Three movies in, and Walt Disney’s rebooted Star Wars universe is now in full force. With the help of FAMU-FSU’s Dean of Engineering Murray Gibson, we have a brief look into some of the major developments in the world of science and engineering that may make some of the technological advancements of the latest Star Wars movies a little less far away ...
While many of the technological innovations featured in the movies are either improbable or impossible due the constraints of the laws of physics, there are some advancements that could be decades or even years away. Famously, we have seen many of the gadgets we currently use in everyday life featured in sci-fi television and film in the past—the cellular telephone, the microwave and teleportation (okay, sadly not the latter). Another example is 3D augmented reality featured in the original Stars Wars trilogy bringing us Princess Leia in full blurry holographic glory—still better than her CGI appearance at the end of Rogue One.
However, the most common question is always going to be, can we create a real lightsaber? Sadly, this is rather challenging.
J. Murray Gibson, dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. (Image courtesy FSU)
“The great thing about movies like Star Wars is the imagination it takes to think about what could be possible,” Gibson said. “As an engineer, if you want to do things that don’t violate the law of physics, you probably can do it. It can cost a lot of money though, so is it something you really need to do? Nonetheless it’s a great way to stimulate imagination and stimulate technology.”
However, Gibson suggested, lasers are the obvious way scientists might create a lightsaber. The problem is that it is difficult to confine a laser beam. In addition, laser light beams would naturally pass through each other instead of banging together like swords. But it may be possible to contain the beam by squeezing light through holes smaller than the laser beam’s wave length, a technique that has been applied to other purposes. As Gibson said, “We haven’t made anything on that scale yet, but there’s a possible way to do it.”
The power required for this may also be a major stumbling block for portability. With up to 25 pounds of battery potentially required, roughly the size of Yoda himself, the agility and mobility of the Jedi in possession of the weapon might be a little compromised. Lightweight energy storage developments would help in the future.That is all promising news, but we are still left scratching our heads about how to add those all-important sounds. Shrvvvvvvmmmm!!!
One thing is for sure, at the moment, the lightsaber is many decades away; for now, the toys are good enough for me—I mean the kids.
You can read more on Star Wars just about everyone at the moment, even on bananas.
And you can click here for more from Engineering Dean Murray Gibson as well as an interesting video on the science behind the lightsaber.