# Are scalar weapons for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879 "2003-08-04T12:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/341 "2003-08-28T03:10:47Z")
Ah, a **Michael Ellis** style page six. With radial cooling fins. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/342 "2003-08-28T04:09:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\* **GQ** is a real expert on these things, I wonder why he didn’t mention it? Perhaps it just slipped his mind._\* I had never heard of it, and hadn’t gone looking for it. My interests in death rays doesn’t really extend to their use in fiction, in part because I don’t care much for science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/343 "2003-08-28T04:38:40Z")
OK **GQ** now here is a serious Question. What would be the result of the Tucker mobile death-ray system being combined with German invis-o-ray system? Would said weapon have enough power to fire while cloaked? Would the increased range due the tucker system reduce the power drain? What would power both the cloak and Death-ray; are the power sources compatible? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/344 "2003-08-28T05:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMule \* > \*\*OK **GQ** now here is a serious Question. What would be the result of the Tucker mobile death-ray system being combined with German invis-o-ray system? Would said weapon have enough power to fire while cloaked? Would the increased range due the tucker system reduce the power drain? What would power both the cloak and Death-ray; are the power sources compatible? \*\* It could fire while cloaked, but it wouldn’t be able to do both and move at the same time. As I recall, the only way you can fit the equipment needed for both cloaking and a death ray would be to remove the engine. At any rate, doing that’s not advised, as you would need an 8-hour charge for 10 minutes of combined cloaking/death ray operating. That said, I’ve never had the opportunity to test this for myself with a Tucker. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/345 "2003-08-28T05:01:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*Ah, a **Michael Ellis** style page six. > > With radial cooling fins. \*\* Yes, but did you follow it up? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/346 "2003-08-28T08:22:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > **You know, a thought hit me at work today.** That’ll be the experimental 1920’s style thought ray. Did it hurt much? ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/347 "2003-08-28T09:52:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Yup. Has this thing made it two more pages yet? It’s gone beyond silly. \*\* -Death rays are no laughing matter, young man. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/348 "2003-08-28T11:21:58Z")
The OP, one **zhlf210** , has not posted since 8/5/2003. Today is 8/28/2003. 23 Days. Production records show **19** 23 as the height of 1920’s style “Death Ray” production. Coincidence? You be the judge. What do you think became of him? Did he know too much? Did he ask the wrong question? Inquiring minds, and all. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/349 "2003-08-28T11:40:00Z")
Thirty four posts to go. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/350 "2003-08-28T12:05:08Z")
I think we’re misusing the term “1920’s Style Death Rays” The death rays themselves have been the same since the prehistoric age. It’s the **DEATH RAY GENERATOR** that’s the 1920’s style. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/351 "2003-08-28T13:04:16Z")
[singing] If I had a death ray, I’d use it in the mornin’, I’d use it in the evenin’, all over this land! [/singing] ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/352 "2003-08-28T13:27:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olive, The Other Reindeer \* > \*\*I think we’re misusing the term “1920’s Style Death Rays” > > The death rays themselves have been the same since the prehistoric age. It’s the **DEATH RAY GENERATOR** that’s the 1920’s style. \*\* Not entirely true. While the 1920’s heavily influenced Death Ray design (See Zotti) through flapper hairstyles and lack of alcohol, **DocCathode** has also pointed out the remarkable improvement in Death Ray generation. These leaps in material science and the inspired use art deco, effectively took those 1920’s style Death Rays into a class of their own. ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/353 "2003-08-28T13:56:49Z")
**GODDAMMIT!** Can we all try to be serious for a second, I need some actual information and I don’t want to have micellaneous drivel piled up in my general direction. Now, can someone with a little sanity in this place tell me where I have to go to find these 1920’s style " Health-Spas " please? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/354 "2003-08-28T14:30:04Z")
Well of course, we’re not obsessive or any thing > [@](#): > > After only a few years Kellogg had increased the patronage at the Sanitarium so much that new buildings were necessary to meet the needs of all the patients. By 1888 the dormitory and treatment rooms could accommodate between 600 and 700 patients. Kellogg also developed a complex of colleges associated with the San, where doctors, nurses, physical therapists, dietitians and medical missionaries were trained. > > The San continued to prosper until a 1902 fire consumed the entire main building, Only 15 months later the new fireproof San was dedicated, ready to receive several thousand guests a year. A staff of 800 to 1,000 \_ including 30 physicians and 200 nurses and bath attendants \_ stood ready to serve their patients’ needs > > By 1928, further expansion was necessary and a fifteen-story addition was built, incorporating the latest in fashion and luxury to accommodate the hundreds of patients waiting to take the cure in Battle Creek. Unfortunately, the stock market crashed the next year and the rich patrons who had patronized the San no longer could afford to come. Again a victim of the implosion in 1920s style Death Rays manufacturing. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/355 "2003-08-28T15:07:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*[singing] > If I had a death ray, I’d use it in the mornin’, I’d use it in the evenin’, all over this land! > [/singing] \*\* Ah, they’re 1920’s style “singing deathgrams”. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/356 "2003-08-28T16:16:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBill \* > \*\* Production records show **19** 23 as the height of 1920’s style “Death Ray” production. \*\* Wrong. In 1928, 214,601 death rays were made in the U.S, a number that would serve as the record for 23 years. A mere 87,356 were made in 1923. (Source: Morteson, “History of Death Rays”, pgs. 312, 389-394) ---
**Author:** ![Fire\_Fox\_40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fire\_Fox\_40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fire_Fox_40)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/357 "2003-08-28T16:24:48Z")
I have no information about death rays but a web site known as future horizons sell a sonic gun that concentrates sound waves and a kit to build a laser capable of blowing hole in many materials and able to spot weld metal. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/358 "2003-08-28T16:45:08Z")
The best part of a fully functional 1920’s style Death Ray, is the whoosh it makes when fired. ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/359 "2003-08-28T16:45:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Wrong. In 1928, 214,601 death rays were made in the U.S, a number that would serve as the record for 23 years. A mere 87,356 were made in 1923. > > (Source: Morteson, “History of Death Rays”, pgs. 312, 389-394) \*\* The reason for the number being so high that year was the idea of cereal box prizes. And since shredded wheat “as boring now as it was then” needed to boost sales, TA-DA, 1920’s style Death-Ray in every box - [http://www.antiquetalk.com/column318b.htm](http://www.antiquetalk.com/column318b.htm) However this was a short lived idea as the cereal box could not contain but one serving of cereal after the Death-Ray was inserted. And that caused production to be cut 60%. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/360 "2003-08-28T16:47:43Z")
Without climbing through the Galactic pile of ignorance abound in this thread, I`m going to go out on limb and say that it`s probably some type of 1920`s style “Death Ray”. Probably the ones with the patented _“wound warble effect”_ built right in. These of course were funded and developed by the **Physics of Heat and Resources Technology** (also known as PHART) department of the Institute where the fairly distiguished Prof. Calvin and somewhat renowned Dr. Hobbes did a majority of thier grant work. Hope that answers everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=19)