How Lightsabers Work 613
SirMutex writes "How Stuff Works explains the inner workings of the Jedi weapon of choice. Complete with alternate uses and safety considerations, the article is a welcomed companion for those still learning the ways of the Force." From the article: "Chances are that you have seen a lightsaber at one time or another, whether on the evening news or down at the local cantina. Therefore you know that a lightsaber is an amazing and versatile device that is able to cut through nearly anything in a matter of milliseconds. Have you ever wondered how these remarkable weapons work? Where does the energy come from, and how are they able to contain that energy in a rod-like column of glowing power?"
Re:Dumbest. Story. Ever. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Force power (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I really can't believe . . . (Score:0, Insightful)
Re:Cut, not Slash/Slice (Score:5, Insightful)
Jedi do both cut and slice, depending on your point of view. If by cut you are referring to the act of swinging a blade in order to sever (which would seem to line up with Musashi's samurai style) and by slice you refer to the act of swinging a blade in order to damage but not sever, then I would say that Jedi do both.
However, in my opinion, a slice by a lightsaber is fairly useless in the long run as any wounds incurred are instantly cauderized, so a prolonged fight would not bleed an opponent the way a traditional blade would.
Re:What about Han you insensitive clod? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Force power (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Dumbest. Story. Ever. (Score:3, Insightful)
{sniffle}
I'm still wondering... (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Why doesn't the beam extend to infinity, obeying the inverse square wave law?
and
2. Why can't the beams pass through each other?
Re:Dumbest. Story. Ever. (Score:2, Insightful)
To those who disagree, I suggest you go find a sense of humor before you have a heart attack and die.
Re:Dumbest. Story. Ever. (Score:5, Insightful)
OF COURSE it casts a shadow! Light can't pass through it! If it could, how would it deflect laser blasts?
I can't believe I'm arguing about fictional physics on Slashdot, but geez, the fact that it casts a shadow is completely consistent with its other properties.
Re:Uhh? (Score:5, Insightful)
The parent post was modded as funny (and it is), but I consider it insightful too. What was so cool about The Force in the original movies was that it was basically magic. Lightsabers too. When reading about King Arthur, I didn't have any questions about how Excalibur was forged. I don't care how the magic used by Gandalf and Saruman in LOtR works. It just does.
That's why, to me, the biggest offense of Episode I wasn't Jar Jar or the stupid and ridiculously prolonged fish-eat-fish scene. It was less than a minute of stupid technobabble dialogue about chlamydians or whatever (OK, I know it's midi-clorians, but I get a chuckle out of this alternate name). In that brief bit of dialogue, the magic of The Force was ruined and reduced to a mere blood condition. Seriously... could a simple shot of penicillin have avoided the whole Darth Vader situation, and with it the Galactic Empire?
I prefer The Force as it was in the original trilogy. It was magic! In Star Wars Han Solo even disparaged The Force as a "hokey religion" and lightsabers as "ancient weapons," saying that the combination was no match for a good blaster at your side. I wasn't as cynical about The Force as Han (and even Han changed his view, wishing "May the Force be with you" to Luke before leaving the Yavin IV base before the attack on the Death Star). I thought it was pretty cool. But I really never wanted to know the nuts and bolts of how it worked. Jeeze, if I wanted ridiculous technobabble "explanations" of how things work, I'd watch ST:tNG reruns and and get my fill of tetrions and subatomic bacteria and such.
Actually hearing about midi-clorians ruined the magic of The Force for me. I don't see how Jar Jar can "ruin" people's memories of the original series, because one has nothing to do with the other. But the babble about the chlamydians did ruin The Force.
It really surprises me people complain so much about Jar Jar and so little about the midi-clorians.
What about the color? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Cut, not Slash/Slice (Score:5, Insightful)
Only problem is, he doesn't make swords anymore . . .
Re:Dumbest. Story. Ever. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Cut, not Slash/Slice (Score:3, Insightful)
But this is bullshit. It's a contentless, soft-science fiction half-assed lame pile of crap. Goddamnit, it pisses me off.
Re:Cut, not Slash/Slice (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Lightsaber Depot? (Score:1, Insightful)
Fuck midichlorians! (Score:4, Insightful)
I always thought that The Force was an awful lot like The Tao, and probably that's where Lucas got the idea. Try this on for size:
-- adapted from Lao-Tzu, "The Tao Teh Ching" Chapter 1
Tell me that doesn't sound like it could be Jedi scripture! And certainly, the Jedi Knights and the Shaolin Monks seem to share quite a few similarities.
Another thing that pissed me off about this Jedi-in-a-blender stuff that Lucas has been doing in the prequel trilogy: a Jedi can go and have a roll in the hay, so long as s/he doesn't get "attached" to that person. OK, midichlorians are one thing, but the Jedi philosophy as the Playboy Philosophy? That dog won't hunt, bubba.
It would certainly make more sense that the Jedi were sworn to celibacy after a point in their training...probably when they lost their Padawan braid. Celibate warrior-monks are a fixture of both Western and Eastern history. The Knights Templar, the aforementioned Shaolin Monks, the Yamabushi of Japan...all warrior monks for whom celibacy was one of the requirements. Of course, in all those cases, there were always cases where vows were broken. The sexual urge is like that...bubbling up especially when it is repressed.
I hope that Episode 3 renews a certain amount of wonder and mythic power to Star Wars it has lost with all this damn tinkering. I've read a purported script: if it's authentic, this is the prequel Lucas should have made all along.
Re:Point. or uh, edge. (Score:3, Insightful)
A science fiction needle or flechette gun has hundreds or thousands of the damn things packed into each casing. How would you feel if a thousand needles hit you at several hundred feet per second?