1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: My name is Jonathan Strickland. I happen to be an 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: executive producer with how Stuff Works and I hear radio 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: and today it's time to look at another classic episode 6 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. Yeah, the show's been going since two 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: thousand eight with more than a thousand episodes, and I'm 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: pretty sure most of you haven't heard all of them. 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: So this one was originally published on February two thousand twelve, 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: is called tech Stuff Plays with Plasma and Chris Palette 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: and I end up talking about plasma and how it 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: works in technological applications. Enjoy courtesy of a little Facebook 13 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: feedback you be and this comes to us from our 14 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: friend Basu, who says, hey, Jonathan, our plasma ray guns possible. 15 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: I'm waiting for the next podcast on this. Well, here's 16 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: our next podcast on plasma reyguns. But before we get 17 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: into the idea of weaponizing plasma, let's talk a bit 18 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: about what plasma is and maybe some common or at 19 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: least more realistic applications for plasma that that we use today. Okay, So, 20 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: so plasma it is the fourth state of matter. Yeah, 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: it's funny to me because growing up, um, perhaps my 22 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: my school system was narrow minded, although I don't think so. 23 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: We we learned about solids, liquids, and gases. Those were 24 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: the three states of matter and that's all there were. 25 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: And the Brontosaurus was a dinosaur exactly. You know, it's 26 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: probably because I would guess it's probably more because growing up, 27 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: plasma is a little hard to grasp. It's I figured out. Literally, 28 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: I figured out, yes, because if we did heard it hurts. Uh. 29 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: I'll the way I figure the best explanation would be 30 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: look at it from the stance of molecular movement. Okay, 31 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: So with solids, the solids are made up of molecules, 32 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: and those molecules don't move a lot. They are moving. 33 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: So even in that granite table that you might see 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: that the molecules within that granite table are actually in motion. 35 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: They're just not moving a lot. You can take it 36 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: for granite that they'll stay put. Yes, And then in 37 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: liquids you have a little more molecular movement, and the 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: the actual composition of the matter it acts differently. Right, 39 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: So ice is a solid, water is a liquid, and 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: then if you add more energy into the system and 41 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: you create more molecular movement. You can make that liquid 42 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: turn into a gas, and then gas, you've got a 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: lot more molecular movement. The molecules aren't as packed closely 44 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: as close together as it would be in a liquid 45 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: or in a solid, and that's when you've got the 46 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: gas form. Well, plasma is the next step. It's when 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: you've added even more energy into that that element, and 48 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: this also tends to strip away electrons ionizing that gas. 49 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: So you've got free electrons flowing through the gas that 50 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: an ionized gas, that is plasma. So in a way, 51 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: you can think of plasma is sort of a subset 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: of gas, but it's really its own thing because it's 53 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: an ionized gas. Jonathan, it strips away electrons. Are you 54 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: sure well? It pushes electrons way out into the outer shells. 55 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: I was. I was going for the joke there they 56 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: lose electrons. Are you sure? I'm positive? Okay? No. The 57 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: reason why I said that is because literally this week 58 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: phil Plate, the Bad Astronomer, wrote a post about ionizing 59 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: atmosphere conditions and how that creates are the auroras to 60 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: the Aurora borealis and the aurora estrallis, and he had 61 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: written about how it strips electrons away from oxygen and 62 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: then later corrected himself saying, all right, technically that is 63 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: not correct. What really happens is that the electrons are 64 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: pushed to the further energy shells around the nucleus of 65 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: the atom, and when the electrons come back down to 66 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: their natural energy shell, photons are released. And that's the aurora. 67 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: So that's why I wanted to not do the I'm 68 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: positive off the bat okay okay, Um, you can tell 69 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: we don't we We sort of prepare, but we don't rehearse. Um. 70 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: It's funny too, that that we think about plasmas being 71 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: the fourth state of matter and the way it's uh 72 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: kind of strange because um plasma is far more prevalent 73 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: in our universe, most plentiful state of matter, of all 74 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,679 Speaker 1: matter in the universe, all anything that's not dark matter, 75 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: whether or not that exists isn't isn't totally different subject matter, 76 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: but it's really too many matters. But yes, of all 77 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: the matter that we have observed, plasma makes up. And 78 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: you might think, well, that's weird, because everything I encounter 79 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: tends to be either a solid liquid or a gas. 80 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: I very rarely encounter plasma. Well, that's because you don't 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: live on the Sun. I have encountered a couple of 82 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: people who have encountered plasma firsthand, um, more than once, 83 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: because they have been hit by lightning. Yes, and that's 84 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,559 Speaker 1: what I was saying with my quote at the beginning 85 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: of the show. Lightning is something that can create plasmas. 86 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: One of the ways that we can find naturally occurring 87 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: plasma on Earth. The plasma does not last very long. Um. 88 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: But we'll get into that in a second, and I 89 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: would avoid coming into contact with plasma as often as possible. Now, 90 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: there are other plasmas that we encounter. Anything, any sort 91 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: of ionized gas is a plasma. There's some that are 92 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: considered cold plasmas. And by cold, we're talking in terms 93 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: of relativity here, right, you know, it's just it's colder 94 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: than say the plasma you would find shooting out of 95 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: the sun. And then they're blood plasma, right, which is 96 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: totally different, not the same stuff, but like a neon sign, 97 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: that's that's an ionized gas within the k neon is 98 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: ionized within that sign. That technically is a plasma. It 99 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: is just not the same quite quite the same thing 100 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: is what we would find, say a plasma cutter, which 101 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,119 Speaker 1: is kind of what I wanted to talk about, because 102 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: plasma cutter, that's something that's it's a tool that we 103 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: use that can cut through really sturdy, thick sheets of metal. 104 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: And it's really impressive if you ever see one of 105 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: these in action, because you might look at a sheet 106 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: of metal and you think that, how the heck are 107 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: you supposed to shape this so that you can use 108 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: it in various applications like building airplanes. In fact, building 109 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 1: airplanes is kind of where the idea for plasma cutters 110 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: came into play. Yes, that's that's true. And they plasma 111 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: cutters not only cut through metal, they do it like butter. Yeah, 112 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: like butter. I'll give you a topic. Plasma plasma cutters 113 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: are are really, if you'll pardon my again over simplification, 114 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: really really fancy because not only are they cutting their 115 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: cutting very precisely and they tend to uh basically the 116 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: way they cut through it, they do it uh in 117 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: a temperature so hot that it it steals off the 118 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: metal and prevents corrosion. Yes, um, but again that's an oversimplification. 119 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: Let's get into what's really going on here. Sure, so 120 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: back during World War Two, there was a demand for 121 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: building aircraft very very very quickly. Yes, and that's that's 122 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: kind of a problem because aircraft are very complex, very 123 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: large devices. So that meant that, you know, you had 124 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: to find a new way to go into mass production. 125 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: And so there were different experiments being done about new 126 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: means of welding materials together. And uh, some folks discovered 127 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:04,559 Speaker 1: that if they used a gas and inert gas fed 128 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: through an electric arc, so they create an electric arc 129 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: between a couple of electrodes and they shoot gas through 130 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: that arc, that they could create a very effective welding tool. Now, um, 131 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: so that was sort of the basis of the plasma cutter. 132 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: Now this was not used to cut. This was used 133 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: to weld, so welding different sheets of metal together, yes, exactly. So, uh, 134 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: but that that started the foundation. What happened was in 135 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties some engineers figured out that they could 136 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,959 Speaker 1: actually increase the temperatures of this this uh, this plasma 137 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: by speeding up the flow of gas and by controlling 138 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: the diameter of the nozzle. So if they decrease the diameter, 139 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: they're they're making it, you know, narrower, and they're increasing 140 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: the flow of gas and they're pushing it through this electrode. 141 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: It would actually increase the temperature quite a few orders 142 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: of magnitude. And this is where the idea of using 143 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: this to cut through metals started to come into play. 144 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: And uh, technically, the typical plasma cutter uses the sheet 145 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: of metal that it's cutting as part of a circuit. 146 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: So you've got to think about the parts of a 147 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: of a plasma cutter. You've got an electrode inside of it, 148 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: that's what that's what's providing the the the charge. You've 149 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: got the cutting gas that is inside of it. This 150 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: is the the inert gas that's going to be passed 151 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: through this electric charge and superheated to plasma. And then 152 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: you've got a controlling gas that's around that that actually 153 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: is used to help concentrate the flow of the cutting gas. 154 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: It's it's so you've got the nozzle that's helping concentrate 155 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: the flow, and if you've got a second gas that's 156 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: also sort of pushing against that cutting gas, keeping it 157 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: nice and tight. And then once you put the the 158 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: plasma cutter against the piece of metal, then that creates 159 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: a circuit. The shock from or the charge from the 160 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: electrode goes to the metal. The metal has sort of 161 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: a positive charge to it the and and we know 162 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: that the negative wants to go to positive, so the 163 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: electricity hits the metal. The gas flowing through the nozzle 164 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: is ionized, becomes plasma and superheats and actually turns metal 165 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: into into molten material at the blink of an eye. 166 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: And that's when you can just start cutting through it 167 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: like it was as Chris said. But yeah, when you're 168 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: reaching temperatures of thirty degrees fahreneit that's se degrees celsius. 169 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,719 Speaker 1: That's pretty hot. And when we're talking about increasing the 170 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 1: flow of the gas, we're talking this this gas is 171 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: flowing at a rate of around twenty thousand feet per second. 172 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: Know how many meters per second? That is courting on 173 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: my fingers about six someone's been reading how stuff works 174 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: dot com. Excellent article. We do have an article on 175 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: how plasma cutters work at how stuff works dot com, 176 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: which is it's a good thing to read about. And 177 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: if any of this sounds familiar to you, guys, then 178 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: you've been listening to tech stuff for a really long time, 179 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: because we did do an episode ages ago about plasma 180 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,439 Speaker 1: waste converters and what a plasma waste converter is. It's 181 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: a really cool application of this technology. It's essentially using 182 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: a device similar to a plasma cutter, a plasma torch 183 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: to create this incredibly super hot ionized gas in order 184 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: to liquefy or gasify trash. So, depending upon what the 185 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: trash is made out of, it will either turn into 186 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: a gas because you know what's the plasma is applied 187 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: to it, or it will liquefy. Uh So essentially car 188 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: carbon based uh lment. It's anything that's carbon based within 189 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: the trash is going to gasify, uh and everything else 190 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: liquefies and um it's you can use that gas depending 191 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: on on what you're producing. You can actually use that 192 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: gas as fuel, and the liquefied stuff, once it cools, 193 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: turns into stuff that looks kind of like obsidian. In fact, 194 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: I have I haven't a sample of that because when 195 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: I did the article, I visited a engineer at Georgia 196 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 1: Tech who gave me a sample of this solidified waste 197 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: which looked like it was a volcano rock, which essentially 198 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: is what it is kind of so anyway, that's another 199 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: interesting use of plasma technology. Chris and I will continue 200 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: our discussion about plasma in just a moment, but first 201 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. Now 202 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: let's kind of talk a little bit about the concept 203 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: of plasma weapons. So we had our our listeners specifically 204 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: asked us, like our plasma ray guns possible? Um In 205 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: a word, no, at least not without today's technology. And 206 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: there are a lot of different reasons for this. One 207 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: of those is that um plasma, if you were to 208 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: generate plasma at a at a temperature that would be 209 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: considered weaponized. So we're talking about you know, hot hot 210 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,439 Speaker 1: plasma UM. You have the problem of heat dispersing too quickly, 211 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: so the the ionized gas would lose a lot of 212 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: energy as soon as it leaves wherever wherever you're generating it. Right, 213 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,319 Speaker 1: so at the point of generation, it's going to be very, 214 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: very hot. So if I were point blank right up 215 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: against you and I pushed a weapon against you and 216 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: I pulled the trigger, then yeah, you're gonna get cut 217 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: in half, or you're gonna have a whole drilled through you. Essentially, 218 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: But if you're you know, twenty feet away, this ionized 219 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: gas is gonna be losing energy at a very fast rate, 220 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: and as it loses energy, it's going to revert back 221 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: to a regular gas, and you can't really get it 222 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: to travel very far. And it also disperses. So if 223 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: you were to have this ionized gas come out of 224 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: the end of a ray gun, it's not gonna be 225 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: a ray or a beam, right, It's not gonna move 226 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: forward in a concentrated beam. It's going to disperse hour 227 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: it's gonna bloom. So in that sense, you also don't 228 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: really have much of a weapon because the further away 229 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: the person is, it's it's just like a shotgun in 230 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: a way. You know, a shotgun shoots shot and that 231 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: shot spreads as it goes out, So the further away 232 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: someone is, the less concentrated the impact will be right, right, So, 233 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: same sort of thing, except even on a bigger scale, 234 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: because we're talking about individual atoms here, not just uh shot, 235 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: And so that's another problem. Um, there are various ways 236 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: of getting around this. If you had a gun that 237 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: somehow could create an electrical charge all the way down 238 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: to wherever your target is, it could ionize the gas 239 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: immediately around the electrode. But in that case you're talking 240 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: about some sort of superpowered taser. Yeah. Now, if you'll remember, 241 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: if you think of it as as the plasma cutter, 242 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: you'll remember that in our discussion on how it worked, 243 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: just a moment ago, UM Jonathan was pointing out that 244 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: the metal that's being cut requires uh IS is basically charged. 245 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: It's part, it becomes part of the circuit. So if 246 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: you were shooting at something five feet away, for example, UM, 247 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: it's going to be very difficult. I mean, you can't. 248 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: You have no circuit. You can't you don't have a circuit. UM. Also, 249 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: you'll remember that Jonathan was talking about the gas that's 250 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: on the outside of the pressurized gas that is used 251 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: to cut UM, that's controlling the the cutting of the 252 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: plasma cutter. Without that UM, it's exactly what Jonathan says, 253 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: you don't have a real way to control it. And 254 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: you might say, well what about lightning, Well, lightning it 255 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: forks it's not controlled. UM. So yes, lightning can can 256 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: travel a long distance, but it also it's a charge. 257 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: We know that the ground and the clouds are charged differently. 258 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: Essentially a circuit. It's certually the only last a moment. 259 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: But you know it's not so if you had if 260 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: you somehow arranged it so that everyone on the enemy's 261 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: side war of particular suit that should positively charged clothing, 262 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: so that I could use this negatively charged electra to 263 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: create a circuit between me and you that I can 264 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: vaporize you, that would be great. M So, yeah, that's 265 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: a little tricky. Um. Yeah, there are a lot of 266 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: other issues with this, but there that's not the only 267 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: way to weaponize plasma. That's you know, that's if you 268 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: were to have a gun, like in the Halo universe. 269 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: In the Halo University, aliens have plasma weapons and they 270 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: shoot these kind of blobs of energy, which you know, 271 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 1: essentially it's like uh, blobs of of superheated gas and 272 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: they travel as if it were a solid projectile and 273 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: uh it's like little sunlits. Yeah, these little energy weapons 274 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: that can do massive amounts of damage, particularly literally to 275 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: your shields, right against shields. So yeah, supercharger plasma pistol 276 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: and then immediately switched to your regular pistol. It's in 277 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: a great way of anyway. So that's just not viable 278 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: right now. The equipment we would need to create plasma 279 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: is much larger than what you could have in a 280 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: handheld gun, and you just wouldn't have those results. But 281 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: that's not the only way. There are other ways. Like 282 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: there's an example, there's a weapon that's been worked on 283 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: by the US government over the last few years called 284 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:04,640 Speaker 1: a pulsed energy projectile weapon or PEP. Now, this creates 285 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: a it uses it uses a very high powered um 286 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: laser style weapon. So it's not a plasma weapon at 287 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: its at its source, right, it's just create it's just 288 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: firing off energy. It's an energy weapon. And the idea 289 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,679 Speaker 1: is that when the energy contacts something solid, then it 290 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: creates a plasma. It actually excites the material that it 291 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,879 Speaker 1: contacts with and that's what creates the plasma. So the 292 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: plasma is not contained within the weapon. UH and it's 293 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: it's just it generates as soon as the ray hits 294 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 1: something solid and then at that point what happens is 295 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: the plasma that's generated quickly starts to expand because the 296 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: energy from the ray is continuing to hit it. Okay, 297 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,719 Speaker 1: So that expanding plasma creates an electromagnetic magnetic pulse, and 298 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: this pulse is geared to UH kind of short circuit 299 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: our pain receptors, and the idea is that this weapon 300 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: would either or paralyze you. It would just make all 301 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,640 Speaker 1: you know, your muscles contract kind of like a massive taser, 302 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: or would paralyze you with pain. You would feel so 303 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: much pain you would be incapable of doing anything else. 304 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: This is the pain ray that people have talked about, 305 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: and UH there's a lot of concern in the international 306 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: community that such a device would be used not to 307 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: stop a riot, but rather as a divisive torture, to 308 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: to really torture a person if you were trying to 309 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: interrogate them. And of course the whole torture thing has 310 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: its own issues beyond just the technical but that is 311 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: a way that people are weaponizing Plasma's just not using 312 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: plasma as a direct weapon. It's just part of the weapon. 313 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: We have a few more points to make about plasma 314 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: before it's all said and done, but before we get 315 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: to that, let's take another quick break to thank our sponsor. 316 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: There are ideas of creating UH plasma to act as 317 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: an antenna because they can be much more efficient than 318 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: metal antennas, and or even use them in anti missile 319 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: systems where the idea would be that if you had 320 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: missiles coming in, you could fire beams up into the 321 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: upper atmosphere ionized part of the upper atmosphere so that 322 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: when missiles were passing through them, they would detonate and 323 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: not land and hit you. Um. So those are ways 324 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: of weaponizing plasma. That's not not quite the same as 325 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,920 Speaker 1: having a a cool ray gun. You know, you're Q 326 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: thirty five space modulator or whatever it's called. I'm sure, 327 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: I'm sure someone's gonna write in so they know it 328 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: was a Q thirty two space modulator. Sorry, that was 329 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: the obsolete person I thought I've upgraded. Yeah, it's also 330 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: hard to imagine something that shot plasma that would, you know, 331 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: stop at a certain person. It would, it would shoot 332 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,679 Speaker 1: through schools, it would see really it would, yeah, if 333 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: it if it were really a superheated gas um. Yeah, 334 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: I mean, if you were to find some way to 335 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: control it so that it maintained its integrity and could 336 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,880 Speaker 1: travel best distances, then what would stop it from shooting 337 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: through whatever it was you hit and then going moving on. 338 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: I mean, it would lose energy every time it contests. 339 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: But if you're talking about superheated, if you're talking about 340 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: temperatures that that rival the temperature of the sun. Um, 341 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: it's gonna take a while for that to to lose 342 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: enough energy for it to If you could keep it 343 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: concentrated like that, it would take a while for it 344 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: to lose enough energy for it to stop. Which just 345 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: reminds me of the documentary Real Genius where they fire 346 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: off the laser and it goes all the way through 347 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: the entire laboratory and shoots through the head of a 348 00:21:52,160 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 1: statue on the quad. Yeah. So anyway, Yeah, that's that's 349 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: the basis for the whole idea about plasma weapons. I 350 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: think I'm not going to go so far as to 351 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: say they're impossible. It's just that with today's technology they 352 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: are not really possible, And it may be that they 353 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: could be possible but not practical. Yeah, it'll it may 354 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: very well be that by the time we could create 355 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: a plasma weapon, something even scarier is out there. So um, yeah, 356 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see if there's there are further 357 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: developments in attempting to weaponize plasma technology. But really, when 358 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: it comes down to it, it's very useful tech for 359 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: things in manufacturing and and like I said, waste management 360 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: or potentially in waste management. There are very few plasma 361 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: waste converter facilities out there. There are only only a 362 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 1: couple in the United States, and there are a few 363 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: in Japan and UH and that's about it. But but 364 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: they have the potential to really change the way we 365 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 1: deal with waste. I mean they could. They could actually 366 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 1: help reduce landfills because most of them have capacity so 367 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: great that they would be able to serve not just 368 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: the community on a daily basis, but also take uh 369 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 1: garbage that has already been dumped in the landfill and 370 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 1: start using that as well. So every day it would 371 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: be using a little bit more of the landfill as 372 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: well as taking care of all the daily trash that 373 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: was generated by the population, plus possibly creating energy as 374 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: a result through uh through using fuel. Um. You know, 375 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: it's a it's an attractive prospect, but it also requires 376 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: quite a bit of an initial investment. So anyway, this 377 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: look is going to be a short episode. So hey, guys, 378 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: UH you're welcome. I hope you guys enjoyed that episode 379 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: about plasma. It's always fun to revisit these old topics 380 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: that Chris and I did back when we were young 381 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: and naive and only had a vague notion of what 382 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: podcasting was all about, whereas now I have a slightly 383 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: less vague notion. 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