Forget the iPhone. Though Apple has created what is probably the greatest pound for pound gadget in Nerd history, we both know that somewhere in your virtual ultimate wishlist tech budget is an account for what will be for someone a license to print money. You want a real lightsaber. When one of these comes out, with utility, I don’t mean just a pretty light show, you will mortgage the house, sell your Star Trek memorabilia and give up long distance calls to Mom just to own one.
Well, we have our first working lightsaber. Dental science dudes at the University of Southern California have created a kind of plasma torch that fires a coherent beam of plasma that disintegrates plaque on teeth but does no harm to sensitive gummy bits. The linked video below reveals the beam.
My friends and I have often sat around trying to figure out a way to build a lightsaber so that the beam terminates at a certain distance without being physically blocked by something. Obviously, a laser won’t work because it needs to be terminated and can’t just square off at the end like Luke’s. With this plasma thing, minus the “does no harm” stuff, we have at last, an opening. My current vibroblade toothbrush will do science guys. Let’s turn our considerable brain power to the force and work on making this beam a little longer and able to carve up Imperial droids. Thanks Popsci!
Just a guy in passionate pursuit of all things FI. Got news? endy (at) scificool.com 
…It can't be just any plasma, though. It must be a coherent plasma, and it must have a strong charge, which means the target area for the plasma field to subsist must be lased to pre-ionize the path of travel. But that's the “easy” part. The largest problem you will encounter will be power. The power requirements for this feat will vary with atmospheric conditions. But at STP, 1.7 MW of power minimum should be substantial enough to support a cold start and maintian plasma field stability. This is assuming, of course, that the field conducters are separated by a distance of one meter along the vertical axis of plasma ejection, and is also assuming a current of 0.25A or less (for safety from electrocution). However, far less power would be required to eject plasma along the horizontal axis (where the seperation between the field conductors is one 1cm to 2cm in length) and THEN expand it along the vertical axis via an automated potentiometer . But the minimum range of power required for that most likely would not be enough to cut ANYTHING. 1.7MW should be the starting point, and an adequate testing range would be 1.7MW to 1.0GW of power.