Scientific thoughts on Handwavium--what is established?

[Proginoskes]

You know how it can be experimentally proven that light is a wave, and it can just as easily be proven that it is a particle? I think it's been established that depending on the experimental set-up, Handwavium can act like an ionic compound, a pure substance, a suspension of nanomachines, or a colony of microbial life. Particular strains might exhibit particular habits. Jess Ayanami's Quick-Clone strain, for example, would tend to present as nanoassemblers suspended in nutrient material; a strain intended to produce low-quirk biomods might act like a virus, so as to spread non-quirkily through the subject's entire system; a strain intended for mechanical parts to eliminate the need for lubrication might look and act like lube.