The Star Wars franchise permeates modern pop culture. But do the amazing scientific and technological aspects of this broad fictional universe hold water in the real one?
From lightsabers to droids to holographic messages, Star Wars contains numerous devices and even characters that are vital to move the plot forward. But diving deep into these topics shows there’s still much left for our modern-day scientists to do if we want to enjoy these gadgets in real life. What exactly are lightsaber blades composed of, and could we build such weapons today? How close do our best artificial intelligence programs and existing robots come to the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO? And could we really send each other holographic messages? Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi!
In this week’s episode of Infinity & Beyond, host Abigail Bollenbach will walk you through the science of Star Wars. May the force be with you.
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