A lot of us are REALLY excited for the next Star Wars movie, set to debut late this year. It's been nearly 40 years since the first of the movies was released in theaters, introducing us to the world of Han Solo and Yoda and Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. After three wildly successful films in the 1970s and 1980s, three prequels (to lesser fan fanfare) were released in the 1990s and 2000s. And now there are more on the way.
Star Wars has served as an inspiration both artistically and technologically. In fact, the force fields that we see in the films are now being compared to a new technology by Boeing, called "Method and system for shock wave attenuation via electromagnetic arc." The idea is if something strikes nearby a military area you want to protect, a force field of sorts would protect you from what is there.
"The downside: It won't protect from direct hits," ABC writes of the patent. "The system can sense when a shock wave generating explosion occurs near a target. An arc generator then determines the small area where protection is needed from the shock waves. It then springs into action by by emitting laser pulses that ionize the air, providing a laser-induced plasma field of protection from the shock waves."
The patent (the technology is just at the patent stage, as far as media reports say) says that explosive devices are quickly becoming a threat on the battlefield, and the hope is that this work will make things safer for allied soldiers. The aim is to have an "attenuating material" to protect assets nearby a shockwave.
"The majority of the damage caused by explosive devices results from shrapnel and shockwaves. Shrapnel is material, such as metal fragments, that is propelled rapidly away from the blast zone and may damage stationary structures, vehicles, or other targets," the patent reads.
"Damage from shrapnel may be prevented by, for example, physical barriers. Shockwaves are traveling discontinuities in pressure, temperature, density, and other physical qualities through a medium, such as the ambient atmosphere. Shockwave damage is more difficult to prevent because shockwaves can traverse an intermediate medium, including physical barriers."
This would be so neat to see in a field test, but the patent doesn't make it clear when -- if at all -- Boeing plans to build this thing for real. And we're curious already about what the applications could be in other fields.
Could this type of system be helpful in earthquake-prone cities, helping to attenute the problems of quakes and aftershocks on buildings? Or what about if a tornado was heading for a particular area; could it be redeployed there to prevent the shockwaves of air from reaching and damaging buildings? So many questions, but we won't know for sure that this idea even works until a physical form exists.
For now, we can at least enjoy watch the concept in science fiction. Let's hope this new movie includes some nifty fictional use of it!
Top image: A still from the first Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens trailer. Credit: Lucasfilm/Bad Robot/Walt Disney Pictures/MOVIECLIPS Trailers/YouTube (screenshot)
