The history of the Death Ray

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Image: Steampunk Old Vic Ray Gun by ~Builders Studio.

Screw flying cars, I want a death ray. We've been trying to make them for centuries. Why don't I have one? Because this is not Boeing Boeing. Becky Ferreira explains:

Developing electromagnetic weaponry is expensive and requires innovative thinking– "duh!" says every scientist and inventor who has tried to develop it. But listen, you smug scientist/inventors, our new millennium has borne witness to a surge of fresh ideas about how to finally pull the death ray from the world of dreams and imagination into reality. It's looking increasingly likely that the death ray's 2,200-year-old journey may be coming to an end.

Until our military contractors make the world a better place, you'll just have to make do with something like Builders Studio's death ray (above) instead, available from its Etsy store.

Humanity's Endless Quest to Invent a Death Ray: A History [The Awl]