Dilithium

Dilithium is a fictional crystalline mineral from the universe of Star Trek. It has the property of disrupting any ongoing nuclear reaction. In the Star Trek universe, a beam of matter and antimatter colliding in dilithium generates a plasma that is used to power the warp drives that allows starships to travel faster than light. This function of dilithium was officially established with the Star Trek: The Next Generation series, and in earlier works its properties were not clearly defined.

In the original series, dilithium crystals occurred only naturally, making the search for them a major plot element for a number of stories. To avoid this type of plot, the backstory of The Next Generation has dilithium synthesized artificially.

Another version of this mineral is called trilithium. A small piece of it could black out an entire star in the motion picture Star Trek: Generations. Trilithium has been mentioned in other episodes with various other properties attributed to it.

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There is a rock formation in Owen's River Gorge, California called The Dilithium Crystal.