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darkshark9 t1_ixn5mvo wrote

Just did the math.

A 1 gigawatt, 1km wide beam will output 0.12 watts per centimeter squared (in a vacuum).

So it would be a couple of watts worth of power hitting you in the head at most (5-ish watts) . Hardly a weapon.

Your microwave oven in your kitchen is likely over 1000 watts.

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ozhound t1_ixogyd5 wrote

It's not 1 km wide the facility capturing the power is 1 km wide

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imafraidofmuricans t1_ixn9ya2 wrote

What would the power loss in atmo be like, and what effect would dumping 1 gw of energy into a concentrated area of the atmosphere have?

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darkshark9 t1_ixnedgj wrote

You can use longer wavelength microwaves that essentially render the atmosphere transparent in terms of losses. So even a 1gw beam would barely lose anything if the right wavelength is chosen. So it wouldn't affect the atmosphere in any relevant manner.

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jseah t1_ixouxlb wrote

US has a science facility that does that sort of thing. They put GJ worth of power into atmosphere to see the effects on the ionosphere.

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cybercuzco t1_ixo0933 wrote

Don’t forget you have to have some sort of beam focusing to make sure it hits the target right. If you can focus it a little you can focus it a lot. Instead of 1GW over a 1km^2 you get 1 he over 1m^2

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DividedContinuity t1_ixo5i77 wrote

And its still harmless. There are radio waves passing through us all the time.

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ale_93113 t1_ixpja4u wrote

It would be a microwave oven over your head and you would heat

Like, not like If it matters, since individual meter wide targets are impossible to aim from space

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DividedContinuity t1_ixprayi wrote

You know its a very specific frequency of microwave energy that is used in a microwave oven, all other frequencies are completely harmless. Even if that exact frequency was used, then in that case i doubt it would penetrate far through the atmosphere, there is a lot of water in the atmosphere you see.

Honestly, this sub ought to be renamed "scifi" rather than futurology for all the understanding of basic science that most of its members seem to have.

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ale_93113 t1_ixpstsv wrote

all radiation heats up... i study physics, the resonance frequency of water microwaves are just more efficient at that, but even gamma rays heat you up

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IsildursBane20 t1_ixqdnuj wrote

Yes 1 gigawatt = 1000 watts

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darkshark9 t1_ixrcac8 wrote

This was calculated with 1 billion watts.

The microwave oven comparison was to show a power difference between how little 5 watts is compared to a regular household item.

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Theman227 t1_ixn9t1v wrote

Dont forget dissapation and absorbtion from atmospheric fuckery effects. Entire thing is utter tripe.

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darkshark9 t1_ixneote wrote

Nah, there are wavelengths of microwaves that pass through the atmosphere with extremely minimal losses. Thus minimal atmospheric absorbtion.

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Indigo_Sunset t1_ixopr36 wrote

Yeah, but now we need to run the numbers on a directed microwave element on geoengineered global shrouding with something like so^2, caco^3, or whichever other chemical is used.

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DividedContinuity t1_ixo57hk wrote

And thats assuming the exact frequency of microwaves that resonates with water molecules. Which obviously wouldn't be being used. Were basically just talking about a high power radio transmitter.

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Jnoper t1_ixpcw1o wrote

Now imagine they focus that beam to say 5ft. What’s stopping them from adding a mirror?

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darkshark9 t1_ixpdogw wrote

The laws of physics won't let us focus a beam that tightly over that distance due to its diffraction limit.

Shine a laser at the moon and the beam spot is like 50km wide by the time it reaches it.

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sixty_cycles t1_ixofltb wrote

Sounded to me like the satellite structure is going to be 1km wide. The microwave beam can be insanely narrow if they want it to be… wonder if they will be able to focus it, which really would be weapon territory if they can focus it small enough.

For its supposed intent, I could imagine making some sort of ground antenna array over a large area. The larger the area, the safer it would be for personnel to maintain the infrastructure. Being China… maybe they don’t give a f#ck, and will just make the slaves maintain some small antenna and have fewer losses in collection.

Tinfoil hat is not enough, though… it’s an intriguing idea yet…probably a SHIT idea.

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