Lightsaber – The Fascination
Since my first encounter with a lightsaber I was fascinated by the idea of this weapon. I must have been about 6 years old, when i saw a lightsaber for the first time on a movie poster of the original Star Wars movie. It happened on my daily walk to elementary shool. And guess what – I came late that day ;.)
It seems there are a lot of people out there on the internet who share this fascination. Doing a research on the topic of Lightsabers you will find mind-blowing things like:
- lightsaber replicas – expensive limited collectible movie props
- lightsaber toys – with more or less immitating properties
- software to add lightsaber effects to videos
- home made lightsaber duell videos
- instructions on how to build your own toy-lightsaber
- artfully crafted custom lightsaberscomputer games involving lightsabersscientific papers about lightsabers
- dangerous laser pointers in real lightsaber design
- bbc news about injuries caused by lighsaber mock duels
- 4,3 Million google hits on the keyword “lightsaber”
- historical reviews of the lightsaber
- psychological interpretations of the lighsaber as a phallus symbol
- you name it…
So where does this persistent buzz come from? IMHO the attractivness of the lightsaber comes from the fact that it is a combination of ancient values and modern technlology. A return to times when humankind was surrounded by mystery and somehow “connected to the force” … Society is captured by the false conclusion that because modern sience can explain a lot of things in reverse things that can´t be explained by sience are either non existent or worthless. We are living in a scientific technical world increasingly complex. And we are paying a high price for this. Everything outside this scientific paradigm is devaluated into insignificance. Little space is left for “real magic” in our lives and it gives lot of us the dumb feeling of something missing. The lighsaber is future technlology based on the elegance and simplicity of ancient times and it is used by people who are connected to “the force”.
As Obi-Wan Kenobi puts it:
“This is the Weopon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized time.”
May the Force be with you …
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
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October 30th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
beverley knight video…
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
December 28th, 2007 at 2:30 am
As at the web page http://jnaudin.free.fr/vpexp/index.htm
you will find out that a toroidal coil is able to be used to push ions/ectricity
along a pole,
well my idea is to put electrodes across the face of the toroidal coil and
pump very high voltage across the gap/centre/face of the coil with the
result that the toroidal coil will push this electric arc out and away from the
face. This could be used to create a LightSaber! And of course a nob
could control the length of the saber by making adjustments to the toroidal
coils so that the ION push can be controlled and therefor adjusts length.
(Other parts could perhaps include a Tesla coil to receive
energy from an external wireless power source, perhaps inside a
backpack).
This design should be able to cut through objects just like an arc welder,
instead the arc is forced into a long blade.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:39 am
I suggest you go to this site http://boardster.net/Lightsmith/index.php
April 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I believe lightsabers though for this elegant, futuristic, weapon for a more “civilized” time yeah if we had these the world would probly come to an end but shit, making these weapons is definitely possible.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I agree with the arc design, I was interested in it along time ago as a possibility, esentially a plasma arc bent outwards by a shaped EM field, forcing the arc to go along the path of least resistance as defined by the field(s). I found it would be very exspensive to prove in a lab and very little hope in the near future for an electrical power source capable of sustaining the arc to a length of 3-4′ out and back, as well as the imense field needed to keep it stable.
I would like to propose a sugestion which may still be difficult to make portable by considerably more likely. It also is in keeping with the traditional saber attributes, i.e the ability to ‘react’ when in contact with other objects.
Imagine a hydrogen-oxygen torch with a 3-4′ flame (iregular shaped ‘blade’ and very hot for the wielder) now add to that a circular ring of gas vents at the base of the torch, expelling highly charged (positive) ion gas under extreme velocity, and angled in slieghtly outward so the effect would be to contain the h-o torch in a slender rod, and carry most of the ambient heat away from the wielder. It would require a few connectors in the wrist or palm, and gas would have to be supplied from tanks somewhere (backpack, beltpack until better tech comes along). I estimate it could be in use for about 4min (but what a fun four min.)
This design would theoretically provide several effects…
o It would react to any other positive or diamagnetic charge as though it were solid,until forced through.
o It would have a burning temp of around 10-15k deg. enough to melt through any metals even perhaps concrete.
o It would ‘bounce’ off of another similarly charged saber
o It would be naturally blueish.
0 Hydrogen-Oxygen could be produce on-site (slowly) via water electrolysis and some solar electric source. (to recharge only, not to maintain a blade in use)
Tommorows Jedi could very well be a man with a slim pack (with compressed tanks) on his back and a gelpack (with 12vt power packs) belt and a series of gas lines running down his arm (good thing jedi wear robes) to a connector, to which he quick-connects to a hilt and fires up an impressive device.
Note: further testing on the effects of extreme heat on charged ions needs to be done. It may negate the effect or make it more prominent.
This may not sound as romantic as the movie version, but I believe its simplistic design means that anyone with a few commonly found supplys/tools could build one at least for display purposes
I welcome comments my email is woodbeefarm@rock,com