A key facet of modern science fiction stories is the force field, a personal device that protects the user from a variety of objects, whether it's piercing lasers, zooming asteroids or flying objects. While it's conceptually a great idea, it's currently impossible to create a field of energy that can protect a physical object from damage. Or at least it was until recently.
Military developer Boeing recently submitted a patent for a "method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc." This patent "describes a system that would detect the shockwave from a nearby explosion and create an area of ionized air -- a plasma field -- between the oncoming blast and the vehicle it was protecting," reports CNN.
While this sounds effective, is it really? Boeing says it does. According to its scientists, the plasma field works "by heating a selected region of the first fluid medium rapidly to create a second, transient medium that intercepts the shockwave and attenuates its energy density before it reaches a protected asset." This process would reportedly dissipate the shockwave and minimize the damage to the system user. however, the shield would not be able to stop shrapnel or other physical debris from hitting the system-user."
The plasma shield would be stored on the device and would only activate when it detected an incoming shockwave or blast. The shield would only be up for a short time and would come down after it's used.
Boeing has not announced when it hopes to implement the device or when the military should expect to have access to it.
This innovation is yet another development that brings us closer to the potential of developing Star Wars-esque technology to the military. Other tech developers have made their own laser cannons and tractor beams in the past.
