Plasma

[sorri]

I heard some scientists in a lab just created "solid" by cooling water, but that solid melts if it goes above 0 celsius. How can they have in warhammer guns that fire bullets made of "solid?" Surely that doesn't make sense.

Oh, that's just because of the psychic fields in play. Everything cools down in psychic fields, so it makes sure that it stays "solid", even if the temperature is warmer than 0C in the surrounding environment.

[Aldramelech]

Look at the big brains on you lot! lol Have you considered working for Tefal!
(Only people from the UK of a certain age will get that!)

[Skragger]

So if I'm reading this correct, the Space Marines throw a buncha chemicals in to a portable microwave and cook them off in the general direction of the foe? And every now and then their microwaves explode?

[TSINI]

So if I'm reading this correct, the Space Marines throw a buncha chemicals in to a portable microwave and cook them off in the general direction of the foe? And every now and then their microwaves explode?

if you tape a duck to the side of a microwave, fill it with tin foil, and jam a pen into the locking mechanism so it works even with the door open, you can make your own plasma cannon!!

[Valdore]

So if I'm reading this correct, the Space Marines throw a buncha chemicals in to a portable microwave and cook them off in the general direction of the foe? And every now and then their microwaves explode?

Fictional Space Marines use a fictional weapon that creates a fictional type of energy/matter/something probably in a plasma state. I don't think we can really comment on what they're supposedly using. That's the whole point of fiction, it's supposed to be interesting and unbelievable (well, most of the time, some is supposed to be believable . . .) not to be explained away by A-Level physicists, some proper physicists might have a go at creating something like that, but they have more important things on their minds, like creating weapons that work and that don't blow up when you need them most

And thus continues the endless war of people trying to explain that science doesn't work in conjunction with 40k

[Old_Paladin]

I'm getting a kick out of reading this thread. Mostly because of several "I heard from a friend..."
It's funny that this day and age (ie. the 'information age') that people just don't look up the actual information. It really easy to find the actual reports for most university studies.

Science hasn't created plasma that hot; maybe ~10,000 degrees. The core of our sun is only 13 million, and it's a huge compressed nuclear reaction. Plasma from lightning strikes is less then 30,000 degrees and that clearly doesn't destroy the planet.

Even superhot plasma on earth couldn't destroy our planet (unless there was a massive amount of it), due to plasma-bloom phenomenon. Plasma disapates very quickly in an atmosphere. This is why ranged plasma weapons are only theorectical. The plasma 'bolt' would bloom out into a cloud of nothingness, because of friction caused by particals in the air. For a 'bolt' to travel it would need some kind of void or vacuum to travel through; or more perferably, a magnetic field to keep the bolt together.

We're more likely to see 'melta' weapons (using microwaves), then standardized plasma bolts.

[Wagzywagz]

I would imagine that the OP was referencing the plasmas made by the Z machine in early 2006. They got up to about 3.7 billion kelvin, which is still a hundred times the temperature of the center of the sun.

Again, these pose no risk to the planet but it's an interesting bit of science.


[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_machine"]For further reading[/URL]