US lab debuts super laser
Quote:SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – A US weapons lab on Friday pulled back the curtain on a super laser with the power to burn as hot as a star.
The National Ignition Facility's main purpose is to serve as a tool for gauging the reliability and safety of the US nuclear weapons arsenal but scientists say it could deliver breakthroughs in safe fusion power.
"We have invented the world's largest laser system," actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said during a dedication ceremony attended by thousands including state and national officials.
"We can create the stars right here on earth. And I can see already my friends in Hollywood being very upset that their stuff that they show on the big screen is obsolete. We have the real stuff right here."
I saw this movie... called Spider Man 2. Recreating a sun is bad. The movies don't lie!
Let me be the first to say it...
This laser is now the ultimate power in the universe... I suggest we use it.
Now lets burn some stuff down with it.
We should mount it on the moon, (which we then call a "Death Star") and hold the world ransom for...
one million dollars.
Seriously, though... I'm reading this right, right? Have they created a sort of energy-producing motion machine? The beam, fired at hydrogen atoms, produces more energy than it takes to fire it?
(06-01-2009 02:05 PM)EmperorPalpatine Wrote: [ -> ]We should mount it on the moon, (which we then call a "Death Star") and hold the world ransom for... one million dollars.
Seriously, though... I'm reading this right, right? Have they created a sort of energy-producing motion machine? The beam, fired at hydrogen atoms, produces more energy than it takes to fire it?
Well yes. They are going to compress hydrogen atoms in an attempt to generate a fusion reaction and convert those into helium atoms. One of the scientists stated that it will put Einstein's theory into practice and convert mass into energy. If it works, we'll have a new source of energy that doesn't have waste.
And for the obvious joke...
We shall call it "The Alan Parson's Project"
Think the laser is cool, check out a picture of
the target chamber.
Tell me that doesn't look like something out of a SciFi movie... I hope these people know what they are doing and don't tear a hole into another dimension or go back in time or something.
(06-02-2009 01:23 PM)Mr. Tight-pants Wrote: [ -> ]Think the laser is cool, check out a picture of the target chamber.
Tell me that doesn't look like something out of a SciFi movie... I hope these people know what they are doing and don't tear a hole into another dimension or go back in time or something.
Looks a bit like the engine chamber on Event Horizon...