It certainly is possible. Light is like Jesus....it can do anything.

Light sabres exist, it's just that they are metaphysical. The amount of force necessary to pull off that energy is greater than anyone person.

Originally posted by redled
Light sabres exist, it's just that they are metaphysical. The amount of force necessary to pull off that energy is greater than anyone person.

You may find this strange, but I know precisely what you're talking about...Eventually, I will write a thread about that.

This raises the question, why would you want to build a lightsaber?

Its largely useless as a weapon. Come at me with any kind of saber and I'll shoot you- and your Jedi skills arn't going to save you. The only thing I could think to use it for would be a cutting torch, and we already have those. It would be useful on a small scale as a cauterizing scalpel, perhaps.

While I admit it would be cool "just to have," it would be a pretty dangerous to have laying around the house to screw around with. I mean, you're playing Luke Skywalker one minute, then the thing slips out of your hand and cuts through all the plumbing. I don't think "the force" would be around to help you clean up that mess.

ok for those who say its not gonna ever be possible please back up your statements rather than just say something stupid like it would break the laws of physics, it is possible just not at the current moment, possibly within 30 years times, because what makes light so unpermeable or untouchable is the fact that light particles go through the higgs field unprovoked while all other particles are stopped and talk o the higgs field and then interact with the higgs boson, now it is theoreticallt possible for the higgs field to be altered under given conditions, by increasing the strength of the higgs field this would make light particles more permeable or solid, due to the fact that the light has now been compressed and confined to a solid state, because you could dictate where the modified higgs field is present, this would allow you to shape the light like a lightsaber, because the light is confined into a solid form, the light particles would go crazy trying to break out of this field, this would cause an immense amount of heat which would in turn possibly create temperatures capable of slicing through metal a diamond or anything, now this would BREAK THE LAWS OF PHYSICS if the calculations for the new higgs field where right and the light particles broke out, thats using that phrase properly, the only problem is at the moment the higgs boson and higgs field has not been discovered, but modern day physics has been modelled around this theory so it must be possible hopefully within the next 20 years the large hadron collider will find the higgs boson and higgs particle

maybe not a light saber, but instead like some sort of laser sword or like a blade with volcanic temperatured metal on the edges as a blade, I dunno. but look at the advances of the human race and tecnology in the past 200 hundred years, back then the things we use in every day life are what people would have said were impossible and couldnt be done. So maybe considering we have conquered the considered to be "impossible" in 200 years, we could do it again, with lightsabers and what not. think about it.

Scientificly speaking its possible to create a real-life lightsaber by using a lazor meconism that could easily cut through walls.

I think that a light saber is not possible because its not really known what a light saber is. I've heard laser but that's been ruled out.

I visualize the lightsaber as a HIGHLY refined steel blade that becomes usable when a power source passes through the crystals contained in the handle to excite the steel that is always there somehow. When the power source is off the blade disappears. About three years ago I had a better description, but it has escaped me.

I think that it would have to be some highly refined metal, nevertheless.

Something similar to a light saber would be possible with massive portable power advances. An ionized gas could be shaped by a powerful magnetic field and energized to slice through anything should containment of the gas and sufficient temperature.

I say it could slice through anything, but I haven't considered what effect the magnetic containment field would have when trying to cut through another magnet. I'm thinking something similar what the Tokamak does with magnetic fields and superheated plasma.

A real light sabre by todays technology would be hard to do. We would need a huge supply of power within very small constraints for the space which right now is almost impossible.A chemical reaction might be able to do this, but this is also hypothetical.
We ignore this design constraint we could possibly make an assembly which could reflect back a laser with a calibrated mirror which is automated and could give the same star wars kind of effect. Assuming that a gain medium could be fitted in the handle of the sabre the calibrated glass assembly could give it more gain. This gain would be controlled by use without vaccum and by the fact that there is no perfect calibration. I don't think I know enough about the electro magnetics to say if they will bounce off each other, but my educated guess is not.

A plasma weapon on the other hand might be a lot easier to implement, I know some countries have been experimenting with plasma weapons technology. A surface with a plasma discharge might just be as effective and will give the bounce effect but will be a lot more dangerous to the user.

Over all I think that the same design as starwars is impossible except if we could bend light without gravity or some other extreme measure. Some thing close looking could be done with huge amounts of research but I don't see it having any real world applications. Very small chance that anyone would pour money into something like this.

RELAX I got it! Just a high powered Laser coming straight out the handle then; and this is the genius part a Mirror on a stick positioned just to the side of the beam that bounces it back to the source.

Now the source beam would be fed through a mirror like they have in police interogation rooms, where the beam can go out but not allowed back in.

This leaves the beam bouncing back and forth at a rate of about 600'000'000 times a second. (assuming a half meter child size lightsaber or Jedi Flick Knife.) Now I studied Geology and if theres one thing I learned in my time it's that a beam of light reflected between parallel mirrors, rapidly becomes uber dangerous.

NOW I know what your thinking; "This aint gonna work, theres gona be a flimsy stick on one side of your lightsaber you fool!"

BUT I'VE Thought ABOUT THAT TOO! all you need is 4 of these beams surrounding your central mirror stick which will be completely protected in battles. AND using technology developed for the tape measure program you could even have this mirror stick extend and contract just like a real lightsaber with the light beams moving with it and all.

Loz

P.s if anyone makes one of these I won't ask for any royalties but you better give me a free one. Purple please.

The problem is if it has enough power to cut through a door, it has enough power to heat the air around it, burning the person using it.

One way to do it would be magnetically-confined super-heated plasma. An interference pattern of magnetic fields could be used to confine the electromagnetically-charged plasma. It might be possible to make a pattern of such a shape that it only allows a thin area for the plasma to contain. It wouldn't be a perfect cylinder (I don't think), but it might be able to approximate one.

Either way, the amount of power needed to run one, and the aforementioned "burning the crap out of you as soon as you turn it on" problem, makes a lightsabre impossible.

Originally posted by Sandro
...one StarWars weapon that could be made is the vibroblade. Just like a regular sword, knife or axe except uses ultrasonic vibrations to increase cutting effectiveness. Could this be made?

I have a reciprocating saw and a jigsaw that do something similar. I'm pretty sure it isn't ultrasonic, but they vibrate in addition to the normal saw oscillations to aid in cutting. They cut faster but don't handle anything a normal saw couldn't- the vibrations help the teeth set more efficiently. What materials the blade will cut is still a function of what the blade is made of.