A Sci-Fi enthusiast or a kid whose childhood was based around Star Wars might dream of one day having the possibility of handling a phaser or firing from the Death Star against the planet Alderaan, home of princess Leia.
Though most might think these fantasies are just pure imagination, I believe we might not actually be that far from making them reality.
Hold on tight: let’s explore…
The Death Star of Star Wars is a colossal weapon. Not only is it the size of the Moon, but with a single blast it could destroy entire planets. Some may even describe The Death Star to have:
“Power! Unlimited power!” — Darth Sidious
The dream of controlling light dates back to ancient Greece with Zeus and the ancient nordic god Thor, who were both the most powerful gods of their time.
Many scientists tried to understand light and how it works, but only with Maxwell, and his Electromagnetic Theory of Light Propagation, did we finally make a few breakthroughs.
From that point forward, huge discoveries were made in the field of quantum mechanics and photonics, both of which can provide us with a clear answer to this enigma.
Death Star
The short answer is yes: this may indeed be possible, based on a few known principles:
- There is no actual limit to the amount of energy that can be unleashed using, for example, a Hydrogen bomb. Moreover, some studies have said that it might have the sufficient energy needed for something similar to a Death Star — however, hydrogen can be unstable and very difficult to control.
- Another theory is using gamma beams: this would release energy only surpassed by The Big Bang. Though it seams intriguing, this idea still hasn’t be proven and it is still being researched.
In conclusion, it seems scientists are working extremely hard for every Sci-Fi fan to have their dreams come true. And, with the rapid development of various fields, we might well see prototypes of a much smaller Death Star in the near future.
“The future is there… looking back at us. Trying to make sense of the fiction we will have become.”― William Gibson, Pattern Recognition