An Ixian Probe is a fictional device in Frank Herbert's Dune universe used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. Ixian Probes are mentioned in Herbert's Heretics of Dune (1984).
As described in Heretics of Dune, the probe is an interrogation device of Ixian manufacture which "can raid the mind even of a dead person." However, the substance shere blocks the effects of the probe, and will protect a person who has taken it even in death. The probe itself or how it works are not described, but when Miles Teg sees a T-Probe for the first time, he believes it is an Ixian Probe. The T-Probe consists of a hood with a series of electrodes attached to the skull, controlled by an operator; the notable difference is that shere has no effect against a T-Probe.
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Famous quotes containing the word probe:
“The middle years are ones in which children increasingly face conflicts on their own,... One of the truths to be faced by parents during this period is that they cannot do the work of living and relating for their children. They can be sounding boards and they can probe with the children the consequences of alternative actions.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)