DailyDirt: Lasers, Not Attached To Shark Heads...

The first laser was made in 1960, and since then, lasers have become increasingly useful -- by delivering information through fiber optic cables and in LASIK and other ablative cutting processes. What would we do without lasers? It's possible that lasers could solve all of our energy needs if inertial confinement fusion ever pans out. We're still discovering cool things to do with lasers, so check out a few of these links on coherent light sources.

• Laser weapons with kilowatt-scale output are a bit less ambitious than the Strategic Defense Initiative's megawatt lasers that aimed to shoot down nuclear missiles. However, these less powerful lasers can still take out some rockets or small boats -- and may be more cost effective than using conventional missiles. [url]
• Blue lasers were once difficult to make, and now we also have a white laser. The first white laser was recently fired, although white laser light has been previously produced by combining separate monochrome lasers in 2011. Unfortunately, it'll still take some time before white lasers will be practical for lighting or displays. [url]
• Researchers at Osaka University have created a 2-petawatt laser pulse that lasted just a trillionth of a second. The Laser for Fast Ignition Experiments (LFEX) is over 300 feet long, and powerful lasers like this could be used for fusion energy research (and for weapons, of course). [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

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