Are they made of light, as the name suggests, or are they plasma, which seems more realistic (though the whole notion is far-fetched). And would it be at all possible to make a real one?
-
Either one would do, since you can either use high energy light or accelerate matter to a high enough energy level/temperature to accomplish the task. The engineering problems are 1) how do we generate this extremely high temperature in our saber, and 2) how do we contain it within a saber-like space? Modern tech can do 1. pretty easily, although it takes a hell of a lot of nuclear fission or fusion fuel. Part 2 is the real trick.
I think the best real-world option for a light saber would be something like a superhot plasma of high-energy noble gases (Helium, neon, freon) contained by an as-yet-uninvented magnetic field which would be able to constrain the heated plasma into a cylinder.
From a basic physics standpoint, it's doable. From a resources and money standpoint, we are talking massive amounts of fuel and energy poured into a hand-held weapon. Fine as a toy, but realistically that kind of power would be more efficiently weaponized as a giant death ray.
I think the best real-world option for a light saber would be something like a superhot plasma of high-energy noble gases (Helium, neon, freon) contained by an as-yet-uninvented magnetic field which would be able to constrain the heated plasma into a cylinder.
From a basic physics standpoint, it's doable. From a resources and money standpoint, we are talking massive amounts of fuel and energy poured into a hand-held weapon. Fine as a toy, but realistically that kind of power would be more efficiently weaponized as a giant death ray.
-
Yeah, I believe the sci-fi notion is that the weapon would be a controlled length laser beam. The most obvious problem in actually constructing one would be how to limit the length of the laser beam. One of the many other issues would be how to power a saber within a small self-contained handle. You probably couldn't find too many qualified theoretical physicists that would say it's impossible.
-
Light. An incredibly powerful laser, I would think. But it is certainly not possible with today's technology to make one. You could probably make the laser, but containing it and a power source in that small of a casing is just not possible. Stopping the beam at a certain length would also be a problem.
-
I'm not sure what it is made out of because making one would be impossible. But I would think it's made of light, hence the term "LIGHTsaber". It would be impossible to make because you cannot stop light where ever you what. It's like turning on a flashlight and only seeing it go 3 feet