Plasma weapons: where’s my flipping phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range? (science video)

Let’s dive into the science behind real and coming plasma weapons.

Plasma weapons discharge a beam, bolt, or stream of plasma, which is an excited state of matter made up of atomic electrons and nuclei, as well as free electrons if ionised, or other particles if pinched.

The MARAUDER (Magnetically Accelerated Ring to Achieve Ultra-high Directed-Energy and Radiation) project in the United States used the Shiva Star system (a high energy capacitor bank that allowed the testing of weapons and other devices requiring brief and extremely large amounts of energy) to accelerate a toroid of plasma at a significant percentage of the speed of light. It was a project of the United States Air Force Research Laboratory to create a coaxial plasma railgun.

So, where’s my flipping phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range? Coming soon, dear boy!