Military lasers, for real.

[Smivs]

The US Navy have just tested a laser which can burn through 20 feet of steel per second. They'll be needing shield boosters soon!

[Okti]

Or a hacked version of IronHide .

[DaddyHoggy]

They will reach a point soon where they will superheat the air and water molecules between them and their target and the beam will miss as it "wiggles"...

[Thargoid]

Or a hacked version of IronHide .

Or the new version of ooCheat

[JensAyton]

Fortuitously, scientists have just demonstrated the ability to shoot laser beams down. Well, kind of. Of course, it’s a bit difficult to detect them for interception…

[Ganelon]

They can use air or water to cool it, so the laser overheating will be less of an issue than it would be in space. But still, 20 ft of steel in a second gives a good idea what sort of damage a realistic laser could to do to spaceship hulls.

[drew]

Wow. A 1MW Beam laser by 2020. Cool.

Cheers.

Drew.

[Micha]

"$60 million for 2012"

It never ceases to amaze me how much and how readily funds are made available just to kill others of our own species.

[ClymAngus]

Well yes, it is also somewhat ironic how a great deal of civilian technological advancement has come from originally military applications.
Maybe something like defending oneself focuses the mind a little more keenly than merely seeking profit. It could be all that lovely research money floating around. It is unfortunate, but a destructive trait not without it's creative fringe benefits.

With age will come maturity and the skill to use the tools we have been given, ours is to think. We are a very young race after all.

[Commander McLane]

Well yes, it is also somewhat ironic how a great deal of civilian technological advancement has come from originally military applications.
Maybe something like defending oneself focuses the mind a little more keenly than merely seeking profit. It could be all that lovely research money floating around. It is unfortunate, but a destructive trait not without it's creative fringe benefits.

But now imagine how far we could have got, if our civilian technological advancements were not the mere fringe benefits of military research, but would've been the focus of research in the first place, with all the budgets and dedication we use to reserve for 'defense'.

[Disembodied]

We are a very young race after all.

There's always the possibility that this is about as old, and as mature, as we're likely to get ... this could be pretty much the maximum age for a technological species. Maybe this is what happens: tool-using species discover how to split the atom, then a few eyeblinks later they all tend to moth themselves. That's one answer to the Fermi Paradox. With a sample of one, viewed from the inside, it's hard to tell ...

Miserable weather outside and a Monday morning: it's hard to be optimistic in the sleet.

[Micha]

But now imagine how far we could have got, if our civilian technological advancements were not the mere fringe benefits of military research, but would've been the focus of research in the first place, with all the budgets and dedication we use to reserve for 'defense'.

Amen. That was exactly my point.

<philosophical waffling>
The comment on maybe 'defense' is better than profit for incentive - well, I see neither profit nor defense working on Oolite. It's purely for the enjoyment.

It would be nice to think we could progress beyond capitalism to a society where this sort of attitude becomes the driver. Everyone contributes according to their abilities/desires, and the grunt work is done by machines to provide a decent basic standard of living to all.

Unfortunately we appear to have this innate requirement to 'one-up' each other.. so equality seems to be something innately abhorrent to us as a species.
</philosophical waffling>

[drew]

Well yes, it is also somewhat ironic how a great deal of civilian technological advancement has come from originally military applications.
Maybe something like defending oneself focuses the mind a little more keenly than merely seeking profit. It could be all that lovely research money floating around. It is unfortunate, but a destructive trait not without it's creative fringe benefits.

But now imagine how far we could have got, if our civilian technological advancements were not the mere fringe benefits of military research, but would've been the focus of research in the first place, with all the budgets and dedication we use to reserve for 'defense'.

Trouble is, we only seem to be able to make the 'big' advancements when we're backed into a corner. The sheer willpower doesn't seem to exist outside of times of adversity.

Strange trait, but there it is.

Cheers,

Drew.

[Disembodied]

Trouble is, we only seem to be able to make the 'big' advancements when we're backed into a corner. The sheer willpower doesn't seem to exist outside of times of adversity.

Strange trait, but there it is.

Cheers,

Drew.

There are always people looking to make big advancements: it's not willpower that's stopping them, it's access to resources (at least when it comes to making practical use of theoretical insights: you can make some theoretical insights with paper and a pen). But it's only when the prevailing power structures are under threat that those at the top of the pile are prepared to foster new ideas. Usually, they fear anything which could potentially alter the status quo. It comes with being a pack-primate species, I suppose.

[Commander McLane]

Trouble is, we only seem to be able to make the 'big' advancements when we're backed into a corner. The sheer willpower doesn't seem to exist outside of times of adversity.

This would be true if for instance the developers of this real life military laser (or the guys who ordered the development) actually were backed into a corner.

However, I don't see any adversity which actually calls for this weapon. It's not like the guys who want these weapons for the 2020's want them because they have substantial reason to believe that they will all be dead in the 2030's, if not for this exact weapon.