The Real Star Wars

Like many of you, I am a sucker for Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI. There's something to be said about some old footage of space battles and the blaring imperial march that went off every time that Darth Vader Strolled into the room. However, I still have to give the newer films their due. From epic film scores like "Dual of the Fates" (which I have to admit, is an amazing workout song) to some pretty cool action footage, Episodes I, II, and III do have a large appeal to them! When I think of these movies, the first thing that comes to my mind are the massive, intense battles between the clones and droids. The fact that these battles were not fought by "people" as we know them but by mass produced armies always seems to boggle my mind. This concept is so far from anything that we currently know about wars, where families are destroyed and lives are ripped apart continuously. All of the wars that we have had on this earth have been fought by men and women with families, interests, knowledge and education; however, in the near future, this will all change.

As recently reported by an interview with General Robert C. Cone by Popular science magazine, by the year 2040, robotic combat troops will make up nearly 1/4 of the United States Armed Forces. Thats right, the US military (within the next few years) will be made up of 25% Droids, virtuallTy making us into the Trade Federation :/. The technology for this massive robotic mililtary mobilization is already being developed and tested. he main droid being tested currently by Boston Dynamics for US military use is nicknamed "BigDog". This robot is basically an artificially intellegent pack muel which can be used to ease the load carried by individual soldiers as well as become outfitted for combat. Check out the video below for more and I will keep you updated with any new Droid Roll-out's that the United States Military has planned!

It's engrained in all of our memories, the blur of lights which signaled a ships hyper drive activation. Massive Star Destroyers, Tantive IV's, and even Death Stars traveling entire galaxies in no time at all. I know it sounds impossible for modern human technology to allow us to traverse the universe that quickly, right? The answer to this question is not as straight forward as yes and no, because it is both.

t^'=t√(1-(V^2/c^2 ))

t' = time experienced

t = stationary time

V = absolute velocity

c= speed of light (2.998*10^8 m/s)

The equation above relates one of the core arguments expresed in Albert Einstein's "Theory of Special Relativity". It postulates that as the speed of light is approached and a constant velocity is established, the time that the individual traveling this fast will perceive no time to pass. This means that that individual does not age the same way that the rest of the individuals in the universe age, and can travel thousands of light years in a single blink of an eye. In order to simplify this concept, the main points of this theory have been simplified into a story about two twins. In this story, one of the twins leaves earth on a journey at the speed of light which takes a total of thirty light years to complete. Upon returning to earth, the twin who had left earth at light speed appears markedly younger, by thirty years exactly, than the one who remained on earth. This is due to the fact that the twin traveling at light speed experienced no time pass at all while the twin on earth experienced thirty years pass. Below, I've inserted a video which further explains this idea of time dilation and it's implication to the universal expansion of the human race.

I remember when I was six years old and watching Star Wars Episode One with my dad. To this day I still remember being floored when the first blaster shot rang out. "What was this? Did that gun just shot a beam of light? Now this was a Science-Fiction universe I could get behind!" Well, much like all the rest of the content that you will be able to find on this site, these blasters (guns which seemingly shoot light) exist in our world and are being used by our military right now. No, you can’t hold these guns in your hand right now, science hasn’t come that far, but with the United States Navy’s Directed Energy Weapons Project, light-energy can now be harnessed for the light (or the dark) side.

These guns are massive! Because of this, the only real military utilization they can see in this day in age is aboard US Naval ships and large Air Force aerial platforms. Much like me, you might be thinking that a laser gun this large must be uneconomical, inaccurate, and honestly quite stupid when it comes to the air defense; however, much like me, you would be completely wrong! The US military has already found a multitude of uses for this light-speed weapons system including the destruction of enemy air defense from a very far distance and the neutralization of enemy aircraft which pose an immediate threat. These energy weapons are extremely accurate and have a very long range due to the “projectile” traveling at the speed of light! Check out the video below and see for yourself just how cool these directed energy weapons systems are.

It is no secret to anyone who has seen the Star Wars films that the saga is set on many planets such as: Tatooine, Alderaan, Bespin, Hoth, Yavin, and Endor (just to name a few). However, according to the European Southern Observatory , exoplanets such as these were not proven to exist until 1995, close to twenty years after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. Since then, close to 450 planets have been discovered in far off galaxies using a vast variety of different methods. Most of these planets are uninhabitable due to their atmosphere, weather conditions or distance to their sun. This of course is not very Star Wars”y” due to human’s inability to visit or inhabit these far off planets; however, in 2015 NASA released a statement informing the world that their Kepler Mission had discovered another earthlike planet! This discovery of this new planet provides Star Wars fans with a reason to be ecstatic! Finally we’ve discovered a planet which makes the whole setting of Star Wars plausible, because if we’ve found one inhabitable planet, surely there must be more! This is just another example of how Star Wars has been, and will continue to affect our modern day life through its ability to cultivate a desire within the human species to explore the universe and to, eventually, reach the stars.

Do you remeber that part in Episode 5 where Luke Skywalker recieves a new robotic hand after his father cut off his real one? Of corse you do! When I was a child, I remeber looking at Luke's new hand thinking, "He must control that with the force!" Well it turns out that mankind has caught up to the Star Wars Universe on this one. Due to modern technology, many people enjoy the freedom which comes from recieving a robotic limb.It turns out that, as a child, I WAS RIGHT! These prostheses are operated via the force, that is forces generated by the remaining part of the individuals limb which makes the prosthetic arm perform several different movements which help facilitate day to day life.

This might sound too good to be true, but these limbs are only getting more sophisticated. According to the New York Times, the John Hopkin's Applied Physics lab has recently recieved a $120 million grant in order to research and develop a new robotic prosthetic arm which would have up to 26 joints and would be powered by a human's mind! While this is still several years out, it is truly evedent that this Star Wars technology is affecting the lives of many individuals today!