:kilometers per hour|km/h]]), and required 1.21 [[wikipedia:gigawatt|gigawatts]] of power (1,210,000,000 [[wikipedia:watt|watts]]), originally supplied by a [[plutonium]]-powered nuclear reactor. However, for the time machine's return trip (from 1955 back to [[1985]]), plutonium was not available, so a [[lightning rod]] was connected directly into the flux capacitor and was used while the vehicle sustained 88 mph. Plutonium was used once again for a trip forward in time [[2015|at least 30 years]], and at some point thereafter the plutonium reactor was replaced by a "[[Mr. Fusion]]" home energy generator from the future that was fueled by extracting hydrogen atoms from garbage.
   
 
[[Image:Libyanchase10.jpg|250px|thumb|The flux capacitor can be seen lit up behind Marty just before temporal displacement.]]
 
[[Image:Libyanchase10.jpg|250px|thumb|The flux capacitor can be seen lit up behind Marty just before temporal displacement.]]
The DeLorean once again came back to 1985 and proceeded to travel to 2015, where it was stolen and taken back to 1955 and returned back to 2015 without the Doc's knowledge. When they returned in 1985, they found it was a different present, so they traveled back to 1955 to fix the time-space continuum. The DeLorean was again struck by lightning in the year 1955, this time by accident. The lightning created an overload and caused a malfunction in the [[time circuits]]. Earlier, the 1885 date was already displayed before the lightning hit, after the LED read-outs flashed. <ref>This is a reference to earlier in the film when Doc exclaims that he needs to fix them (they also flash a random date before he hits it and they are corrected), contrary to popular belief the 1885 date was not caused by the lightning hitting the DeLorean.</ref>
+
The DeLorean once again came back to 1985 and proceeded to travel to 2015, where it was stolen and taken back to 1955 and returned back to 2015 without the Doc's knowledge. When they returned in 1985, they found it was a different present, so they traveled back to 1955 to fix the [[space-time continuum]]. The DeLorean was again struck by [[lightning]] in the year 1955, this time by accident. The lightning created an overload and caused a malfunction in the [[time circuits]] sending the vehicle back to [[January 1]], [[1885]]. Earlier, the 1885 date was already displayed before the lightning hit, after the LED read-outs flashed. <ref>This is a reference to earlier in the film when Doc exclaims that he needs to fix them (they also flash a random date before he hits it and they are corrected), contrary to popular belief the 1885 date was not caused by the lightning hitting the DeLorean.</ref>
   
It was then hidden in the Delgado mine for 70 years because suitable replacement parts were not invented until [[1947]]. <ref>This is presumably a reference to the invention of the [[transistor]].</ref>. It was recovered from the mine in 1955 and repaired by Doc Brown's 1955 counterpart, thus restoring it to working order. Since both gasoline and garbage were available, the next trip back to 1885 was performed under the car's own power.
+
It was then hidden in the [[Delgado Mine]] for 70 years because suitable replacement parts were not invented until [[1947]]. <ref>This is presumably a reference to the invention of the [[transistor]].</ref>. It was recovered from the mine in 1955 and repaired by Doc Brown's 1955 counterpart, thus restoring it to working order. Since both [[gasoline]] and garbage were available, the next trip back to 1885 was performed under the car's own power.
   
Due to a broken fuel line, the De Lorean's final trip from 1885 to 1985 was partially powered by a steam locomotive pushing the vehicle up to 88 mph while using Mr. Fusion to generate the 1.21 gigawatts required to activate the flux capacitor and break the [[time barrier]]. Doc returns to 1985 in a [[Jules Verne Train|time machine made from a locomotive]]. This used a flux capacitor that Doc was able to power using steam (at least with the propulsion requirement for time travel), located on the front of the train, in place of the lamp.
+
Due to a broken fuel line, the DeLorean's final trip from 1885 to 1985 was partially powered by a [[Locomotive 131|steam locomotive]] pushing the vehicle up to 88 mph while using Mr. Fusion to generate the 1.21 gigawatts required to activate the flux capacitor and break the [[time barrier]]. Doc returns to 1985 in a [[Jules Verne Train|time machine made from a locomotive]]. This used a flux capacitor that Doc was able to power using steam (at least with the propulsion requirement for time travel), located on the front of the train, in place of the lamp.
   
 
==Behind the scenes==
 
==Behind the scenes==
 
[[Image:Flux1.jpg|thumb|A fan-created flux capacitor]]
 
[[Image:Flux1.jpg|thumb|A fan-created flux capacitor]]
 
==="[[Jigowatt]]"===
 
==="[[Jigowatt]]"===
In the movie, the power required is pronounced "one point twenty-one jigowatts". Although this pronunciation of "[[jigowatt|gigawatt]]" was once considered the correct one, it is no longer the most common. (In addition, since [[Robert Zemeckis]] and [[Bob Gale]] were unfamiliar with the term, they misspelled it in the script.) Because of this, a "jigowatt" will sometimes be referred to on Internet forums as a fictional unit or to make fun of someone's electrical knowledge. The spelling "jigowatt" is used in the novelizations of the second and third films. However, the book of the original film uses the correct spelling "gigawatt".
+
In the movie, the power required is pronounced "one point twenty-one jigowatts". Although this pronunciation of "[[jigowatt|gigawatt]]" was once considered the correct one, it is no longer the most common. (In addition, since [[Robert Zemeckis]] and [[Bob Gale]] were unfamiliar with the term, they misspelled it in the script.) Because of this, a "jigowatt" will sometimes be referred to on [[internet]] forums as a fictional unit or to make fun of someone's electrical knowledge. The spelling "jigowatt" is used in the novelizations of the second and third films. However, the novelization of the original film uses the correct spelling "gigawatt".
   
 
===Electronics===
 
===Electronics===
  +
[[File:Back to the Future - The Flux Capacitor|thumb|300px|The Flux Capacitor]]
 
The phrase "flux capacitor" has appeared in more serious contexts. {{US patent|6,084,285}} describes a "lateral flux capacitor having fractal-shaped perimeters", the idea being to make a capacitor in an [[wikipedia:integrated circuit|integrated circuit]], some of whose capacitance exists between two conductors on a single layer (hence, "lateral"). The device is not a lateral flux-capacitor but a lateral-flux capacitor.
 
The phrase "flux capacitor" has appeared in more serious contexts. {{US patent|6,084,285}} describes a "lateral flux capacitor having fractal-shaped perimeters", the idea being to make a capacitor in an [[wikipedia:integrated circuit|integrated circuit]], some of whose capacitance exists between two conductors on a single layer (hence, "lateral"). The device is not a lateral flux-capacitor but a lateral-flux capacitor.
   
 
[[wikipedia:flux|Flux]] is commonly used in electronics and electromagnetic theory and application, but rarely in the context of a ''[[wikipedia:capacitor|capacitor]].'' In general terms, flux simply means the rate at which some quantity (such as [[wikipedia:electric charge|electric charge]]) passes through a surface (e.g. ''charge flux''). It is speculated that the movie terminology is used fictitiously to represent a new and unknown type of flux.
 
[[wikipedia:flux|Flux]] is commonly used in electronics and electromagnetic theory and application, but rarely in the context of a ''[[wikipedia:capacitor|capacitor]].'' In general terms, flux simply means the rate at which some quantity (such as [[wikipedia:electric charge|electric charge]]) passes through a surface (e.g. ''charge flux''). It is speculated that the movie terminology is used fictitiously to represent a new and unknown type of flux.
  +
===Fluxus===
  +
  +
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus Fluxus] art community commonly used "Flux" to designate various items and products it was associated with. Such items included the flux box, the FluxKit, the FluxFarm, the FluxShop, and a Fluxatlas. There was even a Flux Mass, a parody of the Catholic mass. The art community adopted the term "Fluxus", meaning "flow" or "fluid", implying "change", because it wanted to distinguish itself from earlier forms of Dadaism, and because it was new at the time.
   
 
===Trivia===
 
===Trivia===
[[File:4100.full.jpg|right|thumb|"Flux Capacitor Blueprints" As seen in "Jack and the Beanstalk"]]
+
[[File:Jack and the Beanstalk 1.jpg|right|thumb|"Flux Capacitor Blueprints" As seen in "Jack and the Beanstalk"]]
[[File:4101.full.jpg|thumb|"1.21 Jiggawats" in "Jack in the Beanstalk"]]
+
[[File:Jack and the Beanstalk 2.jpg|thumb|"1.21 gigawatts" in "Jack in the Beanstalk"]]
 
*The Spanish dubbing of the film mistranslated ''flux'' as the nonexistent ''fluzo'' instead of ''flujo'', adding to the exoticity of a ''condensador de fluzo''.
 
*The Spanish dubbing of the film mistranslated ''flux'' as the nonexistent ''fluzo'' instead of ''flujo'', adding to the exoticity of a ''condensador de fluzo''.
 
*The Italian dubbing of the film mistranslated the name as "''flusso canalizzatore''", which roughly means "''channeling flux''"; however, when Marty reads the letter from Doc in the third movie, it talks about the broken "''condensatore di flusso''", which is an exact translation of "flux capacitor", but at this point appears to be totally unrelated to the rest of the movies (at least for only-Italian-speaking people).
 
*The Italian dubbing of the film mistranslated the name as "''flusso canalizzatore''", which roughly means "''channeling flux''"; however, when Marty reads the letter from Doc in the third movie, it talks about the broken "''condensatore di flusso''", which is an exact translation of "flux capacitor", but at this point appears to be totally unrelated to the rest of the movies (at least for only-Italian-speaking people).
*In the German-dubbed version, the device was once again mistranslated and called the ''"fluxkompensator"'' ("flux compensator"). The correct German translation for the word ''capacitor'', however, would be ''"Ko''nd''e'''nsator"''.
+
*In the German-dubbed version, the device was once again mistranslated and called the ''"fluxkompensator"'' ("flux compensator"). The correct German translation for the word ''capacitor'', however, would be ''"Ko''nd''e'''nsator"'''''<nowiki/>'''.'''
 
*In the French version, the DeLorean needs 2.21 gigawatts instead of 1.21.
 
*In the French version, the DeLorean needs 2.21 gigawatts instead of 1.21.
 
*The original flux capacitor props used high pressure gas relays as the active components which while operating created the steady pulsing which is seen when the time circuits are turned on.
 
*The original flux capacitor props used high pressure gas relays as the active components which while operating created the steady pulsing which is seen when the time circuits are turned on.
*In the [[Back to the Future fourth draft screenplay|fourth draft]] of [[Back to the Future]], the flux capacitor was called the temporal field capacitor.
+
*In the [[Back to the Future fourth draft screenplay|fourth draft]] of [[Back to the Future]], the flux capacitor was called the temporal field capacitor. [[Bob Gale]] later used the name as the prototype of the flux capacitor in the [[Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines|comic story]] he co-wrote entitled ''[[The Doc Who Never Was]]''.
   
 
''For references to the flux capacitor in popular culture, see '''[[List of references to Back to the Future]]'''''
 
''For references to the flux capacitor in popular culture, see '''[[List of references to Back to the Future]]'''''
Line 48: Line 56:
 
*''[[Back to the Future Part II]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future Part II]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future Part III]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future Part III]]''
  +
*''[[Back to the Future Part II & III]]'' {{C|Password for skipping to Part III is, Flux Capacitor is the Power.}}
  +
*''[[Back to the Future: The Ride]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future: The Animated Series]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future: The Animated Series]]''
  +
*''[[Star Trek]]'' {{Nc}}{{Mo}}
  +
*''[[Family Guy]]'' {{Nc}}{{Mo}}
  +
*''[[The Simpsons]] [[wikipedia:The Simpsons Ride|Ride]]'' {{Nc}}
  +
*''[[Back to the Future: The Card Game]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future: The Game]]''
 
*''[[Back to the Future: The Game]]''
 
*''[[wikipedia:Jack and the Beanstalk (2010 film)|Jack and the Beanstalk]]'' {{Nc}}
 
*''[[wikipedia:Jack and the Beanstalk (2010 film)|Jack and the Beanstalk]]'' {{Nc}}
  +
*''[[LEGO Dimensions]]''
  +
*''[[Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines 2]]''
  +
**''[[The Doc Who Never Was]]''
   
 
==Notes and references==
 
==Notes and references==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Reflist}}
 
   
 
[[es:Condensador de Fluzo]]
 
[[es:Condensador de Fluzo]]

Revision as of 12:11, 29 December 2015

Flux-Capacitor

The flux capacitor in the DeLorean.

"This is what makes time travel possible."
—Doc Brown

The flux capacitor was the core component of Doctor Emmett Brown's time traveling DeLorean time machine and the following Jules Verne Train. Brown stated that the flux capacitor "is what makes time travel possible."

How it worked

Doc: "It works! Ha ha, IT WORKS! I FINALLY invent something that works!"
Marty: "You bet your ass it works"
— The conversation between Doc Brown and Marty McFly after the latter shows him the completed flux capacitor in the DeLorean time machine
Flux-Schematic

Doc shows Marty what he drew after having a vision

On November 5, 1955, Emmett Brown came up with the idea of the flux capacitor after slipping and bumping his head while standing on his toilet to hang a clock. The idea came to him in a vision he had after being knocked out. He drew an inverted Y-shape with wires and stated "flux compression". He also performed some mild calculations on the paper.

 

Since coming up with the idea, Doc spent many years and most of his family fortune trying to get it to work.  By 1962, he had invented the temporal field capacitor. It was a prototype time machine that was able to send objects through time, but only during the lifespan of the device. It could only send objects forward through time, as sending objects even a few minutes into the past would cause a buildup of flux energy. If an object was sent any further back than that, the arrival of the object would overheat the capacitor and start an electrical fire. The problem with the build-up of flux energy was solved by the flux capacitor, allowing time travel to the future, as well as the past.

BTTF-game-SS-09

The flux capacitor depicted in the BTTF game.

The flux capacitor consisted of a box with three small, flashing incandescent lamps arranged as a "Y", located above and behind the passenger's seat of the time machine. As the car neared 88 miles per hour, the light of the flux capacitor pulsed faster until it had a steady stream of light, which one was not supposed to look at as indicated by the Dymo warning label placed across the glass panel. The stainless steel body of the DeLorean also had a beneficial effect on the "flux dispersal" as the capacitor activated, although Doc was interrupted before he could finish explaining it fully. Accessing the flux capacitor safely required disconnection of the capacitor drive, as the Dymo warning label at the top of the unit pointed out.

In order to travel through time, the vehicle integrated with the flux capacitor needed to be traveling at 88 mph (140.8 km/h), and required 1.21 gigawatts of power (1,210,000,000 watts), originally supplied by a plutonium-powered nuclear reactor. However, for the time machine's return trip (from 1955 back to 1985), plutonium was not available, so a lightning rod was connected directly into the flux capacitor and was used while the vehicle sustained 88 mph. Plutonium was used once again for a trip forward in time at least 30 years, and at some point thereafter the plutonium reactor was replaced by a "Mr. Fusion" home energy generator from the future that was fueled by extracting hydrogen atoms from garbage.

Libyanchase10

The flux capacitor can be seen lit up behind Marty just before temporal displacement.

The DeLorean once again came back to 1985 and proceeded to travel to 2015, where it was stolen and taken back to 1955 and returned back to 2015 without the Doc's knowledge. When they returned in 1985, they found it was a different present, so they traveled back to 1955 to fix the space-time continuum. The DeLorean was again struck by lightning in the year 1955, this time by accident. The lightning created an overload and caused a malfunction in the time circuits sending the vehicle back to January 1, 1885. Earlier, the 1885 date was already displayed before the lightning hit, after the LED read-outs flashed. [1]

It was then hidden in the Delgado Mine for 70 years because suitable replacement parts were not invented until 1947. [2]. It was recovered from the mine in 1955 and repaired by Doc Brown's 1955 counterpart, thus restoring it to working order. Since both gasoline and garbage were available, the next trip back to 1885 was performed under the car's own power.

Due to a broken fuel line, the DeLorean's final trip from 1885 to 1985 was partially powered by a steam locomotive pushing the vehicle up to 88 mph while using Mr. Fusion to generate the 1.21 gigawatts required to activate the flux capacitor and break the time barrier. Doc returns to 1985 in a time machine made from a locomotive. This used a flux capacitor that Doc was able to power using steam (at least with the propulsion requirement for time travel), located on the front of the train, in place of the lamp.

Behind the scenes

Flux1

A fan-created flux capacitor

"Jigowatt"

In the movie, the power required is pronounced "one point twenty-one jigowatts". Although this pronunciation of "gigawatt" was once considered the correct one, it is no longer the most common. (In addition, since Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale were unfamiliar with the term, they misspelled it in the script.) Because of this, a "jigowatt" will sometimes be referred to on internet forums as a fictional unit or to make fun of someone's electrical knowledge. The spelling "jigowatt" is used in the novelizations of the second and third films. However, the novelization of the original film uses the correct spelling "gigawatt".

Electronics

File:Back to the Future - The Flux Capacitor

The Flux Capacitor

The phrase "flux capacitor" has appeared in more serious contexts. U.S. Patent 6,084,285  describes a "lateral flux capacitor having fractal-shaped perimeters", the idea being to make a capacitor in an integrated circuit, some of whose capacitance exists between two conductors on a single layer (hence, "lateral"). The device is not a lateral flux-capacitor but a lateral-flux capacitor.

Flux is commonly used in electronics and electromagnetic theory and application, but rarely in the context of a capacitor. In general terms, flux simply means the rate at which some quantity (such as electric charge) passes through a surface (e.g. charge flux). It is speculated that the movie terminology is used fictitiously to represent a new and unknown type of flux.

Fluxus

The Fluxus art community commonly used "Flux" to designate various items and products it was associated with. Such items included the flux box, the FluxKit, the FluxFarm, the FluxShop, and a Fluxatlas. There was even a Flux Mass, a parody of the Catholic mass. The art community adopted the term "Fluxus", meaning "flow" or "fluid", implying "change", because it wanted to distinguish itself from earlier forms of Dadaism, and because it was new at the time.

Trivia

Jack and the Beanstalk 1

"Flux Capacitor Blueprints" As seen in "Jack and the Beanstalk"

Jack and the Beanstalk 2

"1.21 gigawatts" in "Jack in the Beanstalk"

  • The Spanish dubbing of the film mistranslated flux as the nonexistent fluzo instead of flujo, adding to the exoticity of a condensador de fluzo.
  • The Italian dubbing of the film mistranslated the name as "flusso canalizzatore", which roughly means "channeling flux"; however, when Marty reads the letter from Doc in the third movie, it talks about the broken "condensatore di flusso", which is an exact translation of "flux capacitor", but at this point appears to be totally unrelated to the rest of the movies (at least for only-Italian-speaking people).
  • In the German-dubbed version, the device was once again mistranslated and called the "fluxkompensator" ("flux compensator"). The correct German translation for the word capacitor, however, would be "Kondensator".
  • In the French version, the DeLorean needs 2.21 gigawatts instead of 1.21.
  • The original flux capacitor props used high pressure gas relays as the active components which while operating created the steady pulsing which is seen when the time circuits are turned on.
  • In the fourth draft of Back to the Future, the flux capacitor was called the temporal field capacitor. Bob Gale later used the name as the prototype of the flux capacitor in the comic story he co-wrote entitled The Doc Who Never Was.

For references to the flux capacitor in popular culture, see List of references to Back to the Future

Appearances

Flux capacitor

The flux capacitor.

Notes and references

  1. This is a reference to earlier in the film when Doc exclaims that he needs to fix them (they also flash a random date before he hits it and they are corrected), contrary to popular belief the 1885 date was not caused by the lightning hitting the DeLorean.
  2. This is presumably a reference to the invention of the transistor.