[quote] Really techno babble? The renowned physicist Michio Kaku (big PhD guy at NASA) says a beam of plasma contained by a magnetic field DOES work and behave as a lightsaber if the magnetic field is strong enough to sustain shape and containment; [/quote] No one here is doubting the theoretical science behind the lightsaber (RE: "In theory all of these things could work"), or Michio Kaku, but rather whether or they are [i]actually[/i] possible. Is it possible to contain a plasma beam in a focused magnetic tube about 4 feet long hot enough to cut through almost anything, in a tiny handle, yet not also instantly melt off the user's hand? I don't presume to know, yet you seem to be saying it very much is actually possible. [quote] (Those magic crystals; are actuated by the power-supply but are themselves a capacitor/amplifier for that power supply) [/quote] Exactly, which is bullshit. It's all magic. [url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic]Sufficiently analyzed magic[/url], but still magic. I defer again to Forerunner temporal manipulation technology. How is that, which operates using increasingly tiny pcoket universes of compressed dimensions and fractal dimensions, unacceptable, but a magic Force imbued crystal that somehow acts as an amplifier for a plasma beam acceptable? [quote] Industrial steel in MODERN 2000s buildings can with stand 400,000 degrees F! [/quote] Congrats. Come back when you have a material that can hold up to 1.2billion Kelvin. [quote]also lightsabers DONT cut through anything instantly [/quote] I said that pretty clearly there are materials that can resist them, just not real ones. [quote]Plasma due to high electric charge (which is how it is heated) IS HIGHLY MAGNETIC and flows along magnetic lines of Force per Flemings Left Hand Rule of electricity And magnetism [/quote] Firstly, the lightsaber is the least of my issues right now because it is arguably the most explainable technology we are discussing (despite operating explicitly on magic, but I know you'll just ignore whatever is convenient for you to ignore). No one is questioning the theoretical physics involved. What I AM questioning is the blatant magic that goes into the tech. The Death Star uses a hypermatter reactor to power its weaponry and the rest of itself. Hypermatter is an exotic tachyonic material that exists only in hyperspace. So it is a magical material that comes from a place that doesn't exist, powering a weapon that, in real life AND in canon, would not be possible without it. Same goes for the lightsaber. It is a plasma beam focused down a magnetic tube that is only possible because of a magical Force imbued crystal that amplifies its power. Halo fires a wave propagated on cross-phased supermassive neutrinos and, likely using their vacuum energy or temporal manipulation technology, hits its target instantly. No one knows the exact science behind it anymore than any one knows the exact science behind the Force, because both the Force and Halo operate on a similar principle (that the universe is a living, breathing entity) and can so kindly give physics the finger. The difference is, I'm not pretending Halo is hard science fiction. Between the two of us, YOU are the only one trying to rationalize the Force as hard sci-fi. Are you seriously that daft? As we have gone on, your list of excuses for the various pieces of Star Wars lore I have brought up has continuously shrunk, and now all you can talk about is the lightsaber (which STILL uses a magic space crystal). Face it, Star Wars is no more scientific than Halo, and even less so because at least Halo has the sense to give an explanation, incorporating multi-verse theory, extra-dimensional space, vacuum energy and such. Controversial maybe, but at least they're real scientific models, unlike Star Wars, which boils down to "it just works." I love Star Wars, but quit pretending it's something that it isn't. It's all speculative fiction and fantasy, just argue the canon and we can move on. Do you get this bent out of shape when you play Skyrim and you blow a man off a cliff by shouting at him? Are you going to try and explain the physics behind Light in Destiny? How is that doctoral thesis on Eru from Lord of the Rings coming? When the God Emperor of Mankind killed his son Horus, which of the 4 fundamental forces did he use when he blasted Horus with an attack as powerful as a supernova and tore out his soul? How did the ship they were standing on not vaporize? What material was it made out of? That's what your argument boils down too: pretending that all of fiction must adhere to rigorously held rules of real life physics will ruin fiction for you unless it is written by Larry Niven. Just enjoy the work of fiction and get back to the actual debate, rather than this waffling about how the Force "is NOT that far fetched."