The hurdles of building a lightsaber...

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
I consider Star Wars to belong to the fantasy genre, rather than science fiction. However, this article takes an interesting look at the technical problems faced with designing and building a real lightsaber:

"... in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace," Qui-Gon Jinn sticks his lightsaber in a heavy blast door, first making a long cut and then simply melting it. If you watch the sequence, assume the door is steel, and time how long it takes to heat up the door and melt the metal, you can calculate the energy the saber must have. It turns out to be about 20 megawatts (MW). Given an average household power consumption of about 1.4 kilowatts (kW) at all times, the power draw of a lightsaber could run 14,000 average American houses until the battery ran out."

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/could-we-build-actual-lightsaber

Don Lincoln is a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Then there is the problem of confining an energy field in the shape of a long blade.
See also, Harry Potter, for an invisibility hat wherein the field of effect is extended and shaped outside the body of the device.:D
I think it's in book 4 or 5, but not in the movies.:(
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
Then there is the problem of confining an energy field in the shape of a long blade.
See also, Harry Potter, for an invisibility hat wherein the field of effect is extended and shaped outside the body of the device.:D
I think it's in book 4 or 5, but not in the movies.:(
No offense.... but I hate Harry Potter... :p
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I haven't read the books
You might try that with book 1. The movies give a sense of spookiness with the music and effects, and show the scary small size of an 11 year old boy in a huge stone castle, but the books are more detailed. The characters are developed better and sub-plots that never got on film are in there.

And I hate menudo.:p

But, the point of my post is that you will probably need magic to create a real light saber.
 
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Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
Uh-Oh, there are a thousand things you could have said instead of that - that actually could have been an insult!
come to think of it... I wonder... did he mean the sawdust-tasting dish, or the awful puerto-rican band where Ricky Martin got his career started?
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
come to think of it... I wonder... did he mean the sawdust-tasting dish, or the awful puerto-rican band where Ricky Martin got his career started?

I was assuming it was the band and, hence, my comments about 1000 better ways to actually insult you - rather than agree with you.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I haven't started work today, so let me help you with a menudo recipe.

1 southern cow hole with 3 feet of intestines attached, (cow, steer, bull, donkey...doesn't matter),
2 ounces of cayenne pepper,
4 cups of whatever vegetables you have, like cactus...remove thorns.

Chop it all up, add water to cover, simmer until you are so hungry your stomach overrules your nose.
Dress up really fancy, almost Toreador style.
Serve soup as if it is nectar from the Gods, sent just for you, by your sainted mother (may she rest in peace).
Better yet, have a parade. You might then pretend it isn't the soup which smells like that, it's the horse droppings from the parade.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
I haven't started work today, so let me help you with a menudo recipe.

1 southern cow hole with 3 feet of intestines attached, (cow, steer, bull, donkey...doesn't matter),
2 ounces of cayenne pepper,
4 cups of whatever vegetables you have, like cactus...remove thorns.

Chop it all up, add water to cover, simmer until you are so hungry your stomach overrules your nose.
Dress up really fancy, almost Toreador style.
Serve soup as if it is nectar from the Gods, sent just for you, by your sainted mother (may she rest in peace).
Better yet, have a parade. You might then pretend it isn't the soup which smells like that, it's the horse droppings from the parade.
And then you can keep it warm by dipping a lightsaber in it every once in awhile...
 
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