starwars laser?

[mechanic]

this is pretty cool and totaly insane at the same time.


A handheld laser likened to a Star Wars lightsabre and so powerful it can instantly blind and "set fire to skin and other body parts" can be bought online and shipped to the UK. Skip related content

Trading standards chiefs said they were "seriously concerned" about the sale of the model and have warned against its use.

As well as blinding, burning and causing cancer, its Hong Kong-based maker admits that "a split-second laser light in a plane cockpit (...) can be disastrous".

Star Wars fans are among hundreds of people who have already shown an interest in buying the laser, for sale to the general public for £135.

Laser safety expert John Colton, director of Lucid Optical Services, told Sky News Online that the lasers were "horrendously dangerous".

"Under no circumstances should they be on sale on the internet," he said.

Mr Colton said the 1W beam was 1,000 times stronger than laser pointers normally available to the public.

They could be "deadly" if aimed at car drivers or even pilots in planes, Mr Colton added.

Wicked said the device would have cost thousands of pounds to build not long ago, but technological advances have made it available much more cheaply.

"This laser possesses the most burning capabilities of any portable laser in existence," the website reads.

"That's why it's also the most dangerous laser ever created."

The website goes on to warn: "Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power.

"It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts."

It adds that users should use eye protection and must read and agree the "Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form".

News of the laser has sparked a flurry of excitement on social networking websites.

One person wrote: "Real lasers that resemble Star Wars lightsabres, that can burn skin, cut through plastic and ignite matches - yes please."

Another wrote: "The fact that it looks like a lightsabre is even cooler."

One more said: "I must have this. Birthday present anyone? I will KILL things, with FIRE."

Christine Heemskerk, lead officer for product safety at the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), said the items should not be on sale to the general public.

"We are seriously concerned about the sale of these products which should only be for industrial use."

Ms Heemskerk added that because the lasers were manufactured abroad, there was nothing the TSI could do to stop their sale over the internet.



http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100616/tod-deadly-star-wars-lightsabre-sold-to-870a197.html


I would like to play with one, but I'm not so sure I want the skallies round here to be armed with one. 

[Dragon]

2 hour battery life  

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html


Honestly, if a person with bad intentions gets a hold of one of these........well, I'd rather they had a gun, at least it makes noise, giving some kind of warning.



edit: I have to admit though, these would make for an excellent perked option for the sharks.

[Reschke]

No joke about it looking like a lightsaber. I wonder how long it will be before the technology allows someone to make a real lightsaber.

[dedalos]

2 hour battery life  

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html


Honestly, if a person with bad intentions gets a hold of one of these........well, I'd rather they had a gun, at least it makes noise, giving some kind of warning.



edit: I have to admit though, these would make for an excellent perked option for the sharks.

Only if they miss lol.

I think talking about how it could blind an airline pilot is just someone using the stupidity of people and the general paranoia about terrorism to control this.  Given the pilots position in the cockpit and the angle involved from aiming this from the ground, it should be impossible to hit him/her in the eyes.  Of coarse, the chances of even hitting the plane with one are almost 0.  In any case, if it did hit a pilot in both eyes and there was no co-pilot it would be a disaster  .  Possibility of it happening = 0.000000000000000000000000000 1.  But hey, lets keep feeding the fears of the stupid.

[Yeager]

I miss SWG 

[bcadoo]

Seriously doubt this.  In order to generate that much laser energy you need more than a light saber sized stick, and just because something is manufactured overseas and sold on the internet doesn't mean you can't regulate the sale of it in your country.  (try buying an automatic weapon online and see how that works out for you)

[AKH]

That's because weapons are covered by existing laws and have associated import and export restrictions.  AFAIK there are no such laws wrt lasers.

[druski85]

This is terrifyingly awesome.

I miss SWG 

http://www.swgemu.com/forums/index.php 

Scrap together your old SWG cd's and hop on the test server.  I've been playing for a couple months now.  There are some aspects of the game they don't have operational, but all in all it's fun to go back to old school SWG.

[guncrasher]

A lazer that can cut and only for 150.  As soon as I help the nigerian prince get the money out of the country, I am gonna get me one install it on my spit and go grizz style hunting.  .



Semp

[Saxman]

A handheld laser likened to a Star Wars lightsabre

Ugh, not again...

A lightsaber is NOT a laser. It does EMIT light, but the properties are different:

* A laser doesn't just end in three feet like that, (the beam eventually will diverge to the point as to seemingly fade away, but we're talking at significantly greater distances) thus would not have a defined shape or "tip" like a lightsaber.
* It can't, without SOME sort of outside interference, just double back on itself to create that defined length.
* A laser doesn't cast a shadow! Watch the films and you can see that lightsaber blades do. This is NOT a mistake due to the nature of the film props (which had a "stick" blade for the actors to use as a reference), as these shadows were cleaned up and made more defined (rather than removed) in the Special Edition and DVD edits of the Original Trilogy, and also carried over into the Prequels.
* This would create a weapon with literally NO observable mass in its blade. Although not a big deal for cutting purposes since it doesn't rely on mass, it's a VERY big deal for handling and control. In the film, lightsabers clearly respond as if there's mass to their blades (although this could be provided by some sort of gyroscopic effect).
* Light doesn't block light. Besides the shadows I mentioned, if a lightsaber was a laser, the blades would pass right through each other (this is the same reason why a blaster can't be a true laser, either. A lightsaber would be unable to deflect a blaster shot).

If anything, a lightsaber is probably much more akin to a plasma torch on steroids. Any use of a laser is probably for ignition purposes and is not itself a component of the blade.

Pointless rant? Maybe, but so long as people insist on identifying lightsabers with lasers, actually creating a REAL one that works like in the movies will never be possible. And dammit, I want to see a real lightsaber in my lifetime.

[Shuffler]

I deal with a laser much more powerful than that every day. Mine is 6KW of power. You can't carry it in your pocket but it will cut 1 inch thick steel. lol

[Cougar68]

Only if they miss lol.

I think talking about how it could blind an airline pilot is just someone using the stupidity of people and the general paranoia about terrorism to control this.  Given the pilots position in the cockpit and the angle involved from aiming this from the ground, it should be impossible to hit him/her in the eyes.  Of coarse, the chances of even hitting the plane with one are almost 0.  In any case, if it did hit a pilot in both eyes and there was no co-pilot it would be a disaster  .  Possibility of it happening = 0.000000000000000000000000000 1.  But hey, lets keep feeding the fears of the stupid.

Actually you're quite wrong about this.  There have already been injuries to pilots from lasers entering the cockpit.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/sep/28/20040928-111356-3924r/

[Stalwart]

I deal with a laser much more powerful than that every day. Mine is 6KW of power. You can't carry it in your pocket but it will cut 1 inch thick steel. lol

But the manufacturer of your industrial laser doesn't dress it up like a toy and sell it to juveniles over the internet.

[Jayhawk]

Ugh, not again...

A lightsaber is NOT a laser. It does EMIT light, but the properties are different:

* A laser doesn't just end in three feet like that, (the beam eventually will diverge to the point as to seemingly fade away, but we're talking at significantly greater distances) thus would not have a defined shape or "tip" like a lightsaber.
* It can't, without SOME sort of outside interference, just double back on itself to create that defined length.
* A laser doesn't cast a shadow! Watch the films and you can see that lightsaber blades do. This is NOT a mistake due to the nature of the film props (which had a "stick" blade for the actors to use as a reference), as these shadows were cleaned up and made more defined (rather than removed) in the Special Edition and DVD edits of the Original Trilogy, and also carried over into the Prequels.
* This would create a weapon with literally NO observable mass in its blade. Although not a big deal for cutting purposes since it doesn't rely on mass, it's a VERY big deal for handling and control. In the film, lightsabers clearly respond as if there's mass to their blades (although this could be provided by some sort of gyroscopic effect).
* Light doesn't block light. Besides the shadows I mentioned, if a lightsaber was a laser, the blades would pass right through each other (this is the same reason why a blaster can't be a true laser, either. A lightsaber would be unable to deflect a blaster shot).

If anything, a lightsaber is probably much more akin to a plasma torch on steroids. Any use of a laser is probably for ignition purposes and is not itself a component of the blade.

Pointless rant? Maybe, but so long as people insist on identifying lightsabers with lasers, actually creating a REAL one that works like in the movies will never be possible. And dammit, I want to see a real lightsaber in my lifetime.

 

Sax?

[Lepape2]

I foresee a lot of video jokes of 10yr old kids wanting to wake up their grand brother and flash him with this toy... rendering him partially blind for life while the kid laughs his a** off in retardation.