# China claims to have developed a ray gun. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183 "2018-07-02T19:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/1 "2018-07-02T19:36:14Z")
China claims to have developed a laser rifle that can burn a hole in a target a kilometer away with a silent, invisible laser ray. [China Claims to Have a Real-Deal Laser Assault Rifle](https://gizmodo.com/china-claims-to-have-a-real-deal-laser-gun-that-inflict-1827284198)? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/2 "2018-07-02T19:46:52Z")
Is it 1920 already? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/3 "2018-07-02T19:59:58Z")
Some jokes just write themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/4 "2018-07-02T20:18:39Z")
I read about this. Is this something you can see with special glasses? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/5 "2018-07-02T21:27:21Z")
I got some REAL X-ray specs THAT WORK! Just send me a SASE and $10…Also, sea monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/6 "2018-07-03T02:12:01Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Some jokes just write themselves. Laugh if you want, but think about all of those poor disappointed lay gun pre-orderers. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/7 "2018-07-03T11:37:30Z")
I don’t have any deeper information about this, but this article pretty much sums up what went through my head as I read that piece: > **[China’s prototype laser rifle is a dangerous gimmick at best](https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/07/02/chinas-prototype-laser-rifle-is-a-dangerous-gimmick-at-best/)** > > China claims a prototype laser rifle could soon put directed energy in the hands of infantry soon, but the laser safety experts are skeptical. > [@](#): > > \*\* > > China’s prototype laser rifle is a dangerous gimmick at best > > By: Kelsey Atherton \*\* > So what are we, the discerning public raised on a diet of rayguns, to make of the “ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle,” a prototype of which was recently field tested at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi? > > “Well, let’s start with this: it is possible to pay me enough to hold it, but I’d probably invalidate my life insurance policy by doing so,” says Phil Broughton, Certified Laser Safety Officer. > … > > “To make this work, you need a serious battery pack, some even more serious capacitors, optics that can take all this without turning back into sand at these energy densities, and rugged enough that you can treat this like military hardware,” says Broughton. “This is a “best case scenario operation only” weapon if there ever was one.” > > … > Laser weapons designed for use against humans are prohibited by international law, though the laws as written are less firm on incidental use in combat of lasers designed for other purposes. There’s a long history of China and other nations specifically designing lasers on the edge of these rules. The ZKZM-500 is officially classified as a being “non-lethal”, though that designation doesn’t take into account what would happen if a person actually tried firing on and it didn’t work. > > “If the battery pack, caps, or the optical train catastrophically fails during a shot,” says Broughton, “you have a gravely injured soldier who is holding a small wrecked Tesla.” In Arthur C. Clarke’s 1950s science fiction novel _Sands of Mars_, written in those pre-laser days, someone has a large photoflash unit that puts out an impressive amount of energy, and someone remarks that he wouldn’t want to be around if anything should happen to the battery or the capacitor, which have enough stored energy to make a good-sized bomb. That goes double for this gun. Lasers are intrinsically inefficient devices, meaning that they have to lose a portion of their energy – inevitably to heat – in order to achieve the population inversion necessary to make them work\*. This means that a.) you have to have a lot of energy to start with b.) Your raygun is going to get awfully hot after a couple of shots. Add to this the fact that the human body contains a LOT of water that has to be boiled off in order to carbonize it. Even locally. That means you really do need a lot of oomph to do damage. It’s possible (I’ve seen a CO2 laser cut through meat, or an argon fluoride laser punch cookie-cutter holes in things), but it takes a lot of doing. \*\*Although a lot of incredibly high efficiency lasers have been developed, they generally have to be driven by another, much lower efficiency laser, so it doesn’t help. You can build a gas laser in which mixing gases results in a combination already in an excited state, with a built-in population inversion, but that requires huge chambers for holding and mixing the gas. Not a hand weapon. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/8 "2018-07-03T12:35:16Z")
Probably an off shoot of [their ASAT research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASAT_program_of_China#Direct_fire_systems). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/9 "2018-07-03T12:42:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t have any deeper information about this, but this article pretty much sums up what went through my head as I read that piece: > > [China’s prototype laser rifle is a dangerous gimmick at best](https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/07/02/chinas-prototype-laser-rifle-is-a-dangerous-gimmick-at-best/) > > In Arthur C. Clarke’s 1950s science fiction novel _Sands of Mars_, written in those pre-laser days, someone has a large photoflash unit that puts out an impressive amount of energy, and someone remarks that he wouldn’t want to be around if anything should happen to the battery or the capacitor, which have enough stored energy to make a good-sized bomb. That goes double for this gun. > > Lasers are intrinsically inefficient devices, meaning that they have to lose a portion of their energy – inevitably to heat – in order to achieve the population inversion necessary to make them work\*. This means that > > a.) you have to have a lot of energy to start with > b.) Your raygun is going to get awfully hot after a couple of shots. > > Add to this the fact that the human body contains a LOT of water that has to be boiled off in order to carbonize it. Even locally. That means you really do need a lot of oomph to do damage. It’s possible (I’ve seen a CO2 laser cut through meat, or an argon fluoride laser punch cookie-cutter holes in things), but it takes a lot of doing. > \*\*Although a lot of incredibly high efficiency lasers have been developed, they generally have to be driven by another, much lower efficiency laser, so it doesn’t help. You can build a gas laser in which mixing gases results in a combination already in an excited state, with a built-in population inversion, but that requires huge chambers for holding and mixing the gas. Not a hand weapon. So each soldier is wearing an [unlicensed nuclear accelerator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag_xdhFUjwc) on their back. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/10 "2018-07-03T12:48:42Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > So each soldier is wearing an [unlicensed nuclear accelerator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag_xdhFUjwc) on their back. > 😃 So if you need to laser someone, who you gonna call? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/11 "2018-07-03T13:10:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Laugh if you want, but think about all of those poor disappointed lay gun pre-orderers. A lay gun…now that’s a nerd’s dream. Point it, pull the trigger, you get laid. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/12 "2018-07-03T15:16:23Z")
I think the biggest lie is that China developed it. They probably stole it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/13 "2018-07-03T15:18:39Z")
Will it be available with a 40 watt range? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/14 "2018-07-03T15:37:56Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Will it be available with a 40 watt range? Hey, just what you see, pal. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/15 "2018-07-03T15:52:50Z")
Fiddlesticks. It doesn’t even slow them up. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/16 "2018-07-03T15:55:29Z")
We had it [first](https://www.yojoe.com/action/82/flash.shtml), back in 1982. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/17 "2018-07-03T15:58:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Fiddlesticks. It doesn’t even slow them up. While being fired out a high rise office window toward the street below. Next person gets to identify the artist. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/18 "2018-07-03T16:04:08Z")
That’s what people said about my potato gun. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/19 "2018-07-03T17:03:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > While being fired out a high rise office window toward the street below. > Next person gets to identify the artist. Charles Addams, of course. I love that cartoon. I also love the fact that the Death Ray is plugged into the ordinary wall plug. Power Efficient! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183/20 "2018-07-03T17:44:06Z")
If it’s not named the “Ronnie Raygun” or the “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator”, I’m not interested. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-claims-to-have-developed-a-ray-gun/817183.md?page=2)