The Science of Star Trek's Phasers
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- #startrek #phasers #technology
Phasers are one of the most iconic pieces of technology from Star Trek. Powerful particle weapons with settings ranging from a light "stun" to "vaporize," how exactly could such a weapon store so much energy?
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @orangeriver
This video was sponsored by Treksphere: www.treksphere.com
Written, filmed, & edited by OrangeRiver
Assistant script editor: Subraxas
- Music in this video -
Holfix: / holfix
Sam Kužel: / samkuzel
- Support -
Patreon: / orangeriver
Official website: www.orangeriverproductions.com
Merch store: orange-river-productions.crea...
- Social media -
Facebook: / orangerivernw
Twitter: / orangerivernw
Instagram: / orangerivernw
Discord: / discord
And don't forget to subscribe!
- CHAPTERS -
00:00 Intro
01:13 Predecessors
05:10 Phase-Pistols to Phasers
07:30 Real Directed Energy Weapons
11:24 Thermal Management
14:44 Outro 
Наука
So, what's your favorite phaser variety--whether it's Federation or non-Federation? And do you think we could really build something like this in real life given enough time? Let me know down below!
I love the impracticality of the Ferengi's weapon from STNG, although not really a phaser. The electrified pool noodle esque whip.
I like that the Confederation phasers have actual trigger guards, and are more gun-shaped. Though I’ve a soft spot for the DS9/VOY curved-handle “cobra-head” design precisely for not looking so aggressive.
My favorite space weapon is the Lightsaber, I know wrong universe, oh well💪👽🔫🗡
Kinda like those little versions of the TNG phasers from Nemesis with that almost chromey finish. And the little 'crickets' from early TNG, :) Also the military-looking ones in Star Trek V. :)
Anything but the dustbusters the Federation use.
It really rocked my world when I learned about certain frequencies of light being absorbed by certain cells of our bodies. Because, it then occurred to me that if you shot a "phaser beam" set on stun and connected with a person's body, the beam might modulate their central nervous system in such a way as to actually stun them. This is going to be so much fun to explore in the future,
You see that in Dermatology and other Medical applications using Lasers.
You could also practically phase out (lol) the need for general and local anesthetic that are potentially addictive.
The biggest issue with trek weapons ufp ones is usually the lack of a trigger guard to prevent negligent discharges when holstering and if the weapon is dropped.
I like how Phaser 1 fits into Phaser 2, making it stronger.
"Turning the equivalent of a nuclear explosion into something more manageable."
Aye, that's the trick, isn't it.
The first phaser effect was shown in "The Outer Limits" episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight". It took the help of an advanced alien for an earthman to create it. It's no wonder that Trelane was later impressed. (Roddenberry took the effect from being an assistant on that 1964 B/W TV show.)
@@subraxas Sally Kellerman also shoots one in "The Bellero Shield" episode now on YT.
Thank you for being the first RUclips channel I've seen that brought up MARAUDER by name
Great episode, well done and well researched! Thanks!
Thank you so much!
"If you cant stand the heat, get out the warp core!" Man I cant believe you totally missed that! 😅
I'm addicted to pigger nussy 🤠
@@redneckshaman3099 🤔 Thanks for the info, not sure how it applies to Phasers or Mr. Barclay tho lol
@@dans-designs once you go black, it's like smoking crack ❤️
Sounds like laforge would say lol
@@snikrepak Reg Barclay Voyager Episode Pathfinder (i think lol)
Nadions also supposedly dissipate into subspace rather than normal space, explaining how they can vaporize things nearby without killing themselves.
Yes, this is a very important point in Star Trek's semi-fictional physics. Once this aspect of nadions was developed, it became pretty consistently canonical. Writers of printed Trek fiction - where technical explanations are even more common than on-screen - quickly zeroed in on "subspace offset" as a useful catch-all concept for "where the stuff goes that would cause a problem".
I was wondering how they could vaporize a human being without a colossal explosion. Your average 100kg redshirt is about 70% water. Imagine flashing that suddenly to steam. That would entail about an 800x increase in volume. The resulting blast could take out several decks!
@@tuttt99 Hence "it all transitions into subspace".
OTOH you'd think there'd be "subspace turbulence" every time a starship blows another ship up when both are under warp... well, *I'd* think there should be.
Great video. I suggest make video about science of replicators!
That's not a bad idea!
I’ve considered the transporters and replicators used FILO memory storage system but the problems people had on ordering food is a puzzle. Remember Captain Janeway ordering coffee and the machine either overflowed the cup or assembled them separately? Funny as anything.
The man has just taken care of your security concerns, and now you expect him to feed you as well!
You mean, the keys pretend and play me believe of replicators!
I'd like a copy of that.
I’ve dreamed of having my own Phaser since discovering Star Trek in the early 70’s on re-runs.
Thanks for a great video! 🖖🏼
😲 It's Friday!!!
I have always been impressed by the care with which Gene Roddenberry approached the science of Star Trek. I believe he had regular science consultants and that he always wanted the science to be believable because it was based on extrapolation from current science. I think he managed it. Thank you for your informative videos.
The phasers that Kirk and McCoy used on the Horta were Type 2 phasers. Type 1 phasers from TOS are the ones that look like electric razors.
Spot on!
Like gamma brand razors.
Love original Star Trek phasers & communicaters , light sabers never did it for me growing up, love my phasers. Lol.
Solid video as always! I really dig the mix of real world science and fiction.
Thank you so much! I feel like mixing in the real world science is how I can differentiate these videos from just being "paraphrased wiki information"
It's called hard sci-fi. And it's my favorite type of sci-fi, it's one that give me hope for our species, it's one that shows that if done correctly, humanity can achieve amazing things. Too bad we do terrible things over ideas.
How have you survived this long wearing a red shirt?
He's Scottish.
Loved the AFRL shout out. I have a friend of HS who worked there for a long time in A/V and my ex's dad was the director for a minute
A maternal uncle of mine, whom used to work for GEC/Marconi, did alot of work on electromagnetic compatability (ie, in a very crude way of explaining it, how to prevent one system, with a high EM output, from frying another system next to it ...). But he was also involved in Beyond Visual Range/Over The Horizon radar, which, again, crudly put, used the high stratosphere, to bounce the radar waves off of, and back down to detect what may be, naturally, beyond visual range, friend or foe. As that stuff was pretty near Top Secret at the time, especially as he was over here, in the UK, co-ordinating with the US in improving Ballistic Missile Early Warning systems.
It was much later, in the 1990's, he told me this story, especially as I did High School physics, and the Molecular Cell Biology I was doing, at a Technical College, especially celluar respiration (energy input/output), involves a surprising amount of physics, due to the overlap between chemistry and physics.
So, as I kinda understood what he was involved in - or, rather, the bits he _could_ tell me he was involved in - he heard this, from the States, and so told me ...
During the early testing phase, especially of the space based lazer systems, the problem was, and remains, how much energy you need to blow up a third stage of a nuclear missile, especially one carrying multiple warheads, at near enough the top of the ballistic curve, in flight, to say nothing about how to generate, if not store, that amount of energy.
One day, some 'pencil neck' - can't remember if it was a Civilian policy wonk, or an Air Force Officer, either promoted to flying a desk at the Pentagon - turned up at one of the main research laboratories to find out the progress. To my best of my recollection, the story went like this:
"So, how are things going ...?"
"It's difficult, but we think we're making some steady, but decent, progress ..."
"Excellent ... so, where are you ..."
"Well, with current physics, we estimate we can build a lazer emitter with the power of 10^10 Watts. Trouble is, our calculations show to shoot down a third stage ... that will take 10^20 Watts, at least ..."
"Good ... that means you're halfway there ..." ...
I nearly fell out the chair I was sitting in, and laughed until my ribs hurt, and had a coughing fit. Those of you whom understand physics will also laugh until you bust a rib ... just don't bill me for surgery ...
For those not familiar, 10^10 = 10, followed by an additional 10 zeros. 10^20 = 10, followed by _20_ zeros.
In other words, that's not double ... but rather 10 times what those physicists _thought_ they can produce, at a theoretical level, meaning well beyond they thought possible, or feasible. Whom ever that guy was, even if an officer in the USAF, should've remembered at least his High School Physics classes ...
Fortunately, thanks to the Regan/Gorbachev talks, and the bilateral treaties, SDI was canceled ... but not before God-knows how many tens, if not hundreds of _billions_ of $'s was sank into it ... except nobody truly knows how much was _actually_ spent, especially as, a few years back, the Pentagon made a release saying there is $1 _Trillion_ missing, in unaccounted spending ...
Funny old world ...
I really like the way you run your channel and approach everything from a rational scientific point of view.
Thank you Jeff! Exploring the real-world scientific basis behind these concepts is an essential part of my scripts, I feel.
@@OrangeRiver obviously but you do have humor and that’s charming. It works.
A very good examination of the storyline and known tech, and the possibility of those bridging.
Varon-T disruptor. I'd have a fun time using one.
New Video!!!! Let’s go!!!!!!!
Set phasers on shake and bake.
There's also a Heat setting, used to warm rock, wood etc for emergency use. We see Kirk and others use Heat to create a kind of campfire or heat coffee, etc.
That's just classic Star fleet. Every thing is multipurpose.
I think that's the lowest setting, even below "Stun."
We could technically make a phaser that is just on the heat setting today
Interesting video Tyler very interesting as I said in chat during Monday's stream I have always found the science behind Star Trek tech intriguing and my fave type of phaser is the split beam phaser rifle.
Great video! I would love to see a piece discussing how one can 'vaporize' a hundred kilos of humanoid in about a second without it causing a huge explosion as the liberated (gaseous?) particles expand.
That's dealt with on the "Because Science" RUclips channel episode on vaporization.
My personal theory is that the mass of the target is converted into neutrinos. Since neutrinos almost never interact with normal matter the particles would just fly off into space in all directions, passing straight through every obstacle without affecting them at all.
@@rassilonomegaotherguy that’s my theory as well which is why I prefer to use the term disintegrate instead of vaporize and figure that in Star Trek they use the term vaporize as some sort of colloquial shorthand.
It's probably a 'shorthand' in colloquial use similar to the way we refer to 'rolling down a car window' when the mechanism we use now has no relationship to the original.
That aspect of the phaser was a McGuffin plot device because TV censor rules at the time of ST: TOS.
I worked on Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket, glad it got mentioned
it was the sigh and the “My government is going at one thing” was the part that sent me😂😂😂
I was thinking of the banned weapon used in the episode MOST TOYS.It killed much slower with the victim feeling the agony of their flesh and organs burning.This is the likely result that any energy weapon would do but it's understandable STAR TREK creator GENE RODDENBERRY being a WW2 Vet and LA police officer did not want his show to show the truth,that death is almost always not bloodless with the target simply disappearing.
The network wouldn't have allowed it, at least in TOS days. Some of the various "making of" books have quotes from the Standards & Practices department, along the lines of "make sure these dead men don't have any blood on them" and things of that nature.
One has to admire the Courage of anyone daring to wear a red Shirt.
Kirk: Set phases on NUTS
Spock: I believe you are holding your phaser backwards Captain.
Glad someone finally covered this.
As a kid, I so wanted a proper model of a phaser and communicator from the original series. I even built one from cardboard using the scaled photo in the old Star Trek soft cover book.
The laser guns in Ben 10 Alien Force are even more crazy powerful. It is said in the first episode of the show that it can output 600 gigawatts continuously for 35 minutes.
Finally getting to watch this... very excited!
I like the idea of deciphering the concepts of how things might work and how they could be developed for use.
All I have to say to this:
Doc: _"1.21 jigowatts!!!"_
Great video, as aways!
Thank you so much!
I just always liked how you can put the little dinky phaser onto the bigger pistol phaser, and then put THAT on a rifle!
Hey Tyler, Tyler here, thanks again for the pick-me-up; fantastic video.
Duuuude! Your channel is so good. For real. Just found you and wow! Awesome job. These videos are great.
this was really great. i appreciate the effort you put into researching and creating this video. thanks for sharing!
Very interesting, thank you.
Perhaps cover klingon and other types of disruptors?
Oh man, glad this just popped up. I've been hooked on your vids lately. 😄
That’s stunning.
I understood phasers beamed a harmonic energy in phase with matter that disrupted the coherence of atoms like a harmonic sound in phase with the vibration frequency of a glass breaks the glass. Heating to vaporize pumps energy into the material making its particles move in random directions so violently they can't hold onto each other. A phaser causes the particles to move in a violent way so the particles can't hold on by making them move in phase with their frequency without all the wasted energy of random motion caused by heating. According to the episode "The Omega Glory" 4 phasers killed thousands of Yangs. So they have a power source that can cause a significant explosion. But modern batteries can do that, and they use that energy efficiently. They can also be set to cause random motion to heat rocks. Probably uses more energy to heat rocks than to vaporize them. But that doesn't explain where the atoms go after they break up. Although not a hot exploding gas like if they were heated they still have to be there even though cold. The broken glass is still there even though broken. If it breaks the atoms into quarks they could explode in a cloud of neutrinos that visibly vanish, and pass through their surroundings. Some photons not effected by the beam escape in a flash of light. In effect all the virtual photons being exchanged by quantum mechanical electron interactions are free to become real photons because the electrons were turned into neutrinos which don't interact except rarely, and according to the rules of quantum mechanics only electrons can absorb, and emit photons. neutrinos can't.
Very grounded explanation, thank you!
I always wondered why they didn’t get way too hot to handle after firing, but I suppose the tech manual invoked superconducting to explain that, all the energy has gone into the beam and none into waste (or almost none).
Of course, Trek has a very dubious relationship with heat management and radiators anyway, such as invoking subspace to explain where the waste heat from the ship goes, or saying that it’s simply funnelled out of the warp nacelles (somehow). So I don’t expect them to ever really address how the phasers don’t overheat.
Appreciated the discussion of real world laser and particle weapons, and their comparative energy outputs. Though would have liked to see a conversion from watts to joules about the Navy laser emplacements. It’s relatively trivial for me to do, given joules are watts times time (or watts are joules over time), but it still would’ve been nice (especially since I’d have to look up how long the laser pulses last).
I’ve liked the idea one science writer suggested on using metal dust blown between an input and output channel to release heat into space. Something similar might be used between the nacelles of a star ship.
But ships using only one makes me think it just flies from the front to the rear along the nacelle sides instead, or something similar. (Maybe using a normal radiator to expel heat to space along the sides.)
Now considering the specified power outputs used you have to wonder what their power source are. Perhaps a microgram of antimatter like in the warp engines? Or use some of the nadion particles for the power to the weapon? These particles might be unstable when removed from their containment. Closest comparison would be to gunpowder in bullets.
In the Novel of the Invaders, a constructed ray weapon over heated and the alien/invader had to drop it from his hand. Good book, if you can find a copy I'd recommend it 👍
@@walterlyzohub8112 there’s various ideas to reject heat in fluids (or a flow of tiny solid particles like you said), such as is done in nuclear-thermal rocket designs (such as in its most extreme form, the “nuclear lightbulb” which we have nowhere near the materials science to make without melting itself 😁) but part of the issue with your (slash the author’s) disposable metal heatsink proposal is you need to carry even more mass to throw away long-term versus just carrying the mass of the radiators…
One could maaaybe argue that TOS-era warp drives rejected all their waste heat inside the ejected warp plasma, but TNG-era ships recirculate and recrystallise that plasma back into dilithium, which raises some problems. Perhaps they can increase the heat load per plasma particle dramatically to cover the tiny amount emitted but.. ehh…
@@55Quirll from a cursory search I can’t find a book called “Novel of the Invaders”, and far far too many called “The Invaders”. Do you have an author name?
Where did you see a mention of heat being dumped into subspace?
My headcanon is that the glow we see from the impulse engines is actually radiated ship's waste heat. From the descriptions of how they work the actual exhaust should be glowing in either X-rays or deep infrared, not visible red, and the glow barely changes whether ships are at a dead stop or accelerating.
I knew you were going to say "more manageable".
Really well done and informative!
Hey man, love your videos, always indepth informative and relaxing! Keep up the great work Bro!
A very good presentation. Thank you.
Put a phaser in my hand and I'll just hold down the button and wave it around like a flashlight until I've hit all my targets. Starfleet officers have such steady aim.
Thanks for this awesome video. But at the very end of your video you missed a great opportunity. You should have said “set your phasers on STUNNING.” Lol
Nice! Great video! Thank you!
Excellent video as always. I'd love to see a video about how a stun setting might work.
havent watched the full video yet, but if you're asking this question, then his video is lacking or includes misinformation in terms of canon.
@@discobolos4227 yes but more adjustable and effective
I'll have to commend you on your choice of uniform tunic... I was always partial to Scotty and Engineering, since I'm an Aeronautical Engineer myself.... no not a Rocket Scientist! I enjoyed this video and hope to see more.... be safe.
I invented plasma coherency in 1997. It was a tiny device. Later, after a lot of loss, I got enough gear to build and develop the first kind of coherency that works. This is not just an electrical arc. It's literally a beam. My budget still holds me back. However this is the idea I showed the world. For the first time, without lasers or use of radio active materials, I figured out a way to make plasma into a beam. That does not "go to ground". How it looks is a bit messy, and several others tried to take the credit from me. However it's finally been done. With a good lab I could reduce the messy output to a beam that can perform almost all of the effects the "phaser" can. In the movies and some episodes, phasers are considered "coherent plasma". This is my life's work. It's allready been released by me. Sadly, I have been unable to make any money off of this incredible breakthrough. I pray someday this will happen. I know others are working on this who have the funding. Take a look. This can be expanded to go 20ft or even miles with the right gear and dynamics. KF7DFP.
I always thought that the actor just held the phaser still and the special effects team did the rest. 🤣👍
Great Video.
Thank you for sharing this! 🖖
Wow, really interesting video that was obviously well researched. Thank you
In the ST:TOS season 1 episode The Galileo Seven, Scotty at one point drains the power from hand phasers to provide power to the shuttlecraft, commenting that it takes time to drain a phaser. Since then, I've adopten an opinion that shuttlecraft and had phasers store warp plasma as their energy source. 23rd century shuttles at least had a limited range, even thought they had FTL capability.
Very interesting. Thank you
Railguns in the Eraser, first were placed on Navy ships, than reduced in size to where you could hold them and fire them. The speed of the projectile was supposed to be 10% Speed of light, a good speed for a weapon. Later I believe you could get the projectile's speed up much higher. The only other show that used Railguns was Stargate Atlantis and SG1 when put on their Starships, though I would say they weren't really railguns since no damage was done to the target.
Always look forward to your videos.
This video earned a sub. Thank you
Outstanding work dude, really good video. 👍 👍. Looking forward to a breakdown of other weapon systems used by rival species, groups and individuals. Also, shields and how they work would be cool, unless you already did and I'm not seeing it on your page.
-LL&P-
I really enjoyed all your videos
You point it where the director tells you to, make the trigger motion, and the special effects team superimposes a colored light beam on the shot.
It should be noted that in TOS Episode 1 and 2 they were using Hand Lasers (named in the briefing room scene ep1) as per dialog. Episode 2 we do see hand lasers being used alongside Phaser Rifles. Almost suggesting Phaser Tech was new and being miniaturized. Interesting note Professor Crater (The Man Trap) and Dr Korby (What Are Little Girls Made Of?) both had Hand Lasers. This is all they would have had accessed to when they left.
I geeked out a little too much watching this. I watched a NASCAR video after just to balance it out… that said, a great video! Thanks
Nicely done.
Oh and I hope you have a good Easter Tyler Happy Easter dude.
The real problem is, having the ability to accelerate a projectile to high speed using compressed gas is extremely efficient, and if you can generate the compressed gas by burning some preferably solid material, especially if you can grind that material into a powder is a very safe way to do it.
If you can contain that powder in something like a tube of brass, this is even better, because the brass will keep the powder dry and protect it from catching fire by accident, or at least make it harder to light off by accident.
These projectile and brass objects can be really small and still be effective, provided you have a way to set the powder on fire reliably and only when you want to.
It is just really hard to beat a good old fashioned bullet when it comes to putting energy on target.
One thing that really bugs me about Star Trek is when they show a person being vaporized by phasor or disruptor fire there is no other damage. The person just disappears and is gone. No mess no fuss.
The problem is, if you hit a person with enough energy to vaporize the entire body completely as quickly as is shown there is going to be a huge crater where that person had been standing. Also, turning a collection of solid and liquid matter (what people are made up) the size of a person into gas, that gas is going to expand, explosively. If you are in an enclosed room when this happens, assuming you survive the expulsion, you will be standing in a room full of super heated gas that used to be your enemy.
That just seems like something you don't want to inhale for many reasons.
Frankly, I'm not sure we will ever find a way to put energy on a soft, man-sized target that will beat the old fashioned gunpowder and bullet.
We may find better ways to generate a lot of gas in a short time to fire the projectile, We may find better materials to make the bullets from, but it will still be an old fashioned bullet
That was one thing I liked about Halo.
It may be the 26th Century, but humans are still fighting with weapons that fire bullets. And they tend to be more effective than the energy weapons used by the enemy.
I always liked the original series phasers. They looked quite good back then and hold up well today. I always wanted an accurate model of one but never did get one.
Another great video
This was a pretty well thought out video. Consider me subbed.
Good job!
one bit of tech that is already coming about is not to produce the waste heat at all, or very little. essentially making sure all or most of the energy is being directed is useful energy.
This kind of puts a damper on pointing my finger at someone and going "pew pew pew!"
It sounds like someone really wanted the initials to spell out Marauder.
Backronyms are extremely common in military and aerospace :)
@@kaitlyn__L Sorry, I was making an obscure Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. reference. Maybe too obscure.
@@billweasley1382 I will make a more obscure man from U>N>C>L>E> reference. Napoleon Solo.
I have to say I am really loving your channel. I become more of a fan with each video.
Awesome essay
Excellent vid.
I have to give it a 👍. I grew up with the original Star Trek and was (am) a big fan of TNG. I've always wondered about this subject...thank you.
That’s what I wanted to know thank you for your the info
What gets me is how they put all this tech into a weapon, but never bothered with putting sights on it. All this energy and you can only throw it in the general direction of your target.
9:15: The 'lasers' in star wars are actually plasma, not 'lasers'. Blaster is short for 'plasma' or 'particle' blaster. Most designs for such weapons do feature lasers, but those are for projecting the plasma.
very cool!
Very interesting, Tyler. But now you got me interested in the working of shields… Any plans for the weekend? 😉
This bugs me not just Star Trek, but a lot of sci-fi have projectile weapons considered more primitive. They're still very effective.
I believe there was one episode featuring a projectile and a transporter built-in. A weapon originally for use on the Borg.
But Boring, I want multicolor energy beams!!
The Federation is self-congratulatory to the point of being arrogant jerks. They act as if everyone throughout spacetime had access to Fed tech and just didn't use it because they were backward cretins.
I'm not sure if Chekov actually believed he could step out of the way of a .45 Long Colt, but I'm sure that girl was thinking "wow, this guy's more full of BS than my daddy's stable."
@@subraxas They don't even have to be that high tech a firearm of today would be fine.
@@subraxas as we learned in Lower Decks, navigational deflectors are used to push aside ftl objects, including asteroids
As the Trek universe matures, what comes after phasers? That could be a good story in itself.
@@daxbashir6232 Yes, you’re right, but what if someone on their own decides, hey! I can build a better phaser….. and something happens that this new phaser causes an imbalance in the universe….
But the weapon as it currently is is more than adequate to get the job done.
There was one cool subject I found out about the Type 1 phaser weapon and the Type 2 phaser pistol (from TOS). The Type 2 phaser pistol merely a booster for the Type 1. Pull up a picture of the TOS Type 2 pistol and you can CLEARLY see the Type 1 fitted into the top of it.
Thanks Tyler
Hey there OrangeRiver, I love your content and I've been around from the start of your channel! If you would consider making a video comparing and describing all of the different types of Federation drydocks and there statistics and history I'd really appreciate it! Keep up the great work as always!!
Use the heat energy as a source to generate the power to recharge an energy weapon.
Be careful bro. Im glad you made it to the end of the episode
The redirecting of the heat into the beam being emitted, possibly siphoning the heat as part of its operation, would address the heating issue. Just need to develop the technology!