CISSARE, pronouunced "sizz-ARE"- a play on the word "scissor"- stands for "Constructively Interfering Spherical Section Array Radiation Emitter." What does that mean?
First, we need to remind ourselves about an important property of waves. When two waves intersect so that their peaks coincide, the amplitude of the waves are added together. Observe water waves bouncing off a solid wall at the edge of the water. Sometimes, the reflected wave peak intersects with an incoming wave peak. The result is an extra-tall wave. Sometimes the incoming and outgoing waves intersect peak to trough- making for a momentarily flat place in the water. Read more here.
The same principle applies to electromagnetic radiation. In our initial thought experiment, we'll be discussing microwaves- "light" with peak-to-peak wavelengths of between 1 and 10 cm.
Imagine that you have two directional microwave emitters focused on a single point. If they are either exactly the same distance away from the target, or if their distances vary by some multiple of the wavelength; if they are operating perfectly in synch; and if they are operating on the exact same frequency, they will create a wave point twice the amplitude of the native power of either emitter.
Now, what happens if we add more emitters to the array? In fact, let's skip all the intermediary steps and go straight to the maximum scenario: a spherical array of directional emitters, all pointing inward, all focused on a single point, all in synch to create a point of constructive interference. The total energy at the center point would be derived by adding the energy of each of the emitters.
What we end up with is a point-knife. A device that can vaporize the interior of an object without damaging it's exterior. It could be used for surgery (in fact, in principle, this is how some cancer treatments work already). It could be used as a weapon. Here's how it would work. Imagine that you're CISSARE is set up in another building and you're attempting to destroy a soft object. You set up a sensor in the same room as the object you wish to vaporize. You focus your CISSARE on the surface of the object, so that you can get feedback- a heat reading, for instance- and then- once the point is tuned to maximum energy- you move it into the interior of the object.
You could think of it as a beam weapon without a beam.
Q. Why microwaves? Why not x-rays?
A. Tuning x-rays would require an incredible amount of control and would only be usable over an extremely short distance. Microwaves, which exist as useful energy levels, and to which much of the world is transparent, are much easier to tune.
Q. Why not radio waves?
A. Radio waves would be even easier to tune, but would generate relatively little useful energy.
Q. Why do you call this "holographic" in the title of this blog?
A. Holograms are created by using intersecting beams of light (lasers) which, because of the interference, are able to change the medium. An entire 3D image can be through the intersection of two points-of-view. Instead of creating a three-dimensional visual image, a CISSARE creates a three-dimensional projection of energy.
Q. What you've described allows you to project onto, or even into, an object- to "write." Can a CISSARE be used to "read"?
A. Possibly, in principle. By operating at low enough energy levels to avoid damaging the material, and by recording the energetic feedback signature emanating from the point of intersection, you could probe the interior of an object by scanning, point by point, line by line, plane by plane. The only problem is that you would have to know about the whole object before you'd know how any part of the object would affect the permissivity of the probe beams. A CISSARE could be used progressively- gradually solving for a more and more accurate picture over multiple scans. Or, CISSARE's might be useful as way of testing industrial hardware for variations from the intended design. In either case, enormous amounts of computing power would be required.
Q. Why do you describe a CISSARE as a weapon?
A. Anything that could be used to damage the interior of something without leaving any exterior sign of intrusion has potential as a devastating weapon. It would allow one government to quietly cook some internal organ of a visiting head of state without anyone being the wiser. That head of state might then die, days or weeks later, without anyone being able to prove that it was an assassination. Or, imagine that your CISSARE is on several trucks. You park them around the location of a hostage situation. You then send in a small robot to locate the bad guys. You Once they're all located, you run a quick program that causes a non-fatal burst of heat to appear at the base of each suspect's brain. No worries about collateral damage from stray bullets.
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