Maker Message Monday!
Here is your weekly dose of “Maker Message Monday”, a list of what we are enjoying or pondering as Makers!
Random Thoughts
“Photon cannon” sounds way cooler than “flashlight”.
Videos We Are Watching
How close are we to creating a lightsaber?
A lightsaber is the most famous weapon in movie history!
To create a lightsaber lets first go over what makes a lightsaber so cool.
- high in temperature
- has power & portability
- shape & color
- cool sound effect
- can duel
Lasers are probably the closest thing we have to a lightsaber.
So how would we create a laser that can act as a lightsaber?
If you want to contain the beam in a finite length of laser the best thing to do would have a mirror that can be extended from the hilt of the lightsaber.
However, your duels would be pretty lame because the lasers would just pass through each other.
Some researchers at Harvard and MIT have found a way to create a new form of light that involves photons work together. This can be done for a few photons, but if we could do this for millions to billions of photos, we could create a unified beam of light similar to a lightsaber.
However, this can only be done currently in very specific experimental conditions.
So there are a lot of issues with using lasers… but what about a highly contained plasma?
Plasma is one of the 4 states of nature. When you heat up gas so much you break up the parts of the atoms, they begin to move around next to each other. The best example of plasma in action would be the sun.
The biggest hurdle in this concept is what you would do to contain the plasma.
A device needed to contain this process would be too large to hold for any human.
To create a device that can be held would need to look like a telescopic rod (like an old car antenna) made of ceramic that would create the magnetic field to control the plasma.
This device would be really difficult to hold without some type of magical insulating gloves. Think about holding the power of the sun 3 feet away from your hands…
Also to power this prototype you would need millions of amps of current.
Our best hope in controlling this energy would be antimatter.
antimatter – molecules formed by atoms consisting of antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons. Stable antimatter does not appear to exist in our universe.
If you mix antimatter and matter together you get a crazy amount of energy.
Inside the hilt of a lightsaber could be a few grams of antimatter to give you all the power you would need to contain the plasma.
Having just 1 gram of antimatter would cost you about $23 Billion dollars.
The great news is all of this science is currently being researched in the energy sector.
Want to see the full story of how we could create a lightsaber? Check out the video by seeker below!
Articles We Are Reading
The Global AI Strategy Landscape
“Education is the key enabler for nations to realize their AI ambitions, yet the shortage of skilled talent remains the number one barrier to innovation.”
Workforce around the world is changing rapidly due to technology.
Every country is working hard to create education systems that can produce world-class A.I. talent.
McKinsey estimates that AI has the potential to deliver additional global economic activity of around $13 trillion by 2030, or about 16% higher cumulative GDP compared with today. Securing this economic growth, combined with the soft power an AI leadership role will bring any nation, makes it a major social and economic policy priority.
Here is an outline of what countries are doing to prepare for the AI landscape.
Read the full article by Holon IQ here.
Projects We Are Enjoying
Doggo Walking Light
If you have ever walked your dog at night, being safe from cars on the road is probably in the back of your mind.
That is why we wanted to show you a project that will keep you and your doggo safe from vehicles that can’t see you.
This unit is USB rechargeable, comfortable fit with its own collar with no light shining into your Doggos eyes as it’s directed from underneath the collar.
Enclosed in this instructable the simple circuit, 3D Model for the case and the instructions to build using low-cost parts including an Arduino Nano.
See the full tutorial by TechKiwiGadgets here.
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