Whats the difference between a phaser and a laser?

[DarK SagE]

I assume it's the same thing jsut uses a different name to be original? Why cant ST just call it a laser like everyone else?

 

[Buddha Bart]

somthing about... oh... reality?

thats my guess.

bart

 

[Demon-Xanth]

ALL I WANT IS SHARKS WITH FREAKING LASERS!!! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

 

[DaBoneHead]

Maybe it was a particle beam before the term "particle-beam" was coined...

I mean, what did they call a laser before the acronym was coined... 'That bright shiney light thingey...'?

I think energy based weapons were in Sci Fi longer than the name "L.A.S.E.R." has been in our vocab... what did they call it in sci fi? I think 'heat-ray' was mentioned in War of the Worlds (and since where there is heat there is light, H.G. Welles was probably talking about the first Laser concept).

I don't know... I babble.

 

[BoberFett]

I'm pretty sure that phaser is real-world technology, or at least theory. I have no idea what it is though.

 

[Electric Amish]

LOL!!!! Demon!

 

[Maharaja]

i saw one of those shows about the physics of star trek (might have been called 'the physics of star trek' actually). anyways, i remember they had this scientist on saying he could imagine how a laser weapon would work, but that a phaser is meaningless. he couldn't even guess what it would be. it just has no meaning in scientific talk.

 

[Mday]

particle beam.

that's about it that i can make sense of.

 

[dawheat]

i think i once heard a phaser is not just a laser.

<PHASed Energy Rectification

The name 'phaser' is not derived from 'laser', but called so after its mechanism.
The phaser array is powered by plasma managed through a series of physical
irises and magnetic switching gates. When firing, energy is conveyed from
flow regulators to the plasma distribution manifold. This injects the plasma
into the prefire chamber, a crystal sphere made of LiCu 518 (forced-matrix
formula: Li>>:Si::Fe>:>) reinforced with hafniumtritonide. Here
undergoes the plasma the electromagnetic energy shift associated with the
rapid -> nadion effect. The energy is confined for a time between 0.05 and
1.3 nanoseconds, and then released. The rapid confinement and releasement
is required to produce the rapid nadion effect. The beam energy is controlled
by the relatived proportion of protonic charge that will be created and pulse
frequency in the final emitter stage.>>

 

[vi edit]

laser - a flashlight on steroids
phaser - a concentrated beam of &quot;something&quot; besides light, not sure what though

 

[MustangSVT]

one is a real term and other one is geek's version? Phaser? rifle? 15 settings? huh? damn...

 

[IBhacknU]

I can pick up a laser darn near anywhere. A phaser is a bit harder to come by.