Unlimited Possibilities: Replicating ID4's Force Field

[YoungPhysicist]

What is the closest thing we can come up with that does the same thing as ID4's force field?Assuming we have unlimited energy, unlimited space and somehow won't kill anyone in the process.

 

[jedishrfu]

I read that the characteristics of the force field was that it could be turned on and off within the ship, that it appeared when a projectile approached and then disappeared, that it could distinguish between friend and foe objects.

One thought was that it was velocity based, ie fast projectiles were stopped but slow moving ones were not.

Bottom line is you're talking about a somewhat intelligent force field system which can detect whether an approaching object is a friend or foe and then decide to deploy the field. While we have AI based systems that can do a variety of tasks, they are probably too slow to react to any fast moving threat.

There is no general force field in physics that we know of that can repel any object at the scale of ID4. We do have electromagnetic fields but they would only act on certain types of objects with charges or magnetic properties.

Stargate SG-1 The Nox episode showed that the Gou'ld bad guys had a personal force field that reacted to fast moving objects but allowed slow moving ones to enter.

 

[YoungPhysicist]

One thought was that it was velocity based, ie fast projectiles were stopped but slow moving ones were not

I had an idea: perhaps it’s a magnetic field somehow deployed in that certain position and fries anything tries passing it fast by heating it up like induction heaters, and allowed slow objects to pass. Is that somewhat possible?(after all,I have unlimited energy)

 

[jedishrfu]

You can search via google on viable force fields and you'll get some hits:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/03/boeing-patents-star-trek-force-fields

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/magnet-force-field/

https://futurism.com/new-force-field-technology-hopes-protect-astronauts-future-deep-space-missions/

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-theoretically-possible-to-create-force-fields-as-we-see-in-the-movies

I can't really say if your idea is sound. You need to consider certain limits like what would happen to a human inside a strong magnetic field. It may be that biological restrictions that will limit its strength and hence it would be ineffective against projectiles. There's been studies done with magnetic fields applied to the brain which gave the recipient out of body feelings.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2018/05/25/magnets-human-body/#.W4k0u85Ki4o

Also switching on such a field quickly might be akin to an EMP which would induce currents in your electronics frying them in place. Say good-bye to your smart phone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse