To feel like a Jedi all you need is a laser pointer

The Star Wars saga is rich of scientific insights, starting from the Millenium Falcon, passing through mysterious worlds, and arriving at what many would like to possess: the light saber.

Well, it’s very difficult to say, but the light saber cannot exist like that of the Jedi knights!

But your big disappointment can be soon solved. All you need to be a Jedi knight is a laser pointer. Physics tells us that the laser is an extremely concentrated and coherent light, in which the electromagnetic wave maintains a well-defined amplitude at all points.

To be easy to handle, a sword must be relatively short, in the order of a meter or so. But a laser beam, like any ray of light, has an infinite length, unless it collides with something that absorbs or reflects its energy. To confine the laser there should be a reflective surface at the end of the blade, but light sabers don’t have this surface.

Electronics’ progress has made giant strides in recent years and today makes it possible to build rather small laser projectors. But producing a high-power beam would require a decidedly bulky cooling system and not compatible, in size, with the handle of a sword.

A laser beam so powerful that it can be used as a weapon requires a lot of energy and absolutely cannot be powered by batteries. The sword should therefore be connected to a high voltage electrical network, if not even to a nuclear reactor, even a “micro” one.

So, the sword’s handle should house a very compact and light energy source, especially if we want a powerful laser able to easily cut any material.

Furthermore, laser lights are extremely silent. No sound of cutting swords can be heard.

Finally, two lightsabers could never clash against each other like two steel blades: the beams of light would cross each other, making the fight rather boring.

The lightsabers configured in this way are little more than a laser pointer. So, do not waste money buying fake lightsabers: take you laser pointer, close your eyes, use you fantasy and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!