Technology in Star Wars
The space-opera blockbuster franchise Star Wars has borrowed many real-life scientific and technological concepts in its fictional universe. In turn, Star Wars has depicted, inspired, and influenced several futuristic technologies, some of which are in existence and others under development. In the introduction of the Return of the Jedi novelization, George Lucas wrote: "Star Wars is also very much concerned with the tension between humanity and technology, an issue which, for me, dates back even to my first films. In Jedi, the theme remains the same, as the simplest of natural forces brought down the seemingly invincible weapons of the evil Empire."
While many of these technologies are in existence and in use today, they are not nearly as complex as seen in Star Wars. Some of these technologies are not considered possible at present. Nevertheless, many of the technologies depicted by Star Wars parallel modern real-life technologies and concepts, though some have significant differences.
Biotechnology
Cloning and genetic engineering
Star Wars also depicts the practice of cloning and genetic engineering, though far more advanced and sophisticated than modern scientific and technological standards. Cloning in Star Wars was first mentioned in the original 1977 Star Wars film and its novelization. It was first seen on film in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.There are major differences between the current ability to clone humans and those seen in Star Wars. Current human cloning methods need to use the somatic cell nuclear transfer, which requires an unfertilized egg from a female donor to have its nucleus removed, resulting in an enucleated egg. DNA from the subject being cloned would need to be extracted and electronically fused together with the enucleated egg. A surrogate mother needs to be impregnated with the embryos to give birth to the clone.
Cloning in Star Wars does not seem to use this process, and instead depicts advanced machinery that directly processes the human subject's DNA, and produces the clone or clones, by the thousands, if desired. The clones in Star Wars can also be genetically altered during their pre-birth phase to have their growth hormones and learning abilities accelerated, as well as their independence and self-consciousness restricted.
According to Jeanne Cavelos, a science-fiction writer and former NASA astrophysicist, who is also author of the book The Science of Star Wars, all of this is a future possibility with the progress of science and technology. What is not possible, according to her, is the ability to accelerate either the growth of clones, or their ability to learn faster.
Regeneration
Submersion in a liquid called bacta causes mutilated flesh to regenerate in the Star Wars universe. According to an in-universe reference book, bacta is a blue-hued chemical compound; it must be mixed with a synthetic liquid which mimics bodily fluids. The combined bacterial medium regenerates traumatized flesh and promotes tissue growth. Luke Skywalker was first seen using a bacta tank in The Empire Strikes Back; his father Darth Vader has a similar tank in Rogue One. Clone troopers also use such healing technology in The Clone Wars. Bacta can also be administered in a spray form.Prosthetics
In Star Wars, prosthetics are first seen on film towards the end of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The prosthetic limbs seen in the films bear an almost absolute resemblance to natural limbs, in terms of size, shape, and movement. The only distinction is the material that the prosthetic limbs are made of, which differs greatly from the organic material of the natural limbs and other organs that the prosthetic limbs replace. Such precision is not considered possible by current technological means. However, according to recent research and development conducted at the Case Western University, which produced prosthetic limbs similar to the ones seen in Star Wars, the ability for prosthetics to produce feeling has become closer to reality.A similar production, even closer to natural organic limbs, known as the DEKA Arm System and dubbed "The Luke", after Luke Skywalker's prosthetic arm, was approved for mass production by the US Food and Drug Administration after eight years of testing and development.
More recently, scientists have begun to develop artificial skin jackets to cover prosthetic limbs, creating an effect similar to what is seen in the Star Wars films.
Body armor
Body armor is seen throughout the Star Wars films, television shows and other media. Their main purpose is to protect the wearer from attacks and other hazards as in ancient and current times on Earth. They are most commonly seen on Imperial stormtroopers, clone troopers, bounty hunters and others, providing various levels of protection and other functions. According to Star Wars lore, the armor worn by stormtroopers is generally impervious to projectile weapons and blast shrapnel and can deflect a glancing blow from a blaster but will be punctured by a direct hit. Meanwhile, the traditional armor worn by Mandalorians, made from the fictional material known as beskar, is capable of repelling a lightsaber; though by the time the films take place in, most sets only had small amounts of beskar, which was alloyed with other metals. This was because most of the beskar in Mandalore's crust had mined out millennia prior.Major characters in the Star Wars franchise are also known for wearing body armor. The bounty hunter Boba Fett wore modified body armor fitted with various gadgets like his predecessor, Jango Fett. This armor has multi-purpose tactical abilities along with many scrapes and dents which Fett wears with pride. Darth Vader wears an armored suit which protects him in combat as well as provides life-support functions for his badly burned body.
Such type of armor has slowly begun to become a scientific reality. In 2016, ballistic and body armor company, AR500, in collaboration with Heckler & Koch produced body armor modelled after the iconic villain, Boba Fett.
Carbonite freezing
Carbonite freezing in Star Wars is first seen in the film The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader places Han Solo in a carbonite casing to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt. The reverse process is seen in Return of the Jedi, where he is thawed. The technology also appears in The Mandalorian.Carbonite freezing is based on the concept of cryonics, which involves freezing a living organism to keep it in suspended animation. The technology is still being researched and developed by scientists into a more sophisticated form. Carbonite exists in real life as a type of gunpowder. According to professor James H. Fallon, the carbonite used in Star Wars might be a "dry ice" with an opposite charge. He further speculates that it is a form of carbon dioxide mineral, which, like in cryonics, is kept at very low temperatures, to the point that there is no need for oxygen or blood-flow. This could keep living organisms and living tissue in suspended animation. While the freezing process as depicted in the films is realistic, reversing the same process by heating, he argues, is more challenging, and can be dangerous if heated too fast. He also argues that this process, as depicted in the film, is a scientific, physical challenge. In 2020, researchers were able to preserve Panagrolaimus superbus nematodes in a suspended animation state known as anhydrobiosis inside a liquid metal cage during seven days, and then recovered them alive.
Computers and other artificial intelligence
Aside from droids/robots, the use of artificial intelligence and computers is found very commonly in the Star Wars universe. Computing technology exists in many different forms in both the Star Wars movies and other media, with the capacity to process large volumes of data every millisecond and store it for safekeeping. Examples include simple viewscreens that receive and display information; scanners which examine an object, interpret the collected data and present it to the user; and data-pads, portable computers which allow individuals to access and interpret information.An example of computing devices which perform very complex tasks in the Star Wars franchise are navigational computers, also called nav-computers or navi-computers, which form a key part of many Star Wars spacecraft. Such computers are said to store vast libraries of astrogation knowledge and work with their ships' sensors and hyperdrive to plot safe courses in real-space and hyperspace. Source material makes it clear that only the desperate or foolhardy would attempt traveling in hyperspace without an up-to-date navi-computer as a ship can easily smash into a hazard without one. Some small Star Wars spacecraft use an astromech droid in place of a navi-computer due to size restrictions.
A unique form of data storage found in the Star Wars universe is the Holocron, a type of artefact used by both Jedi and Sith to store vital and sensitive knowledge, usually concerning the Force. Holocrons resemble evenly-proportioned polyhedra and typically store information in the form of holographic lessons. Many will only permit access to someone who is sensitive in the Force, and for additional security may require a separate memory crystal in order to activate. More mundane forms of data storage exist in the Star Wars franchise, though some have tremendous capacity. The IGV-55 Surveillance Vessel, a class of Imperial spy ship seen in the Star Wars Rebels television series, possess a massive database that can store billions of yottabytes of data.
In a 2016 article for TechCrunch, contributor Evaldo H. de Oliveira estimated the amount of data needed to manage the Death Star was in excess of 40,000 yottabytes. This included an estimate that the Death Star's crew would generate 8.84 exabytes per year, with an additional 2.08 exabytes generated per year by its droid population.
An example of multi-purpose artificial intelligence is seen in moisture, devices that produce water from hydrogen and oxygen in the air. These are first seen on film on the planet Tatooine in A New Hope. Their artificial intelligence is more basic than most other forms of artificial intelligence seen in the Star Wars universe, dealing with input from humidity and air density sensors. They use this input to help them take samples from the air and produce water. They also require input from robots. The film also shows Owen Lars, Luke's uncle, telling C-3PO that he needs a droid that can really understand the language of moisture, with the droid claiming that it is in his programming.
Cybersecurity also plays a major role in the films and other media, with many real-world counterparts. The term slicer is the in-universe designation for a hacker in the Star Wars universe, describing individuals such as DJ from The Last Jedi. A form of security token is worn by Imperial and First Order officers called a code or access cylinder, which grants them access to restricted areas or databases.
A report analysing the Empire's cyber-security systems used in Rogue One, in which IT experts were consulted, made a few conclusions. One claim by information systems management professor Hsinchun Chen was that the theft of digital architectural designs are a common phenomenon in real life. He concludes that software breaches should not just be resisted, as in the case of Star Wars, but successfully prevented by taking security measures far prior to any attempted attacks. Corey Nachreiner, in a 2017 GeekWire article, also examined some of the lessons in cyber-security offered by Rogue One. This include the need to safeguard the Internet of Things represented by the droid character K-2SO and the need for strong multi-factor authentication.