10 Common Misconceptions About Science In Film And TV That Bug Real Scientists

Star Wars and Star Trek have transcended both TV and film. Though not the sole reason for this misconception, they have had a large contribution at its perpetuation. I am of course talking about laser weapons.

Whenever a laser is fired from a gun in these films/ shows, a clear small beam of energy is can be seen leaving the barrel and travelling for a short time before hitting its target. Quite often this provides enough time for someone to viably dodge the laser if they have fast reflexes.

But where does the term laser come from? Laser is actually an acronym standing for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Let’s focus on that first word, “light”.

The speed of light in a vacuum is 299,792,458 m/s (it is similar through air), whereas the speed of a regular projectile bullet is around 400 m/s.

You’d be hard pressed to see a bullet travelling this fast, let alone dodge it, so why does some that travels so much faster seem so much slower? Short answer is, it shouldn’t.

This is ok for the large distances of space, in which it may take several seconds for the light to travel from ship to ship, but in a small area, such as a palace throne room, this should be essentially instantaneous.

But what if you were the thing travelling at light speed? How do TV and Movies show this?