Wannabe Jedi Knights rejoice, for scientists have discovered that the famous lightsaber weapon wielded by Luke Skywalker and his ilk in the long-running space opera saga might one day exist beyond the realms of fiction.

Harvard and MIT physicists writing in the new edition of Nature say they have discovered a way to bind photons together in order to form a new molecule which behaves almost exactly like George Lucas's deadly devices.

"Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless and do not interact," said Harvard university physics professor Mikhail Lukin. "What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they act as though they have mass, and bind together to form molecules.

"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to lightsabers. When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."

JJ Abrams, who is directing the new Star Wars film. Photograph: Marianna Massey/Marianna Massey/Getty Images

Inexplicably, reports suggest that physicists have not yet begun the process of using the technology to build actual lightsaber-style weapons, nor have they perfected the THHHHHHWWWWOM! sound traditionally manifested when duelling Jedis do battle. With a new trilogy of Star Wars films on the way after studio Disney bought all rights to the series through its acquisition of LucasFilm for $4.05bn in October last year, one can only assume scientists are biding their time for a Christmas 2015 debut in toy stores. Reports that Star Wars fans worldwide are desperately poring over new ways to motivate them could not be confirmed at time of publication.

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