Gather ’round young Padawans, we are going to learn about lightsabers.

In my latest Because Science, I outline the basic science behind the construction of a lightsaber, how the beam is shaped and what it is made out of, and how that iconic humming sound is actually “force thunder.”

One thing I was actually surprised to learn was that even according to Star Wars canon, a lightsaber beam is actually a tight loop — one so tight that it looks like a single beam. The energy needed to create such a configuration would be immense but it was nice to know that Star Wars aficionados already dealt with my biggest complaint, which was that a beam of plasma wouldn’t just stop itself in space.

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