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Is This US Air Force Gadget The Beginning Of Real Life Lightsaber Technology On Earth?

Here's a thing that will make Star Wars fans very excited indeed.

Screen Shot: John Granier (YouTube).

OK. It’s happened. We’ve officially come down with a classic case of Star Wars fever. With the release of Episode VII now less than a month away, virtually everything we see ends up reminding us of stuff that relates to the Star Wars universe. The full moon is now a Death Star, the Hyundai i10 parked outside our flat – a Millennium Falcon, and this high-heat army torch… well isn’t it obvious? It’s a lightsaber It’s clearly a lightsaber.

Before you shout us down and tell us to stick one of these high-heat TEC Torches where the sun doesn’t shine, humour us for a minute. Let us have our fun. Let us pretend, for one minute at least, that this is the beginning of lightsaber technology on earth.

Screen Shot: John Granier (YouTube).

Photo Credit: Thomas S./Flickr.

Right, so what exactly is this thing that’s got our Jedi-knickers in a twist, where has it come from, and what exactly does it do? First things first, it’s a new kind of welding torch. Now, a welding torch might not sound like something to write home about but this welding torch can reach some crazy hot temperatures (2,760 degrees celsius/5,000 degrees fahrenheit, to be precise). It’s been developed by the United States Air Force, and it can cut through metal like a blunt knife through room temperature butter.

The gadget, which has been described officially as a handheld thermal breaching torch, doesn’t produce a solid beam of green light like Yoda’s lightsaber and that, admittedly, is a bit of a shame. However, when it’s in standby mode there’s no denying that it does look quite a lot like the most iconic weapon in movie history. Another plus point for it is that it’s designed to fit  onto the utility belt of anyone who really needs to slice through the wall of a spaceship/metal wall, at the drop of an Ewok.

Strong in this one, the force is. The TEC Torch, it is called. Stop writing like this, we will now.

Screen Shot: John Granier (YouTube).

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