Rail Guns Closer to Reality

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 8, 2005 @03:45PM from the fastest-gun-in-the-west dept.

emtboy9 writes "Yahoo News is reporting that scientists at Sandia National Labs have created a magnetic pulse gun (rail gun) that can accelerate small aluminum plates at 34 kilometers per second, faster than the Earth travels through space. The accelerated plates strike a target after traveling only five millimeters, or less than a quarter-inch. The impact generates a shock wave -- in some cases, reaching 15 million times atmospheric pressure -- that passes through the target material turning matter into various states almost instantly (solids into liquids, liquids into gas, and even gas into plasma)."

2 of 475 comments (clear)

Re:Can someone please explain by sydres · 2005-06-08 16:06 · Score: 0, Troll

aluminum is diamagnetic under a strong, read thousands of guass, it is repeledas opposed to being attracted
Re:How about a love gun by Trogre · 2005-06-09 00:02 · Score: 1, Troll

Never met a jihad muslim, have you?

--
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife