Via Space.com:
How do lightsabers work? Do droids have rights? Would Kylo Ren’s weapon slice off his wrists during combat? These are just some of the scientific questions that “Star Wars” and science experts aimed to answer Saturday (Oct. 8) here at New York Comic Con.
The event, called “Star Wars: The Science Awakens,” featured seven panelists whose expertise included astrophysics, biology, psychology, filmmaking and general “Star Wars” nerdiness.
The panel enlightened Space.com about many aspects of the universe “a long time ago” — and here are seven questions answered we found particularly noteworthy. [‘Star Wars’ X-Wing Soars Near Edge of Space in Awesome Video]
Do lightsabers make sense scientifically?
Charles Liu, an astrophysicist at The City University of New York College of Staten Island, said the main issue with lightsabers is how much energy would be required. His explanation assumed lightsabers would be made of plasma.
“If you build plasma up to a high enough energy, they [lightsabers] actually can have a physical reaction with one another,” Liu said. “So if you could contain superpowerful plasma in these magnetic bottles, or something, and they knock against one another, they might actually be able to release noise and a physical resistance.”
“The problem is, if you have that much power and ability to confine that much plasma, you don’t want to leave it in a stick — you want to blast and level a city with it,” he added.
With today’s technology, it would not be possible to get that much power into such a small, portable package, said Christopher Mahon, a writer at science/sci-fi website Outerplaces.com. It’d need about 100 times the power density of a cellphone, which isn’t currently possible, he said.
“And look what happened when Samsung tried to make a slightly more powerful battery,” Liu joked, referring to the company’s recently recalled Note 7 smartphone. (Hint: They exploded.)
A lightsaber could be a beam of plasma shaped like a donut, circling in on itself and maybe controlled by some sort of black hole in the handle with adjustable strength, the panelists said. But even then, the plasma would give off way more excess radiation, spraying the surroundings with light and particles, unless it was somehow siphoned off into some other dimension, they said.
The group also discussed whether the Force was necessary for someone to operate a lightsaber, which would help explain any nonscientific functioning of the weapon. But Han Solo uses a lightsaber, and his connection to the Force is unclear, psychologist and “Talking Comics” podcast host Mara Wood pointed out. Ultimately, it’s probably that the Force makes people better lightsaber users but isn’t crucial to the weapon’s function. [Is a Real Lightsaber Possible? Science Offers a New Hope]
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