Experimental Magnetic Shield Against Cosmic Rays

stiller writes "British scientists from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have developed an experimental set-up in which a $20 magnet is used to deflect solar-wind-like radiation." Reader Dersaidin points out a slightly more enthusiastic article at Universe Today which emphasizes the possibilities of systems based on this phenomenon to protect astronauts during solar storms, writing "It's a good start. Hopefully, later versions will be able to protect spaceships from energy weapons. A beam from the LHC can melt a 500kg block of copper. Shields, check. Energy weapons, check. Now we just need a viable interstellar drive, and an energy source to power it all."

Comments

sure it can melt 500 lbs of copper...

[Red Flayer]

How long does it take for the beam to melt 500 lbs of copper?

FTA, testing showed a 1.5 mm beam "burnt" 40 meters into a block of copper in 86 microseconds.

So... napkin calculation...

.15 cm * 4000 cm == 600 cm^2.

density of copper is about 9 g/cm^2, so 5600 grams of copper melted per .86 microsecond beam burst.

500 lbs =~ 227 kg, so roughly forty 86 microsecond bursts to melt 500 lbs...

So we're talking roughly 3.5 milliseconds to melt 500 pounds of copper.

We're talking 70 tons of copper melted per second for a single beam per second. That's a hell of a lot of energy, but I'm not sure what the standard unit is for energy/time (hiroshimas is just energy; libraries of congress and football fields obviously don't apply). Anyone know what the standard made-up unit is for energy/time?