Hi Sam,
On 4/27/07 you posted a story about upcoming work on developing Star Trek type “shields” for spacecraft. See LINK.
Their first experiment was surprisingly successful. “Quirks and Quarks” on the CBC recently interviewed one of the lead scientists on the project, and their story is available as an mp3 (22mb) (about 10 mins.) at: Quirks Media.
“Dr. Ruth Bamford has made a discovery that will delight avid Star Trek fans. She and her colleagues at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England, have developed an experimental version of the kind of space shield used on the USS Enterprise. Dr. Rutherford has been working on ways of protecting astronauts from the deadly effects of solar radiation — a necessity on extended voyages to Mars. The device works by creating a protective plasma bubble around the space craft, held in place using a magnetic field. Trekkies will recognize this as a bona-fide deflector shield. Dr. Bamford says the laboratory results are promising. The next step is to take it into the final frontier.”
Radik
Yeah, but will it block a phaser beam?
Or a GazerBeam for that matter.