laser

NASA is following in the footsteps of its Apollo days, stating that it has fit its Perseverance rover with a special type of reflector designed to be shot with lasers. The space agency did a similar thing involving retroreflectors on the Moon, which NASA describes as 'essentially small arrays of mirrors.' The idea was that NASA could shoot the reflectors with lasers to get important data on the Moon, something it will eventually replicate with similar reflectors on Mars.

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The United States Navy recently conducted a test with a ship-board laser used to down a drone aircraft. The ship used was an amphibious transport dock ship called the USS Portland, and it successfully disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle using a Solid State Laser. The test was conducted on May 16, using a weapon called the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator or LWSD.

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In a demonstration in Osaka, Japan, Panasonic demonstrated the new world's highest brightness blue laser. They've done this with a couple of technologies/techniques, using wavelength beam combining (WBC) with a direct diode laser (DDL) to produce a single, highly powerful blue beam. With this technique perfected, beam quality remains the same while power increases as the number of laser sources grows. The laser power can be immense!

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The FLUX Beamo was revealed today as a compact, easy to use CO2 laser cutter and engraver. This machine was made to fit "any" home, office, or classroom at 24.2 x 17.52 x 6.97-inches and puts several high-end features in an affordable package. This device has an 11.81 x 8.27-inch work area and cuts with a diode laser across a wide variety of materials.

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In the mobile world, there are arguments over the accuracy and security of biometrics such as fingerprints, irises, and faces. In the security and military sectors, however, people are turning to heartbeats. Just like fingerprints, the cardiac signature of a person is believed to be unique and infallible. But unlike fingerprints, heartbeats can be measured secretly from a distance with a laser. And wouldn’t you know it, the US military has one exactly like that.

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We're probably still decades away from the kind of force field protection found in science fiction. Until then, we'll have to settle for taking down missiles even before they can get too near. That doesn't mean, however, that we can't inject a bit of the hi-tech stuff that somewhat inspire the imagination. That might be the image you'll get with the US Air Force Research Lab's report of successfully shooting down missiles in the air using high energy lasers.

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We live in an age where almost every event is recorded on smartphones for posterity's sake. Some, however, still resort to their trusty professional digital cameras for capturing memorable events. And perhaps no event is more memorable than removing the semi-permanent mark of a tattoo. Well, maybe the destruction of an expensive camera sensor while recording such a removal will probably top that, not to mention make for a traumatic and unforgettable learning experience.

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This week 3D-sensing laser manufacturer Lumentum spoke about the future of their products in devices beyond those they've worked with in the recent past. Lumentum is the primary supplier of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) components for Apple's iPhone X line of smartphones re: TrueDepth front-facing cameras. These lasers enable Face ID, portrait mode photography (frontside camera only, for now), and Animoji, in iPhones of several sorts. This week Lumentum Chief Executive Officer Alan Lowe said straight up: Android's on the way.

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There's a new sort of 3D printer in town, and it goes by the name CAL. This printer was created by a team at UC Berkeley, and its potential is vast. The most popular method for consumer-level 3D printing right this minute is layer-by-layer - through the melting of a material that's been spun into a line. The new method we're looking at today is similar, but makes objects form from a completely different angle.

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NASA is preparing to launch humanity's most advanced laser tool into space, where it will be used to measure Earth's polar ice caps. Key to the mission is NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), which will use the laser instrument to measure -- within the width of a pencil -- the amount of land ice elevation changes in Antarctica and Greenland. ICESat-2 will capture 60,000 measurements every second, says NASA.

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Lasers, by their very nature, have the potential for harm but most of the dangerous applications of the technology has been limited to science fiction until recently. But while companies like Lockheed Martin are scrambling to weaponize lasers, their Chines counterparts may have just one-upped them. According to a recent report, a Chinese tech firm has successfully developed a laser rifle no heavier than an AK-47 but has the ability to pierce through glass and metal undetected and set clothes, and humans, on fire.

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If you have ever watched a cartoon or movie with Superman in it, you know that one of his powers is the ability to shoot lasers out of his eyes. In the scientific world, these are known as ocular lasers and a group of researchers from the University of St Andrews has made them one step closer to reality. The team says that it may now be possible to create ocular lasers thanks to a new ultra-thin membrane that uses organic semiconductors.

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