# Phasers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2000, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300 "2000-01-14T13:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2000, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/21 "2000-01-17T23:30:00Z")
Some more on phasers, gives some applications and links. [http://www.ceaaec.ca/~jtalbot/glossary/phaser.html](http://www.ceaaec.ca/~jtalbot/glossary/phaser.html) ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/22 "2000-01-18T03:40:00Z")
Well, I’ve just been paging through my copy of _The Physics of Star Trek_ by Lawrence M. Krauss. Funny thing, except for pointing out that phaser shots _must_ travel at the speed of light (as opposed to what is demonstrated in “Blink of the Eye”) and that they should not be visible along their path, there is very little talk about phasers. (Damn run-on sentences.) I guess Mr. Krauss wore himself out covering transporters and faster-than-light travel. ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/23 "2000-01-18T04:30:00Z")
I’m pretty sure they just made “nadions” up when they couldn’t explain the effect in phenomena known to twentieth century science. Same for “tetryons”. What I’ve always wondered is this: Point a phaser set to “dematerialize” at somebody and fire. Foof. They’re gone. So are their clothes, and anything they were carrying. But the effect didn’t spread to the ground they were standing on, the wall they were leaning against, etc. How to explain this? Shouldn’t there be at least a bite taken out? Or perhaps, it only disintegrates the solid object it makes contact with. But then, how to explain the clothes? Sigh. I guess I need to work on that “suspension of disbelief” thing, huh? * * * An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/24 "2000-01-18T05:56:00Z")
I have a new question…If Brilliant Pebbles is a kenetic energy weapon > [@](#): > > i.e. solid objects moving fast, weapon as Pluto said, how does that differ from a particle beam? Does particle in that sense mean particle as opposed to a wave? Of course I am refering to the dual wave/particle nature of things like photons. If you could ensure that something was a particle and not a wave, doesn’t that mean that you can control quantum mechanics, which is currently impossible? What am I missing? * * * See those stars over there? That is the Little Dipper. I’d show you the Big Dipper, but my zipper is stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/25 "2000-01-18T06:38:00Z")
There’s nothing quantum mechanical about the Brilliant Pebbles weapon- the pebbles aren’t sub-atomic particles, but 45 kg satellites, 3 ft long. I don’t think that qualifies as a “particle” for the purposes of a phasor. Arjuna34 ---
**Author:** ![Brood\_McEto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Brood\_McEto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brood_McEto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/26 "2000-01-18T07:00:00Z")
## Mjollnir wrote: ## 10-20 Hz is supposedly a range which would cause the large intesting to start contracting My brother is a professional stereo installer and Bass is his hobby. He’s ‘heard’ (felt, really) 10-15hz and had no inclination to defecate. He says that everything moves really slow. He compares it to a freight train coming towards you. Our mother can never tell if it’s the train coming or him. Yeah, he has a hell of a system, but anyways… I can’t say if prolonged exposure to 10-20hz can cause damage, but it doesn’t cause the incredible urge to release the bowels. It does, however, make it hard to breathe. I can attest to this. Makes your head rattle. * * * Brood McEto - Corellian ---
**Author:** ![Brood\_McEto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Brood\_McEto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brood_McEto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300/27 "2000-01-18T07:13:00Z")
And another thing: Since Star Trek and Star Wars are always compared to each other, what about the ‘lasers’ (or as my mother writes, lazers) in Star Wars? They aren’t just beams of light, but have something else with them. I read it a few years ago, but forgot what it is. Anyone? * * * Brood McEto - Corellian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phasers/6300.md?page=1)