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PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
ster firestorms that would engulf the entire planet. The gamma ray
burster might not actually explode the entire planet, as in the movie
Star Wars, but it would certainly destroy all life, leaving a scorched,
barren planet.
Conceivably, a civilization hundreds of thousands to a million
years more advanced than ours might be able to aim such a black hole
in the direction of a target. This could be done by deflecting the path of
planets and neutron stars into the dying star at a precise angle just before it collapses. This deflection would be enough to change the spin
axis of the star so that it could be aimed in a certain direction. A dying
star would make the largest ray gun imaginable.
In summary, the use of powerful lasers to create portable or handheld ray guns and light sabers can be classified as a Class I impossibility-something that is possible in the near future or perhaps within a
century. But the extreme challenge of aiming a spinning star before it
erupts into a black hole and transforming it into a Death Star would
have to be considered a Class II impossibility-something that clearly
does not violate the laws of physics (such gamma ray bursters exist)
but something that might be possible only thousands to millions of
years in the future.
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
ster firestorms that would engulf the entire planet. The gamma ray
burster might not actually explode the entire planet, as in the movie
Star Wars, but it would certainly destroy all life, leaving a scorched,
barren planet.
Conceivably, a civilization hundreds of thousands to a million
years more advanced than ours might be able to aim such a black hole
in the direction of a target. This could be done by deflecting the path of
planets and neutron stars into the dying star at a precise angle just before it collapses. This deflection would be enough to change the spin
axis of the star so that it could be aimed in a certain direction. A dying
star would make the largest ray gun imaginable.
In summary, the use of powerful lasers to create portable or handheld ray guns and light sabers can be classified as a Class I impossibility-something that is possible in the near future or perhaps within a
century. But the extreme challenge of aiming a spinning star before it
erupts into a black hole and transforming it into a Death Star would
have to be considered a Class II impossibility-something that clearly
does not violate the laws of physics (such gamma ray bursters exist)
but something that might be possible only thousands to millions of
years in the future.