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Comment by willis936 | Hacker News Reader

Who's making a 600 T magnet that weighs only a few tons?

https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/115011/how-much-...

You don't need 600 T, just a few tons of superconductor should be enough to stop most bullets. No need run any charge through them, just place them so that most of it is between you and the bullet.

> just place them so that most of it is between you and the bullet.

Easier said than done

lol this is true.

The 6 order of magnitude resonant eddy current induction looks like the more interesting solution. I could see this being done with a giant beamforming array that would be more practical than a giant steady state magnet. It would be pretty cool to melt a supersonic projectile midflight with eddy currents.

In sci-fi, shields seem to basically evaporate bullets. A shield that melts bullets could be a very cool sci-fi visual; the ship would still need some conventional armor (you still have molten metal flying at you), but it would splat against the armor. Plus it would provide a nice visual for a fresh fleet vs the battle-splattered one that’s seen combat.

From small arms. A heavy machine gun can cut through an engine block and still kill you.

I think at that point you probably have to worry about the effect such a strong magnet will have on the brain and nervous system, so probably not the best fit for personal protection.

I’m no rocket scientist, but I feel that statement holds true for bullets too

The bullets are the problem they are trying to use the shield to solve. If the shield also kills the user, that sort of renders the whole thing moot, right?

Not to agree with the actual idea that the magnet is necessarily dangerous, haven’t looked that up…

> If the shield also kills the user, that sort of renders the whole thing moot, right?

Depends, are you the mook hiding behind the shield, or the contractor making and selling a million shield units?

"He was turned to steel In a great magnetic field"

I think you actually have to worry about your soldier not having any metal objects on him because I don’t know what use he’s going to be naked

That’s for stopping the bullet. All I need from a personal bullet shield is to deflect it enough to miss me.

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