Large Hardon Collider

[Churchill]

Is that why cold things get




freezer burn?

[kuronosan]

I don't understand... If work requires free energy how can this actually function?

[BaneTheBrawler]

Communism.

[myreality]

Thought this was scary. The Army now has the power of lightning at its disposal.

US Army scientists are developing a weapon which can fire a laser-guided lightning bolt at a target.

The Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) is designed to hit targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.

The weapon went through extensive testing in January.

George Fischer, lead scientist on the project, said: "We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated [targets]."

Details of the weapon were released on the US Army's website.

Mr Fischer explained how the usually unpredictable lightning bolts can be controlled.

"If a laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is incredibly tiny, the power can be huge," Mr Fischer said.

"During the duration of the laser pulse, it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second."

50 billion watts
This means, Mr Fischer said, the air could be manipulated to "act like a lens".

"We use an ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy to make a laser beam so intense that it focuses on itself in air and stays focused in a filament," he said.

Fifty billion watts of optical power are used. By comparison, a typical filament lightbulb uses 100 watts of power.

"If a laser beam is intense enough, its electro-magnetic field is strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules, creating plasma," Mr Fischer said.

"This plasma is located along the path of the laser beam, so we can direct it wherever we want by moving a mirror."

The team said it faced a challenge in making the technology rugged enough to survive in harsh battle conditions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18630622

[noblemountain]

brb re-joining the army as thor.

[Salodin]

brb re-joining the army as thor.

How big and practical is it?

[noblemountain]

I'm assuming it's a vehicle mounted weapon of some sort since the article talks about making it rugged enough for battle conditions. It could be as big as a piece of artillery by that description though, so who knows. I imagine we'll get to see some fancy video of it soon enough to try and drum up funding.

[myreality]

This is the picture the army that was released with the article. Cannot imagine they would want others to know to much about it. Also a more technical article for the weapon. My apologies for putting second rate material first.

A laser induced plasma channel guides the lightning bolt until it reaches the target

LIPC stands for The Laser-Induced Plasma Channel, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well stand for "lightning gun".

The project combines two of the coolest things known to man -- lightning and lasers -- and turns them into one mean superweapon, which could soon be capable of unleashing devastating damage at mid-range to close-quarters.

George Fischer, U.S. Army Picatinny Arsenal lead scientist is heading the project. He describes:

Light travels more slowly in gases and solids than it does in a vacuum. We typically think of the speed of light in each material as constant. There is, however, a very small additional intensity-dependent factor to its speed. In air, this factor is positive, so light slows down by a tiny fraction when the light is more intense."

If a laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is incredibly tiny, the power can be huge. During the duration of the laser pulse, it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second."

For very powerful and high intensity laser pulses, the air can act like a lens, keeping the light in a small-diameter filament. We use an ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy to make a laser beam so intense that it focuses on itself in air and stays focused in a filament.

The optical amplifier outputs 50 billion watts of optical power -- about the equivalent of 500 million household incandescent light bulbs. The focused beam in turn creates a plasma channel, which electricity can be directed along to create manmade, targeted lightning. Describes Fischer:

If a laser beam is intense enough, its electro-magnetic field is strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules, creating plasma. This plasma is located along the path of the laser beam, so we can direct it wherever we want by moving a mirror.

Air is composed of neutral molecules and is an insulator. When lightning from a thunderstorm leaps from cloud to ground, it behaves just as any other sources of electrical energy and follows the path of least resistance.

The plasma channel conducts electricity way better than un-ionized air, so if we set up the laser so that the filament comes near a high voltage source, the electrical energy will travel down the filament.

Since enemy vehicles and munitions tend to be more conductive than the ground they sit on, they create voltage drop that channels the lightning out of the beam and into the target. Unexploded munitions will detonate.

The high voltage laser requires precise synchronization. One wrong move could lead it to destroy itself. Describes Fischer, "If the light focuses in air, there is certainly the danger that it will focus in a glass lens, or in other parts of the laser amplifier system, destroying it. We needed to lower the intensity in the optical amplifier and keep it low until we wanted the light to self-focus in air."

http://www.dailytech.com/Army+Aims+t...ticle25055.htm

[Salodin]

Fuck yea 'Murika

[Kuya]

What would a plasma gun accomplish that a normal gun can't though? Is it just the scare factor?

[myreality]

What would a plasma gun accomplish that a normal gun can't though? Is it just the scare factor?

Capable of shooting lightning....

Shooting lightning....

Lightning....

[Salodin]

What would a plasma gun accomplish that a normal gun can't though? Is it just the scare factor?

Tanks laugh at bullets. Now, lightning bolts?

[Plow]

I also don't know of a lot of projectile weapons that travel near the speed of light and can make a 90 degree turn at the last second to stream into a target it missed by like 5 feet.

[Ragnus]

http://youtu.be/qk7DlYcQ0uM?t=2m34s

Main reason why people are excite about a lightning gun.

[kuronosan]

With this new lightning gun the Army is working on, how long before lightning strikes twice and we're no longer safe in our homes?!

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Hopefully not much longer before they make a shark gun and people stop using dumb lightning and shark analogies for winning powerball

[Pirian]

Since enemy vehicles and munitions tend to be more conductive than the ground they sit on, they create voltage drop that channels the lightning out of the beam and into the target. Unexploded munitions will detonate.

Not only do you get struck by lightning, but all your bullets fire off as well as any grenades. That's fucking awesome.

[Salodin]

Not only do you get struck by lightning, but all your bullets fire off as well as any grenades. That's fucking awesome.

I daresay it changes war as we know it o_O

[Pirian]

I daresay it changes war as we know it o_O

I was actually thinking that, too

[BaneTheBrawler]

I wonder just how well this travels. For example, could one guy tap into the power lines of a reasonably sized building and take out all munitions inside, or would he have to enter each room individually?

The more I think about it, probably the latter, since even if the former were feasible it would probably set the whole building on fire. Either way, cool as hell.