1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I am your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,159 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, an executive producer with I Heart Radio and 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: I love all Things tech. It is time for a 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: tech Stuff classic episode. The episode you are about to 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: hear originally published on July one, two thousand thirteen. It 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: is titled Pew Pew Plasma. So this is an episode 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: all about plasma, what it is, what we use it for, 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,319 Speaker 1: you know, maybe some sci fi stuff about plasma. We're 10 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: gonna check it out. Let's listen. In So, plasma weapons 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: is one of those staples in science fiction. But before 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: we kind of talk about what plasma weapons are, it 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: helps for us to actually think about what plasma is. Yes, 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: here in the reality world that we live in, Yeah, 15 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: the place where you and I spend all our time, 16 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: well most of our time, a little bit, not a 17 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: half and half of our time, Okay. In this world, 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: plasma is one of the four phases of matter, the 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: others being solid, liquid, and gas. And in fact, plasma 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: is the most plentiful of all these stages of matter, 21 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: just not here on Earth, no, not not so much. 22 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: But when you look at things like stars which are 23 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: many many, many times larger than Earth. That's what those 24 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: are made out of. That's that's all plasma. Yeah, so 25 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: it's ionized gas. Now that doesn't necessarily mean anything to 26 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: you if you haven't had a science course in a 27 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: really long time, or maybe you just haven't gotten to 28 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: that one yet, since we have listeners of all ages 29 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: up there. So an ionized gas means that those atoms 30 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: that are in the gas are made up of neutral particles. 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: Then you have ions, which are atoms that have either 32 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: gained or lost electrons. In the case of plasma, we're 33 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: talking about losing electrons, and then you've got electrons zipping around. 34 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: So the ions are positively charged, the electrons are negatively charged, um, 35 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: and it's all moving around in this high energy gas. 36 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: That also means that electricity can actually flow through plasma. 37 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: Plasma itself is a conductor. Yes, they're also affected by 38 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: magnetic fields. Yeah, because whenever you have charges, then that 39 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: means that it can respond to some sort of magnetic field. 40 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: We've talked many, many times about the relationship between electric 41 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: and magnetic fields. This is the case with plasma. So 42 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: if you have a plasma and you have a strong 43 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: magnetic field, you can actually guide that plasma in a 44 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: way or or or mobilize it or compress it, which 45 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: is really important in some of the applications. But we'll 46 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: talk about the applications in in just a minute. So 47 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: plasma stars make it through huge amounts of heat. I 48 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: mean you have to. You have to really take gas 49 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: and add energy to it to turn gas into a plasma. 50 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: That energy doesn't have to be heat. You know, for example, 51 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: a fluorescent bulbs have have plasma in them, and they 52 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: are obviously not that hot, so certainly not as hot 53 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: as the surface of son or an even an incandescent bulb. 54 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: So how do we make plasma? So it does require 55 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: that we add energy. Uh, And like you said, it 56 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: doesn't have to be heat. It can be in the 57 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,399 Speaker 1: form of electricity, which is what we see with fluorescent 58 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: light bulbs. It's also what we see with things like 59 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: plasma torches. And we'll explain more about how those working 60 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: a little bit. But um, I want to read this 61 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: out because I got a little silly when I was 62 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: writing my notes. Laurens already enjoyed. I enjoyed this note, yes, 63 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: and I don't know what was in my coffee when 64 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: I started writing this one. But what I specifically wrote 65 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: my notes was you make plasma by adding energy to 66 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: a gas until electrons strip three of the atoms in 67 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: the gas, and you've got ions and electrons having a 68 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: sub atomic janet Reno dance party. So that's all my 69 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: all my Saturday Night Live friends out there who watched 70 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: in the nineties like I did, Yes, yeah, it's it's 71 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: basically just the nuclei of these atoms and the electrons 72 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: all going we yeah, especially if it's something like hydrogen, 73 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: because then all you have our protons, which are positively 74 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: charged sub atomic particles, and electro on, which are the 75 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: negatively charged sub atomic particles zipping around. Now, uh, plasma 76 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: does not necessarily have to just be hydrogen gas. It 77 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: can really be any gas if you add enough uh 78 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: energy to it to turn it into a plasma. It's 79 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: just hydrogen is the one we think of, because that's 80 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: what the Sun is made out of. Sun is actually 81 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: using hydrogen gas. It's got this this plasma hydrogen that 82 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: then fuses into helium, and that's the fusion process that 83 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: we see in the Sun that we hope one day 84 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: we can harness here on Earth or yes, harness, Yeah, 85 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: not replicate We already do replicate it right inefficiently. Yeah, 86 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: it's not. Unfortunately, the amount of energy we have to 87 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: pour into replicating it is more than what we get 88 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: out of it. So therefore it's not a good energy source. 89 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: But it's a pretty light show. We are hoping that 90 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: we can make that an energy source. And if you've 91 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: listened to our fusion episode, you know what we're talking about. Well, 92 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: we'll cover it a little bit more in a in 93 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: a second too. So, yeah, we use uh an electric 94 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: current apply to the gas to get energy that's necessary 95 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: to make the electrons pop off these these uh atoms, 96 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: turning them into ions. So in the case with like 97 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: a plasma torch, you've got these electrodes that create the 98 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: negative charge when you bring that torch in contact with 99 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: positively charged metal surface, so for example, a big old 100 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: hunk of iron. You complete the circuit right, and then 101 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: that allows the negative particles to move towards the positive particles. 102 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: In the process, you're ejecting the torch with compressed air. 103 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: That compressed air comes into contact with this incredibly powerful 104 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: electric charge, turns into a plasma, burns super super hot 105 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: and that's what allows you to cut through like a 106 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: giant and uh. And that's just one example of how 107 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: we use the the plasma here on our planet. Not 108 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: all of them are so violent that one is actually 109 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,559 Speaker 1: kind of awesome. There are other uses for plasma torches. 110 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: We'll talk about two. So when we're talking about a 111 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: plasma like that, like in the case to a plasma torch, 112 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: you're talking about creating a a ionized gas. There's actually 113 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: hotter than the surface of the Sun in some cases. 114 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 1: So how do you contain something like that very carefully, right, 115 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: because if you don't, you just burn everything up. Well. Actually, fortunately, uh, 116 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: once once plasma gets away from its energy source, it 117 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: cools down very rapidly. Yeah, because you have to keep 118 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: pouring energy in to maintain that plasma state. You know, 119 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: with the Sun, it's just it's got that heat going 120 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: for it. That's what keeps it going. Here on Earth, 121 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: we would have to continue either applying heat or electricity 122 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: to maintain that plasma. If we didn't, it would start 123 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: to lose energy, and as it lost energy, it would 124 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: start to convert into a normal gas as opposed to 125 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: a plasma um. And also if we wanted to maintain 126 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: that that energy and keep the plasma going. We could 127 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: control it with magnetic fields. Not the band which you know, 128 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: I love Book of Love, great song, That's not what 129 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: we're talking about. We're talking about actual magnetic fields. You 130 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: could use those like electro magnets. You could use electromagnets 131 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: to control and contain plasma because, as we said before, 132 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: the electrical charge of the plasma reacts to the magnetic field. Right, 133 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: So if you just create it so that you are 134 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: repelling the plasma from all sides, you can contain an 135 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: into a little ball of plasma if you if you will, 136 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: or you know, various shapes. It's not really a ball necessarily, 137 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: but that's something that you would have to do because 138 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: otherwise it sort of blooms outward. Blooming is one of 139 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: those those terms that can be used in multiple ways 140 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: depending upon what specific technology you're referring to. So with lasers, 141 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: it's slightly different than with plasma. What I mean with 142 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: plasma is that it does tend to to spread out 143 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: kind of dissipates. So let's say that you you decide 144 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: that you're gonna hop into the shower, take a nice 145 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: hot shower and in the process you're generating a lot 146 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: of steam. That steam will just essentially go everywhere to 147 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: fill up the vaulvolume of the room you are in, 148 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: assuming that the room you are in is not palatial, 149 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: and that the steam can eventually cool down enough to 150 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: condense into water. So, uh, you know, that's that's the 151 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: same short thing with plasma. It's gonna spread out. It 152 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: behaves the way of gas. What it doesn't just maintain 153 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: its shape. So that's why you would need something like 154 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: a magnetic field to keep it in a specific shape 155 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: if that was your goal. And again, if it were 156 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: spreading out, then that would also mean to be losing 157 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: energy fairly rapidly. And cooling down doesn't necessarily mean that 158 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: you want to stand too close to a plasma torch 159 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: as it's going off, but it does mean that it's 160 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: not going to You know, when we talk about something 161 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: that can burn hotter than the surface of the sun, 162 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: we don't mean that if you turn it on and 163 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: immediately starts to burn a hole straight down through the 164 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: now a couple of feet away, it's gonna kinda cool 165 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: down enough that it's nothing yeah, yeah, and at least 166 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: not enough for it to cause massive problem, like a 167 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: structural integrity problem. That being said that, if you do 168 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: have a plasma furnace, you have to have lots of 169 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: cooling mechanisms in place to keep that operational. If you're 170 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: going to maintain a plasma burn and um. We'll talk 171 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: about that in a second. I like that we keep 172 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: on hinting the stuff we're going to talk about teasers. 173 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: We're actually kind of getting into it right now. Don't worry, 174 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 1: it's not like we're holding off that far. So we've 175 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,439 Speaker 1: already kind of talked a little bit about what we 176 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: use plasma for. For instance, plasma torches. We talked about that, 177 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: and you mentioned fluorescent lights, But how exactly do fluorescent 178 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: lights work, Like, what is the the plasma application there? 179 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: What's what's happening inside of fluorescent Okay, So fluorescent bulbs 180 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: are sealed tubes and they inject current into them through 181 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: electrodes um. There the tubes, the tubes are filled with 182 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 1: with an inert gas usually classically are gone and uh 183 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: and a little bit of liquid mercury and um. So, 184 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: so when the current flow flows through these electrodes um 185 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: it causes the inert gas in the tube to plasma 186 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: ify um. And I'm not sure if that's a real word. Yes, 187 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: it is excellent, it is right now anyway, it's real 188 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: enough for me. We are the music makers, Yes, we 189 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: are dream of dreams. Yes. Um. And when when that 190 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: when that gas plasma i fis um, the electrons begin 191 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: migrating through the tube due to this electric charge. Okay, um, 192 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: this this energy makes liquid mercury gasify all right. And 193 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: then those uh, those those little gasified mercury atoms um 194 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: collide with the argon plasma, and the the electrons in 195 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 1: the in the mercury atoms start getting excited by these 196 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,319 Speaker 1: collisions and and jumping up a level. Right. And now 197 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: now that this this, this is basically how photons are formed. 198 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: When um, when something collides with the particle and gets 199 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: those electrons excited, it jumps up a level, and then 200 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: when it contracts back down to its former position, a 201 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: photon is given off. Right, Because what's happening is you're 202 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: pouring energy into the atom, which is allowing the electron 203 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: to move to further out from the nucleus. When the 204 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: electron starts coming back into the nucleus, that means it 205 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: has to rule lease that the energy that was used 206 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 1: to push it out in the first place. That release 207 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: tends to be in the form of a photon, so 208 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: a light particle. In the case with mercury, most of 209 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: those light particles are actually ultra violet correct um, which 210 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: which is invisible to the human eye. So it wouldn't 211 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: be a very useful light bulb if that's all it did, 212 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: I mean, apart from you know, maybe you wanted to 213 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: have a wicked black light kind of thing going on, right, 214 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: and that is how black lights work. Um. But but 215 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: the the inside of most bulbs that are not black 216 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: lights are covered with them with a powdered phosphor coating 217 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: and um. This these these phosphor atoms get bombarded by 218 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: the UV photons, uh, go through one of those fancy 219 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: electron jumps, and in the process release a visible light photon. Right. 220 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: So you're you're actually having two incidents of the same 221 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,959 Speaker 1: process going on within a fluorescent bulb. It's just one 222 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: of them is what is giving us the light that 223 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: we can see within the visible spectrum and uh and 224 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: and the other is the more practical from a energy 225 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: conversion and um. And also I mean it's stuff like 226 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: ourgon gas is pretty common and inexpensive. By the way, 227 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: the fact that there is mercury in floresce invulves is 228 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: one of those reasons why you want to be very 229 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: careful with floresce involves, especially break them open and lick them. Yeah, 230 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: when you're disposing of fluoresce evolves, you need to be 231 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: very careful because mercury is very toxic. Uh. And it 232 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: can make you go crazy and not in a fun 233 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: Las Vegas kind of way. Science fact. Yes, So that's 234 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: one way that we use plasma along with torches. Yeah. 235 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: And and this this brings us actually to plasma TVs 236 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: because plasma TVs are are essentially um made. A plasma 237 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: display is made up of a bunch of very small 238 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: colored fluorescent lights. Um. By altering the kind of phosphors 239 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,839 Speaker 1: that you're using in a fluorescent lights coating, you can 240 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: alter the kind of visible light that comes out of it. Right, 241 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 1: So what color you actually receive? And uh and these 242 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: are are our gp uh green blue red green blue lights. Right. 243 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: So uh and here's an interest things. So one of 244 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: the things that you know people who are home theater 245 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: enthusiasts and you know they either subscribe to L. E. D. 246 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: L c D or plasma TVs. Uh. One of the 247 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,679 Speaker 1: things they talk about is contrast ratio, which is the 248 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: difference between the whites that you can display on a 249 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: screen versus the the shades of black that you can 250 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: display on a screen. And if you have a true black, 251 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: that means that if you were to turn off all 252 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: the lights in your room and look at your TV, 253 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: it should just disappear. It should not even be noticab glowing. Right. 254 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: If you have an l c D television, chances are 255 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: is that if you have all the lights off and 256 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: you have a black screen on your TV and the 257 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,319 Speaker 1: TV is on, you can actually see more like a 258 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: really really deep gray color. And it's because it has 259 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: a back light, whereas plasma televisions do not have that backlight. 260 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: It's just relying upon that excitation of the gas. Yeah. There, 261 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: it's just all of these little pixels of of red 262 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: grit and blue light that are they are very small 263 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: and uh contributing to a larger picture. Right. So when 264 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: it's when the screen is is black, it's because there's 265 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: nothing active. It's not that you know, there's like a 266 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: little tiny shield between the back light and you, which 267 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: is technically what's going on with most l c d s. 268 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: The shield is very tiny, but it is what it is, uh, 269 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: And there were a lot of other like differences between 270 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: plasma and l c d s, especially early early on. 271 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: In fact, if you really want to experience the joy 272 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: of learning about the differences, you can listen to one 273 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: of the very first episodes of tech stuff. We're talking 274 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: like back, I think when it was five minutes. You 275 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: would have to go to our RSS feed to find it. 276 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: But if you went to our RSS feed and scrolled 277 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: all the way down and then looked a couple of 278 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: episodes up from the very first one, you would see 279 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: that Chris and I did an episode all about the 280 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: difference differences between plasma TVs and l c ds. But 281 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: in this case, plasma is um. You know, one of 282 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: the exactly what we're talking about, this ionized gas. Now 283 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: keep in mind, both with four essence and with the 284 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: plasma TVs, these are not gases that are burning at 285 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: hotter than the surfaces, right, No, no, they're not. However, 286 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: our next application will be Okay, well are you talking 287 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: about plasma waste converters UM? I was going to talk 288 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: about plasma torches, but we can also talk about plasma 289 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: waste converters, right, because we kind of talked about plasma 290 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: torches already, did we did? I I wanted to mention 291 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: that they they've actually been around since World War Two, 292 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: when when factories working on military aircraft started adopting welding 293 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: techniques that they that they realized were um uh, we're 294 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: much more efficient because they um when when you're feeding 295 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: that inert gas through through the electrical arc um, it 296 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: creates a barrier around the world with the with with 297 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: the airflow and um that that protects it from oxidation, 298 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: which is very useful when you're trying to make things 299 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: stick together like metal um, right, especially if it's metal 300 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: that's going to be under tremendous stress and poor and 301 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: poor conditions, you know, like like having you know, salty 302 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 1: water being tossed at it. Sure. Sure, but plasma waste 303 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: converters are a little different. It's using the same technology 304 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: as plasma torches in the that you have a plasma 305 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: torch at the heart of the plasma waste converter. And 306 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: anyone who's listened to tech stuff long enough knows that 307 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: I'm crazy about this idea because I just think it's 308 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: so cool. The idea is that you are using plasma 309 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: in the case, in the sense of a plasma torch 310 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: to break down the molecular bonds of garbage. So you 311 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: bring garbage in and the garbage gets exposed to a 312 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: plasma torch within a furnace. The furnace itself is lined 313 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: with lots of protective material to keep it at a 314 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: workable temperature, so it doesn't you know, break down. But 315 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: the garbage itself, when it's exposed to this intense heat, 316 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: the molecules that hold it together, that those bonds that 317 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: hold the molecules together rather they break and it turns. 318 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: It's called molecular dissociation. Yeah, I've dissociated with some molecules 319 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: in my time, and let me tell you it's a 320 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: violent process. And so in this case, what happens is 321 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: the material breaks down into one of two forms. Either 322 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: if it's carbon based, it then turns into gas, or 323 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: if it is not common based, if it's not organic, 324 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: it then melts down into slag. And usually before you 325 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: would even go through this process, you would actually sort 326 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: through this garbage, you know, take out anything that's metal 327 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: that you could recycle. That kind of stuff, and so 328 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: what you what you're left with is a gas that 329 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: if you treat it chemically, you could actually make a 330 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: synthetic fuel out of it, which is one of those 331 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,360 Speaker 1: promising future fuels that people talk about sometimes, right. And 332 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: it's not that this is a fuel that would it's 333 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: not that we would create enough of this to make 334 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: it our primary source of fuel, but it could help 335 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: offset some gasoline. Yeah, and or even if you just 336 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: had it on site, if you had energy production on 337 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: site along with plasma waste converter, then you could actually 338 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: generate electricity. Yeah, you can fuel a converter, and if 339 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: you made enough electricity from the fuel. It all depends 340 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,199 Speaker 1: on what the garbage is made out of, but if 341 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: you made enough, you could even feed electricity back. And so, 342 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 1: but then the other stuff, the slag just melts off, 343 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: and if you let it cool by air, it become ms. Uh. 344 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: This rocky substance looks like volcanic glass, and you can 345 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: use that in construction materials. If you cool it with 346 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: compressed air, it turns into what's called rock wool, which 347 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: is very uh effective insulator. Uh. If you cool it 348 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: by water, it turns into this little pebbly kind of 349 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: substance that you can use for multiple purposes. It's just 350 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: a neat idea and it's uh, you know, it comes 351 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: at several different problems all at once. Energy production, although 352 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 1: on a very small scale. Again, it's not like this 353 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 1: is going to it's not like it's gonna be mr fusion, right, 354 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: it's not a powery car um but energy production as 355 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,400 Speaker 1: well as getting rid of garbage in a way that 356 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: it would mean that we turn our garbage into fuel 357 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: sources and eventually we could even if the if the 358 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: facilities were large enough, get rid of landfills, we would 359 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: eventually mine the landfills from fuel plus taken all incoming garbage. Now, 360 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: and this is in a relatively clean way, by the way, 361 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: because it doesn't use oxidation in the burning process. You're 362 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: not you're not actually burning stuff, just burning. You're applying 363 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: so much energy that it just breaks it down. Yeah. 364 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: So yeah, it's different from burning garbage and then releasing 365 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: toxins into the air. Keeping in mind that the gases 366 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: that you are getting from this process would be pretty 367 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,919 Speaker 1: toxic in some cases. But that's why you have to 368 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: have the chemical scrubbing part where you use uh. Special, 369 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: you cool the gas down in several in several steps, 370 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: and once it's cool enough, you then combine it with 371 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: other gases that will allow the useful stuff to pass 372 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: through and become synthetic fuel and the other stuff, the 373 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: toxic stuff would bind with other agents to become essentially 374 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: inert material that you could then dispose up safely. At 375 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: least that's the ideal. Um. All that being said, really 376 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: expensive proposition, which is why we don't see it everywhere, 377 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: right right, But but pretty cool though, um and uh 378 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: and and this is possibly why people in science fiction 379 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: decide that, hey, you know this thing where we're literally 380 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: breaking down the molecular structure of atoms. So that's yeah, 381 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 1: why don't we use that as a weapon. I mean, 382 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: if this is, if this is something that can turn 383 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: stuff into just gas or molten slag, wouldn't that make 384 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,360 Speaker 1: an amazing weapon? And in theory, sure, and that's probably 385 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why it's so popular in science fiction. 386 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: But we'll we'll take a closer look at that before 387 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: we get into the science fiction e part and the 388 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:29,479 Speaker 1: actual weapon part. Let's take a quick break, all right, 389 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: So we touched on it. Why you would want a 390 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: plasma weapon because plasma is the stuff of stars, and 391 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: if you were able to wield that in a weaponized way, 392 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: you would be the biggest, baddest monster in the universe. 393 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: You were looking at me to see how I was 394 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: going to end that, weren't you, Because you're thinking like, 395 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: there are a lot of words that he could use 396 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: to in that phrase, and some of them would require 397 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: a beap, but I was good. So yeah, it's it's 398 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: this idea of transmitting huge amounts of thermal energy or heat. 399 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: So if you think of our traditional guns, the stuff 400 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: that we have right now today, most of those guns 401 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:10,119 Speaker 1: are weapons that transfer kinetic energy. The idea that I 402 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: fire a projectile at a target, that projectile transmits kinetic 403 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 1: energy to the target and that causes damage. Um. Now, 404 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: you know, not all guns are that way. We've got 405 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: some guns that use different methods, like you know, things 406 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: that even use things like sonic waves. That's a little 407 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: a little sonic waves, still kinetic. But then you could 408 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: have a weaponized laser that would be sort of a 409 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: thermal weapon. Yea more burning, that's true. So the idea 410 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: I think is that a plasma weapon would be something 411 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: that would cause damage to your target through massive amounts 412 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: of heat, kind of the way we were talking about 413 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: with the plasma to massive amounts of damage. Yeah, so 414 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: wouldn't just be like it lights up very pretty, although 415 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: that's kind of the effect we get with science fiction. 416 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, why are why do we see them and 417 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: so many different implementations in science fiction. I really do 418 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: think it is because they look cool, and they look cool, 419 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: and they make noises or whiter or brown noises. You know, 420 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: it's not pupu laser. It's different from pup laser. But 421 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: for example, we've mentioned this before. Lauren and I both 422 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: are fans of the Halo franchise, and in Halo, the 423 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: alien bad guys they tend to use plasma weapons. I think, 424 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 1: in fact, all of their according to the Halo wiki anyway, 425 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: um not not all of the weather there that the 426 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,159 Speaker 1: needlers the one kind of weapon under contention, but everything 427 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: else that the Covenant uses is u is a plasma 428 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: because they talk about plasma rifles. They talk about plasma pistols. 429 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: If you want to yeah, if you want a newcombo somebody, 430 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: you've got to have a plasma pistol and then a 431 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: human pistol and then you charge the plasma pistol really 432 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: good for taking shields down. Yeah, and that's that's the 433 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: real purpose of it in the game, right, Some weapons 434 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: are very good at doing particular things, like the can 435 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: The weapons are good at hurting people once their shields 436 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: are down, but they're not so good at taking down shields, 437 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 1: Whereas the plasma weapons are really good at taking the 438 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: shields down. And if you're me, they you could shoot 439 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 1: somebody a billion times with a plasma weapon and they 440 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: never seemed to die, whereas I can take a hit 441 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: and a half and I'm done. Also that I'm really 442 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: bad at Halo. Let's be fair. I'm probably not hitting 443 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: them at all. I think I'm hitting them, but in reality, 444 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: I'm just kind of spinning around, pointing my gun in 445 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: the air and going within within the Halo universe, by 446 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: the way, And I found this interesting just because I'm 447 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: such a Halo nerd um uh. Supposedly humanity had tried 448 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: to create a plasma tank at some point, because you know, 449 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: because we were in this hypothetical future using um using 450 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,479 Speaker 1: plasma for garbage disposal and stuff like that, and uh, 451 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: but it never came to fruition, right, and whereas the 452 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: Covenants certainly did as the Wraith, as I recall, does 453 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: fire giant blobs of plasma. And the interesting thing is 454 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 1: that in the within the Halo universe, these plasma rejectiles 455 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: behave in a very particular way. They seem to go 456 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: straight out from the weapon. They don't. They don't bend 457 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 1: to gravity in any way. They do not. So it's 458 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 1: almost more like a laser in that sense. It's like 459 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: an energy weapon in that sense, but it's an energy 460 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: weapon where it is a cohesive blob, very slow cohesive 461 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,439 Speaker 1: blob compared to, for example, the air space of a 462 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: of a swallow. No, no, they a bullet or right, yeah, yeah, 463 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: the the physical projectiles, like if you're using a pistol, 464 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,639 Speaker 1: it's not like you can track the motion of the bullet. 465 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 1: In Halo, right, you just you see whether or not 466 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: you hit something by the reaction. See a sniper trail. 467 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, you can see a trail, but you 468 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: can't see the bullet itself, you know, you see the 469 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: evidence of where the bullet was, whereas with the plasma weapon, 470 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: you can actually track the projectile as it fires across 471 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: the field of battle. So and also I wanted to 472 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: mention that Star Trek a lot of a lot of 473 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: the plasma cannons, bombs, bullets, torpedoes, beans, um as, some 474 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: forms of phasers are are also supposedly plasma based. Interesting. Yeah, 475 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: I think it's just mainly because it sounds scientific and interesting. 476 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: And again they you know, when you know that a 477 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: plasma is an ionized gas and can be a superheated gas, 478 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: then that tells you, oh, well, you could have this 479 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 1: blob of stuff. But it starts to raise some pretty 480 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: tough questions like could we have a science fiction ee 481 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: plasma weapon? And if not, what what's the problem? Where? 482 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: Where are we hitting the challenge of doing this? And 483 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: there's a few physics really is the problem. It's a 484 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: big one. So one of those challenges We kind of 485 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: hinted at it already when I was talking about taking 486 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: a shower. So imagine you're taking that shower and you 487 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: want the steam to all go into one place in 488 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,439 Speaker 1: the room and stay there. Really hard, how do you 489 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 1: do that? Um? Yeah, it's some people have pointed out 490 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: like think about if you had a gun that could 491 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: fire steam. Sure, if you were just right there, right 492 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: where the barrel of the gun is ended and you've 493 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: never gotten a steam burn. It's it's bad. Yeah, it's bad. 494 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: You know, if you're at point blank range for a 495 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: steam gun, that would be bad business. It would hurt 496 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: a lot. So same thing with like a plasma torch, 497 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,160 Speaker 1: except it wouldn't hurt so much as you would start 498 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: to dissociate. Um but uh better if you get more 499 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,359 Speaker 1: than a few feet away, Yeah, if you get more 500 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: than a few feet away, it all disperses it. It 501 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: has this blooming problem again that it just starts to 502 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: that there's nothing holding the plasma into a shape like 503 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 1: a projectile so that it could maintain some sort of 504 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: coherence until it hit a target. So if I shoot 505 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: a steam gun at Lauren and she's fifteen feet away, 506 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: She's just gonna sit there and say, like, nice smoke machine, 507 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: you got there, idiot, Whereas I'm thinking, like, shoot, should 508 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: have got the other weapon, like the crossbow or something. 509 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: This isn't terrible portraits. You might get a little damp. 510 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: So so this is basically a Doctor Horrible's friend moist. 511 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: I think this is pretty much so. Now, granted with plasma, 512 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: you're talking about a super high energy ga US and 513 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: it's not that it would lose its energy instantaneously, but 514 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: it would be you know, it disperses pretty quickly. So 515 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 1: another thing is that plasma tends to be less dense 516 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: than atmosphere, especially if it's like a hydrogen gas. I 517 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: mean that's not Hydrogen is the lightest of all elements, right, 518 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: So if you were to fire out a blob of hydrogen, 519 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,959 Speaker 1: the first thing it would do is float up into 520 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: the atmosphere, assuming that you are firing in an atmosphere 521 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: and you're not in space. Okay, So if I if 522 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,159 Speaker 1: if I'm shooting at you in our own real world Halo, 523 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 1: and I have a hydrogen based plasma weapon, and you're 524 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: just gonna see my projectile shoot straight up as it's dispersing. 525 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: So it's just getting It's a blob that's getting larger 526 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: and grow and floating up. Meanwhile you're just giggling and 527 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,639 Speaker 1: I'm still still shaking my handloading your sniper rifle at 528 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 1: me um but luckily I serpentine. So anyway, the the 529 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: this is a problem. You would have to have a 530 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: super dense plasma so that it would not just float 531 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: straight up. But that means that it would behave According 532 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,679 Speaker 1: to the rules of gravity. So just like an actual projectile, 533 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: if you fire a gun with a physical bullet and 534 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: you have a you know, you have plenty of space 535 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,120 Speaker 1: that that bullet will hit the ground if there's nothing 536 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,199 Speaker 1: to interrupt its flight. It's going to hit the ground 537 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,159 Speaker 1: in the same amount of time, by the way, as 538 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: it would take you to drop the bullet from the 539 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: height of the gun. So if I dropped if I 540 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: dropped a bullet straight down, and I had a gun 541 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: that is parallel to the ground, right, it's not pointed 542 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,200 Speaker 1: up in any way, it's not arcing. Uh, And and 543 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: I fire the gun and I dropped the bullet at 544 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: the same time, both bullets will hit the ground at 545 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: the same time. It's just the bullet that's fired from 546 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: the gun will hit the ground really far away. But 547 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: that's because gravity. So gravity would would also affect plasma 548 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: because you would have to have it super dense enough 549 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: so it doesn't flow in the air. But that means 550 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: that don't done. So there's that issue. And then how 551 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 1: you keep the plasma together, How do you keep it 552 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: so that it's a projectile? The only way I can 553 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: think of is that you use some sort of traveling 554 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: magnetic field that keeps it in that shape. So you 555 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: would have to have something that could create a magnetic 556 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: field around your plasma and travel with the plasma projectile 557 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: until it gets to its target. We don't really have 558 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 1: anything that can do that, and if we did, I'm 559 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: not sure that a plasma weapon would necessarily be the 560 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: most interesting thing that we would do with that. Yeah, 561 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: we might be able to find other ways of weaponizing 562 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: just that. The fact that we can make a traveling 563 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: magnetic wave that we could control in so precise a 564 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: manner as to maintain the shape of a plasma ball, 565 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: you probably can weaponize that in a much more effective way. Uh. 566 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: In Halo, the the plasma sword is is said to 567 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: be controlled by by magnetic field generators that hold the 568 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: blades of of ionized gas in that shape. Some people 569 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: have theorized that a lightsaber is in fact some sort 570 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: of plasma sword. Um. Whereas I just say what Lucas said, 571 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: that it's a magic word. So with magic, you don't 572 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: have to have a scientific explanation. You don't know, it's 573 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: just magic. Hey it's Jonathan. We're going to take another 574 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: quick break, but we'll be right back. So we are 575 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: nowhere near the point where we would be able to 576 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: generate a plasma of the sufficient density and then keep 577 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,719 Speaker 1: it in the right shape and have it act as 578 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 1: a projectile. We just don't have that here. So that's 579 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: first challenge. Second challenge propelling the plasma. How do you 580 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: get it to go out of the gun towards your 581 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: target and maintain any sort of speed um I don't know. 582 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: Maybe again, another magnetic field. Possibly you could use a 583 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: a very strong magnetic field to to repel the plasma 584 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: towards your target. Doesn't seem like it would be terribly accurate. 585 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: It's almost like just shoving someone and also also still 586 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: not I mean, if you can, if you can really 587 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: direct that sort of back back field, you get back 588 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: into the territory of wind just weaponizing that. Yeah, or 589 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: you if you're talking about a plasma where you are 590 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: generating the plasma by pushing compressed air past electrodes, as 591 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: opposed to already having generated plasma and then firing that, 592 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: if you're making the plasma on site like you would 593 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: with a plasma torch, then uh, I guess you could 594 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: have it be kind of like a plasma flamethrower. That's 595 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: as closing or maybe as doing a quick puff or 596 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: a vortex of air. Have you ever seen those air 597 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: cannon that kind of had the elastic bag And then, 598 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: you know, I leaned back from the microphone to visually 599 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: display that for all of our listeners. I appreciate that 600 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: because it told me that you actually understand what it 601 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: is that you immediately knew what I was talking about, 602 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: because you were making the universal gesture of this jerk 603 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: is about to hit me with an air cannon. Um 604 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: if you guys don't know what I'm talking about. They're 605 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: these air cannons. They're sold as novelties. You can find 606 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: them all over the place. I think think Geek has them. 607 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: But you can use them to fire a puff of 608 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: air at a person all the way across the room, 609 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: and that air will maintain its shaped by creating this vortex, 610 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: the swirling uh motion of air that allows it to 611 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: kind of be a projectile over decent distances. It does 612 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: eventually disperse. It's not like it's going to maintain that indefinitely. 613 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: But you maybe your plasma weapon would create a vortex 614 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: similar to that and be able to be propelled through 615 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: a quick puff. But you know, it's still kind of 616 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: an issue there. That's how do you do that? If 617 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: if you were able to generate enough kinetic energy through uh, 618 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: the magnetic field, like you said, why not just make 619 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: a kinetic weapon rather than a plasma weapon? Um, and 620 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: then finally have the energy that would be required to 621 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: make a plasma weapon work, right, because yeah, it's you 622 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: would really need. You would need so much that it 623 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: really wouldn't be mobile, right. Yeah. First of all, just 624 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: to generate a super hot plasma, you would need quite 625 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: a bit of electricity, and you need a sustainable amount. 626 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: So yeah, you wouldn't. Any bad that we have that's 627 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: portable right now would not work. So we'd have to 628 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: have incredible like maybe like a little fusion generator and 629 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: whatever the weapon is. And uh, and then you're talking 630 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: about carrying around a fusion mom in pistol form. Otherwise 631 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: you are essentially connected to an enormous power facility by 632 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: a cable which is not terribly mobile. No, um, certainly 633 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: not fair personalized weapon. Yeah, And and it's beyond just 634 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: the generating of the plasma, right if we also have 635 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,479 Speaker 1: to have this magnetic field, That energy has to come 636 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: from somewhere, and if we're talking about propelling this plasma 637 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 1: in any sort of way that actually makes it a 638 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: you know, something that's more deadly than the Moon and 639 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: Nights laser beam, which moves it like one click a second. 640 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: Then you have to find even more energy to make 641 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: that go forward. At this point, we're talking about so 642 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: much energy to go into firing one single weapon that again, 643 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,280 Speaker 1: you could probably use that same amount of energy and 644 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: weaponize it in a different way that's far more effective. 645 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: So what we're coming down to is right now, a 646 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: plasma weapons not truly in the sense of the science 647 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: fiction plasma weapons. A plasma weapons not really feasible. It's 648 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: not not possible with the technology we have, and it's 649 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 1: not really practical because again, with that amount of energy 650 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: we would need, we could probably find more efficient ways 651 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: of killing each other, all all kinds of more efficient ways, 652 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 1: like any of the ones that exist right now. Right yeah, 653 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: so uh yeah, it's just it's probably not a very 654 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,879 Speaker 1: likely outcome. I don't think we're ever going to see 655 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: plasma weapons the way they are depicted in video games 656 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,480 Speaker 1: and movies. However, that being said, once, once we are 657 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 1: all carrying around, say Mr. Fusion, maybe then but even then, like, 658 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:47,359 Speaker 1: why not just use a laser gun at that point, right, 659 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: other than the fact that you want the cool blobby effect, 660 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: I mean points for style. I guess you can just 661 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: use the laser gun and take glorp. Yeah, that's how 662 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: I would do it. So that makes it. There are 663 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,919 Speaker 1: weapons that exists, either in prototype stage or very early 664 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: stages now that do have plasma as a component, but 665 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: it's not like you're firing a projectile of plasma. And 666 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: one of those is something that we commonly refer to 667 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: as a lightning gun. Uh. It's because because lightning, in 668 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: fact does plasma phy air around it. Right, So in 669 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: this case, what you're doing is it's it's pretty ingenious. 670 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: You're using a very high powered but very brief laser. 671 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,759 Speaker 1: It's only on for a fraction of a fraction of 672 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,759 Speaker 1: a fraction of a second. We're talking about fempto seconds here. 673 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: So you you you blast out this this high energy laser, 674 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,839 Speaker 1: that high energy laser, as it travels to whatever it's 675 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: target destination is, it creates a plasma channel because it's 676 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: so high energy, that's just plasma ifying the atmosphere between 677 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: it and wherever the target is. So you've got this 678 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 1: plasma channel. That means that if you wanted to, you 679 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,280 Speaker 1: could fire off a blast of electricity, a huge electric 680 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: charge down this channel. And because plasma does conduct electricity, 681 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: lightning essentially will travel down this plasma channel target, assuming 682 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: that your target does in fact conduct electricity. So there's 683 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 1: no like, like, here's the thing. It's not terribly accurate 684 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: in the sense that if I'm aiming at Lauren and 685 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 1: she happens to be no, I don't know two yards away, 686 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 1: because these things, I mean, a laser has no effective 687 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: real range on it as as far as you know, No, 688 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,360 Speaker 1: that's too far out. Um. Really kind of line of 689 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,399 Speaker 1: site is really what theoretically this would work as. So 690 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: I've aimed at Lauren, I've pulled the trigger, and this 691 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,280 Speaker 1: this channel has opened up, and the electric blast immediately follows, 692 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: like almost to the point where it's all to us. 693 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,840 Speaker 1: It would see an instantaneous But Lauren happens to be 694 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: here's a clear line of side. I can see her, 695 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,320 Speaker 1: and I'm firing this at her because apparently she's really 696 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 1: cheesed me off. But there happens to be an enormous 697 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: tank that's sitting yards between the two of us. Um, 698 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:05,720 Speaker 1: it's off to the side, so it's not like directly 699 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: in my line of fire. However, this enormous tank is 700 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: a conductor, and there is a very good chance that 701 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,840 Speaker 1: the lightning that's going down is going to zap onto 702 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: that tank, as opposed to continuing down and zapping Lauren 703 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 1: the same way that. For example, um, if you're if 704 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 1: you're standing next to a very large tree. Um, you 705 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: know that that that tree versus an open plane. If 706 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 1: if you're in an open plane, you don't want to 707 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:28,200 Speaker 1: be the tallest thing in it. If if you're in 708 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:30,319 Speaker 1: the middle of a lightning storm, because and if there's 709 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,400 Speaker 1: a lightning storm and there's an open plane and a 710 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: very tall tree, you don't want to be under the 711 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: tree because again it's it's gonna be that. You know, 712 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: you can't predict exactly where this is going to go. 713 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: It's a somewhat of a chaotic event. Now. But but 714 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 1: the largest conductor nearby is a pretty good gas right, 715 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:48,640 Speaker 1: So if Lauren's the largest conductor nearby, first of all, 716 00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:52,279 Speaker 1: there aren't any other people around, which is tiny. But uh, 717 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,399 Speaker 1: then she might actually get hit by this lightning blast. Now, 718 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 1: to be fair, the applications that I have seen for 719 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 1: this weapon and are not meant to go against human 720 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 1: targets or even vehicular targets, although that has been uh 721 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: something that's been proposed. Instead, it's a means of detonating 722 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,239 Speaker 1: what is a suspected explosive device. So the idea is 723 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,840 Speaker 1: that you get a safe distance away from the device, 724 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,200 Speaker 1: you aim this thing at it, and then this blast 725 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: of electricity hits the device and would then uh activate 726 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,080 Speaker 1: it or or destroy it, so that you wouldn't have 727 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,799 Speaker 1: to worry about endangering someone's life. You wouldn't have to 728 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 1: try and deactivate it in person, or you wouldn't even 729 00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:32,480 Speaker 1: have to send a robot to it. You just blast 730 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: it from a distance. So that's the proposed use of it. 731 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,160 Speaker 1: It's really kind of again not as far as I 732 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 1: can tell. It's not something that's widely deployed. It's still 733 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,800 Speaker 1: very much in that sort of testing, stage testing and 734 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: waiting for for money kind of thing where it may 735 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,360 Speaker 1: even be perfectly viable. It's just that you have to 736 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,680 Speaker 1: get to the point where it funds and it actually 737 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: gets into the hands of the people who want to 738 00:38:56,239 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: use it. Then there's something called the pulsed energy Project 739 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:04,720 Speaker 1: dectile weapon or PEPs PEPs. Yeah, these are often referred 740 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: to as non lethal weapons. And in fact, Chris and 741 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: I did an episode on non lethal weapons. If you 742 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,160 Speaker 1: haven't heard that one, you should go back and listen 743 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,399 Speaker 1: to it. That we do cover PEPs in that one 744 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,719 Speaker 1: less more than five minutes. Yeah, this one, this one 745 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:18,360 Speaker 1: is one of the longer ones because it was a 746 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: couple It was like maybe a year or two ago 747 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:24,440 Speaker 1: when we did it. So these PEPs are they're classified 748 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:27,680 Speaker 1: as non lethal, but they can be quite lethal. The 749 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 1: idea here is that you use a laser. Again, you 750 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,680 Speaker 1: point the laser at your target, and the laser is 751 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,759 Speaker 1: very high powered and it ends up vaporizing part of 752 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 1: whatever the target is, whatever it comes into contact with. 753 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,879 Speaker 1: In the process, that area, then plasma fis turns into 754 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,520 Speaker 1: a very rapidly expanding pocket of plasma. That expansion is 755 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,239 Speaker 1: super super fast, and during that expansion you get a 756 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:53,160 Speaker 1: couple of things that happen. If it's faster than the 757 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: speed of sound, then you actually get a shock wave 758 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: like you would like a sonic boom. Now it might 759 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,400 Speaker 1: not be on this gale of a jet flying overhead, 760 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:03,880 Speaker 1: but it could still happen. That would be enough to 761 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,319 Speaker 1: really knock your silly. But then on top of that 762 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: you get an electro magnetic pulse as well, which could 763 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,399 Speaker 1: be enough to overload your nervous system. Right right, It's 764 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: it's really not the not the heat of the plasma 765 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 1: that that you're worrying about in this case, it's the 766 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: sensory overload. Yeah, so you would essentially end up feeling 767 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: a massive amount of pain and possibly be paralyzed for 768 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,359 Speaker 1: a certain stain amount of time. Yeah, so it's it's 769 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:33,080 Speaker 1: meant to incapacitate the target, and in fact has been 770 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,200 Speaker 1: referenced as being a weapon that would be used in 771 00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:40,359 Speaker 1: something like riot control. Kind of terrifying. Uh yeah, yeah, 772 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, for reals, set your phasers to 773 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:46,160 Speaker 1: stun kind of kind of weapon is really nifty and 774 00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:48,640 Speaker 1: Star Trek when everyone is a good guy, um and 775 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,040 Speaker 1: they're only using it on bad guys. But here in 776 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:52,839 Speaker 1: the real world is a little bit a little bit, 777 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:56,439 Speaker 1: especially since since it is said to cause tremendous pain. Yeah, 778 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,359 Speaker 1: it's not like it's something that just don't you don't 779 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,440 Speaker 1: just don't just go oh, you know, it's more like, yeah, 780 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 1: and then you can't do anything. Um, So, yeah, it's 781 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: but those are two examples of existing weapons that are 782 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 1: using plasma in some way. It's just not in the 783 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:15,799 Speaker 1: way that we think of when we think plasma gun. 784 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,600 Speaker 1: So you know, it's not that plasma is completely useless 785 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:21,600 Speaker 1: in the in the weapons field, it's just that it's 786 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,839 Speaker 1: not directly used as a projectile the way we think 787 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,439 Speaker 1: of when we play Halo. There is I did read 788 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: about about something called a plasma shield. Have you heard 789 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,960 Speaker 1: about this one? No, Um, It's it's a device that's 790 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:37,480 Speaker 1: using a dynamic pulse detonation and um. And it's basically 791 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,319 Speaker 1: a short but intense laser pulse creates a ball of 792 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 1: plasma and then a second laser pulse generates a shock 793 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,359 Speaker 1: wave the way that we were talking about a moment 794 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,160 Speaker 1: ago with the PEPs um. It creates a shock wave 795 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,800 Speaker 1: within the plasma that generates a flash bang. Wow, that 796 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:54,440 Speaker 1: would sounds like that would be terrifying. Yes, yeah, and 797 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,520 Speaker 1: loud and and very loud. Yeah, and and and that 798 00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:01,200 Speaker 1: this this also you know, being being more defensive and offensive. 799 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,800 Speaker 1: It's meanted disorient It's meant to dis orient and to 800 00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:08,560 Speaker 1: distract and to allow your forces to either withdraw or 801 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:12,360 Speaker 1: to engage in a way that the opposing forces cannot 802 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,759 Speaker 1: anticipate because they're currently dealing with the fact that their 803 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:18,320 Speaker 1: ears don't work anymore. And that wraps up this classic 804 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,040 Speaker 1: episode of tech Stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed it. If 805 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,200 Speaker 1: you have any suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, 806 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,480 Speaker 1: whether it's a tech company, a technology, a trend in tech, 807 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:30,879 Speaker 1: a person in tech, anything along those lines, let me know. 808 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,279 Speaker 1: Reach out on Twitter or Facebook. The handle for both 809 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,480 Speaker 1: is tech stuff H s W and I'll talk to 810 00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:44,439 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart 811 00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:48,279 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit 812 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 813 00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.