Scientists from the Department of Energy’s national laboratories will host a discussion this week to answer questions about the kinds of energy sources needed to build things from the Star Wars universe, like lightsabers or the Death Star.
Two physicists, a researcher and a master optician from labs around the country will gather at a Google+ hangout Friday at 2 p.m., to answer all kinds of questions about what’s possible and what’s not when it comes to building and maintaining Star Wars equipment.
“How much energy would it take to run a Death Star?” the department asked on a page announcing the event. “What type of energy source could power a lightsaber?”
“Experts from the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories are here to answer these questions and more about energy in the Star Wars films.”
The discussion will be broadcast at www.energy.gov/starwars, and questions can either be emailed to [email protected], or tweeted using #StarWarsEnergy.
“Answer your questions, these experts will. Hmm,” an Energy Department staffer wrote, channeling Yoda.
When it comes to building stuff from the Star Wars universe, energy is just part of the problem. A 2012 story in Forbes postulated that the Death Star would cost $852 quadrillion in 2012 dollars, equal to about 13,000 times the world’s GDP that year.
That article was titled, “Even If We Could Afford To Build a Death Star It Would Still Be A Bad Idea.”
In 2013, scientists say they stumbled upon the concepts need to build lightsabers. Physicists from Harvard and MIT wrote in Nature that they figured out a way to bind protons into a molecule that would make the Jedi weapon of choice a reality.
