Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:10:20-1:12:57

Favorite science-fiction weapons and their uses

Personal choices include the Martian heat ray, Stargate sidearms, a BattleTech Gauss rifle, and Halley engines that turn asteroids or small moons into projectiles.

BattleTechDirected Energy WeaponsFiction Battletech Gauss RifleFiction Planetary Annihilation Halley EnginesFiction War Of The Worlds Heat RayPlanetary AnnihilationScience FictionStargate AtlantisWar Of The Worlds
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Question

What are the panel members' favorite science-fiction weapons?

Short answer

Choices include the Martian heat ray, Stargate's Satedan shotgun and Traveler's pistol, BattleTech's Gauss rifle, and Planetary Annihilation's Halley engines.

Notes

Clarke chooses the Martian fighting machine's heat ray from The War of the Worlds. Other choices include the Satedan shotgun and Traveler's pistol from Stargate Atlantis, and BattleTech's Gauss rifle. The rifle is described as firing 125-kilogram steel projectiles at hypervelocity, with a recalled novel using an improvised steel beam when ammunition runs out. Planetary Annihilation's Halley engines offer a different possibility: fitting propulsion to a small moon or large asteroid and throwing it at a target. Whether those engines count as a weapon produces its own brief argument about the difference between a device's usual function and its destructive use.