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dontbearrogant
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So being a Star Wars buff I can't help but wonder if it would be possible to make a similar type of energy shield as per what are mentioned in the vast collection of Star Wars books out there, any thoughts anybody?
Drakkith said:I can't say that energy shields are impossible, but I can say that the concept is so far beyond out technical capability that we don't even know how to theoretically make them. Even Khashishi's idea is essentially speculation since there is no known way to confine a plasma using a magnetic field in this manner.
Matterwave said:I think it would be more accurate to say that we don't know how to create the magnetic fields required that could do the job.
Khashishi said:On the scale of science fiction, I'd say it's very plausible. We'll probably solve all the issues of magnetic confinement before we get to the starship stage.
GTOM said:What if they have an external net of magnets, like an anti torpedo net? (Of course if they hit the net a part of the shield will fail)
Not necessarily a breakthrough, but a way to store over time and instantly release large quantities of energy. Like some sort of super-capacitors.Drakkith said:Without some kind of crazy breakthrough
DHF said:As stated Earlier, Weapon's development will likely outpace defense. For example in said scenario with a ship using a plasma shield. Wouldn't said ship still be very vulnerable to an enemy firing fusion warhead and detonating it a few feet from the shield? wouldn't the blast wave penetrate the shield?
Drakkith said:I have my doubts. The main issue is that current confinement methods rely on magnets that are external to the contained plasma. Energy shields are typically portrayed as being on the outside of a ship, so you'd have to find a way to confine the plasma using magnets that are inside the volume enclosed by the plasma. I don't really expect this to be a possibility since this leads to a magnetic field that would push the plasma away from the ship, not contain it. I'm not saying it's an impossibility to develop shields, but you simply aren't going to do it using traditional magnetic confinement methods.
JasonRoberts said:Not necessarily a breakthrough, but a way to store over time and instantly release large quantities of energy. Like some sort of super-capacitors.
Khashishi said:Building an external magnetic field is not a problem at all. A simple dipole field will confine plasma to some extent. The Earth has an external magnetic field which shields us from cosmic rays. There are actually some fusion experiments set up this way (Levitated Dipole Experiment), although work has stalled.
Matterwave said:Although we might contain plasmas only using external magnets, the Earth contains some plasma in its Van Allen belt, and the Earth's dynamo is well inside its core baby. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
So I wouldn't say it's all THAT far fetched that we could design something similar to do something with magnetic fields.
Drakkith said:Neither of these are confining the plasma in any way like you would need to in order to make a "plasma shield" on the outside of ship.
Matterwave said:Of course this is not the same as a plasma shield, but it gives credence to the idea that magnetic fields in a dipole configuration can be used to contain plasmas.
Drakkith said:I don't see how you're coming to this conclusion. I don't see anything that suggests that plasma can be contained using an internal configuration of magnets. In fact, knowing a little about how magnetic confinement works, I see nothing but the very opposite, that it isn't possible. The protection the magnetic field of the Earth provides is due to the fact that charged particles are forced away from the increasing magnetic field, not towards.
Matterwave said:How are charged particles contained inside a tokamak? Hint: they are not kept stationary, since a stationary particle is not affected by a magnetic field.
How are charged particles contained within the Van Allen belts?
Drakkith said:Of course. What's you're point?
I'm not sure what you'd like me to say.
Drakkith said:I suppose I just don't see "trapping" particles in this manner as anything close to "confinement" in the sense that the former is a result of a continuous flow of particles from the solar wind into the Earth's magnetic field (along with other mechanisms) while the latter is the applied use of magnetic fields to purposely trap a finite number of particles without having them leak out.
Does that make sense?
True. So I guess you'll also have to use 2 omnidirectional magnetic fields that would actually hold and send the plasma into any desired position.Drakkith said:But that doesn't help if there's no way to contain the plasma.
AetherCoreGamer said:Wait, couldn't we just super-quickly-super heat some matter (mercury would be best) and take some magnets to make a wall of plasma that would go directly at the laser/spacedust/whatever and incinerate/obliterate/get rid of it? -αether