How Would You Build a Real X-Wing? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill)

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  • Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
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    Star Wars has had a huge influence on pop culture and eventually even real life technology! So what would it take to make a real life piece of Star Wars tech? Kyle gets building on this week's Because Science!
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Комментарии • 1,1 тыс.

  • @Nerdist
    @Nerdist  6 лет назад +180

    But how do X-Wings turn? NEW mini-ep over on my Insta: instagram.com/sci_phile/ -- KH

    • @benjaminraskin8509
      @benjaminraskin8509 6 лет назад +4

      Nerdist oxygen/pressure release under n above each wing/spoil

    • @benjaminraskin8509
      @benjaminraskin8509 6 лет назад +2

      Foil*

    • @sawtooth117
      @sawtooth117 6 лет назад +5

      Nerdist in the legends expanded universe, repulsor lifts are strategically placed like thrusters, to replicate gravity wells and produce changes in direction like a jet, and without visible thrust. A yet to be proven tech that might work is the EM drive (aka rf resonant cavity thruster). If it works the way it's supposed to on a larger scale (on going debate and testing has yet to prove either thrust or experimental error), it can produce thrust without visible ejections. Put banks of these throughout the x-wing, powered by the fusion reaction, and you may have the maneuverability of the x-wing solved.

    • @barrybend7189
      @barrybend7189 6 лет назад +6

      Nerdist best X-wing is the thunderbolt Starfury from Babylon 5.

    • @neulawrence5399
      @neulawrence5399 6 лет назад +1

      Nerdist 😩I'M SO DEPRESSED Cause 😟 I WORK SO HARD on my RUclips Channel EVERYDAY And No Growth At All, But at least I can watch your videos, gets me distracted and makes me feel better😊

  • @shade01977
    @shade01977 6 лет назад +370

    Actually, Kyle, the surprise lightsaber moment DID catch me off guard this time. We'll placed, sir. Well placed.

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +36

      I'M BACK BABAY -- KH

    • @ORIONGaming
      @ORIONGaming 6 лет назад +2

      He did it while I was reading this; thank you for the warning.

    • @shade01977
      @shade01977 6 лет назад +1

      Simon opdebeeck - XD

    • @TheBassManBoy
      @TheBassManBoy 6 лет назад +2

      How many takes was that completing the engine chart, Kyle? You sounded a bit winded.

    • @ApolloJ14
      @ApolloJ14 6 лет назад +1

      Nerdist Surprise lightsaber being a new version of lightsaber did indeed surprise me. I was surprised just how much I laughed at it - good job Kyle, & also on another great episode 👍😉

  • @TheBoyCalledSam
    @TheBoyCalledSam 6 лет назад +154

    That surprise lightsaber was the most surprise surprise lightsaber I have ever been surprised with

    • @davecrupel2817
      @davecrupel2817 3 года назад

      Im suprised by the fact he didnt set himself on fire.

  • @drsusredfish
    @drsusredfish 6 лет назад +92

    I like when he writes while he is talking. His speech slows as his brain divides processing power between his motor skills and mouth. Especially when he uses both hands.

  • @MrTigerlore
    @MrTigerlore 6 лет назад +349

    The Empire is environmentally conscious because tie-fighters have solar panels for wings.

    • @Shvetsario
      @Shvetsario 6 лет назад +71

      Wouldn't want global warming in space

    • @mxviii
      @mxviii 6 лет назад +21

      They're not solar panels they are deflector screens, because fighters were too small to fit shield generators. If you watch the films, you see the only way they are destroyed is when the Ball section receives a direct hit.

    • @RyanKawesomeSMS
      @RyanKawesomeSMS 6 лет назад +24

      mxviii nope, canon sources confirm that the wings are solar panels. In fact, part of the reason that ties were so bad is that their wings were massive targets

    • @mxviii
      @mxviii 6 лет назад +6

      Ryan K sounds like a retconn then. In a new hope you can see some of Luke's blaster shots bounce off the screens in the falcon chase scene. Also The old tie fighter game describes them as such. A solar powered tie fighter would make no sense. They wouldn't be able to operate in deep space...like the scene in last Jedi.....but oh well Disney can do what it wants I guess

    • @barragethree5047
      @barragethree5047 5 лет назад +2

      Those power main systems, the engines are fuels by solids

  • @Nerdist
    @Nerdist  6 лет назад +230

    You better believe I'm doing Star Wars stuff all this month! Next week, I ruin (or make awesomer) lightsabers. -- KH

    • @two-face1041
      @two-face1041 6 лет назад +1

      Nerdist do one about The Death Star....surly it’s size and mass would effect of the galaxy it’s built-in

    • @davidk1308
      @davidk1308 6 лет назад

      Nerdist did you see the blacksmiths video on it? XD

    • @megazero2735
      @megazero2735 6 лет назад +3

      I have a question I wonder u could do a video on :P So u know how 1 of Superman most iconic feat is saving a falling plane? But with he himself still only human size, wouldnt putting all the weight of the plane onto an area as small as his hand size rip the plane apart at the point of contact between Superman and the plane long before the plane crash into earth?

    • @davidk1308
      @davidk1308 6 лет назад

      Anh Minh Le I don't know the math behind that, but yeah, I think that's right, or it would buckle under the stress. :)
      So that'd be a cool video

    • @carlsagan1377
      @carlsagan1377 6 лет назад

      Kyle, on this week’s Muskwatch, why did you not talk about Elon’s Tesla Mars mission? Are you going to do it next week?

  • @Trilbydood
    @Trilbydood 6 лет назад +19

    A lightsaber blade wouldn't weigh anything per se, but the energy in it would mean it would resist directional changes. So swinging it would give it additional momentum, which wouldn't make it seem heavier, but it would imitate that by essentially always wanting to continue on the same arc. Essentially, lightsabers are always trying to slip out of your hands and the most impressive move is when someone blocks an opponent's lightsaber to a dead stop with their own.
    Both of those lightsabers will be trying to move towards the blocking figher's face, so the concentration (and probably force pushing) they would have to be able to pull off to stop it would need to be incredible. A smaller lightsaber like yoda's would therefore be better for blocking, and a bigger more energetic one like kylo ren's would be a lot better for turning aside blocks, both of which we see in the films.

  • @deusexaethera
    @deusexaethera 5 лет назад +25

    6:41 - Yes, antimatter is hugely powerful and extremely efficient, but you can never power-down the engine, because you need to constantly generate a containment field to store the antimatter safely. Fusion is safer because hydrogen can just sit in a plain old metal tank until you need it.

  • @brendonboucher8089
    @brendonboucher8089 6 лет назад +14

    In the Star Wars books, and in references (like the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, not that I'm that big a nerd or anything) the engines on x-wings are referred to as fusial thrust engines - which may or may not be a made-up term, but certainly suggests that they're going with the fusion reaction route here.

  • @undead890
    @undead890 6 лет назад +56

    TIE Fighter: Twin ION Engine Fighter

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +13

      Yeah -- KH

    • @Kharmander
      @Kharmander 6 лет назад +4

      I think he missed the part where you said that the two were more plausible than the ION engines that they write into every ship. :)

    • @Detson404
      @Detson404 6 лет назад +7

      I bet the twin ion engine bit is a backonym, and the real reason they are called that is because they have a bow tie silhouette.

    • @heimdall1973
      @heimdall1973 5 лет назад

      Also, it's not really twin engine, it's quad engine. QIE fighter, anyone?

  • @KamenRiderGumo
    @KamenRiderGumo 5 лет назад +3

    Glad you brought up fusion engines - because that's what the X-Wing series (not to mention every single other novel and source book printed pre-Disney) list the X-Wing as canonically having.

  • @kotickyle
    @kotickyle 6 лет назад +140

    How could Tony Stark's arc reactor work?

    • @Sheol02
      @Sheol02 6 лет назад +6

      Kit-13-Lucky It can't work.

    • @ThrottleKitty
      @ThrottleKitty 6 лет назад +9

      Positive thinking.

    • @CanisMythson
      @CanisMythson 6 лет назад +21

      Actually, I had a theory about that once. Take positively charged photons and pump them into a chamber with negative electromagnetic nozzles that move the photons in a circular motion around a centralized negative-charged cylander, which is turned by the moving photons. theoretically, this cylander is pulled into a spin, which charges a dynamo using non-magnetic, conductive metals. (Hence, the palladium.)

    • @clowntrooper61
      @clowntrooper61 6 лет назад +3

      Why aren't you building then if you're so smart?

    • @Cosmic_Railgun
      @Cosmic_Railgun 6 лет назад +23

      Clowntrooper Ummm... probably money, time, and resources. I’ve got plenty of ideas for possible designs but that doesn’t mean if I walk into NASA that they’re going to give me a top place job and all the resources I need to achieve a prototype, or even listen to me for that matter.

  • @dude_whats_even_happening
    @dude_whats_even_happening 3 года назад +6

    The only other ship that I would ever consider liking more than the X wing would be the Millennium Falcon

  • @MontgomeryWenis
    @MontgomeryWenis 6 лет назад +52

    There totally IS sound in space. Every planet/planet-sized moon makes their eerie theme song as they orbit.

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +5

      They vibrate, but sound requires that their vibrations act upon a fluid that transmits them across space. We can hear an underwater volcano because those vibrations travel through water. We cannot hear the moon.

    • @MontgomeryWenis
      @MontgomeryWenis 6 лет назад +3

      Matter Beam Sooooooo you're saying if a tree falls and no fluid is there to absorb the sound waves, it won't actually make an audible sound?

    • @MontgomeryWenis
      @MontgomeryWenis 6 лет назад +1

      Matter Beam Anyway, you're wrong. Here's the moon's song. ruclips.net/video/MWUoosj65lo/видео.html

    • @malindemunich2883
      @malindemunich2883 6 лет назад +9

      Yes, without a fluid medium vibrations make no audible sound. The "moon's song" is a vibration frequency transmitted by a speaker that then translates its vibrations to the fluid of our air to your ear. In space, there is no sound. That isn't captured sound from the moon, it's a replication of that frequency translated to sound.

    • @julianturner69420
      @julianturner69420 6 лет назад

      Elliott Lars Olsen sound requires a medium to travel through. For example Air or Water. Those eerie theme songs are not direct recordings. Rather they are analysis of data based on the planet/moons vibration that leads us to conclude (with high probability) that if there was a medium the planets traveled too then thats the sound they would make. Thats why there is no sounds in space.

  • @FlagCutie
    @FlagCutie 6 лет назад +53

    "The thrust, size and look that we want." I keep waiting for Dan Casey to pop in with a messy double entendre. #TooMuchMuskWatch

    • @smac919
      @smac919 6 лет назад +5

      #NeverTooMuchMuskwatch also #Musquatch

    • @walkinmn
      @walkinmn 6 лет назад +5

      Jess_Marie_G i wouldn't mind a surprise Dan Casey from time to time

  • @khodexus4963
    @khodexus4963 6 лет назад +29

    I always kind of assumed that the reason light sabers didn't feel completely weightless in the hand was not because there was significant mass in the blade, but because the containment field generated a small amount of resistance force, similar to trying to turn a wheel while it's spinning.
    Also, have you considered doing an episode on Babylon 5?

    • @Psytrese
      @Psytrese 6 лет назад +1

      Khodexus I always just assumed it had a counterweight. It's in the centre of the blade when it's off but it moves to the top when it's turned on. Low tech and solves the problem.

    • @grimlock1471
      @grimlock1471 6 лет назад +3

      According to an interview with Mark Hamill, Lucas gave explicit direction that light sabers were to be handled as if they were a broadsword, rather than a laser pointer or flashlight.
      ruclips.net/video/RIefj6dOhnM/видео.htmlm27s

    • @khodexus4963
      @khodexus4963 6 лет назад

      Yes, I think we all recognize this. I'm simply expounding on the in-universe justification for that, not the out-of universe reasoning (they actually use props which actually have mass in the 'blade').

    • @Narfwak
      @Narfwak 6 лет назад

      In the documentary I saw Lucas explains his reasoning for the direction in the first two movies - particularly ANH - by saying that because the sword is "so powerful" and has so much energy that it would have some kind of inertial effect. There's no physics explanation there, it's essentially just fantasy. That said, two force field swords hitting each other would probably generate some pretty powerful blowback.
      The fencing gets a bit more dynamic in RotJ and vastly more sped up in the prequels, so there's not a ton of internal consistency in that explanation, though.

    • @blackderby80
      @blackderby80 5 лет назад

      Let us not forget that Lucas, great idea man that he is (at times), had to have written a sentence something like this when he was plotting out the phantom menace:
      'jar jar tries to steal a swoke-swoke from grah-grah, because he has no roopy-yoopies to buy one.'
      It's like something a small child might come up with...
      Are we really surprised that the man has no understanding of actual physics?

  • @SentinelGhost
    @SentinelGhost 6 лет назад +30

    Question for maybe a future episode. Apperantly in recent renditions of Superman and his "Fortress if solitude" he keeps a key for it that is supposed to be made from the material of a dwarf star. It is supposed to weigh a half a million tons so that only he can lift and use it. So my question is what would happen if a key (or something of comparable size) actually weighed a half million tons and what would happen if it was set on the ground as it is often shown he keeps it under a mat?

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +6

      A fully loaded supertanker masses over 500 thousands tons, so there will be no weird effects. The problem is that this mass is attracted to the Earth by a force of 4.9 giganewtons. No problem if it is distributed along all of the supertanker's length... but concentrated into a key? It will sink into the Earth until it reaches to core.
      So, Superman needs a keyholder that is very very strong, and built like a pyramid to distribute its weight so that it doesn't sink into the ground!

    • @peytonmac1131
      @peytonmac1131 6 лет назад

      There is a video about Antman that sort of hints at the answer to that. Half a million tons spread out over the space of a single key would press down so hard over such a small surface area it would sink into the ground and probably keep going until it hit the center of the Earth.

    • @caramonmajere447
      @caramonmajere447 5 лет назад

      @@MatterBeamTSF
      Inquiring minds must know.
      Are you male or female?

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 5 лет назад

      A man.

    • @caramonmajere447
      @caramonmajere447 5 лет назад

      @@MatterBeamTSF
      Cool, thx.

  • @WAMTAT
    @WAMTAT 6 лет назад +37

    Hard light holograms, could they work?

    • @Hamletstwin
      @Hamletstwin 6 лет назад +3

      shut up Rimmer!

    • @spartanhawk7637
      @spartanhawk7637 6 лет назад +2

      I suppose if you counted large articulated transparent plastic as hard light...

    • @peytonmac1131
      @peytonmac1131 6 лет назад

      There is a real world thing I forget the name of, where they compress light or force photons together or something and create a physical crystal. Long way off practical use, but could be the starting point.
      Or forcefields, if there is anyway such things can be made in real life.

    • @homelandenvironmentalriskc2787
      @homelandenvironmentalriskc2787 5 лет назад

      @@peytonmac1131 Im Not Sure about Using Photons. But Plasma could be "Moulded" Into a Shield like state with Magnets. Very... Very... Powerful Magnets.

    • @d.dementedengineerc99isurf26
      @d.dementedengineerc99isurf26 4 года назад

      @@homelandenvironmentalriskc2787 Fundamentally the same as a lightsaber.

  • @johnhooyer3101
    @johnhooyer3101 6 лет назад +2

    I believe that in STAR WARS they have a thing called Hypermatter in their engines. My guess is that it's like Dark Matter and technically doesn't have "mass" in the sense that we normally think of it, so it weighs nothing, but it still contains nuclear energy that can be harnessed. Presumably a lot, by several orders of magnitude over normal matter. So this implies that they either split or fuse Hypermatter atoms, or they have something like anti-Hypermatter to mix with it.

  • @mugennsx
    @mugennsx 6 лет назад +2

    Would love to get your take on how to build a Gundam, with 40 years of Gundam technology opening a whole new series of videos. The most interesting to me would be how to power Wing Zero's gigantic double rifles, Gundam 00's Solar Oven propulsion, and what is a Newtype!

  • @AeroQC
    @AeroQC 6 лет назад +18

    There is a plasma rocket engine in development called the VASIMR Engine (VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket Engine). Would that type of rocket engine be a viable option for X-Wings? Apparently, the reports say that it's theoretically possibly to get us to Mars using the VASIMR in just about 40 days.

    • @chrisgaming9567
      @chrisgaming9567 6 лет назад +3

      Same problem as Ion engines

    • @cheaterman49
      @cheaterman49 6 лет назад +5

      Nah, VASIMR has much better thrust than ion engines, I'm a bit sad they weren't mentioned in this episode :-3

    • @chrisgaming9567
      @chrisgaming9567 6 лет назад +6

      VASIMR has better thrust, yes, but it is still almost nothing compared to what's required here

    • @Immerayon
      @Immerayon 6 лет назад +1

      Chris Gaming who says that x-wings don't change their thrust depending on if they are in a atmosphere?

    • @CassCassCassime
      @CassCassCassime 6 лет назад +7

      I think a ship getting to mars in 40 days would actually be much faster than an X-Wing, from the movies it seems the X-Wing can only go a few km/s at most. If it can get to the closest distance mars can be to Earth in 40 days then it surpasses a few km/s by a huge margin. going at about 15 km/s.
      If that measurement is done on the average distance Mars is from Earth, VASIMIR would be a full order of magnitude faster than an X-Wing, obviously ignoring the hyperdrive
      Edit: Using stats I looked up it would be double 2 orders of magnitude higher then the X-Wing if the calculation is done by average distances. Shortest distance it would be half of 2 orders of magnitude higher.
      Edit: Since I have no life I did the calculations and looked up a few stats on the X-Wing. Its max speed according to wookiepedia is ~300 m/s. If we assume it accelerates to this speed in 1 second, which is definitely not a stretch from the movies and how fast they nimbly adjust their speed and turn and such, and each one of these burns uses up, say, 50 kg of fuel, the X-Wing reaches a hilariously absurd specific impulse of 1 and 2/3. The lower a specific impulse is the more efficient fuel is per unit.
      So, a specific impulse of 1 and 2/3, that doesn't seem too impressive if you're not sure what that SI means, but, to put a perspective on it:
      The boosters on the space shuttle had a SI of about 500.
      Using those numbers, it has a SI where it could get the same velocity that takes a space shuttle 500 KG with just ~1.6 KG.
      Now I just spent the last 30 minutes learning all of what I just typed out, so I might be completely wrong and fucked up monumentally here, but using those numbers (I assume the X-Wing would not be able to operate as nimbly and with as many burns as it does with much higher ones in terms of amount of fuel needed for a 300 m/s burn), the X-Wing has a meme efficiency that is fairly close to impossible I think. I'm not sure but a SI at or below 1 would probably be physically impossible. Even to get those numbers on the X-Wing, you'd need very efficient matter to energy conversions that are absurdly more efficient even then antimatter engines.
      Like I said, might be completely wrong on this, would be very happy to be corrected if I am. If anyone actually knows what they're talking about, would be glad to know how terribly wrong I am lol.
      Second Edit: The Edit section is about the efficiency of the fuel itself, the top section is about the velocity of the craft. Two very different things.

  • @Shaiyo5
    @Shaiyo5 6 лет назад +20

    Aren't antimatter and fusion engines the basis for some forms of propulsion in the Star Trek universe?

    • @adamlytle2615
      @adamlytle2615 6 лет назад +4

      Yep. Warp drive uses a matter/anti-matter reaction and the impulse engines (sublight speeds) are fusion based.

    • @CassCassCassime
      @CassCassCassime 6 лет назад

      Star Trek is only marginally more scientifically accurate then star wars, both are science fantasy in my opinion. But I believe the Impulse engines ae fusion based.

  • @savdes14
    @savdes14 6 лет назад +1

    Thank you for mentioning the lightsaber weight thing at the end! I feel like most fights are choreographed as if the actual saber portion had weight.

  • @jonnygood1654
    @jonnygood1654 6 лет назад +1

    Regarding your observation about the light saber; in RotJ there is a moment in which this is particularly demonstrated when Vader throws his saber in Luke's direction in a spinning manner...the saber's center of gravity is obviously in the middle of the handle so that it spins like a deadly pinwheel. Obviously it was easier to throw a handle than a full stunt blade...but still one of the better details that they made sure to include in filming.

  • @Kakkarot211
    @Kakkarot211 6 лет назад +11

    we did have a fusion reaction that produced more than it took to create, just not by much

    • @d.dementedengineerc99isurf26
      @d.dementedengineerc99isurf26 4 года назад +1

      From what little I've researched on the matter, larger reactors are more efficient. With inevitable improcements in logistics, engineering, and conducters, I am fairly confident the road only rises from this point.

    • @IanNuke
      @IanNuke 3 года назад

      Abacurre drives anyone?

  • @imvomiting3405
    @imvomiting3405 6 лет назад +9

    "It's space there's no sound"
    Continues talking like normal

  • @antonydrossos5719
    @antonydrossos5719 6 лет назад +1

    Wow! Coldest Midi-Chlorian diss EVAR! And Lucas wrote those in to make the Force more quantifiable!

  • @JayFolipurba
    @JayFolipurba 6 лет назад

    Your mirror flipped handwriting got so much better! look at the first few episodes, the difference is huge

  • @deusexaethera
    @deusexaethera 5 лет назад +3

    7:15 - If you built ANY engine that used a high-intensity energy source to energize reaction-mass, you should use Xenon, not hydrogen. Xenon is the heaviest element that is easily stored in a liquid or solid form, meaning it can absorb the most thermal energy per atom and transfer the most kinetic energy per atom. (also known as "specific thrust".) That's why ion thrusters all use xenon, even though they can't refuel from ambient hydrogen in space -- the specific thrust is so much better that a non-refillable canister of xenon makes better propellant than freely available hydrogen would.

    • @AmazingCoolD
      @AmazingCoolD 4 года назад

      But then could there be a way that after the xenon is used up the engine would start using hydrogen?

  • @davecrupel2817
    @davecrupel2817 3 года назад +4

    The only way you could "dogfight in space" is if you could somehow dampen inertial momentum on your spacecraft and everything on and in it, and base your spacecraft's trajectory on where your propulsion tech is aimed.
    Also, Greedo shot first.

  • @atomic7348
    @atomic7348 6 лет назад

    Kyle, you and your crew that make because science possible.... I mean you guys just kick ass. My favorite show on RUclips hands-down man.
    SURPRISE LIGHTSABER

  • @DownHereInChile
    @DownHereInChile 6 лет назад +1

    Don't forget that Star Wars ships feature Repulsorlift (antigrav) generators which they use to take off, manoeuver in space, and generally avoid Newtonian physics in space

  • @loodahchris04
    @loodahchris04 6 лет назад +130

    don't you mean LASER SWORD

    • @Iwillgotohell2
      @Iwillgotohell2 6 лет назад +21

      did you mean PLASMATANA?

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +29

      I HAVE NEVER MEANT LASER SWORD -- KH

    • @curseofgladstone4981
      @curseofgladstone4981 6 лет назад +3

      Chris Kaminsky
      Its a beam saber...

    • @eliforman5612
      @eliforman5612 6 лет назад

      @Dragon Warhammer Gundam reference?

    • @ikmnification5737
      @ikmnification5737 6 лет назад

      Plasmaken* because Linguistics.
      But then again Kenobi is poor Japanese linguistics too (Lucas was going for Sword Holder), so Lucas would call it Plasmatana over Plasmaken.

  • @John73John
    @John73John 6 лет назад +5

    Present day ion engines don’t have enough thrust, but they’re designed for low-power sources (a few solar panels on a probe, for example). What if you added a lot more power (say a small nuclear reactor)?

    • @Blockbuster2033
      @Blockbuster2033 6 лет назад

      John73 John that is actually an interesting thought

    • @peytonmac1131
      @peytonmac1131 6 лет назад +1

      Some deep space probes do have a nuclear reactor powering them, but if I understand correctly, ion engines are already about 65 - 80% efficient, which is about as good as they will ever get. Even at 100% efficiency, in order to get more thrust out of them, you need a bigger power supply, which means more mass, which counters the extra thrust.
      Ion engines are one of those things that are good now, but there are far better options and once we work out how to build those better options, the ion engine will be obsolete.

    • @IanNuke
      @IanNuke 3 года назад

      @@peytonmac1131 like the abacurre drive for superlumial speeds and no time dialation

  • @xSaraxMxNeffx
    @xSaraxMxNeffx 5 лет назад +1

    my fave thing about this was the lack of talk about aero dynamics for planetside fights

  • @DavidSanchez-yo9wc
    @DavidSanchez-yo9wc 6 лет назад +1

    Good new @Nerdist Kyle is right! The T-65 X-wing uses a Fusial Thrust Engine...which sounds similar to a Fusion Engine

  • @andrewstarkie2238
    @andrewstarkie2238 6 лет назад +56

    Who wants to eat Antimatter M&Ms with me lmao

    • @Benrob0329
      @Benrob0329 6 лет назад +7

      *boom*

    • @johnlemus7921
      @johnlemus7921 6 лет назад +5

      I'll do Andrew, we'll record that shit and get famous.

    • @andrewstarkie2238
      @andrewstarkie2238 6 лет назад +3

      John Lemus for the VIEWS

    • @johnlemus7921
      @johnlemus7921 6 лет назад +4

      FOR THE VIEWS!

    • @CarFreeSegnitz
      @CarFreeSegnitz 6 лет назад +5

      The mass-energy of the bomb on Hiroshima was roughly .7 grams. The mass of an m&m is roughly .9 grams. So an m&m chunk of antimatter is roughly 30% more energetic than the Hiroshima bomb. Ergo : BOOM.

  • @Neolantern
    @Neolantern 6 лет назад +7

    He did surprise lighsaber. All is right in the world.

  • @borisalvadzhiev621
    @borisalvadzhiev621 6 лет назад

    Expected "Surprise Lightsaber", wasn't surprised, rather satisfied!

  • @deusfromotf3119
    @deusfromotf3119 6 лет назад

    props for the Wilhelm Scream!

  • @leeskieferrell2003
    @leeskieferrell2003 6 лет назад +5

    there has never been and will never be a youtube series better than muskwatch!
    hail daddy!

  • @Ichsukatanuka
    @Ichsukatanuka 6 лет назад +19

    .....................SURPRISE ION TORPEDO.

  • @thesmolswefur5806
    @thesmolswefur5806 6 лет назад

    i really love this series.

  • @crashdiesel
    @crashdiesel 6 лет назад

    love because science episodes. always make my day and the puns!!!!

  • @walkinmn
    @walkinmn 6 лет назад +4

    Dissapointed that there wasn't a Futurama reference with the antimatter propulsion

  • @KageRyuu6
    @KageRyuu6 6 лет назад +9

    Completely ignores Nuclear Thermal Rockets.

    • @chrisgaming9567
      @chrisgaming9567 6 лет назад +2

      Solid-, Liquid-, Vapor- and Closedcycle Gas-core NTRs are only a few times as efficient as chemical rockets, and open-cycle NTRs spray radioactive death everywhere

  • @xciter6023
    @xciter6023 6 лет назад

    Love your vids... I think they're the best on RUclips... keep doing what you do man!

  • @brooksd2617
    @brooksd2617 6 лет назад

    These are amazing please don’t stop

  • @patriksladcik3347
    @patriksladcik3347 6 лет назад +57

    Colin Furze anyone? :D

    • @galenwolf
      @galenwolf 6 лет назад

      I was just going to suggest asking Colin since he's built a full size TIE.

    • @thomasbunn00
      @thomasbunn00 6 лет назад

      Was just about to say it myself.

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +7

      Well he built the shell, he'd still need one of these engines! -- KH

    • @avilude
      @avilude 6 лет назад

      Hacksmith made a protosaber (just pointing out because of the inventor/star wars conversation)

    • @tripy75
      @tripy75 6 лет назад

      fireworks... Lots'a fireworks...

  • @barrybend7189
    @barrybend7189 6 лет назад +4

    Macross variable fighters use fusion torch engines.

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +3

      I researched torch engines for this episode! -- KH

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +1

      High thrust and high exhaust velocity are the exact definition of a torch engine :D

    • @fradical1522
      @fradical1522 5 лет назад

      Do you know the type of fusion propulsion they use by any chance?

  • @l33tsamurai
    @l33tsamurai 4 года назад +1

    You should see shadiversity's video on how Jedi should be fighting with their lightsabers. He posits that it would be more akin to modern fencing.

  • @SaintParallax
    @SaintParallax 6 лет назад +1

    I always thought that about lightsabers, like in the clone wars, Maul’s brother had a large two handed lightsaber hilt, it just makes it less convenient to have a large unwieldy hilt while the blade weighs nothing

  • @charger2501
    @charger2501 6 лет назад +7

    We've had anti matter propulsion for decades...in Star Trek that's how there warp works.

    • @TiagoTiagoT
      @TiagoTiagoT 6 лет назад +2

      I think they just use it for the energy, not directly for propulsion.

    • @LucianCanad
      @LucianCanad 6 лет назад

      I can't say anything about the regular thrusters, but their warp drives are probably in the line of the Alcubierre Drive, which, as I spent far too much time not knowing, doesn't actually require propulsion to make a ship go from point A to point B.

    • @rhaegal5650
      @rhaegal5650 6 лет назад

      We have but it is not at all cost effective to make anti matter and takes years to make a minuscule amount. We could gather it from the solar system easier than making it though

    • @blackderby80
      @blackderby80 5 лет назад

      LucianCanad how does it do that? Does it use wale-tenser (sp) dynamics to create a nonlinear curve that folds space and time?
      Or are star Trek's ships actually powered by handwavium?

  • @lilbrusa8952
    @lilbrusa8952 6 лет назад +8

    Isn’t ray’s lightsaber actually Anakin’s old one from his Jedi days?

    • @lorken22
      @lorken22 6 лет назад +2

      Yes but now Disney is calling it "Ray's lightsaber" which if I'm being perfectly honest annoys me a little.

    • @robertmcnabb1589
      @robertmcnabb1589 6 лет назад +6

      lorken22 WHY?!?! When it was in Anakin's possession, it was ANAKIN'S lightsaber. When it was in Luke's possession, it was LUKE'S lightsaber. Now it is in Rey's possession, why shouldn't it be called REY'S lightsaber

    • @lordilluminati5836
      @lordilluminati5836 6 лет назад +3

      anakin made it for himself and used it himself. it was always 'anakins' lightsaber'. luke's lightsabe is the green one he builds later on.

    • @robertmcnabb1589
      @robertmcnabb1589 6 лет назад +1

      patricio torre so who's to say that by the end of the Sequel trilogy Rey won't have made her own?

    • @peytonmac1131
      @peytonmac1131 6 лет назад +1

      Was it ever explained how the blue lightsaber was brought back? I thought it fell into the gas planet when Luke hand his hand cut off.

  • @savageenterprises3273
    @savageenterprises3273 Год назад

    I am glad that I came across this video. I am going to try and recreate a star fighter and now knowing that it is going to based around fusion engines and thrust, it will help me with connections ect. Thank you very much.

  • @piki68
    @piki68 6 лет назад

    I cheked the mini episode, because you suggested, than I watched this video again, because you suggested at the end of a mini episode, and now I stucked in your videos forever. Because science!

  • @ryanhiggins8869
    @ryanhiggins8869 6 лет назад +20

    Some idiot (Komninos Maraslidis) once said:
    Ion Engines do not magically have efficiency over 100%. Even if they converted 100% of solar energy to kinetic, and even if the solar panels on a TIE fighter captured 100% of sun's energy (instead of like 20%) they wouldn't produce any thrust of relevant magnitude for the movements the ship does. Ion Engines are being researched for long flights as a more efficient alternative to rocket boosters. They produce very low thrust, but with higher efficiency and can be used for interstellar travel of our small probes. They provide a small but constant acceleration. They do not provide fighter like maneuverability. It's a question of math, physics and thermodynamics. Looks like some people should get more education.

    • @temiajuwon8893
      @temiajuwon8893 6 лет назад +10

      Ryan Higgins Who are you talking to?

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +2

      This assumes that TIE fighters are solar powered.

    • @Woodledude
      @Woodledude 6 лет назад +4

      It would make way more sense for them to be battery powered or have some other kind of short-range fuel based on their general role - almost always in short-range missions around some larger ship. But then the question remains, why DO they have giant solar panels?

    • @ryanhiggins8869
      @ryanhiggins8869 6 лет назад +3

      W00dledude, this post was kind of an inside joke, but you made an intelligent response, so I will reply to you.
      Solar panels would be sufficient as a back up power system to operate emergency distress signal and on-board life support systems.

    • @Woodledude
      @Woodledude 6 лет назад +3

      Thank you :) To continue this interesting line of thought with your input in mind, the fact that you DON'T see that kind of feature on Rebel ships, and you do see it on TIE fighters makes me think that the Empire cares more about their soldiers than the canon would have you believe. Those solar panels don't fold at all, and to my knowledge host no other systems - Everything else is in the body of the ship. It takes FAR more space to store the ships because of their existence, making it incredibly inefficient. That for a feature that largely serves to preserve the lives of the pilots?
      Well, maybe they're trying to take your mind off of the upper ranks dying like lemmings under the grip of Darth Vader... But they're spending credits out the wazoo to do it.

  • @ivandimitrijevic6095
    @ivandimitrijevic6095 6 лет назад +5

    A different light saber? You broke the last one, didn't you? 😒

  • @adamant4107
    @adamant4107 6 лет назад

    All I wanted for Christmas was a "Surprise Lightsaber!" and I got it!
    Wooooo! Now I'm happy.

  • @ChrisZacho
    @ChrisZacho 6 лет назад +2

    Don't forget hyperdrive. Most SW fighters have FTL capabilities.

  • @shybard
    @shybard 6 лет назад +22

    X-Wing is best wing.
    Search your feelings.
    You know it to be true.

    • @buttons551
      @buttons551 6 лет назад +4

      I'm more of a Y-wing man myself

    • @sdfkjgh
      @sdfkjgh 6 лет назад +2

      You're BOTH wrong! It's either the Buick (seeker cluster missiles, baby!) or the Jedi Starfighter (b/c sonic mines are overpowered, and can take out an uninjured Star Destroyer in 2-3 shots).

    • @ryanp5221
      @ryanp5221 6 лет назад +1

      Tie advanced for life!!! It has all the maneuverability and power of a tie fighter, but also has shields, unlike its mass-produced counterpart.

    • @patrick8116
      @patrick8116 6 лет назад

      Starfury

    • @blackderby80
      @blackderby80 5 лет назад

      With apologies, I must inform you all that you are incorrect.
      The b-wing is best. That's why it is the /b/ wing, after all...

  • @Haigotron
    @Haigotron 5 лет назад +4

    As of July 2018, the National debt of the United States is worth about the same as 0.25 gram of anti-matter.

  • @ashleysora3465
    @ashleysora3465 5 лет назад

    That little extra at the end XD Beat Saber players are the true jedi!

  • @ViciousPapaya
    @ViciousPapaya 6 лет назад +1

    That lightsaber was unexpected like spanish inquisition xDD

  • @davidk1308
    @davidk1308 6 лет назад +15

    Notification squad xD
    Also, that's a Falcon heavy. Granted, it is basically 3 Falcon 9s strapped together, but still.
    Anyway, can't wait for its debut launch (Hopefully) next month.
    Also, about Orion, they actually wouldn't be very bad, the EMP thing could be taken care of by having it in a remote location (Which you would do anyway), and there wouldn't really be any nuclear fallout. This site has really great info on it: www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#id--Project_Orion
    And this (Scroll down for environmental stuff) www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Pulse--Orion
    And it would've been cool if you touched on antimatter catalyzed fusion drives, which in some ways, may be easier.

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +4

      Must have misspoke, sorry! -- KH

    • @davidk1308
      @davidk1308 6 лет назад

      Nerdist eh, it was a small one :)

    • @twstf8905
      @twstf8905 6 лет назад

      Hehe, oooh, man, David K. Where were you BEFORE he made this video!?
      Out-smarted in his OWN comments section AGAIN.
      HOW embarrassing!!?

    • @davidk1308
      @davidk1308 6 лет назад

      TWSTF 8 not really, they are general overviews; besides it's looking at fictional science anyway, so not a big issue.

  • @glacier4286
    @glacier4286 6 лет назад +16

    What's an Eminem's worth?

    • @Atzu_The_Vehicle_Driver
      @Atzu_The_Vehicle_Driver 6 лет назад

      Are you stupid, or funny? I dont know, but he means M&M's like the candy, not the rapper. :)

    • @Sketchy_Dood
      @Sketchy_Dood 6 лет назад

      That guy the size of a m&m’s worth you know the sweet?

    • @Nerdist
      @Nerdist  6 лет назад +15

      About the same as mom's spaghetti -- KH

    • @VexChoccyMilk
      @VexChoccyMilk 6 лет назад +1

      Aboot 190 mil.

    • @ptonpc
      @ptonpc 6 лет назад +1

      Half a Slim Shady.

  • @lutheinpalanrandir1617
    @lutheinpalanrandir1617 4 года назад +1

    When he mentioned anti-matter engines, I immediately thought of the matter/anti-matter engines of the Enterprise in Star Trek.

  • @Grizabeebles
    @Grizabeebles 6 лет назад +1

    Just checked the ITER web site. Kyle's right, the first fusion reactor potentially capable of producing more energy than it consumes won't even be constructed until 2025.

  • @tolotos95
    @tolotos95 Год назад

    Antimatter engines? Got one for ya: A "NUG-Schwarzschildreaktor", freshly imported from the PerryRhodan-Universe. High acceleration and velocity,uses only little fuel which can also be produced mid-flight, and can be combined with different means of propulsion, with thrusters but also with force field engines.

  • @markomus1
    @markomus1 5 лет назад

    00:11 - THE WILHELM SCREAM!!! You are a fan indeed--or at least your sound engineer is! :)

  • @wolverine8658
    @wolverine8658 6 лет назад

    great vid as always, I would like to see the same aproach on the SA-23E Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury from Babylon 5

  • @amdreallyfast
    @amdreallyfast 6 лет назад

    I worked at the Washington State University materials science lab for antimatter research as a lab tech several years back. Storage is the primary trouble. The best storage at the time could store, maybe, 2^10 positrons, which is about 10^20 times short of a gram. Got a ways to go :)

  • @robertburgess1070
    @robertburgess1070 5 лет назад

    I would like to see a series of these videos done on Buck Rodgers starfighters.

  • @highgroundproductions8590
    @highgroundproductions8590 6 лет назад +1

    The VASIMR engine is a different type of ion engine. It runs on very hot plasma instead of cold gas so it's quite a bit more powerful - but it only does like 5 N. Maybe you can get it up to 100 N for a full power model but that's still not enough.

  • @TheHeston83
    @TheHeston83 6 лет назад

    Great Episode X-Wings are my favorite Spacecraft in fiction fun to Play on Star Wars Battlefront II as well

  • @Earthenfist
    @Earthenfist 6 лет назад

    Supposedly, that lack of blade weight was one of the major reasons why only Jedi used Lightsabers- because they were so easy to swing around, and had no resistance, they were too dangerous to use for someone without Force-enhanced kinesthetics.

  • @schuylerdade
    @schuylerdade 6 лет назад

    My favorite part is always just Kyle yelling at the crew about related topics.

  • @ronin6877
    @ronin6877 6 лет назад +1

    I think you're overlooking the fact that wings wouldn't work in space where there is no drag. So just Propulsion isn't enough for space dog fights.

  • @PiiskaJesusFreak
    @PiiskaJesusFreak 6 лет назад

    Nerdist, Kyle Hill, could you please make a video about how Ironmans repulsors would work in real life?

  • @jamesburleson1916
    @jamesburleson1916 6 лет назад

    You forgot about NTRs Nuclear Thermal Rockets. They use a fission reactor to heat, really any fuel to high temperatures before ejecting it out of the nozzle. The color of the exhaust is determined by the fuel used, for instance Hydrogen would make the nice red engine color. NTRs are more than capable of the thrust to weight necessary to achieve orbit and they have high enough specific impulse that a single stage to orbit with a usable payload. They might however, violate a few treaties about nuclear reactors in space.

  • @LoganLS0
    @LoganLS0 6 лет назад

    I love this show.

  • @stcredzero
    @stcredzero 6 лет назад +1

    What about VASIMR? Also, no, you can't simply use magnetic nozzles to direct the output of an antimatter annihilation. Look up Robert Forward's book "Mirror Matter." There is a way to do it with one particular particle, but there are caveats.

  • @TheRunesmythe
    @TheRunesmythe 6 лет назад

    Interesting things to consider here with engine types. As for your "outro" (don't like that word-that's-not-a-word, but its works) I'd read somewhere that's what made lightsabers so dangerous to use without proper training and Force abilities; the lack of weight and resistance when swinging one was simply something an untrained, non-Force user couldn't accurately compensate for, at least not enough to make it viable, widely used weapon. It took years of training, Force sensitivity and Jedi reflexes to make a lightsaber a plausible weapon to take into battle.

  • @CelestialSofa
    @CelestialSofa 5 лет назад

    X-wing's can fly into orbit, travel across the galaxy, land on a planet, be submerged in a swamp, take off again and go fight in a space war. They are the most unbelievable ship in scifi (that I know of)

  • @gamerid6507
    @gamerid6507 6 лет назад +1

    cool info on nuke fusion and antimatter...but wht abt the side effects of using both? for example wht would it release besides producing thrust?

  • @Prich319
    @Prich319 4 года назад +1

    10,000 kg is nothing. That's like 1/3 the maximum takeoff weight of an F-35. (and the Lightning is considered a light fighter.) I would also point out that the max canon acceleration of an X-wing is 3,700 Gs (as in non-survivable regardless of whatever space magic you're using.) which would be kind of overkill in a manned starfighter. Fusion is probably a good choice for power, since the reactor could provide the plasma to fuel a VASIMR thruster, which can set it's specific impulse to whatever is needed at the time, so you can optimize efficiency when cruising, and optimize thrust when in combat.

  • @tspoon1618
    @tspoon1618 6 лет назад

    Small detail in ‘The Last Jedi’: the engine on Poe’s X-Wing was ignited with a blowtorch-like pilot light!

  • @4137Swords
    @4137Swords 6 лет назад

    I think another thing to consider is how every ship in Star Wars seems to be able to artificially produce it's own gravity and ignore another source of gravity that should be acting on it. Idk if that would affect how the propulsion works, but I thought I'd mention it

  • @AnonymousFreakYT
    @AnonymousFreakYT 6 лет назад

    That is the strangest looking Saturn V ever. And that Falcon 9 looks more like a Falcon Heavy, with side-boosters like that.

  • @Blumez22
    @Blumez22 11 месяцев назад

    Nothing is impossible for science !

  • @Hyrum_Graff
    @Hyrum_Graff 3 года назад

    I think antimatter torpedoes would be a viable space weapon (assuming antimatter production gets easier). A small nuclear reactor (fission or fusion-preferably fusion) would power a magnetic containment field for the warhead, onboard guidance computers, and some kind of propulsion (maybe antimatter engines too-this entire weapon depends on antimatter being cheap). It doesn't matter what the enemy's armor is made of. It only matters how much of it there is.

  • @Maverick8t88
    @Maverick8t88 6 лет назад

    Guess that’s why the engines on a XWing are called “fusial thrust”. Makes sense!

  • @shaider1982
    @shaider1982 5 лет назад +1

    Funny, Michio Kaku's version of a starfighter he made in a Discovery show looks a bit like an Xwing. Uses antimatter engines.

    • @djkillcrazy
      @djkillcrazy 5 лет назад +1

      Name of show, or better yet, link... Please?

    • @shaider1982
      @shaider1982 5 лет назад

      @@djkillcrazy physics of the impossible. He also talked about how to create a light sabre, terminator, etc. Can't find a link to that specific episode

  • @derekc.6155
    @derekc.6155 6 лет назад

    Could you do a video about the wing surfaces? Would the X-Wing's wings be able to create lift both closed and open?

  • @purple_purpur7379
    @purple_purpur7379 6 лет назад

    What is another partial reason which I just thought of for X-wings having wings, is probably that the engines are far enough apart, so that if one wing (or engine) is hit, the other can save them.

  • @adamorick2872
    @adamorick2872 6 лет назад +1

    My problem with x wing, is the same with the model before it used by republic, is that it is clearly an atomosphere vehicle with that engine design

  • @Narfwak
    @Narfwak 6 лет назад

    Odd as it may sound, the bigger concern with the Project Orion engines wasn't the fallout produced (Cold War was still kind of nutty at the time), but rather the risk of nuclear proliferation. In order to make that system work the bombs would have to be small - small enough to be stored in complex feeding mechanisms so they could be precisely ejected and detonated over and over. That size concern is really the problem - if the technology to make tiny, powerful, efficient nuclear devices gets out anyone anywhere could potentially have a suitcase nuke (from the perspective of intelligence/security agencies, that is).
    Interestingly enough, the thermal detonator Kyle is "holding" there is a pretty apt comparison. You can use them like a hand grenade if you're insane, but they're powerful enough to use as starship bombs.

  • @TT.357
    @TT.357 5 лет назад +1

    Tie fighters use ion engines (maybe they made a breakthrough?)

  • @theatheistpaladin
    @theatheistpaladin 6 лет назад

    I want to have *SURPRISE* light-saber battle with Kyle.

  • @DStrormer
    @DStrormer 6 лет назад

    Very good episode. One question. Wasn't there some research into collecting naturally appearing antimatter from above thunderstorms? I know I remember reading something about that a while ago.