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The Science of Lightsabers

Posted by samzenpus on from the this-had-better-have-nothing-to-do-with-midichlorians dept.

sethmad writes "As everyone who's ever passed the GRE knows, there are two major hypothetical operational problems with Star Wars lightsabers. More accurately I should say there were two problems, because I solved both of them."

3 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. That still has the magnet problem... by Zakabog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you're using a magnetic field to control the plasma then any magnet can still interfere with the light saber. For some reason I was expecting a much more technical article than 'its got a metal rod in the center, tada!'

    1. Re:That still has the magnet problem... by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, this was stupid and pointless, even by idle standards. Maybe /. needs to add a retarded section.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  2. Why did this get posted? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Come on. Half the comments on this story are probably going to be better than this dork's.

    A light saber that used plasma would likely be hot. Hot enough that holding it would get very uncomfortable, magnetic field or no. And if the magnetic field is confining it, how does it get through the porous metal? Without destroying the metal? Where does the plasma come from if it's constantly leaking out? Why do lightsabers require focusing gems? How does a light saber deflect blaster and laser hits that would otherwise melt metal? How can lightsabers be an ancient weapon and the guy who designed them is still living on some planet somewhere?