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Just out of curiosity… whaaat does this comment mean? Are you building some kind of railgun or something?

• goldenkey 10y ago
  Just curious, how much damage could a domestic terrorist do with a railgun made from consumer parts?
  • pjc50 10y ago
    Railguns are terrible and conventional firearms are much more widely available. If you want a futuristic terror weapon powered by batteries, build a multiple-watt laser. Take down planes by blinding the pilots! Fire it at a glass sculpture in a shopping mall to give thousands of people life-ruining sight loss!
    • goldenkey 10y ago
      I thought railguns could shoot projectiles with speeds faster than almost anything. And since they are all about stored electricity inducing magnetism can't a terrorist just charge up a huge capacitor like battery for a year and then release a shit ton of energy in the form of a uranium or heavy lead slug??
      • pjc50 10y ago
        Yes, although for terrorism purposes why is this tactially useful given the high cost and complexity? It's not particularly easy to build a 3km/s railgun in your garage, and the power storage ends up being hugely bulky. Conventional terrorist attacks involving homemade explosives, firearms, mortars, and even rockets have been quite cost-effective enough. I'm more worried about someone combining quadcopters and explosives.
        • goldenkey 10y ago
          I suppose you're right. Its fun to think about the massive power of railguns and their simplicity though.