Kukul: I think thats more of an excercise in operating on huge numbers than a serious estimation, but on the other hand the guy has Polish blood, so he might be seriously that crazy :D
So are we talking 15.6 Septillion for the ORIGINAL death star, or that lego-nightmare stickwork pictured in the article? Just wanna be clear on what I'm getting.
new_age_reject: What this doesn't take into account also, is the money spent on researching the technology to make this work, otherwise it would be a big lump of steel, stale air and dead people in funny outfits drawing in a lovely collection of space particles.
Let's just add on another few septillion, you know for all that stuff.
Indigo_Dingo: Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.
Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.
So alot...
According to Tesla, it would only take 5 Nukes to completely disintegrate the earth, if they were placed right. That seems a bit much.
Well of course they would have to be placed right, but if you just want to blow up a planet the size of the Earth willy nilly, thats about how much energy it would take. Also 5 nukes means five points of penetration whereas a "Laser" has only one point.
Also I believe that figure was achieved by thinking about meteor impacts, not about super lasers.
But as a laser lacks kinetic force, it could only destroy a planet by superheating the core until it actually dissolved the planet. Therefore, they should have been left with a floating ball of lava instead of an asteroid belt. Unless it wasn't a laser, but a tractor beam....
At what point did it become evident that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about?
Hey its all just fun and games, its Star Wars, we don't have to know what the hell we're talking about, as long as you get the canon right.
I actually have been a part of some discussions about whether the superlaser is actually a laser or a tractor beam. A tractor beam can (theoretically) disrupt the electroweak forces holding individual atoms together. If it is a tractor beam, that would explain the huge energy requirement. A more interesting argument for me is where the hell you would get such a power source to begin with.
Pfft. You fools actually need a SPACE STATION the size of a small moon to blow up a planet? I can theoretically destroy the world with a light bulb! Early tests on asteroids have proved inconclusive however. :(
Indigo_Dingo: Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.
Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.
So alot...
According to Tesla, it would only take 5 Nukes to completely disintegrate the earth, if they were placed right. That seems a bit much.
Well of course they would have to be placed right, but if you just want to blow up a planet the size of the Earth willy nilly, thats about how much energy it would take. Also 5 nukes means five points of penetration whereas a "Laser" has only one point.
Also I believe that figure was achieved by thinking about meteor impacts, not about super lasers.
But as a laser lacks kinetic force, it could only destroy a planet by superheating the core until it actually dissolved the planet. Therefore, they should have been left with a floating ball of lava instead of an asteroid belt. Unless it wasn't a laser, but a tractor beam....
At what point did it become evident that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about?
Hey its all just fun and games, its Star Wars, we don't have to know what the hell we're talking about, as long as you get the canon right.
I actually have been a part of some discussions about whether the superlaser is actually a laser or a tractor beam. A tractor beam can (theoretically) disrupt the electroweak forces holding individual atoms together. If it is a tractor beam, that would explain the huge energy requirement. A more interesting argument for me is where the hell you would get such a power source to begin with.
Pfft, he's not even factoring the toilets, cloning processes, lazers, armour for soldiers and uniforms for other personal, food, water, plumbing, robots, etc, etc. I wonder if there's a movie theater in there? All work and no play makes a stormtrooper a dull boy.
You think congress will spring for one if we ask em? I mean they want to increase spending and this looks like a worthy choice to spend the tax payers money on. Write your local congressman folks :D
I remember reading on one of my DK books on Star Wars that within the Death Star there's even a nursery... I'll let someone else calculate bantha milk costs.
By the way, didn't Tesla die before the first nuclear test? How could he be so sure about the potential of 5 well-placed nukes to destroy the earth?
It sounds to me like there talking about a giant metal dome filled with air. Well, isn't there more to the death star then that? With infinite resources, could we make a planet destroying laser? Or any of the rest of the technology onboard (I'm not really a Star Wars Geek)? Do we have the fuel? The engines? The life support systems? Even with infinite materials, manpower, and time, I suspect there are a buncha things we can't quite make yet.
Cubilone: I remember reading on one of my DK books on Star Wars that within the Death Star there's even a nursery... I'll let someone else calculate bantha milk costs.
Seriously? So when the Death Stars were blown up, little kids and babies died???
Indigo_Dingo: Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.
Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.
So alot...
Well, if you wanted to completely destroy the planet yes, but why do that when you can gently toast the planet to a nice golden-brown? Accomplishes the same thing, namely killing everyone, and it's not such an eyesore, nor would it create confusion for smugglers carrying a Jedi, a whiny moisture farmer, and a princess, coming out of light-speed only to find an asteroid field. Pretty obvious what happened there.
Indigo_Dingo: Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.
Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.
So alot...
Well, if you wanted to completely destroy the planet yes, but why do that when you can gently toast the planet to a nice golden-brown? Accomplishes the same thing, namely killing everyone, and it's not such an eyesore, nor would it create confusion for smugglers carrying a Jedi, a whiny moisture farmer, and a princess, coming out of light-speed only to find an asteroid field. Pretty obvious what happened there.
IF your going to destroy a planet, why not do it with style? If you want there to be no chance of anyone ever living there again, then the Death Star is the way to go. Its like nuking the site from orbit, its the only way to be sure (cookie for the reference). Plus lets not forget how awesome the spectacle of watching an entire planet blow up would be.
pantsoffdanceoff: I don't care how much it costs to build the construct itself. It's the gun that blow up the damn planets I care about. How much does THAT cost? I'm sure a few countries would be willing to throw in a couple septillains to do it to have it on their side.
Well, I've got a new 1p coin and some lint, so will that go towards the collection?
That really made my afternoon. Thanks for sharing that one. :)
They've got a whole episode of them; such as the janitor who has to clear up the unusually large amount of people that fall dramatically into bottomless pits.
Cubilone: I remember reading on one of my DK books on Star Wars that within the Death Star there's even a nursery... I'll let someone else calculate bantha milk costs.
Seriously? So when the Death Stars were blown up, little kids and babies died???
I really doubt there was that kinda stuff on the Death Star. Women were usually excluded from the Imperial military due to Palpatine's prejudice against women and non-humans. There were exceptions to that of course, but that was still the general rule.
Cubilone: I remember reading on one of my DK books on Star Wars that within the Death Star there's even a nursery... I'll let someone else calculate bantha milk costs.
Seriously? So when the Death Stars were blown up, little kids and babies died???
I really doubt there was that kinda stuff on the Death Star. Women were usually excluded from the Imperial military due to Palpatine's prejudice against women and non-humans. There were exceptions to that of course, but that was still the general rule.
Well, I would hope that if there was a nursery, the kids would be evacuated at the first sign of fighting. Herd 'em onto some escape pods with those "Baby on Board" window sign thingys so the Rebs won't shoot 'em down.
By far your greatest find Keane! The person who figured this all out wins my award for the best waste of time ever!
I wouldn't give the guy that did those calculations THAT much credit. It was a pretty lazy attempt. Granted I didn't think of it first so I'm kind of jealous.
Still that thing about this just being a bare bones assessment of the cost is a huge understatement (that is unless all you're after is a big hulk in space with no purpose).
By far your greatest find Keane! The person who figured this all out wins my award for the best waste of time ever!
I wouldn't give the guy that did those calculations THAT much credit. It was a pretty lazy attempt. Granted I didn't think of it first so I'm kind of jealous.
Still that thing about this just being a bare bones assessment of the cost is a huge understatement (that is unless all you're after is a big hulk in space with no purpose).
Hey, had they covered the exhaust port, which was about 2m across, about the size of a womp rat, the Death Star would have been the ultimate weapon!
+ 5 nerd points to you