Lightsaber - Is it possible?

[nikokapo]

It could have a long stick with a mirror on the other end that would help in visibility a LOR and would stop the beam.....but yeah.... : Or you could have a fat beam and some kind of hot steam spewing out of the end so about 1m of the beam was visible When they made starwars they went way too sci-fi and disregarded physics, and it makes it pretty hard.

nein. niet. lo. no.

no sticks at the end..

JUST THE HILT




hahah and yeah if we disregarded physics we could do anything... like making Santa Claus actually go as fast as he should go to go through every house in the world in only a few hours.. (without dying from overheating (friction)).

 

[Switch]

How about a metal telescopic blade that heats up to the point that air around it turns to plasma? No? :-/

 

[nikokapo]

would it be portable?

 

[Switch]

would it be portable?

No.And it would make the handle heat up so bad that you would be able to roast marshmallows a foot away.And if that isn't bad enough, you wouldn't be able to hold it anyway since the blade would be too hot to sit by.

Hmm....here's another idea: Many combined red beams but focused in such a way that each beam's focal point is a bit higher than the one before it.So you have a blade made out of focal points.... :-/ It wouldn't really terminate the beam but it would diverge too much to cut anything above the tip(of the "blade") It would still be plenty powerful to blind someone, but not as powerful as the actual active "blade". :-/ So now all we need is a lolololololoLOT of diodes all stuffed in the same handle, the means to power and to cool them, and a way to combine multiple beams of the same wavelength. :-/

 

[nikokapo]

hm.....interesting...(who needs batteries anyway?)

would it be possible to combine the beams right at the end of the hilt, adding a convex lens to make a fat beam (visible)? it'd create a Cone shape

like:


[===]:>>>>>·<<<<<<

(imagine the >>> start from a small > to a big > (same with the <'s))



now....how to STOP the complete cone and make it just a "pyramid"?

 

[pseudolobster]

I was watching an episode of PBS's "NOVA" and they were talking about how using a big container full of something (cesium?) cooled to within a thousandth of a degree from absolute zero, they were able to slow light down to a few dozen miles per hour. As far as I know, no one has ever been able to stop light... as far as I know it's physically impossible.

Now, things you could do I guess would be to relfect, or absorb the light... I don't know of any way of doing that without using a physical object on a stick, but you could use a mirror, or something really black to absorb the light... I'm thinking some sort of photocell or even a LPM would be neat, since you could feed back some of the beam's energy back into the batteries... Maybe somehow you could generate a superminiature black hole that would hover 1m from the hilt... perhaps by orbiting another black hole in the hilt... This might cause some problems though, such as inadvertently sucking anything you're trying to hit with the light saber, along with, well, you, everything around you, the whole planet, etc.

 

[nikokapo]

I was watching an episode of PBS's "NOVA" and they were talking about how using a big container full of something (cesium?) cooled to within a thousandth of a degree from absolute zero, they were able to slow light down to a few dozen miles per hour. As far as I know, no one has ever been able to stop light... as far as I know it's physically impossible.

Now, things you could do I guess would be to relfect, or absorb the light... I don't know of any way of doing that without using a physical object on a stick, but you could use a mirror, or something really black to absorb the light... I'm thinking some sort of photocell or even a LPM would be neat, since you could feed back some of the beam's energy back into the batteries... Maybe somehow you could generate a superminiature black hole that would hover 1m from the hilt... perhaps by orbiting another black hole in the hilt... This might cause some problems though, such as inadvertently sucking anything you're trying to hit with the light saber, along with, well, you, everything around you, the whole planet, etc.

the mirror would melt

and a black surface would melt easier

 

[Ace82]

I can't believe I missed this thread! But, I've been occupied with my new baby!

I did some research on this before, and theoretically, it is possible with the absence of air pressure. Technically a florescent neon tube is a start, using gasses and ions. It would need an incredibly abundant power supply. It would include the 4th state of matter (plasma) and would need to be contained in an electromagnetic field. Check the link. http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm

“All in all, we think the unique properties of plasma make it better suited to industry than weaponry - at least for the time being. The biggest limit to plasma research right now is the availability of energy for the plasma generators. If vast new energy sources were to open up, some researchers suggest, then plasma research would probably accelerate to levels we can't imagine. Until then, you'll have to make do with the Force.”

I wonder if we will see a real lightsaber in our life time, and if so, what color would it be?

 

[nikokapo]

i hope i can see one before i become immortal

(i was gonna add a joke here but idk why the bar with smileys & stuff is gone!!)

 

[rkcstr]

The History Channel has a special called "Star Wars Tech", they explored all the technology in Star Wars and if it's possible, how it could be done, etc.  I recorded it on my Tivo, so maybe I'll be nice and upload it somewhere for all to enjoy

Also, I bet you could find it on torrents or maybe youtube

 

[robomont]

So if we take three uv laser pointers mounted in a host slightly tilted to where they merge at three feet.then drill a hole in the center of the host for a low pressure hydrogen gas to expel from.a small tube with a small metal dish would be installed on the hole.this dish the diameter of a pencil would seal the gas from escaping from the handle side of the beam.

The dish would block a small crescent of each beam.this would cause the dish to ionize causing the gas to be blocked by the repulsive static force.
where the dish is is the location the three beams make contact on their sides.this creates a tunnel to where the lasers merge at the three foot point.
this tunnel is mildly pressurised with hydrogen gas from a gas cartridge mounted on the bottom end of the saber handle and has a regulator valve.
the hydrogen is trapped and ionized.this turns into plasma.
when the beam is broken then the plasma is released onto item being attacked.
a pulsed laser may even work better.
it may even look like a flaming sword in the dark.
even when the sword is swung the gas should stay trappedvinside

 

[robomont]

The reason it stays trapped is because the g forces on the gas are reduced because the gas has lost one third its mass by being ionized.

Any ideas guys?

 

[chipdouglas]

If it was that simple it would have been done