Tek force field. Force field (fantasy)
“Raise your shields!” - this is how the first order sounds, which in the endless series “ Star Trek"Captain Kirk says in a sharp voice to his crew; The crew, obedient to orders, activates force fields designed to protect the spaceship Enterprise from enemy fire.
Force fields are so important in the Star Trek story that their state can determine the outcome of a battle. Once the energy of the force field is depleted, the hull of the Enterprise begins to receive blows, the further, the more crushing; eventually defeat becomes inevitable.
So what is a protective force field? In science fiction, it's a deceptively simple thing: a thin, invisible yet impenetrable barrier that can deflect laser beams and missiles with equal ease. At first glance, the force field seems so simple that the creation - and soon - of combat shields based on it seems inevitable. You just expect that not today or tomorrow some enterprising inventor will announce that he has managed to obtain a protective force field. But the truth is much more complex.
Like Edison's light bulb, which revolutionized modern civilization, a force field can profoundly affect every aspect of our lives. The military would use the force field to become invulnerable, using it to create an impenetrable shield from enemy missiles and bullets. In theory, it would be possible to create bridges, stunning highways and roads at the touch of a button. Entire cities would appear in the desert as if by magic; everything in them, right down to the skyscrapers, would be built exclusively from force fields. Domes of force fields over cities would allow their inhabitants to arbitrarily control weather events - stormy winds, snow storms, tornadoes. Under the reliable canopy of the force field, it would be possible to build cities even at the bottom of the oceans. Glass, steel and concrete could be eliminated altogether, replacing all building materials with force fields.
But, oddly enough, the force field turns out to be one of those phenomena that is extremely difficult to reproduce in the laboratory. Some physicists even believe that this cannot be done at all without changing its properties.
Michael Faraday
The concept of a physical field originates in the work of the great British scientist of the 19th century. Michael Faraday.
Faraday's parents belonged to the working class (his father was a blacksmith). He himself in the early 1800s. was an apprentice to a bookbinder and eked out a rather miserable existence. But young Faraday was fascinated by the recent giant breakthrough in science - the discovery of the mysterious properties of two new forces, electricity and magnetism. He eagerly absorbed all the information available to him on these issues and attended lectures by Professor Humphry Davy of the Royal Institution in London.
Professor Davy once seriously injured his eyes during a chemical experiment gone wrong; a secretary was needed, and he hired Faraday for this position. Gradually, the young man won the trust of scientists at the Royal Institution and was given the opportunity to conduct his own important experiments, although he often had to endure a dismissive attitude. Over the years, Professor Davy became increasingly jealous of the successes of his talented young assistant, who at first was considered in experimental circles rising star, and over time eclipsed the glory of Davy himself. Only after Davy's death in 1829 did Faraday gain scientific freedom and make a series of amazing discoveries. Their result was the creation of electric generators that provided energy to entire cities and changed the course of world civilization.
The key to greatest discoveries Faraday became force, or physical, fields. If you place iron filings over a magnet and shake it, you will find that the filings are arranged in a pattern resembling a spider's web and occupying the entire space around the magnet. “Threads of the web” are Faraday’s lines of force. They clearly show how electric and magnetic fields are distributed in space. For example, if you graphically depict the Earth's magnetic field, you will find that the lines come from somewhere in the North Pole region, and then return and go back into the earth in the South Pole region. Similarly, if you draw the electric field lines of lightning during a thunderstorm, you will find that they converge at the tip of the lightning bolt.
Empty space for Faraday was not empty at all; it was filled with lines of force, with the help of which distant objects could be made to move.
(Faraday's impoverished youth prevented him from receiving a formal education, and he had virtually no understanding of mathematics; as a result, his notebooks were filled not with equations and formulas, but with hand-drawn diagrams of field lines. Ironically, it was his lack of mathematical education that led him to develop magnificent diagrams lines of force, which today can be seen in any physics textbook. The physical picture in science is often more important than the mathematical apparatus that is used to describe it.)
Historians have put forward many assumptions about what exactly led Faraday to the discovery of physical fields - one of the most important concepts in the history of all world science. Virtually all modern physics, without exception, is written in the language of Faraday fields. In 1831 Faraday made key discovery in the field of physical fields, which forever changed our civilization. One day, while carrying a magnet - a children's toy - over a wire frame, he noticed that a electric current, although the magnet does not come into contact with it. This meant that the invisible field of a magnet could, from a distance, cause electrons to move, creating a current.
Faraday's force fields, which until that moment were considered useless pictures, the fruit of idle imagination, turned out to be a real material force capable of moving objects and generating energy. Today we can say for sure: the light source you are using to read this page receives its energy from Faraday's discoveries in the field of electromagnetism. A spinning magnet creates a field that pushes electrons in a conductor and causes them to move, creating an electric current that can then be used to power a light bulb. Electricity generators that provide energy to cities around the world are based on this principle. For example, the flow of water falling from a dam causes a giant magnet in a turbine to rotate; the magnet pushes electrons in the wire, forming an electric current; the current, in turn, flows through high-voltage wires into our homes.
In other words, Michael Faraday's force fields are the very forces that drive modern civilization, all its manifestations - from electric locomotives to the latest computing systems, the Internet and pocket computers.
For a century and a half, Faraday's physical fields have inspired physicists for further research. Einstein, for example, was so influenced by them that he formulated his theory of gravity in the language of physical fields. Faraday’s work also made a strong impression on me. Several years ago, I successfully formulated string theory in terms of Faraday's physical fields, thus laying the foundation for field string theory. In physics, to say that someone thinks in force lines is to give that person a serious compliment.
Four Fundamental Interactions
One of greatest achievements Physics over the past two millennia has become the identification and definition of four types of interactions that rule the universe. All of them can be described in the language of fields, which we owe to Faraday. Unfortunately, however, none of the four species possesses the full properties of the force fields described in most science fiction works. Let us list these types of interaction.
1. Gravity. A silent force that does not allow our feet to leave the support. It prevents the Earth and stars from falling apart and helps maintain the integrity of the Solar System and Galaxy. Without gravity, the planet's rotation would propel us off Earth and into space at 1,000 miles per hour. The problem is that the properties of gravity are exactly the opposite of the properties of fantastic force fields. Gravity is a force of attraction, not repulsion; it is extremely weak - relatively, of course; it works over enormous, astronomical distances. In other words, it is almost the exact opposite of the flat, thin, impenetrable barrier that can be found in almost any fantasy novel or a movie. For example, a feather is attracted to the floor by an entire planet - the Earth, but we can easily overcome the Earth's gravity and lift the feather with one finger. The impact of one of our fingers can overcome the gravitational force of an entire planet, which weighs more than six trillion kilograms.
2. Electromagnetism (EM). The power that illuminates our cities. Lasers, radio, television, modern electronics, computers, the Internet, electricity, magnetism - all these are consequences of the manifestation of electromagnetic interaction. Perhaps this is the most useful force that humanity has managed to harness throughout its history. Unlike gravity, it can act as both attraction and repulsion. However, it is not suitable for the role of a force field for several reasons. Firstly, it can be easily neutralized. For example, plastic or any other non-conductive material will easily penetrate a powerful electric or magnetic field. A piece of plastic thrown into a magnetic field will freely fly through it. Secondly, electromagnetism operates over large distances and is not easy to concentrate in a plane. The laws of EM interaction are described by the equations of James Clerk Maxwell, and it appears that force fields are not a solution to these equations.
3 and 4. Strong and weak nuclear interactions. The weak interaction is the force of radioactive decay, the one that heats up the radioactive core of the Earth. This force is behind volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and the drift of continental plates. Strong interaction prevents atomic nuclei from falling apart; it provides energy to the sun and stars and is responsible for illuminating the universe. The problem is that the nuclear force only works over very small distances, mostly within the atomic nucleus. It is so tightly bound to the properties of the core itself that it is extremely difficult to control. Currently, we know of only two ways to influence this interaction: we can break a subatomic particle into pieces in an accelerator or detonate an atomic bomb.
Although protective fields V science fiction and do not obey the known laws of physics, there are still loopholes that will likely make the creation of a force field possible in the future. First, there is perhaps a fifth type of fundamental interaction that no one has yet been able to see in the laboratory. It may turn out, for example, that this interaction only works at distances of a few inches to a foot - and not at astronomical distances. (However, the first attempts to discover the fifth type of interaction yielded negative results.)
Secondly, we may be able to make the plasma mimic some of the properties of the force field. Plasma is the "fourth state of matter". The first three states of matter familiar to us are solid, liquid and gaseous; however, the most common form of matter in the universe is plasma: a gas made up of ionized atoms. Atoms in plasma are not connected to each other and are devoid of electrons, and therefore have electric charge. They can be easily controlled using electric and magnetic fields.
The visible matter of the universe exists for the most part in the form of various types of plasma; from it the sun, stars and interstellar gas are formed. IN ordinary life we almost never encounter plasma, because this phenomenon is rare on Earth; however, the plasma can be seen. To do this, just look at lightning, the sun or the screen of a plasma TV.
Plasma windows
As noted above, if you heat a gas to a sufficiently high temperature and thus obtain plasma, then with the help of magnetic and electric fields it will be possible to hold it and give it shape. For example, plasma can be shaped into a sheet or window glass. Moreover, such a “plasma window” can be used as a partition between vacuum and ordinary air. In principle, in this way it would be possible to contain air inside the spacecraft, preventing it from escaping into space; In this case, the plasma forms a convenient transparent shell, the boundary between outer space and by ship.
In the Star Trek series, a force field is used, in particular, to isolate the compartment containing and launching a small space shuttle from outer space. And this isn't just a clever ploy to save money on decorations; such a transparent invisible film can be created.
The plasma window was invented in 1995 by physicist Eddie Gershkovich at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Long Island, New York). This device was developed in the process of solving another problem - the problem of welding metals using an electron beam. The welder's acetylene torch melts the metal with a stream of hot gas, and then joins the pieces of metal together. It is known that an electron beam can weld metals faster, cleaner and cheaper than what is achieved with conventional welding methods. Main problem The method of electronic welding is that it must be carried out in a vacuum. This requirement creates great inconvenience, since it means constructing a vacuum chamber - perhaps the size of an entire room.
To solve this problems dr Gershkovich invented the plasma window. This device measures only 3 feet high and 1 foot in diameter; it heats the gas to a temperature of 6500 °C and thereby creates a plasma, which is immediately trapped by the electric and magnetic fields. Plasma particles, like particles of any gas, exert pressure, which prevents air from rushing in and filling the vacuum chamber. (If you use argon in the plasma window, it emits a bluish glow, just like the force field in Star Trek.)
The plasma window will obviously find wide application in the space industry and industry. Even in industry, micromachining and dry etching often require a vacuum, but using it in the production process can be very expensive. But now, with the invention of the plasma window, holding a vacuum at the touch of a button will be easy and inexpensive.
But can a plasma window be used as an impenetrable shield? Will it protect you from a gun shot? One can imagine the appearance of plasma windows in the future, which have much greater energy and temperature, sufficient to evaporate objects falling into it. But to create a more realistic force field with the characteristics known from science fiction works, a multi-layered combination of several technologies will be required. Each layer on its own might not be strong enough to stop a cannonball, but several layers together might be enough.
Let's try to imagine the structure of such a force field. The outer layer, for example a supercharged plasma window, heated to a temperature sufficient to evaporate metals. The second layer may be a curtain of high-energy laser beams. Such a curtain of thousands of intersecting laser beams would create a spatial lattice that would heat objects passing through it and effectively evaporate them. We'll talk more about lasers in the next chapter.
Further, behind the laser curtain, you can imagine a spatial lattice of “carbon nanotubes” - tiny tubes consisting of individual carbon atoms, with walls one atom thick. This way the tubes are many times stronger than steel. On at the moment The longest carbon nanotube produced in the world is only about 15 mm long, but we can already envision the day when we can create carbon nanotubes of arbitrary length. Let's assume that it will be possible to weave a spatial network from carbon nanotubes; in this case we get an extremely durable screen capable of reflecting most objects. This screen will be invisible, since each individual nanotube is comparable in thickness to an atom, but the spatial network of carbon nanotubes will surpass any other material in strength.
So, we have reason to believe that the combination of a plasma window, a laser curtain and a carbon nanotube screen could serve as the basis for creating an almost impenetrable invisible wall.
But even such a multi-layered shield would not be able to demonstrate all the properties that science fiction attributes to the force field. So, it will be transparent, which means it will not be able to stop the laser beam. In a battle with laser cannons, our multi-layered shields will be useless.
In order to stop the laser beam, the shield must, in addition to the above, have a strong property of “photochromaticity,” or variable transparency. Currently, materials with these characteristics are used in the manufacture of sunglasses that can darken when exposed to UV radiation. Variable transparency of the material is achieved through the use of molecules that can exist according to at least in two states. In one state of the molecules, such a material is transparent. But under the influence of UV radiation, the molecules instantly transform into a different state and the material loses its transparency.
Perhaps someday we will be able, using nanotechnology, to obtain a substance as strong as carbon nanotubes and capable of changing its properties. optical properties under the influence laser beam. A shield made of such a substance will be able to stop not only particle flows or gun shells, but also a laser strike. Currently, however, there are no variable transparency materials that can stop a laser beam.
Magnetic levitation
In science fiction, force fields serve another function besides deflecting blows from beam weapons, namely, they serve as a support that allows you to overcome the force of gravity. In the movie Back to the Future, Michael Fox rides a hoverboard; This thing is reminiscent in every way of a familiar skateboard, only it “rides” through the air, above the surface of the earth. Physical laws - such as we know them today - do not allow the implementation of such an anti-gravity device (as we will see in Chapter 10). But we can imagine the creation of other devices in the future - hovering boards and hovering magnetic levitation cars; these machines will allow us to easily lift and hold large objects. In the future, if “superconductivity at room temperature"will become an accessible reality, a person will be able to lift objects into the air using the capabilities of magnetic fields.
If we bring the north pole of a permanent magnet close to the north pole of another similar magnet, the magnets will repel each other. (If we turn one of the magnets over and bring it south pole To north pole another, two magnets will attract.) The same principle - that like poles of magnets repel - can be used to lift huge weights from the ground. Technically advanced maglev trains are already being built in several countries. Such trains rush not along the tracks, but above them at a minimum distance; They are held suspended by ordinary magnets. Trains seem to float in the air and, thanks to zero friction, can reach record speeds.
The world's first commercial automated maglev transport system was launched in 1984 in the British city of Birmingham. It connected the international airport terminal and the nearby railway station. Magnetic levitation trains also operate in Germany, Japan and Korea, although most are not designed for high speeds. The first high-speed commercial maglev train began operating on the newly launched section of the track in Shanghai; this train moves along the track at speeds of up to 431 km/h. A Japanese maglev train in Yamanashi Prefecture reached a speed of 581 km/h - significantly faster than conventional trains on wheels.
But maglev devices are extremely expensive. One of the ways to increase their efficiency is the use of superconductors, which, when cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero, completely lose electrical resistance. The phenomenon of superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. Its essence was that some substances, when cooled to a temperature below 20 K (20 ° above absolute zero) lose all electrical resistance. As a rule, as a metal cools, its electrical resistance gradually decreases. (The fact is that the directional movement of electrons in a conductor is interfered with by random vibrations of atoms. As the temperature decreases, the range of random vibrations decreases, and electricity experiences less resistance.) But Kamerlingh Onnes, to his own amazement, discovered that the resistance of some materials at a certain critical temperature drops sharply to zero.
Physicists immediately understood the importance of the result obtained. When transmitting over long distances, power lines lose a significant amount of electricity. But if resistance could be eliminated, electricity could be transmitted to any location for next to nothing. In general, an electric current excited in a closed circuit could circulate in it without loss of energy for millions of years. Moreover, from these extraordinary currents it would not be difficult to create magnets of incredible power. And with such magnets, it would be possible to lift enormous loads without effort.
Despite the wonderful capabilities of superconductors, they are very difficult to use. It is very expensive to keep large magnets in tanks of extremely cold liquids. To keep liquids cold, huge cold factories will be required, which will raise the cost of superconducting magnets to stratospheric heights and make their use unprofitable.
But one day, physicists may be able to create a substance that retains superconducting properties even when heated to room temperature. Superconductivity at room temperature is the “holy grail” of solid state physicists. The production of such substances will, in all likelihood, serve as the beginning of a second industrial revolution. Powerful magnetic fields that can float cars and trains will become so cheap that even “gliding cars” may be economically viable. It may very well be that with the invention of superconductors that retain their properties at room temperature, the fantastic flying cars that we see in the films “Back to the Future”, “Minority Report” and “ Star wars" will become a reality.
In principle, it is quite conceivable that a person would be able to wear a special belt made of superconducting magnets, which would allow him to freely levitate above the ground. With such a belt, one could fly through the air, like Superman. In fact, superconductivity at room temperature is such a remarkable phenomenon that the invention and use of such superconductors has been described in many science fiction novels (such as the Ringworld series of novels created by Larry Niven in 1970).
For decades, physicists have been unsuccessfully searching for substances that would be superconductive at room temperature. It was a tedious, boring process - searching through trial and error, testing one material after another. But in 1986, a new class of substances was discovered, called “high-temperature superconductors”; these substances acquired superconductivity at temperatures of the order of 90° above absolute zero, or 90 K. This discovery became a real sensation in the world of physics. It seemed as if the gates of the sluice had swung open. Month after month, physicists competed with each other, trying to set a new world record for superconductivity. For a while, it even seemed that superconductivity at room temperature was about to emerge from the pages of science fiction novels and become a reality. But after years of rapid development, research into high-temperature superconductors has begun to slow.
Currently, the world record for high-temperature superconductors is held by a substance that is a complex oxide of copper, calcium, barium, thallium and mercury, which becomes superconducting at 138 K (-135 ° C). This one is relatively high temperature still very far from room temperature. But this is also an important milestone. Nitrogen becomes liquid at 77 K, and liquid nitrogen costs about the same as regular milk. Therefore, ordinary liquid nitrogen can be used to cool high-temperature superconductors; it is inexpensive. (Of course, superconductors that remain superconductors at room temperature will not require cooling at all.)
Something else is unpleasant. Currently, there is no theory that would explain the properties of high-temperature superconductors. Moreover, the Nobel Prize awaits the enterprising physicist who can explain how they work. (In known high-temperature superconductors, the atoms are organized into distinct layers. Many physicists theorize that it is the layering of the ceramic material that allows electrons to move freely within each layer, thus creating superconductivity. But exactly how and why this happens is still a mystery.)
The lack of knowledge forces physicists to look for new high-temperature superconductors the old fashioned way, by trial and error. This means that the notorious superconductivity at room temperature can be discovered anytime - tomorrow, in a year, or never at all. No one knows when a substance with such properties will be found or whether it will be found at all.
But if room-temperature superconductors are discovered, their discovery will likely spark a huge wave of new inventions and commercial applications. Magnetic fields a million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field (which is 0.5 Gauss) may become commonplace.
One of the properties inherent in all superconductors is called the Meissner effect. If you place a magnet over a superconductor, the magnet will hover in the air, as if supported by some invisible force. [The reason for the Meissner effect is that a magnet has the property of creating its own “ mirror image", so that the real magnet and its reflection begin to repel each other. Another clear explanation for this effect is that the superconductor is impervious to the magnetic field. It seems to push out the magnetic field. Therefore, if you place a magnet over a superconductor, the magnet's field lines will become distorted upon contact with the superconductor. These lines of force will push the magnet upward, causing it to levitate.)
If humanity gets the opportunity to use the Meissner effect, then we can imagine the highway of the future covered with such special ceramics. Then, with the help of magnets placed on our belt or on the bottom of the car, we can magically float above the road and rush to our destination without any friction or loss of energy.
The Meissner effect only works with magnetic materials such as metals, but superconducting magnets can also be used to levitate non-magnetic materials known as paramagnetic or diamagnetic materials. These substances themselves do not have magnetic properties; they acquire them only in the presence and under the influence of an external magnetic field. Paramagnetic materials are attracted by an external magnet, while diamagnetic materials are repelled.
Water, for example, is diamagnetic. Since all living things are made of water, they too can levitate in the presence of a powerful magnetic field. In a field with a magnetic induction of about 15 T (30,000 times more powerful than the Earth's magnetic field), scientists have already managed to make small animals such as frogs levitate. But if superconductivity at room temperature becomes a reality, it will be possible to lift large non-magnetic objects into the air, taking advantage of their diamagnetic properties.
In conclusion, we note that force fields in the form in which they are usually described in science fiction literature are not consistent with the description of the four fundamental interactions in our Universe. But we can assume that a person will be able to imitate many of the properties of these fictitious fields using multilayer shields, including plasma windows, laser curtains, carbon nanotubes and substances with variable transparency. But in reality such a shield can only be developed in a few decades, or even a century. And if superconductivity at room temperature is discovered, humanity will have the opportunity to use powerful magnetic fields; Perhaps with their help it will be possible to lift cars and trains into the air, as we see in science fiction films.
Taking all this into account, I would classify force fields as a Class I Impossibility, which is to say, I would define them as something that is impossible with today's technology, but will be realized in a modified form within the next century or so.
A force field has been invented to protect against blast waves March 24th, 2015
The American company Boeing has patented a technology that today was considered the province of science fiction novels - a force field system capable of protecting various objects, including buildings, cars or airplanes, from a blast wave. This is reported on the website of the US Patent Office.
Based on the principle of operation, Boeing's invention resembles energy shields, which are familiar to many from the films of the Star Wars film saga. A special sensor detects the source of the explosion, after which the arc electromagnetic generator fields. Using lasers, electricity and microwave radiation, the system ionizes a small area of air and creates a plasma field in the path of the blast wave.
“This technology will reduce the energy of the shock wave by creating a special medium along its path that will reflect, refract, absorb and deflect at least part of it,” says the text of the licensing document.
Such a “shield” will theoretically protect you from the most powerful air vibrations, but not from bullets or fragments of a shell exploding nearby. It will not be possible to constantly maintain a protective “cocoon” around the object. The fact is that during operation of the system the air becomes very hot. Among other things, the force field also reflects light, depriving everyone inside the plasma shelter of visibility.
However, everything is not simple here.
Reference:
« A sensor that generates a signal to detect at least one explosion capable of producing a shock wave that can travel through the fluid to a protected region. The sensor is able to determine the position and time of the explosion", says the device description in the patent.
« As well as an arc generator that works in conjunction with the sensor and is used to determine the wave signal. The generator is capable of reacting to heat in a selected region of the fluid and instantly creating a second, transient fluid, different from the first, which is placed between the shock wave and the protected region».
Here's what Internet users write:
Mofack, RU 03.24.15 14:10
Hmm, are there any problems with performance? It turns out that the power source of such a crap must produce such a powerful instantaneous discharge.
sanches80, RU 03.24.15 15:17
considering that in modern combat Since few things are affected by a blast wave, the value of this miracle, to put it mildly, is not high. Unless nuclear explosion the wave is the main thing, but something tells me that this pepelats will not hold back the wave of a nuclear explosion much
Hayama, RU 03.24.15 15:36
The complexity of this product is comparable only to its uselessness...
STRANNIK, ru 03.24.15 17:03
Another galactic victory.
“Using lasers, electricity and microwaves...will reflect, refract, absorb and deflect.”
The whole set in one bottle. Golim nonsense. Like a galactic pepelats.
The main goal is to refresh the image of UWB, which has greatly faded in recent years, as unconditional leader in military technologies.
And at the same time justify drinking the dough in the eyes of the taxpayer.
Alanv, RU 03.24.15 18:47
Guys. but no one thought about why this pepelats MAY BE NEEDED AT ALL, EVEN if it stops the shock wave? To protect against the explosion of a piece of explosive wrapped in newspaper??? Because the rest of the explosives are usually delivered to the site by something close to a projectile (or have a sea of fragments), which this trick won’t hold up...
Although I don’t understand how plasma can contain a blast wave IN PRINCIPLE... Like highly nonequilibrium heating with a “counter explosion” effect??? And besides, “Using lasers, electricity and microwave radiation, the system ionizes a small area of air and creates a plasma field in the path of the blast wave.” But we need all-round protection...
KMC is a theoretical invention that has no real application.
Literature, as well as in the literature of the fantasy genre, which denotes a certain invisible (less often visible) barrier, the main function of which is to protect a certain area or goal from external or internal penetrations. This idea may be based on the concept of a vector field. In physics, this term also has several specific meanings (see Force field (physics)).
Force fields in literature
The concept of a “force field” is quite common in works of art, films and computer games. According to many works of art, force fields have the following properties and characteristics, and are also used for the following purposes.
- An atmospheric energy barrier that allows you to work in rooms openly in contact with vacuum (for example, space vacuum). The force field keeps the atmosphere inside the room and prevents it from leaving the room: at the same time, solid and liquid objects can freely pass in both directions
- A barrier that protects against various enemy attacks, be it attacks with energy (including beam), kinetic or torpedo weapons.
- To hold (prevent from leaving) the target within the space limited by the force field.
- Blocks the teleportation of enemy (and sometimes friendly) troops to the ship, military base etc.
- A barrier that limits the spread of certain substances in the air, such as toxic gases and vapors. (This is often a type of technology used to create a barrier between space and the interior of a ship/space station.
- A means of extinguishing a fire that limits the flow of air (and oxygen) into the fire area - the fire, having consumed all the available oxygen (or other strong oxidizing gas) in the area closed by the force field, completely goes out.
- A shield to protect something from the effects of natural or man-made (including weapons) forces. For example in Star Control, in some situations the force field can be large enough to cover an entire planet.
- A force field can be used to create a temporary living space in a place that is initially uninhabitable for those using it intelligent beings(for example, in space or underwater).
- As a safety measure to guide someone or something in the right direction for capture.
- Instead of doors and bars of cells in prisons.
- In the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation sections spaceship had internal force field generators that allowed the crew to activate force fields to prevent any matter or energy from passing through them. They were also used as "windows" that separated the vacuum of space from the habitable atmosphere, to protect against depressurization due to damage or local destruction of the main body of the ship.
- The force field can completely cover the surface human body for protection from external influences. In particular, Star Trek: The Animation Series, Federation astronauts use energy field suits instead of mechanical ones. And in Stargate personal energy shields appear.
Video on the topic
Force fields in scientific interpretation
Notes
Links
- (English) Article “Force Field” on Memory Alpha, a wiki about the Star Trek series universe
- (English) Article "Science of Fields" on the Stardestroyer.net website
- (English) Electrostatic "invisible walls" - message from the industrial symposium on electrostatics
Literature
- Andrews, Dana G.(2004-07-13). "Things to do While Coasting Through Interstellar Space" (PDF) in 40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit.. AIAA 2004-3706. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- Martin, A.R. (1978). “Bombardment by Interstellar Material and Its Effects on the Vehicle, Project Daedalus Final Report.” Journal of the British Interplanetary Society: S116-S121.
Which until today was considered the province of science fiction novels - a force field system capable of protecting various objects, including buildings, cars or airplanes, from a blast wave. This is reported on the website of the US Patent Office.
Based on the principle of operation, Boeing's invention resembles energy shields, which are familiar to many from the films of the Star Wars film saga. A special sensor detects the source of the explosion, after which an arc electromagnetic field generator comes into play. Using lasers, electricity and microwave radiation, the system ionizes a small area of air and creates a plasma field in the path of the blast wave.
The aviation giant's patent is called "Method and system for shock wave attenuation using an electromagnetic arc." Technology in its current form does not provide full protection from shells or shrapnel, but can significantly reduce the impact of the shock wave on equipment.
The system described in the document can be installed both on moving objects such as military SUVs, tanks, ships and aircraft, and on static objects such as buildings or checkpoints. Using an external sensor, it detects the fact of an explosion and ionizes the air from the threat side, creating a plasma protective field at the moment of impact using laser, electricity and microwaves.
The resulting "protective cushion" is different from environment temperature, density and composition, and that is why it is able to reflect a shock wave or at least reduce its density, protecting equipment.
As CNET notes, because the system heats and ionizes the air, it can't provide protection over long periods of time, so it's designed more like an airbag that deploys at just the right moment.
The technology described in the patent looks something like this: when a shell explodes near a vehicle equipped with a protection system, it triggers a sensor that accurately calculates the direction in which the explosion occurred and the time it takes for the blast wave to reach the vehicle. Next, the “arc generator” comes into play, creating something like a force field using powerful lasers. The resulting field is actually a zone of ionized air inside a bubble of plasma. This bubble partially reflects, partially absorbs and partially changes the direction of the blast wave.
All this sounds quite incredible, but the fact remains: the patent exists and can be viewed on the website of the American Patent Office. The author of the invention is listed as engineer Brian Tillotson, who works for Boeing. If the invention really proves its functionality, then with the help of this technology it is possible to protect from explosions not only the military trucks shown in the illustration in the patent, but also various buildings, ships and even airplanes.
However, everything is not simple here.
Reference:
« A sensor that generates a signal to detect at least one explosion capable of producing a shock wave that can travel through the fluid to a protected region. The sensor is able to determine the position and time of the explosion", says the device description in the patent.
« As well as an arc generator that works in conjunction with the sensor and is used to determine the wave signal. The generator is capable of reacting to heat in a selected region of the fluid and instantly creating a second, transient fluid, different from the first, which is placed between the shock wave and the protected region».
Here's what Internet users write:
Mofack, RU 03.24.15 14:10
Hmm, are there any problems with performance? It turns out that the power source of such a crap must produce such a powerful instantaneous discharge.
sanches80, RU 03.24.15 15:17
If we take into account that in modern combat few things are affected by a blast wave, then the value of this miracle, to put it mildly, is not high. Is that the main thing for a nuclear explosion is the wave, but something tells me that this pepelats will not hold back the wave of a nuclear explosion very much
Hayama, RU 03.24.15 15:36
The complexity of this product is comparable only to its uselessness...
STRANNIK, ru 03.24.15 17:03
Another galactic victory.
“Using lasers, electricity and microwaves...will reflect, refract, absorb and deflect.”
The whole set in one bottle. Golim nonsense. Like a galactic pepelats.
The main goal is to refresh the image of UWB, which has greatly faded in recent years, as an undisputed leader in military technologies.
And at the same time justify drinking the dough in the eyes of the taxpayer.
Alanv, RU 03.24.15 18:47
Guys. but no one thought about why this pepelats MAY BE NEEDED AT ALL, EVEN if it stops the shock wave? To protect against the explosion of a piece of explosive wrapped in newspaper??? Because the rest of the explosives are usually delivered to the site by something close to a projectile (or have a sea of fragments), which this trick won’t hold up...
Although I don’t understand how plasma can contain a blast wave IN PRINCIPLE... Like highly nonequilibrium heating with a “counter explosion” effect??? And besides, “Using lasers, electricity and microwave radiation, the system ionizes a small area of air and creates a plasma field in the path of the blast wave.” But we need all-round protection...
KMC is a theoretical invention that has no real application.
What do you think about the prospects of this high-profile patent?
· 02/26/2017
Bookmarked: 0
Classmates
Update 255 ARK Survival Evolved is another tech-focused update to introduce all-new TEK structures for Survivors, new hairstyles, 30 new Explorer Notes, plus four new creatures to discover in the ARK world.
More than 20 new parts of TEK structures have been introduced, now Survivors will be able to upgrade their bases and bring them to a new defensive level. Similar to the TEKgrams released in Patch 254, Survivors must defeat bosses to gain knowledge of the required Tekgram before crafting it.
Along with the TEK set of structures, we are also introducing the TEK Force Field (shield). The TEK force shield is a large, size-adjustable dome that is powered by the element and that protects all allied creatures, structures, and players within it. The Power Shield provides greater resistance to incoming attacks and prevents non-tribe members from entering the house.
Ammonitina Multiamicus, one of the most unique creatures of the sea, resembles Nautilus, but is much larger. For unknown reasons, an attack on Ammonita provokes the wrath of all neighboring sea creatures who will ardently protect her. All this makes killing her quite dangerous. The reward is often worth the risk - the Ammonita shell itself is valuable (as is rare), and the bile can be used to create various poisonous antidotes.
Electrophorus Beluadomito, special kind Swordfish. uses an electrical charge to paralyze its prey with an electrical charge. Some Tribes were known to domesticate Eels in order to use them to "stun" large aquatic animals.
Microraptor Gnarilongus, a bird-like creature with a reptilian face. a true predator that instantly shows aggression to anything its size or smaller (including humans). The ability to jump, run and make short flights makes Microraptor incredibly dangerous alone or in packs, and when trained, they can drop riders right in battle, throwing them from the saddle and stunning them during the fight.
Thylacoleo Furtimorsus, also known as the "marsupial lion", is a powerful predator native to the redwood forests of the Red Biome of the ARK world. Has the most strong bite from any land mammal world of ARK - and “bolt cutters” in place of teeth, make this creature a formidable ambush predator. A lion leaps down from ambush in trees and crushes the neck of its prey. They are fearless mammals that climb high up the redwood trees to be able to pounce long distances when their prey comes into view.