COVER FACT & FICTION
correctly calibrated.
“Tumours in a moving organ
provide a big challenge and
you need to be able to track its
location during treatment. You
need to be able to follow the
motion of the patient as they
breathe, but that’s something
online diagnostics and controls
will be able to deliver in time,
enhancing the treatment that’s
available,” according to Prof Welsch.
Droids, carbonite and The Force
“Two of the most iconic characters
in the Star Wars lms are R2-D2
and CP30. These droids may have
performed a ‘Laurel and Hardy’ double
act but today we live in a world where
AI-enabled machines and robots,
home voice recognition devices and
driverless cars are a reality.
“They are all around us and drones
are already being widely used for
things like agriculture and warfare.”
There are many concepts that
rst appeared in Star Wars and on
which scientists around the world
are working, according to Professor
Welsch.
“Although the light sabres that
were used in the lms wouldn’t be
possible, according to the laws of
physics, there are many exciting
applications that are already real,
such as laser knives for high precision
surgery that can be controlled by robot
arms.
“If we look at the concept of
Industry 4.0 we can see adaptive
manufacturing using lasers for
creating complex structures in metals.
“We also use lasers to realise
extremely high electric elds and
build particle accelerators that are up
to 1,000 times smaller than current
technology. This has huge potential
to enable entirely new fundamental
research and applications that will
bene t society.”
In another famous scene from
Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is
frozen in carbonite then brought back
to life after being captured by Darth
Vader and Boba Fett.
“Today, very cold temperatures,
close to absolute zero, are used to
create a vacuum pressure in a particle
accelerator that is better than outer
space. These cryogenic temperatures
also enable new sensor techniques
that are more sensitive than any other
technique,” Prof. Welsch explains.
Turning to the Force, which was
used in the lms to move objects - the
Jedi (the light side) and Sith (the dark
side) employed the Force in a manner
similar to telekinesis to hold and move
things with their minds. “Matter and
antimatter can be seen as resembling
the light and dark side and give us
unique insight into the fundamental
laws of nature,” according to the
professor.
“Antimatter is used in Jedi
interceptor hyperdrive rings to provide
a starship with enough density to
remain in hyperspace, as the
interceptor is not large enough to
retain supralight speeds without
external aid.
“A new facility based at
CERN, the Extra Low Energy
Antiproton ring (ELENA) is the
rst and only facility in the
world to store and deliver
cooled antiproton beams at
low energy and researchers,
from the Cockcroft Institute,
are now taking a closer look at
these mysterious particles
to try and understand
why it is that all matter
in the universe created
after the Big Bang is not
accompanied by an equal
amount of antimatter, or
particles with an opposite
charge.”
As Professor Welsch
explains, “Our detectors
provide us with a much
better insight into low
energy antimatter beams,
so that we are able to
understand and control
them better and carry out
experiments which would
have previously been
impossible.
“Such experiments have the
potential to rewrite our assumptions
about nature and the properties of
space and time, making it one of the
most exciting elds of research out
there.
“Usually we study how to
accelerate sub-microscopic particles,
but it is de nitely an interesting
question whether antimatter or high
power lasers could be used for
spacecraft propulsion.
“If we can nd ways how to create
and store large amounts of antimatter,
then entirely new applications could
become possible.”
With plenty more science ction
blockbusters hitting the big screen,
should scientists be taking a closer
look at lm if they want to get a
glimpse of the future?
The droids from
Star Wars. Today
machines and robots
are everywhere
12 24 March 2020 www.newelectronics.co.uk
/www.newelectronics.co.uk