We have the pleasure of living in a time where the technology that we’re used to seeing in science fiction movies is starting to make its way to reality. The latest such technology could be force-fields, at least if Boeing’s new patent is to be believed. According to the patent, the company is working on a “method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc.”
Glancing over the details of a patent recently granted to Boeing, it seems entirely probable that those in its R&D team spend most of their spare time watching sci-fi flicks. The patent describes a “method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc.” In plain speak, this means Boeing is looking at the idea of developing technology capable of creating force fields that could work to protect military vehicles from shock waves. As explained in a video by PatentYogi (above), sensors on an army vehicle would detect the location of a nearby explosion. The vehicle’s automatic anti-shockwave system would then instantly deploy by firing high-intensity laser pulses in the direction of the explosion. “The laser pulses ionize the air to form a laser-induced plasma channel,” PatentYogi explains in the video. The temperature and density of the plasma channel, or force field, would differ enough from the surrounding air to cause it to reflect, refract and absorb incoming shockwaves, thereby saving the vehicle and its occupants from certain destruction.
