Nothing fully confirms we are on the verge of new Star Wars movies than another nerdy Mythbusters special. Back in 2014, hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman were joined by Sofia Bush to tackle a bunch of sci-fi myths, all in the holy name of George Lucas. Aptly titled “Revenge of the Myth,” that episode explored age old conundrums like figuring out if Luke could really have swung himself and Leia across the Death Star’s bottomless cavern with just a grappling hook, and is it possible to recreate the living conditions Skywalker had to deal with inside of that tauntaun? Inquiring minds want to know!
This time around, it looks like the gang are setting their sights on those pew-pew laser blasters all the Stormtroopers love using in A New Hope. While I’m not the type who necessarily excels at any task involving numbers, or science, or…logic, the above video finds Adam taking all sorts of variables into consideration to truly find out how fast those laser blasts travel once fired from one of them future guns.
What we learn is these beams travel at about 130 miles per hour. When compared to the average bullet speed, which is about 1,700 mph, one has to wonder why everyone opts to use these weapons to begin with. Then again, a bullet would probably rip a hole in the ship’s wall causing a hellishly giant space vacuum that would turn everyone — Jedi and Stormtrooper alike — all inside out and bloody. But, I’m no good at science so… what the hell do I know?
While the above video is short, it does tease Jamie’s replica laser blaster, which will apparently be shown in full when the new Mythbusters special airs this Saturday on Discovery. Take that, Force Friday!
(Via Discovery)
