Force Field. No, Really 434
tqft points out news of "a working force field, using plasma. Now to scale the sucker up." Here's the
Brookhaven press release.
I can think of so many uses for this.
HOLY MACRO!
Dont try this at home (Score:1, Insightful)
Reason to use this? (Score:0, Insightful)
Re:am i reading this wrong (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes...
But if it's blocking against atmospheric pressure (not quite sure on that one) then it's an impressive feat...
The article sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)
A shame, 'cause I'd be interested in the practical implementation of this valve system. And I want pretty movies and/or pictures, of course
What this could be used for (Score:3, Insightful)
Think launch bays that really can be opened up to have a shuttle pass though, and leave the air inside the bay intact.
Yes, this idea has a lot of promise.
It's not "degrees Kelvin"!! (Score:3, Insightful)
First, its degrees only when it is Fahrenheit or Centigrade, which are not absolute units. Second, its Kelvins, damn it! (at least when it is more than 1K). People have no problem with Joules, Newtons, Pascals etc which are all people's names, why is Kelvins so different??
[I haven't done any physics after high school, so if I'm wrong correct me.]
Harping on the temperature thing one more time (Score:2, Insightful)
I want to say something about this, but the sentence makes my brain hurt, and not in a good way.
So... converting temperatures to Kelvin makes them lower? It may be that I'm too far removed from my math and science classes, but... well, come to think of it, I never learned it that way.
Sheesh, they didn't even say "in Kelvins." "Degrees Kelvin" indeed... amateurs...
*honk*
Re:RTFA: NOT, NOT, NOT a "force field" (Score:5, Insightful)
Erm. I dunno. For a lot of laypeople, a valve with no 'solid' parts fits the definition of a 'force field'.
(Note: I am embarrassed to use the following example.) Take the brig on Star Trek: TNG era vessels. There is a ring of emitters surrounding the door opening. These emitters are presumably responsible for maintaining an impenetrable field in the doorway. That 'force field' seems to be at least loosely similar (in form and stated goals) to the 'plasma valve' described--it's just larger.
Oh, and the plasma valve would take your finger off if you touched it. Oh well. This is real life that we're stuck with, after all.
Re:Plasma Rays (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hehehe what?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Thus, you could also make a balloon with extra lifting capasity just by vacuuming out the inside of a field. It could also fly closer to space than any other balloon, since it has a vacuume(essentially 0 density).
Or you could have containment for mass-sensitive matter (antimatter, etc.)
How about a see-through wall with zero heat transfer by contact?
How about a wall that cannot melt, because there is nothing there to melt? We may finally have something we can melt diamond/carbon in
Sometimes you have to think outside the ridgid plasma cube
Re:RTFA: NOT, NOT, NOT a "force field" (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's my question: Does it have to be completely surrounded by some kind of magnetic/copper thingamabob (too lazy to look it up right now)? By "completely surrounded", I mean X, Y, and Z Axis? Or, is it only necessary to surround it on 2 dimensions, X and Y? If only 2 dimensions are necessary, then the applications for this are almost too numerous to mention. Sound-proof walls, doors, windows (that never open or shut... rather just turn off), Star Trekie type inventions, etc. Depending on how cheaply they can reproduce a field, we could be seeing these types of devices practically everywhere. Suddenly I don't think Star Trek is too far fetched...
Re:temperature vs. energy (Score:2, Insightful)
But then again, maybe it would only impart as much as a door
No, that's bullshit because the door molecules are very low energy and the plasma ions are very high energy. More energy transfer = more entropy = more heat.
Re:RTFA: NOT, NOT, NOT a "force field" (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, even though they didn't provide pictures, I imagine that the area in which the plasma actually resides is not very big. It may not be too difficult to produce a plasma curtain to block off a 1-2 cm^2 entry point into a particle accelerator, but I wager it would be very difficult to produce the same effect uniformly over a 1 m^2 door opening. I don't know much about plasma physics, but I have a suspicion that a big honkin' 1m^2 sheet of plasma isn't going to be magically stable.
I think the Star Trek force fields are still a long, long way off, if they're even possible at all.Re:What's next? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Plasma jargon (Score:3, Insightful)