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Lightsabers, now possible
Topic Started: Fri Sep 27, 2013 11:35 am (272 Views)
wissaboo
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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/26/light-solid-lightsabers-nature_n_3996982.html


Quote:
 
Light Has Been Made Solid Paving The Way For REAL LIGHTSABERS

The Huffington Post Canada | Posted: 09/26/2013 2:38 pm EDT

Scientists at Harvard have made photons of light behave like solid molecules, paving the way for advances in quantum computing and, well, lightsabers.

Yes, you read that correctly, lightsabers may actually be possible.

We're not talking about recent 'real' lightsabers that look authentic or burn through objects, but which would make for a very disappointing duel.

No, these lightsabers would actually bounce off each other.

The tantalizing possibility is the result of the work of a group headed by Harvard physics professor Mikhail Lukin and MIT physics professor Vladan Vuletic. In a new paper published in Nature titled "Attractive Photons In A Quantum Nonlinear Medium," the scientists detail how they made photons form molecules.

Photons, the particles which make up light, are in most cases massless and easily pass through each other. But the Harvard/MIT group was able to use a vacuum chamber, laser beams and a cloud of rubidium atoms cooled to near absolute zero to make photons behave very different.

"Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless, and that they do not interact with each other," Lukin said in a press release.

"What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they begin to act as though they have mass, and they bind together to form molecules. This type of photonic bound state has been discussed theoretically for quite a while, but until now it hadn't been observed."

If you think this sounds nothing like a lightsaber, you would be wrong.

"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to lightsabers," Lukin said. "When these photons interact with each other, they pushing against and deflecting each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."

Let's just say that while this opens the door to real lightsabers, the current method of making light behave like a solid is exceedingly complex.

Two photons are shot into the super-cooled cloud of rubidium and because of an effect known as the Rydberg blockade they move through it together, behaving like a molecule.

The scientists say their research will be most useful in constructing quantum computers. This is important because scientists can already predict that makers of computer microprocessors will soon hit certain physical limits which will make it impossible to continue increasing computational power.

A quantum computer will use weird effects from the world of the very small, such as a superposition and entanglement, to make calculations and previously unheard of speeds.

In order to do this, however, individual quanta of photons will have to interact with each other, something which the MIT and Harvard group has now proved to be possible.

But while the focus is on computing, Lukin believes it may one day be possible to create solid objects out of light.
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Problem - a lightsaber has a limited light length, but light is naturally infinite, so how do they shorten it ??
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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Lus
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Sherlock... I mean... KHANNNNNNN

Cool. Next thing they should make:

A transporter!
:lus:
It's a Star Trek Miracle!
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wissaboo
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they should make that first.
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AWOLangel
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and then make a replicator.

(the star trek kind, NOT the stageate: sg-1 kind)
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

A replicator, using our natural waste products. Shouldn't be too difficult, just need to find a way to break everything down to their component atoms, and then reform them into the new matrix !!

But then there's a problem, an economic problem. If we had replicators, we wouldn't need shops, or the manufacturers that make the products the shops sell. Which means everybody is now out of work, and the global economy has just crashed. So while replicators might be a nice idea (especially in third world countries), I really can't see them becoming a reality anytime soon !!
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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Lus
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Sherlock... I mean... KHANNNNNNN

They could build a Stargate while they're at it!
:lus:
It's a Star Trek Miracle!
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VioletCloud
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Water Tribe!
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but will these light sabers have cool sound effects.....
:violet:
All my posts are done from my tablet. I apologize for all strange errors in my posts... as swype hates me. :violet:
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Sound effects should be no real problem, lighting effects (the flash when two sabers come together) that could be more problematical !!

Stargates, hmm. If I remember correctly they were originally alien technology, adapted by us for human use, instantly transporting over thousands of light years. Not sure how we would be able to do that, but a nice idea if we could !!

Oh but I've thought of a problem. Don't you need another gate at the other end to receive the transport ?? How would you get it there ??
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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AWOLangel
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VioletCloud
Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:40 am
but will these light sabers have cool sound effects.....
:violet:
no. we will have to make our own noises. :p :D
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.--Abraham Lincoln
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Lus
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Sherlock... I mean... KHANNNNNNN

AWOLangel
Sat Sep 28, 2013 5:49 pm
VioletCloud
Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:40 am
but will these light sabers have cool sound effects.....
:violet:
no. we will have to make our own noises. :p :D
That's part of the fun in having one!
:lus:
It's a Star Trek Miracle!
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

People going around making 'nnnmmmggg'-type noises !! :lol:
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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stigmata
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spocklet
Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:46 am
But then there's a problem, an economic problem. If we had replicators, we wouldn't need shops, or the manufacturers that make the products the shops sell. Which means everybody is now out of work, and the global economy has just crashed. So while replicators might be a nice idea (especially in third world countries), I really can't see them becoming a reality anytime soon !!
We would live in a post-scarcity economy, and all become artists and gardeners and Starfleet officers
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Hmm, sounds reasonable. Put me down for Starfleet, preferably on-board Voyager !! :)
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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AWOLangel
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stigmata
Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:26 pm
spocklet
Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:46 am
But then there's a problem, an economic problem. If we had replicators, we wouldn't need shops, or the manufacturers that make the products the shops sell. Which means everybody is now out of work, and the global economy has just crashed. So while replicators might be a nice idea (especially in third world countries), I really can't see them becoming a reality anytime soon !!
We would live in a post-scarcity economy, and all become artists and gardeners and Starfleet officers
and replicator repair people.
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.--Abraham Lincoln
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Hmm true, replicator sales and engineers to fix 'em would be growth industries !!
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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Alisium
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Womb-Raider

Who'll be replicating prostitutes? Not Fleshlights, but real flesh and blood prostitutes?

Material goods are but one part of a healthy economy.
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Go to all the trouble of trying to replicate prostitutes, with a holodeck just down the hall ??
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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Alisium
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Womb-Raider

I think you're missing my point. There will always be a service sector (and other sectors for that matter) and there are always things that a holodeck or replicator just can't replicate.

Like a flesh and blood woman.
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spocklet
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Live long and prosper.....!!

Oh I got your point ok, in fact I quite liked it. But where are you gonna get all those flesh and blood women from ?? Nice as the ladies are, a holodeck is easier to program !!

And suppose you get a nice flesh and blood woman that you like, what happens if she doesn't like you for whatever reason ?? See what I mean ??
R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro
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