User blog comment:Ironreaper/Retcons and Contradictions in the Reapers/@comment-4579012-20120421184209/@comment-1388547-20120422194238

In the same vein as Ironreaper's comment, yes, Mass Effect is generally a fairly "hard" sci-fi universe, where things are explained in scientifically plausible ways (even if it's made-up science in the case of eezo and mass effect fields). Notice that we can see the beams from Reapers' weapons, even when they're in space. This implies that they're *not* lasers -- there's essentially nothing in its path to scatter the light, so a laser in vacuum would be invisible, except to the target. If anything, I regard the description of the Thanix as something of an "authors' saving throw," explaining why we can see the weapon firing.