Susser.pasa@Xerox.ARPA (09/10/85)
From: Josh Susser <Susser.pasa@Xerox.ARPA> >From: peora!joel@topaz.rutgers.edu (Joel Upchurch) > >On a related topic, are blasters projectile or energy weapons? I >had assumed that they were energy weapons, but I noticed that when I >was watching 'The Empire Strikes Back' on tape a couple of nights >ago, that the results were more like a explosive projectile. I also >noticed what seemed to be an ammo clip on one blaster. > >Since, I don't recall ever seeing anyone reload a blaster, I would >have to postulate a very small projectile, like a small needle, so >that each blaster could fire a hundred rounds or more without >reloading. It would also have an extremely high muzzle velocity, >since KE = 1/2MV**2. I wondered about this back when I first saw "Star Wars/A New Hope" way back when. Blasters definitely exhibit properties one would ascribe to energy weapons, the ricochet off the magnetically sealed walls of the trash compactor being a good example. But blaster bolts travel at very low velocities, something one wouldn't expect from an energy weapon. Then there was the matter of lightsabers and how they worked - lightsabers were apparently similar in nature to blaster bolts, but a stationary effect. Using these data I formulated a hypothesis to explain the behavior of these weapons. --- My Hypothesis --- Blasters are energy projectile weapons. A blaster bolt is identical to the blade of a lightsaber. Both bolts and blades are composed of coherent light (a laser), or plasma, or maybe lasing plasma, that is contained by a magnetic jacket. --------------------- This is a very convenient explanation of the physics behind these weapons, as it accounts for much of the un-laserlike behavior of blasters. Laser pulses don't spontaneously degenerate into explosions at an arbitrary range, but putting a certain amount of energy into the magnetic jacket could cause it to decompose near its target range. Lightsabers blades are solid to one another, and to blaster bolts. This can be explained by interference of the magnetic jackets. This explanation also accounts for defensive shields - a strong magnetic field could possibly deflect a magnetically jacketed bolt. Oh well, I suppose one can explain anything with fictional science. Anyone with a knack for hardware care to test my hypotheses for me? If so, I'd like a *blue* lightsaber, please. -- Josh Susser <Susser.pasa@Xerox.arpa> "To the moon, Alice!"