Boeing is best known for making commercial
aircrafts, rockets and satellites. However, with the latest patent that they
have filed, it seems as if this company is taking a turn towards science
fiction. Earlier today it was announced that they had accrued a patent for a
force field system that could protect military vehicles from explosions. Rather than deflecting projectiles aimed
directly at vehicles, this system would work by muffling the shock wave
resulting from an explosion which is usually the most damaging aspect. The
energy shields that we see in movies like Star Trek are shown to be fully
encompassing while this system on the other hand would only exist for a brief
moment in a limited area. Still, the science behind this project gives me a lot
of appreciation for the technological strides we are making in this century. However,
is it cause for concern?
The system works by detecting the
direction of an explosion via sensors mounted on a vehicle which looks for the electromagnetic
signature of said blast. Then an arc generator will use high-intensity laser
pulses to heat air molecules in the space between the vehicle and the explosion.
It then introduces an electric arc that travels along the conductive path
produced by the laser. All of this energy directed in this direction will
produce a bubble called a “laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC)” which will be
able to absorb and deflect much of the incoming energy from the shock wave,
leaving the vehicle and its occupants in a safer situation. This type of system
could also potentially be used to protect buildings and other types of
infrastructures if possible.
The science certainly sounds
convincing (albeit extremely complicated) to me, but there is no way of knowing
if Boeing actually intends to build and test such a system. To begin with
safety would need to be of utmost importance to not only ensure safe operation
but to prevent this system from being used in the wrong way or by the wrong
people. This leads me to several points. Firstly, is it safe to say that we are
in the sci-fi future of yesterday? If not, it certainly seems that we are slowly
heading towards that direction. As such, is it possible that we are going towards
the direction of Skynet, were we as a species are becoming too reliant on technology
to solve our problems? If this is the case, I fear that technology like this
could end up being as destructive as dynamite or chemical weapons. Both of
which, in their early stages, were designed for non-militarized use (dynamite
for clearing mountain ranges and chemical weapons initially experimented with
for cures to deadly pathogens). Whatever
the case, it’s exciting to see where technology is taking us today.
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