Lightning guns

[Stark]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the Shoulder of Orion. C-beams glittering in the Tannhauser Gate. All those memories... will be lost now. Like tears... in the rain. Time. To Die...

That's exactly it. Phased chroniton particles exciting the n-space representations isn't going to stir any emotions, but feelings and impressions and vignettes can. Authors misunderstanding that is why I can't read science fiction novels any more.

[wolveraptor]

Okay, so it's impossible. That's all I needed to know.

[Winston Blake]

He's obviously writing soft scifi; superficial and titillating pulp-style weapons aren't subject to scientific realism. We're all too bored of technobabble and fond of rationalisations for soft science. I think what he's looking for as 'evocative' is more like:

His XB-746 Lightning Cannon pulsed softly with a dull purple light as John Killemy hid in the shadows, every drop of sweat that rolled down his cheek illuminated by the gently ebbing glow. Voices! Korakki sentinels returning to base, their asynchronous tripodal footsteps still faint. "YOU!" A rasping voice boomed from John's right shoulder - a Korakki high commander! Raising his Gigawatt Pistol!

With not a moment to lose, John flicked both thumb-switches and the Lightning Cannon's plasma coils roared into life with a bright scarlet flash! Too late did the ugly uniformed xeno reach for his alarm as brilliant white waves of raw energy blasted forth from the cannon, searing off his still living flesh and charring the wall behind.

For what could have been an eternity, the chaotic dancing electrical blast quivered over the red shine of the coils, drenching John's bared-teeth and knitted brow in a ragged bloody light.

Alright, maybe i got a little carried away. Point is, this isn't hard SF.

Forgive me if you already know this, but you can project a "lightning beam" by using a laser to ionize a path through the air, and releasing a powerful electric charge into it.

Okay, that's even cooler than what I originally had in mind. Is it (or could it be) in any way practical?

It's not just practical, it's already being done. Apparently it's been done since 1985.

From 1999, but it has a pretty picture. The idea is to make the air conductive and run a current through it. This is normally with a pair of ionising laser beams, and would make more of a straight beam of lightning rather than a chaotic spray as in nature.

I know companies 'XADS' and 'Ionatron' are doing this sort of thing, but XADS is pretty vaporware/wank and the guy's electrolaser stuff has been superceded by his dazzling lasers (IIRC they got very favourable responses from Iraq).

[Shroom Man 777]

I could make something just as interesting with a large diameter AP round:

Blork disappeared as the flechette transformed his torso into red mist. The supersonic dart punched through the wall behind him and went through several hundred feet of duracrete and steel bulkheads, its monomolecular tip effortlessly shearing through the armoring before detonating. A nanosecond later, the Blorgrakians inside the building were instantaneously immolated by the thermobaric explosion. There was an earth-shaking blast, and then all that was left of the building was rubble - while all that was left of the Blorgakians were ashes.

"Another job well done," Francis Castillio sighed, watching the Blorgrakian building burn from a mile away. He patted his AT-54 missile launcher and took out a cigarette.

[Zornhau]

Baen-tastic!

I think by "evocative", the OP might mean "vivid".

IMHO, the practicality of a weapon matters less to the reader than how the character interacts with it, and how well the writer can milk the anticipation and description of the results.

[SVPD]

What's wrong with just giving it a name like "a disruptor" or "a phaser" or "a turbolaser" or "a thermal detonator" and describing the effects without trying to explain how something that doesn't actually exists works?

[Sea Skimmer]

What's wrong with just giving it a name like "a disruptor" or "a phaser" or "a turbolaser" or "a thermal detonator" and describing the effects without trying to explain how something that doesn't actually exists works?

That is by far the superior solution

[Admiral Valdemar]

I'd rather stick to hard sci-fi than soft science fantasy stuff. Any Bolo novel, or for that matter, Baen published work, will have fairly good descriptions of weaponry. The firing of Hellbores is always a treat given how vivid the image of something that blinds and deafens everything within a few klicks everytime it fires.

[SVPD]

Aother thing occured to me: When I read about "a plasma weapon" after reading the essay here on why they wouldn't work, I just assume "plasma" is some sort of misnomer, in much the same way that a turbolaser isn't really a laser.

[The Silence and I]

I don't see why a lightning gun is impossible. It might be impractical, especially today, but hardly impossible as I understand things.

Hell, with something as simple as a Van De Graff generator, some insulation, and an ultraviolet laser of reasonable power output I can in theory build you a lightning gun. Although it won't be very powerful, or take up less than a small room. But hey, that is what future technology is for

Or replace the Van De Graff with a Tesla Coil, you can perhaps get more omph out of one of those.

The basic idea is to insulate the charge generator (air insulation only allows so much, and you ideally want to be able to tote it around--definately need insulation for that!) and use the laser to ionize the air (UV is more efficient at this than many other wavelengths IIRC) on a path to your intended target. Then you open (engineering hurdle: controlled charge release!) part of the insulation to release the charge. If you have set everything up correctly, all the charge is going to 'see' is a nice ionized path towards a target that has far less charge density. There you go--a bolt of red and bluish white fire connects to your target, and depending on how much energy you were able to store, it could shock, sting, hurt like a bitch... all the way up to kill.

[The Silence and I]

Ghetto Edit:

I didn't see Winston Blake's post a little ways up; he references a rather more sophisticated method which makes possible a sustained current, and higher refire rates. The idea I outlined above is something of a shoot and recharge deal. Being crude, it lacks a lot of control the electro laser might have. Still, it should work.

[Darth Wong]

Ghetto Edit:

I didn't see Winston Blake's post a little ways up; he references a rather more sophisticated method which makes possible a sustained current, and higher refire rates. The idea I outlined above is something of a shoot and recharge deal. Being crude, it lacks a lot of control the electro laser might have. Still, it should work.

Yeah, as long as you're very close to the target. At long range, lightning guns won't work because the electrons will follow the path of least resistance. And the "create an arc across two ionized paths in atmosphere" idea will be very environmentally sensitive, not to mention being defeated by insulating body armour. You'd be much better off just using the lasers to hurt people or vehicles.

[wolveraptor]

Isn't the definition of "soft" sci fi "Sci-fi with little regard for actual feasibility in technology"? For example, I was under the impression that Star Wars was soft Sci Fi.

If the dichotomy between hard and soft is the division between Asimov and Episode III, then it would more be a disctinction of sophistication, right?

Regardless, the weapons detailed in Drooling Iguana's and Winston Blake's posts seems ideal.

[Drooling Iguana]

You want a futuristic weapon? Have your civilization figure out how to miniaturise nuclear warheads to the point where you can fit one inside a 9mm round. Or perhaps invent some sort of super-efficient containment system that lets them fill a 9mm bullet with antimatter.

[Drooling Iguana]

Regardless, the weapons detailed in Drooling Iguana's and Winston Blake's posts seems ideal.

I didn't post my message until after you posted this one. How the hell did you manage to refrence it?

[wolveraptor]

I'm a master of augery. The birds told me.

Seriously, I confused The Silence and I and you. He does have an Igauna in his avatar, and your name is Drooling Iguana. You can't blame me.

[NeoGoomba]

HE, AP, APCR, APFSDS, HEAT, HEP, AHEAD, APCBC, DPICM, APERS, STAFF Concrete Piercing, Smart Submuntion Dispensing, Flechette, Frangible, Shrapnel, Canister, Smoke, Chemical Warfare, Binary Chemical Warfare, Illuminating, Radio Jamming, Propaganda.. there are even more then this but it gives you a good idea of the range of different kinds ammunition which could be fired by a single piece of artillery. Never mind the multpul variations most of these types have.

Hah thats a great advertisment for the joys of artillery. Quick question though, out of that list, DPICM and Frangible aren't familiar to me. What niftiness do they deliver?

[The Silence and I]

Seriously, I confused The Silence and I and you. He does have an Igauna in his avatar, and your name is Drooling Iguana. You can't blame me.

It's a Dragon, from the mystical isle of Komodo. Not some bloody iguana

Yeah, as long as you're very close to the target. At long range, lightning guns won't work because the electrons will follow the path of least resistance. And the "create an arc across two ionized paths in atmosphere" idea will be very environmentally sensitive, not to mention being defeated by insulating body armour. You'd be much better off just using the lasers to hurt people or vehicles.

Sure, practical it aint, but he wanted a lightning gun, not a laser gun

Anyway, soft scifi = make it work 'cause you want it too

[wolveraptor]

Damnit, I missed Mike's post again. When you say "long-range", what kind of distance are you talking about?

Perhaps I'll just use it as a medium-short range stunning device as it is in real life.

[wilfulton]

Isn't the definition of "soft" sci fi "Sci-fi with little regard for actual feasibility in technology"? For example, I was under the impression that Star Wars was soft Sci Fi.

To stick up for the underdog here, I happen to like my phased plasma rifle (The gun they use in Terminator, it's just a cosmetic thing, I just like it, okay). I do not, however, go into the modus operendi (sp?) of such fancy weapons when I write about them. In fact, I don't even worry about whether or not they're possible or even practical, because not much else in the story is practical either (there's a good guy, a bad guy, the good guy kills the bad guy and gets the girl in the end, and he uses a really big, really fancy gun to do this with).

There's really no reason you can't have your lightning gun, just don't get too far into trying to JUSTIFY it. It's good enough to just SAY something works. If you tell a good story, I won't bother to undercut you for saying your "lightning gun" is stupid.


Org roared and charged Hero, chainsaw in one hand and machete in the other, shouting "I'm gonna kill ya until ya die from it humie!"

Hero raised his lightning gun and fired. Org stopped in his tracks, but not by his own will. The sudden jolt of electricity caused his soft tissue to illuminate like a lightbulb, a confused looking skeleton prominent in the brilliant glare. Hero released the trigger. Only a thin film of ash settled on the deck where Org once stood.


...or something like that. Don't bother explaining how it works, if you feel you must, just use it. Part of writing good sci fi, at least by my experience, is to follow your instinct.

[Darth Wong]

Damnit, I missed Mike's post again. When you say "long-range", what kind of distance are you talking about?

Real stunguns have a range measured in a few metres. Even the most optimistic projections for the laser-based stunguns are talking about a range of 100 metres, and that may be a pipedream (apparently, the only company researching this kind of technology is a bit dodgy). But when you're relying upon a column of ionized air between you and the target for your conducting path, it stands to reason that even a mild wind will fuck up your system and greatly reduce its effectiveness at range. And in terms of actual destructive power, you're far better off just using the laser; the electrical conduction is used for the very specific purpose of knocking a human unconscious.

Perhaps I'll just use it as a medium-short range stunning device as it is in real life.

That would be best. That way you could have a short-range (<50 metres) stungun and a laser pistol in the same weapon, thus giving you ... pretty much the standard weapon in sci-fi for decades

But seriously, don't waste time talking about how it works. Nobody gives a shit about that when they read fiction, and you only open yourself up for embarrassing mistakes.

[Winston Blake]

Damnit, I missed Mike's post again. When you say "long-range", what kind of distance are you talking about?

Perhaps I'll just use it as a medium-short range stunning device as it is in real life.

It'd probably end up as something like this:



Throw in future-tech and a pointy end to get the sparks going in one direction and you have a sort of lightning spray. Maybe it'd work as an intimidating less-lethal weapon for a security force fighting inside a building?

Also, anything grounded near between you and the target (e.g. friendlies, wet stuff, anything metal) will suck that spray towards it, and the target'll be unharmed.

[Winston Blake]

To be clear, i was referring to Silence's weapon, not a normal electrolaser.

[Sea Skimmer]

Hah thats a great advertisment for the joys of artillery. Quick question though, out of that list, DPICM and Frangible aren't familiar to me. What niftiness do they deliver?

DPICM stands for Duel Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions, cluster bomblets from an artillery shell or rocket. They are duel purpose because each bomblet has a shaped charge to attack light armor (an MBT can be damaged by hits on its roof) and they also create a nice spray of fragments and burning incendiary material when said shaped charge explodes. That takes care of soft targets.

Frangible means a projectile which is designed to shatter and covers several different types of thing. Some Frangible pistol ammo for example is intended only for training, and shatters when it hits a wall so it can’t ricochet. Other Frangible ammo is designed to shatter only after it has pierced armor, doing much more damage to whatever is behind that armor then a single solid projectile would have.

[Agemegos]

What's wrong with just giving it a name like "a disruptor" or "a phaser" or "a turbolaser" or "a thermal detonator" and describing the effects without trying to explain how something that doesn't actually exists works?

That's a rhetorical question, isn't it?