Quote:
Originally Posted by cosmicfish
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2
This could make sense if you mean hand-weapons, but if you've got starflight tech, STL or FTL either one, then heavier weaponized lasers (or something equivalent) probably will exist. They aren't superscience, they're on the horizon for us now, and any starflight technology will have the energy sources to power them.
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They may exist, but did they necessarily make it onto the ships? If all the engineering talent was working on the drives and cryosystems, who would be working on lasers? And who would bring them on board?
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It doesn't make any difference.
Even if the laser-weapon tech was left behind on Earth, if you've got starflight you've got the tech to weaponize lasers (at least). So if the colony-world has built itself up to the point that it can be launching exploratory vessels over interstellar distances, than they're going to have the potential to create serious high-energy laser weapons.
Lasers, especially high-frequency lasers, are too potentially useful as weapons (and for other things too!) in space for them not to be under development in such a society, it would be really weird if it was not so.
08-01-2010, 11:18 PM
Re: The other challenges of space
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