PURSERS RND QERTH STRRS 47
physics, has said, "We say that we will put the sun into a box. The idea
is pretty. The problem is, we don't know how to make the box." But if
all goes well, researchers are hopeful that within forty years the ITER
may pave the way for commercialization of fusion energy, energy that
can provide electricity for our homes. One day, fusion reactors may alleviate our energy problem, safely releasing the power of the sun on
the Earth.
But even magnetic confinement fusion reactors would not provide
enough energy to energize a Death Star weapon. For that we would
need an entirely new design.
NUCLEAR-FIRED X-RAY LASERS
There is one other possibility for simulating a Death Star laser cannon
with today's known technology, and that is with a hydrogen bomb. A
battery of X-ray lasers harnessing and focusing the power of nuclear
weapons could in theory generate enough energy to operate a device
that could incinerate an entire planet.
The nuclear force, pound for pound, releases about 100 million
times more energy than a chemical reaction. A piece of enriched uranium no bigger than a baseball is enough to incinerate an entire city
in a fiery ball-even though only 1 percent of its mass has been converted to energy. As we discussed, there are a number of ways of injecting energy into a laser beam. By far the most powerful of all is to use
the force unleashed by a nuclear bomb.
X-ray lasers have enormous scientific as well as military value. Because of their very short wavelength they can be used to probe atomic
distances and decipher the atomic structure of complicated molecules,
a feat that is extraordinarily difficult using ordinary methods. A whole
new window on chemical reactions opens up when you can "see" the
atoms themselves in motion and in their proper arrangement inside a
molecule.
Because a hydrogen bomb emits a huge amount of energy in the
physics, has said, "We say that we will put the sun into a box. The idea
is pretty. The problem is, we don't know how to make the box." But if
all goes well, researchers are hopeful that within forty years the ITER
may pave the way for commercialization of fusion energy, energy that
can provide electricity for our homes. One day, fusion reactors may alleviate our energy problem, safely releasing the power of the sun on
the Earth.
But even magnetic confinement fusion reactors would not provide
enough energy to energize a Death Star weapon. For that we would
need an entirely new design.
NUCLEAR-FIRED X-RAY LASERS
There is one other possibility for simulating a Death Star laser cannon
with today's known technology, and that is with a hydrogen bomb. A
battery of X-ray lasers harnessing and focusing the power of nuclear
weapons could in theory generate enough energy to operate a device
that could incinerate an entire planet.
The nuclear force, pound for pound, releases about 100 million
times more energy than a chemical reaction. A piece of enriched uranium no bigger than a baseball is enough to incinerate an entire city
in a fiery ball-even though only 1 percent of its mass has been converted to energy. As we discussed, there are a number of ways of injecting energy into a laser beam. By far the most powerful of all is to use
the force unleashed by a nuclear bomb.
X-ray lasers have enormous scientific as well as military value. Because of their very short wavelength they can be used to probe atomic
distances and decipher the atomic structure of complicated molecules,
a feat that is extraordinarily difficult using ordinary methods. A whole
new window on chemical reactions opens up when you can "see" the
atoms themselves in motion and in their proper arrangement inside a
molecule.
Because a hydrogen bomb emits a huge amount of energy in the