It’s refreshing to step away from reality from time to time. And what better way to do so than to take a look at completely make-believe energy sources, renewable and not, plucked from science fiction and comic books. Here’s our pick of the coolest fictional power sources:
The Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured in the Star Wars universe. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent blade of magnetically contained plasma. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi and its energy blade can cut, burn, and melt through most substances with little resistance. Some Star Wars fan believe that the plasma blade of a lightsaber reaches a temperature of at least 1800°C, and could be high as 25000°C – now, that’s pretty hot!
Mjolnir aka Thor’s Hammer
In Germanic mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing and fertility. The hammer was his primary weapon and not everyone is worthy enough to hold it and wield its power. Did you know holding the hammer in the air allows Thor to boost his control over thunder and lightning, and bringing the hammer into contact with an object produces an energy blast. Mjolnir can also be used to sense strange energy, absorb energy, manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum, and more. By channelling multiple lightning strikes, Thor is controlling the equivalent of 100x the power output of the worlds largest nuclear power plant.
Kryptonite
Everyone who is even remotely familiar with the DC comic universe knows that kryptonite is the one weakness of the otherwise indestructible Superman. Kryptonite is a green, crystalline material that emits a peculiar radiation and has not only detrimental effects on Superman but on other Kryptonians as well. If Superman is powered by the sun and kryptonite is his weakness, can you only imagine how supercharged its electrical current is?
Arc Reactor
Definitely one of our favourites, the Arc Reactor is a unique form of power source designed by Howard Stark and Anton Vanko and made incredibly famous in the Tony Stark, Iron Man movies. The Arc Reactor is capable of great magnitudes of energy to power the Iron Man suit which keeps the shrapnel, or fragments, from killing Tony by entering his heart. It has an impressive energy output of 8 gigajoules per second.
T-800 Power Cell
The Power Cell is a type of a Terminator’s power source. The iconic Power Cell could supply enough power to run the lights of a small city for a day and could power the terminator to operate at full power for twenty-four hours per day for 1,095 days.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had unlimited lightsabers and T-800 Power Cells? From the ordinary mundane to the vivid and wild, fictional characters are powered by unique energy sources and sometimes it’s okay to imagine the possibility of possessing all these cool powers.
