• Question: will lightsabers ever exist

    Asked by Bumblebee to Angeline, Catherine, Luke, Philip, Shona on 17 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Shona Whittam

      Shona Whittam answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      Unfortunately not. The Institute of Physics explain why in this article http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=59
      Basically there are 5 things stopping one of the coolest weapons becoming a reality:
      1. A laser beam doesn’t stop at a convenient sword-length distance-. it keeps going unless you have something to absorb or reflect the beam.
      2. all the kit needed for the laser would make it massive.
      3. It would need a lot of power so you’d be plugged into the wall.
      4. A simple mirror would rendor your weapon useless as your enemy could reflect the beam back at you.
      5. The laser wouldn’t be very visible and wouldn’t make a noise so you are just swinging an invisible sword (loser).

    • Photo: Angeline Burrell

      Angeline Burrell answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      A pair of fellow students tried to make this happen during undergrad. It’s too bad they didn’t have that article 😛

    • Photo: Philip Moriarty

      Philip Moriarty answered on 18 Mar 2015:

      As Shona says, a light saber isn’t possible. *sobs quietly in the corner*

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