Dangerous real-life Star Wars lightsaber needs to be banned… unfortunately
Millions of people wanted their own lightsaber when the Star Wars movies came out. I know because I was one of them. However, now that a real-life version of the lightsaber has gone on sale, I’d like to see it banned.
The product in question is the Spyder III Pro Arctic from Wicked Lasers in Hong Kong. And the “wicked” in the company’s name seems to be relevant in both meanings of the word.
Yes, it looks cool, having clearly been modeled to look like a genuine lightsaber from Star Wars. But this laser device can blind, burn skin, and cause cancer, at least according to Sky News. Which is probably why the manufacturer itself calls it “the most dangerous laser ever created.”
Scarily, the faux lightsaber is available to buy on the Internet for just $200. And although Wicked Lasers urges buyers to use eye protection and makes them read a Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form, that’s going to do little to nullify the consequences should people actually buy one of these things.
I’m not usually one for banning things, but on this occasion, I cannot see any other way to proceed. Surely something has to be done before someone gets seriously hurt by one of these things. Like the grandma in the video, or Obi-Wan Kenobi for that matter.
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June 17th, 2010
At least the purchasers of this equipment (and their equally unsocial friends for that matter) would be eliminated as the low-lifes of our society who follow this sort of “Jedi life”, that still live at home in their parents basement in actually having a real life and job, and stop them before they can from reproduce any further.
June 17th, 2010
im going to order one right now, cooooooooooooooooool
June 17th, 2010
Scary development. We already have lunatics trying to blind pilots who are approaching runways. Imagine people walking around with these things. This ‘toy’ is a weapon. A firearm that causes irreversible damage. It has absolutely no use as a tool. The manufacturer is very irresponsible selling this online. When I was 14 I dreamed about a device like this. As an adult I am glad these things didn’t exist back then, but now you can buy them online for a few bucks. Horrible.
Politicians need to take action. Within a few years these lasers will become much, much more powerful. Within ten years portable lasers will be able to cut through steel. We will probably see frequency adjustable lasers too that may penetrate certain materials. So please, lawmakers. We will face a lot of trouble with irresponsible people as well as with criminals if we don’t regulate this worldwide.
June 18th, 2010
Dude not cool for 200$ TODAY ON SALE ON THE INTERNET almost everyone in school was talkin about this. THEY ALL KNOW.oh god these are LAZERZ.i agree with bixie bill i mean come on u all know how much people hate bein burned they could start a gang or somthin u see a light saber U RUN U RUN AND DONT LOOK BACK.i hate fire this matter is going to be discused step up.were amaricans someones gotta step up and stop these CRIMINALZ.
June 19th, 2010
This really scares me! I truly think that a thing like this could spell the end of civilization as we know it. I know some people may laugh at such a statement and compare me to Chicken Little running around screaming that the sky is falling, but think about what it does for a minute. It’s capable of blinding someone, I assume nearly instantaneously. There is no real limit on the range of this product because it’s a LASER! Using coherent light it can bounce off the moon!
A terrorist with one of these mounted on a powerful telescope could blind drivers on the freeway from a mile away, and no-one would even know where the terrorist was. He could blind politicians giving speeches. He could blind police officers catching speeders. If it’s as powerful as they say, what would happen if it was pointed at a gastank for a couple of minutes?
No, if the company selling this isn’t shut down now, with ‘extreme prejudice’ as they like to say in spy movies, it’s going to be very very very bad in the next few years.
[cross-posted on blogs.wsj.com]
June 20th, 2010
this is what is wrong with the world today
someone comes up with some thing new and more power full and what it the reply? ban it
just like it the days of old when Giordano had an idea about plants and was burred for it
what would the wold be like if the car had be banned for being to dangerous and it is a lot more dangerous this this laser.
don’t kill innervation just to stop one idiot miss-using it
toss him in jail with the rest of the drunk drivers.
June 20th, 2010
oh and jack, no it cant
there is no where some one could do that
he would be arrested in minutes they can tares the source of a laser very fast
and he could do just the same things with a gun.
June 28th, 2010
Although a 1Watt laser can probably set a piece of paper on fire, it is not going to be cutting anybody’s limbs off. The media is in a tizzy about this product because they have unquestioningly accepted some of the manufacturer’s exaggerated claims for its power.
And by the way, even a 5 milliwatt laser pointer can blind a person, if you hit them directly in the eye.
November 15th, 2011
Oh god not the grannies! We must ban it for the safety of ALL grannies . God what a loser get a life you nerdy star wars fan. Society will works it’s way out