You know those giant windows on various spaceships and spacestations that are used so often in docking bays and the like in science fiction movies and games, like the kind featured on the Truth and Reconcilliation in Halo which the dropships and Banshees flew through?

It turns out these actually exist.

Currently they draw about 20kW per inch, but are strong enough to separate a 9 atmosphere (~1000 kilopascal) pressurized gas from a vacuum. Ain't that neat. They were invented in 1995, so it's not like they're even new.

The colour even changes depending on the type of gas used.

Let's build a spacestation with this tech!!!!

Currently they draw about 20kW per inch,

Turn off the plasma window, and use the difference to power up 75 original-model Xbox 360s and 75 LCD TVs for a 300-person Halo 3 LAN party.

but are strong enough to separate a 9 atmosphere (~1000 kilopascal) pressurized gas from a vacuum.

Block of cheap plastic to the rescue!

Considering the fact that the plasma needs to be ridiculously hot for it to function (15000 Kelvin, ie 3 times hotter than the surface of the sun, holy shit) and the fact that all that's keeping it contained is a magnetic field, there'd better be a safety rail at the very least :P

Still really cool, though.

Part of the way through that article, there is a link to an article on "force fields," and apparently a group from the University of Washington in Seattle is working on force fields.
The article doesn't say much, but cool nonetheless.

So I guess flying a drop ship through one of these things would be a Bad Idea?

Not true. Plasma can be made through other means as well.

"Ionization can be induced by other means, such as strong electromagnetic field applied with a laser or microwave generator" - Wikipedia article on plasma.

Of course, it would throw the power requirements right out of the window, but I guess so would heating it up to 15k K.

Depends on how long the exposure lasts.

Here's the paper on the subject: http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/accelconf/IPAC2012/papers/theppb010.pdf

So cool! I wonder if humans can walk through them or things can drive through them etc.

I doubt one could walk through it, but I think fast, enclosed vehicles might be able to make it. Question is, will the window stay stable after the passage?

Only if you turn on vehicle usage in forge.

Why, why, why have I never encountered this before?

Ah my friend and I had an argument a few months ago, he found this and insisted the that covenant must have used this while I thought they used more of a glass or other transparent alloy for their windows.

But I never really got around to reading up in it. But now I have and its good to know

Why, why, why have I never encountered this before?

I don't know. You said hung out on HBO for a long time, right? Either I'm remembering wrong or you managed to miss this and this and this some other way.

I can think of six reasons off the top of my head.

1) I have an awful memory.

2) I don't actually read every thread.

3) When I'd read a thread, I didn't always click on every post. The ones that didn't look interesting to me fell by the wayside.

4) When dealing with theoretical technologies, I tend to cram a lot of stuff into my head at once as I do things similar to wiki walking, and I can get confused with so much information running around.

5) I have an awful memory.

6) I forget what this one was.

I can think of six reasons off the top of my head.

1) I have an awful memory.

2) I don't actually read every thread.

3) When I'd read a thread, I didn't always click on every post. The ones that didn't look interesting to me fell by the wayside.

4) When dealing with theoretical technologies, I tend to cram a lot of stuff into my head at once as I do things similar to wiki walking, and I can get confused with so much information running around.

5) I have an awful memory.

6) I forget what this one was.

maybe the knowledge just pooled in your legs?

Vagueness, I'm using that excuse from here on out.

Not it.