Star Wars: Realities beyond the myth

[Kit Fisto]

Throughout history, we have told stories. Some of these stories take on mythic proportions as they are passed on from one generation to the next. Since the Star Wars universe was introduced to us more than two decades ago by creator George Lucas, the space fantasy has entertained, mesmerized and even inspired us. In the process, it has also become one of the greatest myths of our time, spawning comic books and novels, university courses and, of course, a very loyal following.

Can those fans trust the science they see in Star Wars? Could the cloned army introduced in 'Episode II' be a real possibility? And what about the Force? Take a look at some force-like ideas in studies in parapsychology and an ancient Chinese philosophy called Taoism. Want to get a hold of a real-life lightsaber? We went to the experts to find out how to make one. Then there is the Chicago-based Gas Research Institute that's using the most powerful lasers to drill through the planet's mantle and get at the goodies inside.

Ever wondered what it'd be like to be behind the controls of a floating aircraft like Luke Skywalker's landspeeder? Take a ride on the Avrocar, a home-grown Canadian version. Are sublight drives and hyperdrives in the future of real space travel? Can a planet really orbit twin stars like Tatooine does? Find out by surfing our special presentation Star Wars: Realities beyond the myth...


The Force

www.exn.ca/starwars/taoism.cfm

Lightsaber

www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm

Galaxy

www.exn.ca/starwars/tatooine.cfm

Droids

www.exn.ca/starwars/droids.cfm

Vehicles

www.exn.ca/starwars/antigravity.cfm

SW Culture

www.exn.ca/starwars/culture.cfm

[Exaar]

Great find Kit... Very interesting

[joebiwan]

That is a very cool site. i actually have that on my MySpace page. Alot of it makes perfect sense to me. IMO.

[Nihilus]

extremely interesting links even though i would never call the avrocar a "homegrown" landspeeder . wasn't homegrown but a , very expensive , military project that ended in a vehicule too unstable to be safely controlable .
but extremely good find nevertheless .

as far as culture , philosophy in the SW universe goes and the ties to ancient cultures , read anything by joseph campbell , and you have the most important inspiration for the galaxy far far away ( campbell mentioned georges lucas a few times in some of his talks . campbell is also mentioned in the documentaries in the original trilogy DVD set ) .

[Jedibritt]

I need one of those for the highway! haha

[tnw82194]

;D that would be awesome if that could come true i would be a sithe lord with a clone army

[Morca007]

A nice compilation of information, good job.

I wonder though, whether the movies influence over our culture as a whole will influence development towards those technologies. A self fulfilling prophecy if you will.

[Jedibritt]

The force could also be the energy that the Christian God made us. Him being the God that creates everythingin his web called the "Force". The force could also be another demention or the inner eyes people talk about. I believe it is ture considering that I have a strong tap into the inner eye, I'm not a pyshic, but I have dreams that come true a lot and I can sense things.

[Kit Fisto]

morca007 said:

A nice compilation of information, good job.

I wonder though, whether the movies influence over our culture as a whole will influence development towards those technologies. A self fulfilling prophecy if you will.

Oh it already has,im a BIG way.

jedibritt said:

The force could also be the energy that the Christian God made us. Him being the God that creates everythingin his web called the "Force". The force could also be another demention or the inner eyes people talk about. I believe it is ture considering that I have a strong tap into the inner eye, I'm not a pyshic, but I have dreams that come true a lot and I can sense things.

Some would call that psychic,but i would just call it Force sensitive.

[Jedibritt]

True, true. LOL

Anyways, we could all be fufilling a prophecy, that be awesome. Let's hope though that we can call be reincarnated just as humans and be able to live the prime of star wars lol. I sometimes like to think that Lucas is force sensetive and had a dream one night of the future "star wars" and thats where all his ideas came from.

[Kiz]

There are certain things you see in Star Wars which ARE pretty much impossible however.

I mean, if you really thing there are realities to "the force" then, I admit defeat.

However, things like laser guns, holos, land speeders, space ships are certainly a possibility...
We already have spaceships.. And just like the first car, they'll be improved, and over the years, possibly hundreds of years, just like cars... They'll be made affordable to everyday people.


It is a possibility

[Master-Ye]

wow thats alot of interesting stuff. i can see some of that stuff beginning to become a reality. if you think about it, we are in the early stages of droids and hovered objects. for example how honda as well as other companies in japan are manufacturing their own droids. and how they have a magnetic train in japan i believe. they are also working on an elevator that works by the force of a huge magnet.

[LockHeed]

The force is such an interesting subject. There are many religions out there that believe more or less in something much like "the Force". It's hard to speculate on whose right and whose wrong and in what accounts. I guess that would distinguish the the Jedi from the Sith , lol.

Lightsabers. Hmm, the only problem that I find with that is the way light itself functions. I always thought that a hilt with a self extending rod . The hilt would shoot the laser to the end of the rod where a small mirror like device or even , bum bum bum, a "crystal" could be used to bend the light back to the hilt and therefore creating a "blade" . As for how George envisioned them, I believe he was going along the lines of something that always cut and in those days heat and lasers were a big thing. Light itself is too constant to just "emit" out of a device. Lasers shoot out into vast distances , the light never stops it's just focused making it a laser and until we figure out a way to make that light come back; without this one element the math doesn't work. No "Saber".

As for hover vehicles. Oh Yeah! Those were a long time coming. Started with the plane and the more ways they figure out how to stay up there, the more we'll see newer and better vehicles to navigate. they just need to get this whole Ion propulsion thing sorted out , lol.

[Xanatos]

Cool article Kit! I like it.

Well, all I can say about physics in Star Wars galaxy, is that Lucas makes the galaxy, and Lucas makes the physics. And we are fans, who are trying to explain everything by our own galaxy's physics.
That's absolutely normal.

[Chewbacca]

Interesting stuff. I have always been fascinated by the truth behind movies, myths and fairy stories. The mythology behind Star Wars could spawn a whole series of books on it's own. Joseph Campbell is a good place to start if you want to look further. He references Star Wars throughout his book 'The Power of Myth' and 'The Hero with a thousand Faces' is citied by George Lucas as one of his principle inspirations in writing the Star Wars films.
'The Science of Star Wars' by Jeanne Cavelos is a good read for those interested in the possibility of SW becoming real. Lots of stuff in there about the force, too. It's not just a question of religion or philosophy. Quantum physics has something to say about the force, and the 'Grand Unified Theory' that occupies many physicist's time seems to be remarkably similar to the force.
It will take me a while to get through all those links. Thanks for the reading material.