# It's a flashlight! It's a lightsaber! It's SUPER LASER!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162 "2005-05-23T21:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/1 "2005-05-23T21:06:22Z")
[CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/05/23/super.laser.ap/index.html) Take THAT 1920’s style death ray! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/2 "2005-05-23T21:14:59Z")
Wasn’t Dr. Octopus doing something like that in Spiderman II? ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/3 "2005-05-23T21:17:06Z")
I don’t know, but I did get one in my breakfast cereal the other day. 😃 It _rocked_! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/4 "2005-05-23T21:19:27Z")
…unless you pay me. . . . . . . . 1 Bazillion, gajillin, flabillion dollars! Mmmmmuuahahahahahaha1 ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/5 "2005-05-23T21:37:54Z")
Maybe the reason we don’t meet up with many alien life forms, is that most of them manage to blow up their planet doing fundamental physics experiments before they manage to invent practical space travel technology? Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/6 "2005-05-23T23:30:23Z")
Dopefest at the NIF!!! Who’s bringing the bag of Tritium? ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/7 "2005-05-24T01:06:02Z")
Oooh. So when do we destroy Alderaan? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/8 "2005-05-24T01:11:01Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > Oooh. So when do we destroy Alderaan? Give us the location of the Rebel base!!! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/9 "2005-05-24T01:18:43Z")
[quote] causing an explosion and self-sustaining release of energy. [quote] Neat. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/10 "2005-05-24T01:20:01Z")
D’oh! I, erm, meant to do that. And on another note, would this sort of process lead to limitless energy? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/11 "2005-05-24T02:09:34Z")
Now we can replace the hampsters with a Hydrogen fusion anti matter laser thingie. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/12 "2005-05-24T03:31:37Z")
So now we have 2000s-style Death Ray **s** …cool! Did the article mention a hydrogen bomb? Why do I have a bad feeling about this? ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/13 "2005-05-24T03:50:17Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Dopefest at the NIF!!! Who’s bringing the bag of Tritium? Dude, its not just any Tritium. Its _Precious_ Tritium. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/14 "2005-05-24T17:24:36Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Maybe the reason we don’t meet up with many alien life forms, is that most of them manage to blow up their planet doing fundamental physics experiments before they manage to invent practical space travel technology? Just sayin. Fermi listed as one of the possible reasons that we haven’t been contacted by aliens is that any civilization with technology capable of interstellar travel manages to destroy itself in nuclear war. The second relevant Fermi tale may be a UL. The scientists on the Manhattan project had bets on how many megatons the first bomb would yield. One was betting it would be a dud. Fermi had a side bet that the explosion would cause a chain reaction, igniting the entire atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/15 "2005-05-24T17:29:36Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > Dude, its not just any Tritium. Its _Precious_ Tritium. 😛 _All_ babies are cute and _all_ Tritium is precious. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/16 "2005-05-24T22:18:28Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > The scientists on the Manhattan project had bets on how many megatons the first bomb would yield. One was betting it would be a dud. Fermi had a side bet that the explosion would cause a chain reaction, igniting the entire atmosphere. How did he plan on collecting from that bet if he won? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-flashlight-its-a-lightsaber-its-super-laser/305162/17 "2005-05-25T15:31:57Z")
**LeeshaJoy** I’ve never been clear on that myself.