Force fields, Ray Guns, and Science Fiction Weapons - Creative Futurism

Retired Air Force Colonel Doug Beason, former head of Air Force Space Command and member of the President’s Science Council—as well as bestselling thriller and science fiction writer—discusses new advances in physics, active-denial microwaves, and weapons concepts you’ve only seen in science fiction, including the possible sonic weapons that may have been used recently at the American embassy in Cuba.

Books by Kevin and Doug

Kevin:

Welcome to the Creative Futurism podcast. This is Kevin J. Anderson.

John:

And this is John Best where you’re going to learn about the world in the future.

Kevin:

And creativity and business and how everything changes.

John:

Absolutely.

Kevin:

We’ve got a really interesting guest this week. And a very good friend of mine I’ve known for more years than I want to remember. I think more than thirty years or so. It’s Dr. Doug Beason who’s a PHD physicist and a retired colonel from the Air Force. He’s a former member of the president’s science office, former associate director at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, former chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, and he’s also my co-author on a whole bunch of high-tech thrillers that we did. Doug and I did-our first book was called Lifeline about space stations trying to survive after a war on Earth cut off all supplies. And we did the Trinity Paradox, a time travel of an anti-nuke protestor going back in time to stop the Manhattan project. And we’ve done a bunch of other books after that including Ignition, which we sold to Universal Studios, Ill Wind, which we sold to Fox Studios, and we just sold a big thriller called Doomsday Cascade, a thriller about nuclear waste storage in a big facility. And anyway, but Doug has got some great background on some really interesting weapons technology and science fiction concepts that’s actually being worked on. So, welcome Doug, thanks for coming on.

Doug:

Oh thanks Kevin, I appreciate it.

Kevin:

Well one of the things that I wanted to bring up, and I know Doug’s got

some really cool stuff. Because I’ve known him and I’ve been hearing him talking, all unclassified of course, for many years about-you know as science fiction writers, we’re all accustomed to seeing these typical things like blasters and force fields and stun weapons and energy kind of things. They all seem like they came out of Star Trek instead of the real world because weapons are really just shooting bullets and launching bombs at people. But Doug, you’ve got a great background in some really interesting and innovative energy weapons and high-power microwaves and active denials. And you could talk the whole hour on that sort of stuff. So why don’t you fill in our listeners in a little bit of some of the categories of that and where we are in some of that in as much as you can say.

Doug:

Oh sure. Well thanks Kevin. You know before I start off, I’ll really just ask the question, what is a weapon? Since you’ve thrown that word out.

Kevin:

A stick.

Doug:

Well, that’s just it. To some people it can be a fast-looking hot fighter. And

other people it could be a humongous tank. Some people may say it’s a destroyer or air craft carrier or even a rifle. What we found in the Gulf War, it could even be underwear. Underwear, well remember the cycle.

John:

Yeah, you’re going to have to-I was going to say three lines of coke but you beat me.