Could a light saber be possible to make?

[rutger5000]

This logic only holds if you want to believe that lightsabers could be made
Actually it's extremly easy to limit the extension of the laser. In fact physics will do that for you, any laser eventually diverges, normally it's the trick to get it to diverge it as late and slow as possible. Sure it's a bit odd to have it diverge that suddenly but it if you want to you can believe it to be doable. For all those wiseguys who say a laser beam is invicible, there are always bound to be a few particles in it's way, a high intensity lasser that cuts to everything so easily will probably do lots of fun stuff to all the particles that get in it's way. It's not so incredibly far fetched to assume it causes them to light up. But I can't find an excuse for the jedi lightsaber coming in multiple colours.

 

[CCountZero]

There's the issue of creating a laser powerful enough to actually cut through things instantaneously, and then you have to figure out how to limit the extension of the laser.

The first problem being that a Lightsaber blade consists of highly energized plasma, and don't actually use laser technology at all.

Next problem then is that it's also claimed to be mass-less, and to not radiate any heat until physical contact, which is a contradiction of terms.

Plasma is hot as all hell and you can be damn sure you'd be roasting in your hide long before the 'saber kills you, whether you're the wielder or the chopping board.

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Making a Lightsaber as per how the Star Wars universe describes it, is not possible under our current understanding of science, so unless that drastically changes, which, IMHO, it seems very unlikely to do in regard to these mechanics, you're basically shiet out of luck.

 

[omega 616]

snip

I actually saw a programme about this very subject, turns out they can easily make a laser strong enough to cut through just about anything and put it into a subtle handle. The problem is stopping it, making a laser that powerful means it would be blasting a tiny hole in the next planet it touched.

What the guy did was make a plasma sabre, he used some tiny pieces of carbon in the handle as a battery that created more than enough energy to power the "blade", made the "blade" out of some resin (I think) with like inch diameter holes in, which the plasma flowed out of. The plasma was kept to the blade by a magnetic force. Quite awesome really.

See if I can find a vid....

Found it!

 

[xXGeckoXx]

It's understandable how it would seem undoable. There's the issue of creating a laser powerful enough to actually cut through things instantaneously, and then you have to figure out how to limit the extension of the laser.

But, if they somehow could solve both of these issues, couldn't the result very well look like this?

[http://nomoreheroes.wikia.com/index.php?title=Beam_katana&image=BloodBerryTsubakiMkII-jpg]



The beam katana from No More Heroes may not be as elegant and magical as the light saber from Star Wars, but it could very well be possible to make some day in the future.

The problem is you would need too ends. Lightsabers just end magically in the air giving them a fixed length. A no more heroes blade has a cap at the other end. With a chemical laser and a good enough batter (from the future) then yes it is possible to make a no more heroes style blade but no magically stopping lightsaber.

Edit: Plasma torch. Now I feel stupid.

 

[Nieroshai]

I think the default assumption that lightsabers are lasers is what makes them seem impossible or require Travis Touchdown-style flourescent light baseball bats. I'm obviously no physicist, but here's my idea as well as the idea listed in the Star Wars Guide to Weapons and Technology.

Lightsabers are a magnetic feedback loop that essentially channel particles (or plasma?) up and down the blade at super-high speeds. Of course, the issue would be whether or not the device would be too hot to wield, but if it works through a chainsaw-like friction effect as opposed to a melting effect, it becomes more plausible. But then, there's the fact that it cauterizes wounds. Perhaps it is a property of the field itself that causes the burning? Perhaps there are fields that can eliminate heat exchange between the blade and the air outside? While this is more plausible than "LOL lazors" it does continue to raise questions. Simply put: we do not have similar enough tech to properly envision whether one would work or not.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Some1 probly said it but its completely possible to make them, except that they couldn't hit each other or anything they would go straight through.

 

[Farther than stars]

The biggest issue with creating light sabers would be getting the light to become solid when it comes into contact with a light from the same frequency.
And since light doesn't consist of matter... (you know where this is going)
But I guess it could be possible to manipulate light in such a way that it has matter-like properties (kind of like the Mass Effect fields), but that's all just sci-fi until someone figures out how to do it and whether it's even possible. Either way, I think around the time that we make such scientific advancements, we'll have left light sabers behind us to find an even better application for such a phenomenon.

 

[silverbladz]

Could everyone stop saying its a laser? ITS PLASMA damn it...

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

It's understandable how it would seem undoable. There's the issue of creating a laser powerful enough to actually cut through things instantaneously, and then you have to figure out how to limit the extension of the laser.

But, if they somehow could solve both of these issues, couldn't the result very well look like this?

[http://nomoreheroes.wikia.com/index.php?title=Beam_katana&image=BloodBerryTsubakiMkII-jpg]



The beam katana from No More Heroes may not be as elegant and magical as the light saber from Star Wars, but it could very well be possible to make some day in the future.

Plasma could be used, since you can contain it with a magnetic field, deflect other plasma, and can be hot enough to cut through anything.

 

[SoranMBane]

With plasma, yes, something resembling a lightsaber could be possible. There's complications, though. First is the fact that, with our current level of technology, a lightsaber-sized rod of plasma would require a machine considerably larger that the flashlight-sized devices seen in Star Wars. We could possibly make the technology smaller, but that would take a very, very long time. Second is the fact that a rod of hot plasma that size would be too hot to even get close to without setting yourself on fire (remember that the Sun is made of plasma, and the heat can still burn us all the way over here; that shit can radiate), much less wield in an epic duel, and the sort of plasma that's actually safe to be around wouldn't make for anything more deadly than a glorified night stick.

In general, I suppose the No More Heroes design, a super-hot laser with some sort of cap to keep it from going on forever, would be way more doable. The only real problem I see with that model is that the rod holding the cap would have to be extremely durable, since it would obviously be taking a lot of abuse in any fights. But still, it's better than something that would immediately set you on fire when you turned it on... Not sure what it says about the world that Suda 51 would come up with the saner, more practical lightsaber design.

Also, I feel really nerdy right now. I'm not sure if I should be ashamed of having spent so much time on this post. Opened up Wikipedia in a tab for quick reference and everything.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

I personally have no idea and I really can't be bothered to find out. I think we should just ask Cave Johnson.

Yeah, he can have absolutely anything made if he just puts his mind to it.

Quantum space holes? NO PROBLEM! Flashy laser sword? Pffft, too easy.

I hear the combustible lemons project is going quite well.

Yes the "lemons that will burn your house down" project is probably one of the more esoteric yet important advances in science of the century. I have it on good authority that lightsabres are in the works, albiet on the backburners since the tester dismemberment incident.

Oh yeah, he held his lightsaber backwards, lost all his guts like a Taun-taun. What a fool.

 

[Seishisha]

Ofcourse there is always the solution that escapes the minds of most people. a lightsaber could be built with the simple application of a large brick to your face, with a high enough brick to face ratio you'd soon enter a delusional state of mind in which anything is possible, as a disclaimer though i dont recommend you try this at home, it obvisouly requires intesive lab tesing first.