User blog comment:BlackTempest/So, energy weapons?/@comment-15108745-20130817220106/@comment-11188061-20130819091552

... Let's just think of Glynda's purple bolts as a form of pure Dust energy (no physical form), and that it's the same type as what the Spider droid had fired in the Black Trailer. As Weiss had mentioned in Episode 2, "Fire, Water, Thunder, Energy."

Let's not talk about electromagnetic forces and physics and sciences beyond most normal men's comprehension who not only are not equipped with the proper knowledge to understand them, but would also prefer to avoid them as much as possible because they're the things you absolutely do not want to associate with personal life and especially light entertainments such as an anime called RWBY. There would be some in-depth analysis and eventually some science involved around Dusts, but just... not what you people are discussing right now. Definitely. Not.