When will we replace missiles/bullets?

[Deleted]

Yeah, real laser travels at the speed of light, in other words the moment you see it is the moment it hits you. Good luck doding or blocking that =P

natural 20 on d20 does it. 5% chance, not bad!

[GKLeatherCraft]

Personaly i dont think ever, the sheer cost of actualy replacing bulletth lasers would be astronomical, unless some new amazing energy source was found, in which case the world would probably go to war over it anyway, i think humanity would kill itself or atmosphere would die before then=/

[Deleted]

If by 2100+ we're still wasting time shooting each other (doesn't matter if it's with lasers or guns) I'd be disappointed in human kind tbh.

Real progress isn't through better weapons, it's when you don't need them anymore.

[Deleted]

If by 2100+ we're still wasting time shooting each other (doesn't matter if it's with lasers or guns) I'd be disappointed in human kind tbh.

lol, we've been shooting, stabbing, burning, biting, cutting and shooting each other again since the dawn of humanity. why should we stop in the next 100 years? it's human's nature to kill other humans.

[Stir]

Yeah, real laser travels at the speed of light, in other words the moment you see it is the moment it hits you. Good luck doding or blocking that

True... But the problem is that you can safely ignore lasers. Even powerful laser cutters don't have much range, and need time. A fast-moving body would get some shallow burns, tops, and you can't rely on quick jolts of laser light to kill someone because the damage would just be insufficient.

A bullet, however, deals loads of damage on impact.

There's also the matter of wielding a weapon. A missile weapon is a much more physical thing; try to compare paintball to lasergames... It's much easier to hit someone with a paintball gun than it is with a lasergun... While it's much harder to miss your allies. :P You can't as easily track a laser's fire line because the projectile has no mass.

The pistol shrimp I linked earlier is awesome, sure... But even though the sonic bubble it shoots collapses with a heat that approximates the surface of the sun, it won't do much harm to a human being. Because it's simply not a projectile, and not large (including the time dimension) enough to cause any harm (to a human).

[Deleted]

lol, we've been shooting, stabbing, burning, biting, cutting and shooting again since the dawn of humanity. why should we stop in the next 100 years? it's human's nature to kill other humans.

Why should we stop? Well gee I don't know, maybe cause we have enough power to blow the planet up multiple times and we're destroying the atmosphere with polution, how's that for a reason to stop wasting ressources on killing each other and work on those problems instead?

Killing each other is a "luxury" we won't have anymore in the near future, because there won't be any way left to do it without blowing yourself up in the process.

[Stir]

Why should we stop? Well gee I don't know, maybe cause we have enough power to blow the planet up multiple times and we're destroying the atmosphere with polution, how's that for a reason to stop wasting ressources on killing each other and work on those problems instead?

Killing each other is a "luxury" we won't have anymore in the near future, because there won't be any way left to do it without blowing yourself up in the process.

Not quite true. As tough as it is to accept this, population control is necessary.

[Bjarne]

Yeah, real laser travels at the speed of light, in other words the moment you see it is the moment it hits you. Good luck doding or blocking that =P

LIGHTning reflexes!

[Deleted]

Not quite true. As tough as it is to accept this, population control is necessary.

Have fun controlling your population when there's no planet left anyway, genius.

[Hyve]

That's some of the nuttiest, unbased, and simplistic theorycrafting i've ever read.

Not odd or "nutty" at all. Look at the religious views today, compared to even 100 years ago. Religion was a prominent part of everyday life, now-a-days religious people are becoming more and more of a minority.

Also add to this the collapse of religions based on the truths of their past. Catholic priests praising and preaching for god, then abusing children seems to some people to be a little bit to hypocritical to follow that faith.

This is just one example, but the collapse of Religion is certainly set in motion.

[Larynx]

Not odd or "nutty" at all. Look at the religious views today, compared to even 100 years ago. Religion was a prominent part of everyday life, now-a-days religious people are becoming more and more of a minority.

Also add to this the collapse of religions based on the truths of their past. Catholic priests praising and preaching for god, then abusing children seems to some people to be a little bit to hypocritical to follow that faith.

This is just one example, but the collapse of Religion is certainly set in motion.

Careful now.

And I think the response isn't about religion, but about the sentience and robotic part.

[Hyve]

Careful now.

I'm not starting a religious argument. Facts are facts, but I'm just clearly making an example.

Do NOT start a religious debate here, if you do I'll report your post myself.

[Purlina]

I don't think lasers will ever replace missiles / bullets, there are just too many issues for now...

Such as:

1. Power requirements - The amount of energy required to form a beam of energy that will kill a person is pretty high.

2. Generation of heat - The weapon used to fire the energy will produce a ton of heat, how do you prevent overheating? (How long will it take to cool the weapon before you can fire again?)

3. Requirement to have line of sight to the target - A beam of energy can not fire in a arc, what will you use for artillery? (Without orbital platforms... If you opponent controls all the orbital platforms your left with no artillery?)

[Deleted]

I think we'll be waiting 50-75 years before we see something functional and practical that can be used en mass.

[Reeve]

Yeah, real laser travels at the speed of light, in other words the moment you see it is the moment it hits you. Good luck doding or blocking that =P

Ah, but the Jedi have some clairvoyant predictive qualities that allow them to know where the next laser pulse is going to strike, so they can get their lightsaber there before it's even fired!

[Purlina]

Ah, but the Jedi have some clairvoyant predictive qualities that allow them to know where the next laser pulse is going to strike, so they can get their lightsaber there before it's even fired!

What if they have to block 2 laser pulses in succession?

[Ealyssa]

We still use bolts in our bolters in the 41st millenium.

[Reeve]

What if they have to block 2 laser pulses in succession?

They just GTFO!

[Deleted]

We still use bolts in our bolters in the 41st millenium.

But the Guardsmen use cheap laser rifles.

[Blznsmri]

It isn't some random predictions. These are international agencies & governments announcing what they predict based on current trends and opportunities.

2148, ruins found on Mars.