1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: Hey, please take a second and leave us a review 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,279 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to the podcast. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 2: Thanks a lot. 4 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: Hey, Welcome to Sign Stuff production of iHeartRadio. I'm Hoorge 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Champ and today we're answering the question could we build 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:21,159 Speaker 1: a real lightsaber? A long long time ago in a 7 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: galaxy that's here. Star Wars became one of the most 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: popular movie and television franchises ever created, and arguably one 9 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: of the coolest things about it are the glowing sorts 10 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: of light that the characters used to fight with. I mean, 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: what self respecting geek hasn't dreamed of holding one in 12 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: their hands? But is it actually possible to build one? 13 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: Do the laws of physics allow it? Or is it 14 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: something that's completely in the realm of fantasy and magic. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: To find out, we're going to talk to several scientists 16 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: who specialize in plasma and laser physics and. 17 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 2: Who are big Star Wars. 18 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: Nerdsally one of them prefers Star Trek, but I won't 19 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: tell you who it is. You'll have to use the 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: force to figure it out. So get ready to go 21 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: to warp speed, because this is the podcast you are 22 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: looking for. As we answer the question possible a real 23 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: lightsaber is hm? I promise it's not a trap. Hey everyone, Okay, 24 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: that was a lot of Star Wars puns, but don't worry. 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: There's a lot of real cool signs in this episode. 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking about plasmas, laser needles, and the 27 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: quantum vacuum energy. All have to figure out if it's 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: possible to make a real lightsaber and spoiler alert, the 29 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: answer is actually yes. Okay. My sagat to find the 30 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: answer started as most searches do on the Internet. There 31 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: is a YouTube channel called Hacksmith Industries that claims to 32 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: have built the first ever real lightsaber using plasma technology. 33 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: So to help me figure out what plasma is and 34 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: how this proto lightsaber on the Internet works, I reached 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: out to my friends at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, 36 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: a research facility in New Jersey with over five hundred 37 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: scientists and engineers all working on plasma. 38 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 2: I'm ANDREWS. 39 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 3: Ricker. 40 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 4: I am a PhD plasma physicist who spent my entire 41 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 4: career at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and I just 42 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 4: love my job. 43 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 5: Archro Domingas. I am a PFC plasma physicist as well. 44 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: Amazing, And are you fans of Star Wars? Yes? Worse 45 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: of course you're physicist. Of course. 46 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 4: Wait was ar truly even born when Star Wars came out? 47 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 2: Not the first one, see see, I was a teenager. 48 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 5: I have to say I am a fan, but none 49 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 5: of us are as much fans as my eight year 50 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 5: old son. He is obsessed with it. 51 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,239 Speaker 1: Wow, you're lucky. I can't get my kids to watch 52 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: any of it. 53 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 5: Oh, I can't get him not to watch. 54 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: That original trilogy or the second. 55 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 5: So I am very proud to say that he's watched 56 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 5: all of them, but always gravitates back to four or five. 57 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: And oh, yeah, I can see why you're proud, Yes, 58 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: third proud. All right, Well, I guess the question is 59 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: what do you think about Lightsabers when you first saw 60 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: that movie? 61 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 4: So I saw it in the theaters, and I'm vague 62 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 4: memories of just being blown away by these what looked 63 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 4: like sword fights with I didn't know what they were 64 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 4: at this time, lasers, plasmas. This was just way beyond 65 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 4: my teenage self. 66 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 5: So I don't think I ever remember a time I 67 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 5: didn't know about lights So they're just kind of a 68 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 5: thing that existed and that when I was, you know, 69 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 5: ten or something, I found out that wasn't real. So 70 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 5: for me, it's just been like a part of life. 71 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: Okay. So there are a few concepts in physics that 72 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: could potentially be used to make a real lightsaber, and 73 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: one of them is plasma. Plasma is basically the fourth 74 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: state of matter. There's solid, liquid, gas, and then there 75 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: is plasma. If you heat up a solid, it melts 76 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: and becomes a liquid. If you heat up a liquid, 77 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: it evaporates and becomes a gas. And if you heat 78 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: up a gas, the gas gets so hot that the 79 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: electrons and all the gas atoms separate from the nucleus 80 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: and you get a floating soup of electrons and positive 81 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: ions the scientists called a plasma, and it can be 82 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: super hot and it glows kind of like a lightsaber. 83 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: So does the real lightsaber you see on YouTube actually 84 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: use plasma? Well, maybe step me through it. What do 85 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: you think is going on in that YouTube version of 86 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: the lightsaber? 87 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 2: So, first of. 88 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 4: All, what they did is beautiful. I mean, what a 89 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 4: beautiful feat of engineering and electronics. It looks beautiful, it 90 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 4: acts beutifully. 91 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 5: Yeah. So it's really very much like a blowtorch in 92 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 5: which they have a directed jet of propane that has been. 93 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 4: Lit up, and the length is related to how fast 94 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 4: it's coming out, and as it comes out, it's cooling down, 95 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 4: and at some point it cools down to the point 96 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 4: where it goes out at the tip right it stops combining. 97 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 4: That's what I think is happening. And I would argue 98 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 4: that the hottest part is the plasma, but the edges 99 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 4: are propably just spot gas. 100 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: So the lightsaber they built on YouTube is basically just 101 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: the blowtorch or not that different from a lighter or 102 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: a flame. And I should mention that this video with 103 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: the lightsaber has gotten over forty one million views. As 104 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: they explained in the video, they found a nozzle they 105 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: can blow propane and oxygen in a very steady flow, 106 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: and when you ignite it, it makes very super controlled, 107 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: very lightsabery flame that gets up to according to them, 108 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: four thousand degrees celsius, which is hot enough to basically 109 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: burn most things the flame touches. But is it plasma, 110 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: that's not quite clear. 111 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 4: That's probably a mixture of some plasma hot gas. 112 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: It's a mix of it. 113 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 5: It has some plasma in it, which leads to the 114 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 5: light emitted because plasma has light emissions. But I also 115 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 5: think part of it is that the black body radiation 116 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 5: from the little pieces of stuff that burnout. So it's 117 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 5: a mix of several sources of light. 118 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: Yes, okay, this is interesting because it gets into the 119 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: physics of flames or fire. A flame like from a 120 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: candle or a blowtorch can't have plasma in it, but 121 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: not necessarily. Here's what happens. Fire happens because of combustion, 122 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: which is a chemical reaction. That reaction creates energy, which 123 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: heats up what's left after the reaction, and that glows 124 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: just from being hot, kind of like a traditional light 125 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: bulb or a piece of metal that glows when it's hot. 126 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: It's called black body radiation. So on a flame, that 127 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: could be mostly what you see as the part that glows, 128 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: it's just hot gas or hot bits of what's combusted. 129 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: But on some flames, the center of it could be plasma. 130 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: It could be so hot that the electrons get ripped 131 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: from the atoms and you get a true plasma. So 132 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: in the lightsaber on YouTube, it's basically a blowtorch and 133 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: what you're seeing is probably a combination of a hot 134 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: gas and a plasma, and it's not Medichlorian's right, unfortunately. No, Yes, Okay, 135 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: So now the question is is it a real lightsaber? 136 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: Does a blowtorch with a long and super hot flame 137 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: count as a Star Wars lightsaber? 138 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 5: But I think it goes back to the question like, 139 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 5: is a lightsaber by definition? Does it have to be 140 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 5: a plasma? I don't know what the answer to that is, right, 141 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 5: Can a lightsaber be a very hot blowtorch? 142 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: Maybe? I think it would. 143 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 5: Still count as a lightsaber. If somebody comes up to 144 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 5: me and does a flip and pulls that out and confronts. 145 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 2: Me, I will run away because that, to me is 146 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 2: a weapon made out of plasma. 147 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: You'd be like, I got a bad feeling about this. 148 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 5: Yes, exactly. 149 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 4: I think the argument is what is a lightsaber? And 150 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 4: since this was inspired by Star Wars, I think we 151 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 4: have to take what was in the movie as a 152 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 4: definition of what a lightsaber is, which means you have 153 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 4: to be able to fight with it. As they hit. 154 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 4: It's as if two solid pieces of metal or something 155 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 4: are up against each other and you have to have 156 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 4: that battle. Where now is who's that the more arm strength? 157 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 5: I think that is Andrew's strongest argument is when and 158 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 5: they have the fight scenes, you can stop a lightsaber 159 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 5: with another lightsaber. I very much doubt that you can 160 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 5: stop one of these that they made in twenty twenty 161 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 5: with another one of these. I think they would just 162 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 5: go through one another, And that I think is the 163 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 5: strongest argument against it being a lightsaber. 164 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: Okay, sorry, Hacksmith Industries. The physicists here from the Princeton 165 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: Plasma Physics Laboratory don't think what you've made is quite 166 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: a real lightsaber. If you cross to flames or to 167 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: blow torches, the flames are just gonna go through each other, 168 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: or the flow of the hot gases are gonna mix 169 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: in the form. They're not gonna collide and feel solid 170 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: like in the movies. So now the question is is 171 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: that actually possible? Can you create something with plasma so 172 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: that you get a glowing beam that is hot enough 173 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: to melt things and cut through them and also feel 174 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: solid when two of them hit each other? All right, 175 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: all right, I feel like Andrew, you have a vision 176 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: for making a more workable and real lightsaber from plasma. 177 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: How would that work, Andrew, The. 178 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 4: Way we do it is with magnets. All right. 179 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: Here, doctor Zuicker has an idea for maybe how to 180 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: make a real plasma lightsaber work, and it has to 181 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: do with how scientists are trying to. 182 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 2: Make a fusion reactor. 183 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: A future reactor is basically the idea that you could 184 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: create a miniature sun here on Earth. Inside of our Sun, 185 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: there's incredible pressure at the very core of it, and 186 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: there's plasma there, and the combination of those two things 187 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: makes atoms fuse together. Well, here on Earth, scientists are 188 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: working on making a plasma like that, and the way 189 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,119 Speaker 1: they hold that plasma together is using essentially a magnetic 190 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: bottle that holds a blob of plasma together. 191 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 4: We're trying to eventually make a miniature star like the Sun, 192 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 4: but we use powerful magnets to keep the plasma where 193 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 4: we want it to be and get it hotter and 194 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 4: hotter and hotter. So if a lightsaber were to have 195 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 4: a confining magnetic field in a tube that would keep 196 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 4: the plasma inside that tube. Number one, you get the shape, Okay, okay, 197 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 4: But what's interesting is that if two lightsabers, both with 198 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 4: the same magnetic field, were to then come together. Just 199 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 4: like your two magnets that want to repel each other, 200 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 4: they would collide, they would not pass through each other. 201 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: What doctor Zicker is proposing here is that maybe a 202 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: lightsaber could be essentially a magnetic bottle. The hilt of 203 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: the lightsaber could somehow form a magnetic field that contains 204 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: a blob of plasma in the shape of a long tube, 205 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: and it would be hot enough to glow and cut 206 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: through things. And also when you hit another lightsaber, the 207 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: magnetic fields would repel each other, giving you that feeling 208 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: of hitting something solid. So I feel like you're saying 209 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: that to make a lightsaber, you could somehow create basically 210 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: a magnetic bottle in the shape of a sword. 211 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 4: Exactly. 212 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 2: We have so many problems with the. 213 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 4: Why is that nonsense? 214 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 5: What Andrew is describing is literally what we call a 215 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 5: magnetic mirror, which is a cylinder of concentric rings that 216 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 5: are electromagnets with a very strong one at both ends. 217 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 5: So you've got to have some floating solid electromagnets all 218 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 5: around the platform. 219 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: To create those kinds of magnetic fields, you need to 220 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: surround that whole area with magnets, which would defeat the 221 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: purpose of it being like a freestanding lightsaber. 222 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 4: I mean, my entire thing was based upon magical magnetic fields. 223 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: Okay, we tried, but here's the thing about plot. A 224 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: plasma is basically like a gas. It's not solid, and 225 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: it wants to expand and spread out like a gas. 226 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: And the only way to contain a plasma is but 227 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: either something solid or you have to surround it with magnets, 228 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: which would ruin the idea of a lightsaber. So it 229 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,479 Speaker 1: doesn't seem possible to make a real lightsaber using plasma. 230 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: Does that mean a lightsaber is impossible? Well, it turns 231 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: out there is another physics phenomenon that you could use 232 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: to make a lightsaber, and the next two physicists that 233 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: I talked to think it's totally possible. So when we 234 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: come back, we're going to try to make a lightsaber 235 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: out of lasers. Stay with us, we'll be right back. Hey, 236 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: welcome back. We're talking about whether it's possible to the 237 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: real lightsaber like the ones you see in Star Wars 238 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: and so far we talked about the possibility of making 239 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: one out of plasma, but as two physicists from the 240 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: Princeton Plasma Physics laboratory concluded it doesn't seem possible to 241 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: make one, to which I say, never tell me the odds, kid, 242 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: And so we turn to another possible technology we can 243 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: use to make a saver of light, and this one 244 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: involves using light. In twenty nineteen, two physicists polish the 245 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: paper in the European Journal of Physics titled on the 246 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: physical possibility of Lightsabers, in which they say, we focus 247 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: on one major problem with lightsabers that is commonly involved 248 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: as an argument to dismiss them as unrealistic. Light blades 249 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: are not solid and thus cannot be used in a 250 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: duel as normal swords would. Using techniques coming from ultra 251 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: intense laser science, we show that for high enough laser intensities, 252 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: lightsaber blades can feel solid to each other. Now, when 253 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: I read that, I thought, hello, there, so I reached 254 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: out to doctor Jean Sebastian and doctor Francois Fillon Gardeau, 255 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: the authors of the paper. Well, thank you, doctor Gagnon 256 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,119 Speaker 1: and doctor Philian Gardou for joining. 257 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 2: Us like here is online. 258 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 3: It's a pleasure to be here. 259 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 2: Both Fasy and myself are really really huge Star Wars 260 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 2: fans born in the seventies. I mean Star Wars shape 261 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 2: my childhood. Really, I've watched the movie so many times, 262 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 2: like you then by heart, and I don't know. There's 263 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 2: something about like the Jedi Knight and the lightsaber that 264 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 2: is just I don't know, there's something to it, right, 265 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 2: Just the sound of it makes my hair rise on the. 266 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: Amazing I guess as a physicist, when you see the movies, 267 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: what do you think a lightsaber is? 268 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 2: Actually it's funny because I think if you ask any 269 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 2: Star Wars fan, many of them will say that it's 270 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: like a plasma saber. They would say it's made of plasma. 271 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 2: I don't know what is the origin of the idea, 272 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 2: the exact origin, but I don't know. I'm a purist. 273 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 2: I like the original Star Wars trilogy, and you have 274 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 2: no mention of plasma anywhere there. We're called them lightsabers. 275 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: Right, that's true. They're not called plasma sabs. 276 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 2: They're not called planas there. They're gonna light sabers, right. 277 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 2: Stick to that exactly for me. A concentration of light 278 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 2: energy that's concentrated in some shape that looks like a saber. 279 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: So they need to be made out of light somehow. 280 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 2: Exactly, and that stopped at some point, it stops like 281 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 2: the blade is finite. 282 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: Oh okay, all right, Like I said, doctors Gagnon and 283 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: Filian Grudeaux think they found a way to make a 284 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 1: lightsaber actually out of light. But to do that, the 285 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: design has to overcome two big challenges that people say 286 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: makes it impossible to do that. Okay, Now, Star Wars 287 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: is fiction, we think. 288 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 2: All of the future. Actually it happened a long time 289 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 2: ago in the galaxy far far away. It already happened. 290 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: That's right, that's true. Good point, that's right. Well, we 291 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: can only hope. But people say that lightsabers are impossible. 292 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,959 Speaker 1: What do you think people say lightsabers are impossible to 293 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: be made out of light? 294 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 2: Yeah. 295 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 3: One of the reasons for one thing is out do 296 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 3: you stop light after like a meter of propagation? You know, 297 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 3: when you have a leaser. Think about the leaser pointer 298 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 3: for example. The laser pointer will go on forever until 299 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 3: it hits something or it's reflected on something, so light 300 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 3: naturally does not stop by itself. One thing that it's 301 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 3: just for a lightsaber that would be hard to do 302 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 3: or hard to implement physically. 303 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: Okay, So the first challenge in making a lightsaber out 304 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: of light is that light, when it's admitted, tends to 305 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: want to keep going on forever. So how do you 306 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: make a sword out of light that has a finite length? 307 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: And the second problem, it's the same problem we had 308 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: with the plasma lightsaber, which is how do you make 309 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: the lightsaber feel solid? 310 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 2: You've seen the movies when the two blades clash together, 311 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 2: they actually feel solid. But of course that's not what 312 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 2: you would expect from light, right. 313 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: Right, Like if I cross the flashlights. 314 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 2: You can just do it and you see that they're 315 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:24,680 Speaker 2: just like whoa go through each other. 316 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: And that's because light doesn't necessarily interact with itself exactly, 317 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: That's exactly it. 318 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 2: So if you think that light is made of photons, 319 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 2: let's say, so little particles of light, they are electrically neutral, 320 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 2: so it means that they don't have any electromagnetic interaction 321 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 2: between them. They don't interact in any other way in 322 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 2: terms of like other forces, like nuclear forces for instance. 323 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: So to a photon, another photon is just invisible. 324 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 2: Yes, in some sense classically clastically, of. 325 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: Course, they have no way that we traditionally understand that 326 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: they can interact with each other exactly. So those are 327 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: the two reasons people say making a lightsaber out of 328 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: light is impossible. One how do you make it finite 329 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: so the light beam doesn't go on forever? And two 330 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: how do you make light feel solid? Well, it turns 331 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: out there is a way to get around both of 332 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,719 Speaker 1: those problems, and no, it does not involve using the force. 333 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 1: We'll start with making a finite beam of light. 334 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:27,360 Speaker 2: According to doctors. 335 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: Canon and Fillian Cordeaux, you can do it with something 336 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: called a needle of light. I've definitely done that as 337 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: a kid, Like when you have a flashlight and you 338 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: turn off the lights and you pretend that you're swinging 339 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: a lightsaber around, but you're right that it keeps going 340 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: on forever. Is that something that you think you have 341 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: a solution. 342 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 3: For, Well, not the direct solution, but if you look 343 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 3: at the scientific literature and the research done by any physicists, 344 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 3: it's called a needle of lights and so it's a 345 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 3: very particular electro magnetic fail configuration. 346 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 2: They are very hard. 347 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 3: To do in a laboratory, so you need very special 348 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 3: mirrors to do them, but they have the property that 349 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 3: when this light is focused, the energy will be in 350 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 3: the form of a long cylinder. 351 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: WHOA, I don't think I was expecting this. Is there 352 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: a process in physics that might allow that to concentrate 353 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: light in a short beam like that? 354 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 3: Yes? 355 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yes, yes, okay. Can you describe this phenomenon? 356 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: What is it? 357 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 2: How does it work? I imagine like you're sending a 358 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 2: light beam that would be cylindrical, so it would be 359 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 2: more like an annular type of beam. It means that 360 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,640 Speaker 2: instead of having like a cylinder that is filled with light, 361 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 2: you would only have like the outskirt of it, like 362 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 2: a ring. 363 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: Oh I see, Instead of a solid beam of light, 364 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,360 Speaker 1: you're shooting out a ring of light. 365 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 3: Yes, exactly. 366 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 2: Then you send it on. Imagine in the hilt of 367 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 2: the lightsaber there will be a mirror at the back, 368 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 2: and then you send towards that mirror, and then when 369 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 2: it's reflected like at the focus of the mirror, it 370 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 2: would look like a needle. And it's what I said. 371 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 2: It's related to the fact that you have like many 372 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 2: beams of light. When it reflects to the focus, some 373 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 2: of those beams will kind of interfere with each other. 374 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 2: It will cancel in many places, but it would add 375 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 2: up at the focus. 376 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: And so that gives you a little light needle. 377 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 3: Yep, exactly. 378 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: Okay, the details of this are a little hard to explain, 379 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: but it is something that physicists that specialize in optics 380 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: and lasers have been able to do. By shooting light 381 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: as a ring instead of a solid beam, and bousing 382 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 1: and off special curved mirrors, you can essentially focus the 383 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 1: light beam so that it interferes with itself and concentrates 384 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: its energy into a kind of needle or sharp stick 385 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: of light, and that basically looks like a light saver, 386 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: Like the black waves are interfering and they're building up 387 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: in this needle in this length of space. 388 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, so the energy of the beam would be 389 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 2: concentrated in that tiny needle. 390 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: And not anywhere else. 391 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 3: So there would be much more energy conceptor along the 392 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: needle than the rest. 393 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: But the light would keep going after the needle, it 394 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: just wouldn't be focused. 395 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, so it would be diffuse. After the needles 396 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 3: you want, it will still propagate, but the energy will 397 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 3: go down drastically, so it would look like a small 398 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 3: light saber. 399 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: Uh huh. We would see like an actual seat of 400 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: glowing beam like a lightsaber. 401 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 2: Well, yeap. 402 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 3: Actually, it depends a little bit on the medium. So 403 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,880 Speaker 3: let's say you would open the slight sliaber in air. 404 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 3: She could create a plasma and the plasma could start 405 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 3: to emit light. 406 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: I see. The light will then cause the air molecules 407 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 1: to glow. 408 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 3: Basically, yes, yeah, exactly. 409 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, we did end up with plasma. But here 410 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: the plasma is only the reason we see the lightsaber. 411 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: The actual sword is technically made of light. So does 412 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: that solve the lightsaber problem? 413 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 2: Kind of? There is one little problem. 414 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 3: And I think you can have a slender that's about 415 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 3: fifty thousand times the wavelength of your user. And so 416 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 3: that's say in the optical regime, and for example, blue 417 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 3: fits around five hundred danometers, so time sixty thousand, that 418 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 3: will be the length of this needle of light. 419 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 2: So we're talking about probably a millimeter. Yeah, it has limitations, right, 420 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,360 Speaker 2: So it seems that they are able to do it 421 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 2: for about the size of one millimeter. 422 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: What the physicists are saying is that this needle of 423 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: light phenomenon depends on the wavelength of the light you're using, 424 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: and so far, the longest needle scientists have been able 425 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: to make is about one millimeter long. In other words, 426 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: we can make a life lightsaber out of light, but 427 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: at least so far, it would only be one millimeter long. Now, 428 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: is it possible to make it longer? 429 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 2: The answer is maybe. 430 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: Star Wars would be a lot less exciting if it 431 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,679 Speaker 1: was called the light needle. Could I make it longer 432 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: by using a longer wavelength of light? 433 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 2: I think so? 434 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: Oh oh, now we're getting somewhere like. 435 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 2: An infrared faber. 436 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I think it could work infrared. If so, 437 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: it would be red. 438 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 2: I don't know. 439 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: The first lightsaber would be a sift lightsaber. It's harder 440 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: to make a good guy lightsaber, as I think that's 441 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: kind of one of the lessons of Star Wars is 442 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: that fear and anger are easier. Exactly, that's the bath 443 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: of the dark. The Bath of the Dark set is 444 00:24:55,320 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: easier yep, more plausible, more physically practical. Yeah, okay, so 445 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: that's where we stand on the problem of making a 446 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: finite beam of pure light. It's possible to make a 447 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: needle of light, but so far they are really short. 448 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: It might be possible to make them longer using longer 449 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: wavelength light, which would make the lightsabers red, but nobody's 450 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: tried it do it. It sounds like maybe we need 451 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: some physicists to make it work. Okay, when we come back, 452 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,959 Speaker 1: we'll tackle the other big problem in making a lightsaber, 453 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: which is how do you make a beam of light 454 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: feel solid? As it turns out, there is a way, 455 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 1: and it involves tapping into the quantum vacuum energy of 456 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: the universe. We'll get into that, so don't go anywhere. 457 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: We'll be right back. 458 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 2: Hey, welcome back. 459 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: We're talking about whether we can build a real lightsaber 460 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: when that has a beam of light that stops at 461 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: a certain length, that can cut through things, and crucially 462 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: that you can spar with. In the movies when the 463 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: Jedi and the Cyth cross swords, they hit each other 464 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: and they feel solid. But as we learn, making a 465 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: lightsaber out of a plasma blowtorch meets all the requirements 466 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: except the last one, and so it turned to lasers. 467 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,360 Speaker 1: According to doctor Johan Sevest and doctor Francois fon Grdeaux, 468 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: to laser physicists, it's possible to make a beam of 469 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: concentrated light, although you'd have to work on making it bigger. 470 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: But amazingly, they do think there is a way to 471 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: make a beam of light feel solid. 472 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,959 Speaker 2: So that was more the main focus of our paper. 473 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 2: So the idea is this. So we just said that 474 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 2: if you have two photons, they cannot interact directly with 475 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 2: each other, but it doesn't mean that they cannot interact indirectly. Okay, 476 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 2: this is a huge feel of research. It's called nonlinear optics. Oh, 477 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 2: so imagine that. Now you would have let's say a 478 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 2: medium in which you can shoot light through it. So 479 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 2: you send some light into it, and now let's say 480 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 2: the first photon that goes in will probably interact with 481 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 2: the medium itself, think of it as deforming it a 482 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 2: little bit. And then imagine the second photon that comes 483 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 2: after that. Now, that second photon will feel the deformation 484 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,959 Speaker 2: of the first one. So in that sense, even if 485 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 2: the two photons do not interact directly, they could interact 486 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 2: indirectly through the medium. 487 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: Okay, here's the scenario that the physicists are imagining. Normally, 488 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: photons of light just ignore each other. Light is electrically 489 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: neutral and it has no mass, So photons can't push 490 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: or pull or bump into each other. If you take 491 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: two flashlights and you across the beams. The beams of 492 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: light just keep going straight. I mean, who hasn't done 493 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: that as a kid. But there is a way for 494 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,640 Speaker 1: photons to interact indirectly with each other. Photon can interact 495 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: with the medium it's traveling in. Think of it as 496 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: leaving a ripple or a trail in the medium, and 497 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: then the next photon that comes through, say from a 498 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: different lightsab would feel that ripple or trail. And that's 499 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:27,360 Speaker 1: how two lightsabers might possibly feel solid to each other. 500 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: I see. There are effects just from the light going 501 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: through the medium that you have to take into account 502 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 1: that sometimes. 503 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, it happens mostly when the intensity is very large. 504 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 3: Yeah. 505 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: Oh, it has to be powerful enough to feel that 506 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: effect exactly. So it has to be. 507 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 3: Powerful enough to deform the medium. So we send the 508 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 3: language to polarize it so it pulls the electron in 509 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 3: one direction, let's say, more than the other, so that 510 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 3: it changes and if another sluton comes in, it's propaggation 511 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 3: will be modified. 512 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: So you could imagine this working in air as the 513 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: medium the lightsabers are in. But doctor Gannon and doctor 514 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: Phillian Grdeaux are envisioning something more universal. A lightsaber that 515 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: could work anywhere, even space. 516 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 2: The next step is, but we don't want to rely 517 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 2: on the medium for that thing to work. We wanted 518 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 2: to work in vacuum, like in the movie in space. 519 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 2: Look like in the movie, if you want to turn 520 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 2: on your lightsaber on your spaceship and use it, you can't. 521 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: Well, technically, I think every time you see a lightsaber 522 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: in Star Wars, they're in air. 523 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 2: That's true. 524 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 3: True. 525 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 2: We don't want it to depend on which atmosphere of 526 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 2: the planet in your room. 527 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, okay, got it, got it, all right, So 528 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: let's try to make a lightsaber that works in a vacuum. 529 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: Go ahead. 530 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 2: So the question is if it is vacuum, then you 531 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 2: might say, like, it's completely empty, right, so there are 532 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 2: no media, right, so there cannot be any indirect interact 533 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 2: between the photons. What but it can, that's the thing. 534 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:09,479 Speaker 2: So if you're talking about the quantum vacuum, quantum vacuum 535 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 2: is full of stuff. 536 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:11,960 Speaker 3: Yeah. 537 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 2: Yes. 538 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: As it turns out, empty space is not really empty. 539 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: It has something that physicists called the quantum vacuum energy. 540 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: The theory is that empty space actually has something like 541 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: a background buzz or a low level of energy that 542 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: predisposes it to create particles out of nothing. 543 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 2: So it's full of what we call virtual particles. 544 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 1: I see, empty space is not really empty. It has 545 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: kind of like a bubbling frost of quantum particles that 546 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: come into existence and disappear. 547 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 2: Right according to the theory, Yeah, according to what like 548 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 2: the best theories that we have right now to describe 549 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 2: the microscopic world. They come into existence, but they go 550 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 2: back to the vacuum in such a short time that 551 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 2: we can't even measure them. That's why they are called 552 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 2: virtual particles. I see. 553 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: But light as it goes through a vacuum, does interact 554 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: with virtual quantum particles. 555 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 2: Yes, it does, exactly. 556 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 3: And actually one effect that it's supposed to happen when 557 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 3: you reach a very very high intensity is that you 558 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 3: can actually create matter directly from light. So light would 559 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 3: interact with this particle and it would pull them, and 560 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 3: then you can start generate electron pulls it from pairs 561 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 3: directly from light. 562 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 1: I see. Okay, Okay, So let's say I have a 563 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: laser super intense, I shoot it. It's interacting with the 564 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: quantum vacuum, and is the idea then that it's that 565 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: trail that it leaves. That interaction would then affect the 566 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: other lightsaber. Is that where we're going, Yeah, exactly. 567 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, So imagine you would have like two lightsabers at 568 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 2: ninety degrees with each other, and then they clash like 569 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 2: in a fight for instance, and then there is an 570 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 2: interaction region between the two lightsabers. And then so imagine 571 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 2: some of those photons come from one of the hilts, 572 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 2: and then because of this indirect interaction between the photons 573 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 2: through the vacuum, then some of them might reflect towards 574 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 2: the other light saber. And as I said, if the 575 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 2: intensity is high enough, then a lot of those photons 576 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 2: will get reflected towards the other hilt. And if you 577 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 2: have enough photon on the other hilt, then you will 578 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,160 Speaker 2: feel that as radiation pressure. 579 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: Oh, you would feel a force. 580 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 2: You would feel a force in the hilt. 581 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: Yes, So that's kind of the idea. If you have 582 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: two of these laser swords, when they hit each other, 583 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: they would interact with the quantum vacuum energy, which would 584 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: cause photons to be reflected from one sort to the other, 585 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: and then those photons would make you feel a force 586 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: through what's called radiation pressure. Basically, when photons hit something, 587 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: they actually give whatever they're hitting some momentum, pushing it back. 588 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: It's what may solar sales work. And that push Doctor 589 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,560 Speaker 1: Gannon and doctor Phelan Grideaux argue would make the light 590 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 1: beams feel solid. I see, I see like we're fighting. 591 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: We're having a lightsaber battle, and we swing our lightsabers, 592 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: and when my beam crosses yours, I'm going to feel 593 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: a little kickback maybe on my lightsaber. Yes, yeah, because 594 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: of these quantum effects. 595 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 5: Yep. 596 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 3: Actually in the film called that quantum reflection. So it's 597 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 3: really a quantum effect that induces these direction between photons 598 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 3: and that reflect them. 599 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 2: Back towards the hill. 600 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 3: Then that's what we think would make it feel. I 601 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 3: don't know if it will feel solid, but you will 602 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 3: feel something. 603 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 2: We kind of analyze how you would feel it, and 604 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 2: it will feel very different than just like hitting something solid, 605 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 2: that's for sure. 606 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: I see. It won't feel like you're clashing swords, but 607 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: you'll definitely feel something that kicks you back. 608 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, something like that. 609 00:33:55,800 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well I think we did it that. 610 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: It's possible to make a real lightsaber sort of. You 611 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 1: can't have a standing beam of light and yes, it's small, 612 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: but as Yoda said, size matters not you can also 613 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 1: cut through things, and you could technically make it feel 614 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: solid or at least like it hit something. Does that 615 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: mean we should all grow a ponytail and become pata ones. 616 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:28,280 Speaker 2: No, well, hey, let's say let's put it in fury. 617 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,959 Speaker 2: But one of the things that has been pointed out 618 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 2: is that, well, you need an energy source, right, and 619 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,000 Speaker 2: the energy source, of course, has to fit into the 620 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 2: hilt of the lifesaver. 621 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 3: Leather batteries all work for this. 622 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 6: Yeah, it could not work so to have a significant 623 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,839 Speaker 6: effect to feel let's say a kickback on the other hilt, 624 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 6: for instance, and it's ten to the twenty three watts. 625 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 2: So that's just a shy less than the output of 626 00:34:57,960 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 2: the thought. 627 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: You take the entire sun's output. That's how much you 628 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,240 Speaker 1: need to feel a little kickback at this light saber 629 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: through this effect, meaning your lightsaber would be as powerful 630 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: as the sun. Yeah. 631 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 4: Almost. 632 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 2: These effects are weak. 633 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, the effects are weak, so you need a lot 634 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: just to get it. 635 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 3: So you need to put in a lot of soot 636 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 3: on to see something or to feel something because. 637 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 2: The problem is so small. 638 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, this kickback the fact that might make the 639 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: lightsaber feel solid depends on a quantum physics interaction that 640 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:34,839 Speaker 1: is very unlikely, and so you need a lot of 641 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,959 Speaker 1: photons to make it happen, which means your lightsaber needs 642 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: to output the same amount of energy as the sun. 643 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,240 Speaker 1: But hey, as jin Urso said, rebellions are built on hope. 644 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:51,560 Speaker 1: Maybe there is a way to get that kind of energy. Okay, 645 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: all right, Well I'm not the terror because I know 646 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: kyber crystals are who knows how they work? 647 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 3: Right? 648 00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:58,879 Speaker 1: Maybe they have the power of a sun. 649 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, people say that that's what also power the 650 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 2: Death Star. So that's another of my calculation that I do. 651 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 2: If one of my electromagnetic courses, I mean, it takes 652 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 2: a lot of energy for that later beam, trust me. 653 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: Well, let's take it a step further. Guys, is a 654 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: Kyberg crystal possible? 655 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 2: Well, I would like to know what is the Kyberg crystal? 656 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. 657 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 3: In the article, we talk about electron positron bears recombination, 658 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 3: which is probably one of the most efficient nichanism to 659 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 3: generate energy. 660 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 2: So, as Fransos said, so the most efficient way would 661 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 2: be to use antimatter when you annihilate let's say to 662 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 2: an electron and a positron, all of it becomes energy. 663 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: I see, a positron is like an anti electron basically, right, Yeah, yes, exactly, So. 664 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 2: If you annihilate them, then you get like as much 665 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 2: energy as you can coming from that mass. So that's 666 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 2: probably the most efficient way. So I don't know if 667 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 2: kyber crystals are similar, for there be rate on a 668 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 2: different level than that, but as far as we know, 669 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 2: the best would be antimatter and aliation. 670 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 1: This could be the subject of a whole other episode, 671 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 1: but antimatter is regular matter that has its quantum number flipped. 672 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,720 Speaker 1: So if you take an electron and you flip its charge, 673 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,759 Speaker 1: you get a positron, which is an anti electron. And 674 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: if you mix a matter particle with its antimatter version, 675 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: they annihilate and give out a whole bunch of energy. Now, 676 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:33,439 Speaker 1: could you power a lightsaber with that, Yes, but you'd 677 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:34,440 Speaker 1: need a lot of it. 678 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 2: So even that, you would still need like one hundred 679 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 2: million kilograms of that into your hilt. 680 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:45,240 Speaker 1: One hundred kilograms of matter and antimatter one hundred million 681 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 1: kilogram Yeah, being annihilated at a time. 682 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 2: The time to power it for about a minute. 683 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:56,799 Speaker 1: That's a lot, lot. That's a lot, a lot. 684 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 2: It would squeeze all of that into the hilt. Would 685 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 2: be so similiar to like a white dwarf and the 686 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:03,120 Speaker 2: neutron star. 687 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 3: Uh. 688 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,480 Speaker 1: Even if you take that much matter and antimatter squeeze 689 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,719 Speaker 1: it down to a hilt, you'd be basically carrying a 690 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: sun with you. 691 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, you can carry it. Interesting, I mean I think 692 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 2: you would need the pores to actually life. 693 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: Oh, there you go. That's how it works. 694 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 3: Why they need the far Yeah, the power their lightsabers. 695 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,279 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is not looking so good. But the real 696 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 1: kicker is that shooting light actually. 697 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 2: Creates a kickback. Like if you turn on a. 698 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,880 Speaker 1: Flashlight, the flashlight actually gets pushed back, kind of like 699 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: give you fire a gun. 700 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,280 Speaker 2: The effect is super small. 701 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,360 Speaker 1: Because light has very little momentum, so you don't actually 702 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,440 Speaker 1: feel it with a flashlight, but at the intensities of 703 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,239 Speaker 1: light we're talking about in our lightsaber, it would be 704 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 1: a lot. 705 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,440 Speaker 3: When you turn your lightsaber on, you'll have some kind 706 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 3: of recoiled effects like a trust and the estimated that 707 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:02,480 Speaker 3: the trust. 708 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 2: There's like ten to the seven saturn five rockets, like 709 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 2: put like strap them all on together and when you 710 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,160 Speaker 2: just power it on. That's what you would. 711 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:17,279 Speaker 1: Feel ten to the seven Saturn five rockets. Wait, if 712 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:19,960 Speaker 1: I have a laser four, that's how much when I 713 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,560 Speaker 1: turn it on, that light would actually push me back? 714 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,040 Speaker 3: Yes, exactly. 715 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,759 Speaker 1: Wait Wait guys, I feel like you're saying that the 716 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:32,320 Speaker 1: thing that disqualifies Star Wars as fiction is not lightsabers. 717 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 1: It's not Kyper crystals. It's Newton's second law of motion. 718 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:43,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, you're probably right. 719 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: Everything else is possible, but Neaton's second law says no, 720 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:48,360 Speaker 1: that's all fiction. 721 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:53,440 Speaker 2: Yes, that's a very nice way to summarize it. 722 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: You're right, all right, Well, to summarize our space opera 723 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: to a galaxy for are far away. It's definitely possible 724 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 1: to build a real lightsaber that glows in a beam 725 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: and can cut through metal. I mean, the folks on 726 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 1: YouTube did that, but it doesn't feel solid. To make 727 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,359 Speaker 1: a lightsaber that feels solid, you could make it out 728 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 1: of lasers and have it interact with the quantum vacuum energy. 729 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: So it's possible, but it would require you to have 730 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,719 Speaker 1: the power of the sun in the palm of your hand, 731 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:28,040 Speaker 1: and it would probably kill you just from the recoil 732 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,319 Speaker 1: of turning it on. But here's the thing about lightsabers. 733 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:35,560 Speaker 1: Even if they can't be real or practical, the effective 734 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:39,919 Speaker 1: hat on physics is definitely real. Here's how our physicists 735 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 1: put it. What do you think is so fascinating about lightsabers? 736 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:46,360 Speaker 2: I don't know. 737 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 3: It's so like it looks like an efficient weapon, a 738 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,400 Speaker 3: noble weapon of a more civilized. 739 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:58,480 Speaker 1: Age, the idea of combining a sword, which as a kid, 740 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,480 Speaker 1: swords are cool, but now it's a sword made out 741 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,480 Speaker 1: of like lasers. Yeah. Yeah, that did Star Wars influence 742 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,640 Speaker 1: either of you a little bit and your choice to 743 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: become physicists. 744 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,359 Speaker 2: Maybe at some deep level. I mean I always been 745 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,239 Speaker 2: interested with sci fi in general. So Star Wars, of course, 746 00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 2: as I said, shape my childhood. 747 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:17,880 Speaker 1: It makes people wonder what's possible? 748 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:21,560 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, exactly, and personally for me, just the fact 749 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,640 Speaker 3: that you know they were in space, and so I 750 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 3: think this movie brought interests to astrol physics, a rockets, 751 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:30,840 Speaker 3: things like that. So it's not direct Star Wars, but 752 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 3: it's via space that brought me to physics. 753 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,399 Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, See you next time, and hey, 754 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 1: may the Force be with you. Music and Time Effects 755 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 1: Firm Fix the Bay credit to Louise whom anoyed. You've 756 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:53,840 Speaker 1: been listening to Science Stuff production of iHeartRadio, written and 757 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:58,280 Speaker 1: produced by Me or Hm candidate by Rose Seguda, executive 758 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,719 Speaker 1: producer Jerry Rowland, and audience enger and mixer Ksey Peckram. 759 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:04,240 Speaker 1: And you can follow me on social media. Just search 760 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,400 Speaker 1: for PhD Comics and the name of your favorite platform. 761 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 1: Be sure to describe to sign Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, 762 00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:13,800 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and please 763 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:22,080 Speaker 1: tell your friends we'll be back next Wednesday with another episode.