engage the general public with scientific discipline tends to be much easier under the calendered film of skill - fiction , so it ’s not surprising that the up-to-the-minute publication from the University of Leicester’s"zany " skill projectsfocuses on Star Trek , what with the recent release ofStar Trek Beyond .
Four students cipher what you would need for build realistic photon torpedoes from theStar Trekuniverse , and it turn out the scientific discipline isnot too complicated .
In the show , the torpedo has an antimatter bedroom that , upon detonation , interact with normal matter to create an intense detonation . In the real universe , antimatter ca n’t be stored , so a different mechanism is necessary to generate the thing - antimatter obliteration . The squad project a phenomenon known as an electromagnetic shower , which is the product of a mote exhibitioner when a high - energy corpuscle come to some dense material .
The initial particle would generate matter and antimatter mote that would liberate energy and more particle pairs , creating the hope chain response .
Using theshow ’s fictional yield , based on 3 kilo ( 6.6 pound ) of thing and antimatter , they estimated that it is potential to make an electromagnetic shower with the same vim release . To fit inside the 2.1 - measure - long ( 6.9 - foot - recollective ) torpedo , this string reaction would necessitate the use of a backbreaking modulation metal ( such as iron , lead , or uranium ) as the dense material target .
The findings are published in the daybook ofPhysics Special Topics , a peer - review educatee daybook guide by the University of Leicester ’s Department of Physics and Astronomy . Quirky skill aside , the researchers did also fleck an crucial ramification in their modeling . The ignition of the photon torpedo requires very high - energy gamma - ray of light or optical maser , beyond our current technology but perchance readily available in 2233 , when photon torpedos were first used in Star Fleet .
Star Trekis often hail as being quite prescient with engineering , having foretell mobile communicators , teleconferences , and tractor beams . mayhap the photon torpedo can now be include on the tilt , and let ’s go for that warp swiftness and domain peace might soon be around the turning point too .
