The lightsaber is the traditional weapon of Jedi knights, a part of Star Wars lore right from the beginning and as iconic as anything that's come out of the franchise. It's not plausible for the real world, and it's not supposed to be, but official merchandise and fans alike have been making their best attempts at convincing replicas for years.
The bar has just been raised. Engineers at The Hacksmith have invented "the world's first retractable plasma-based lightsaber," and the videos of their handiwork show off just how accurate it is.
As the inventors explain, there are good reasons that real-world technology can't create a lightsaber that works the way they do in the movies, but their results are still extremely impressive. Each step of the process is documented in videos, showing different methods used for each attempt.
In a second video, The Hacksmith puts the lightsaber to the test, showing how it can cut through anything. A life-sized model of a Stormtrooper, appropriately, is the first item to get skewered by the burning blade.
The demonstration also shows it going through walls, sheet metal and flesh (actually just a piece of raw meat, thankfully), set to thematic music and cut with scenes from Star Wars canon to illustrate their goals.
Although some differences from "real" lightsabers give it away, like the flames it spreads when it cuts through something, it can't be denied that this special craft is an amazing achievement. It looks like a lightsaber, down to the carefully modeled hilt, it functions like a lightsaber -- almost -- and it even sounds like one.
Source: YouTube