Ever since early man grabbed a stone and hit a beast that was attacking him, the human species was given a gift that supplemented the process of natural selection by which nature made most organisms evolve into stronger and more lethal versions of themselves. They evolved into specimen that could defend themselves better, also pursue more formidable preys.
Whereas
most animals failed to develop the ability to turn the metal and mineral
resources made available by nature, into a tool or a weapon, human beings quickly
became the toolmakers and weapons fabricators who did much to enhance life on
Earth but also threatened it with extinction.
In fact, a
study of the way that weapons of war developed over the ages, suggests that the
makers of attack weapons almost always preceded the makers of defense weapons. To
wit, because it is illogical to defend against something that isn’t there, few
inventors spent time anticipating what might come along against which they’ll be
called upon to defend.
But then,
it happened that both the offensive and defensive weapons became so
sophisticated and so much more destructive, they were used to fulfill both
purposes. For example, a ballistic missile that is installed to retaliate
against an attacker, also served to defend the homeland. It did so by
intimidating all potential aggressors. Likewise, an anti-ballistic missile that’s
installed to defend the homeland, tells the enemy it can attack it without
fearing retaliation.
And so, the
new system of defense I am proposing is meant to diminish the possibility of
one side getting so far ahead technologically, it would cause the unthinkable
to happen by design or by mistake. Thus to begin with, the system will have to
be mass produced – done so by the collective effort of all humankind – and
given to all the cities in all the nations, and used solely for the protection of
the planet’s achievements.
How will
the system work?
Because it
has been impossible for a laser beam to deliver as much kinetic energy to an
incoming missile and destroy it in flight (as would a hail of bullets) it was
necessary to think in terms of combining the advantage of the laser to create a
coherent light, with the advantage that solid bullets can provide, thus produce
a non-lased yet coherent beam of metals.
The secret
to making the system work, lies in the discovery that light exerts pressure on a
solid by a process known as the Compton Effect. This is so real and useful, the
spaceships of the future are envisioned to sail the solar winds. Exploiting the
phenomenon in the construction of our system, we build a powerful laser to
which we attach a supplier of metal bullets in powdered form—bullets that the
laser will forcefully push out. How is this done?
There will
be a vertical tube topped by a hopper containing a powdered metal such as lead.
The metal will fall onto a lattice that’s connected to a positive current. This
will strip the metal of its electrons. The metal will continue to fall onto
another lattice that’s connected to a negative current. This will strip it of
its positive protons. What’s left will be neutrons that will clump together,
attracted by their nuclear force. They will, in effect, contribute to making
themselves a coherent beam of metal.
The
neutrons will enter a chamber where they’ll meet the beam of the laser. They
will be pushed out as a hail of coherent metal bullets at a speed that will
approach that of light. And this will bring down any and every warhead launched
to destroy a city.
If every city in the world were protected by such a system, we would all feel better about the destiny of our species. So, let’s get on with it.