laser - SlashGear

CyArk to digitally scan 500 world monuments in 5 years

Will Conley | Oct 22, 2013

CyArk, short for Cyber Archive, is scheduled to digitally scan 500 of the world's oldest and most notable monuments over the next 5 years for posterity. The project uses laser scanners to capture full-size digital replicas of structures like the Tower of London, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mount Rushmore and others as determined by site submissions on the CyArk website. The project was founded by millionaire Ben Kacyra.

NEC NC1100L Digital Cinema projector uses laser light source

Shane McGlaun | Oct 22, 2013

NEC has announced a new digital cinema projector that uses a laser light source rather than a traditional lightbulb. The projector is called the NC1100L Digital Cinema projector and it's aimed at art houses, mobile cinemas, University theaters, and public buildings. NEC says that the laser light source is able to deliver 2K DCI-compliant cinema quality video.

Wicked Lasers Evo is open-source and controllable via a smartphone

Shane McGlaun | Oct 9, 2013

Wicked Lasers has been offering up all sorts of laser pointers that can be used for performing all sorts of interesting stunts. Some lasers the company makes are incredibly powerful and can be used to melt, pop, and burn all sorts of stuff including iPhones. Wicked Lasers has announced what it claims to be the world's first open source smartphone controllable handheld laser called the Evo.

10-terawatt laser fits on a desktop

Shane McGlaun | Oct 4, 2013

A group of physicists from the Laser Center of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Physics of the Warsaw University have teamed up to create a new type of optical amplifier for lasers. The creation of the amplifier has allowed the team of scientists to create a laser producing 10-terawatts of power that is small enough to fit on a desktop.

NASA Curiosity rover blasts Mars rock with laser 100 times

Brittany A. Roston | Jun 17, 2013

We've seen NASA's Mars Curiosity rover bore into Martian rock with a small drill multiple times, but the robot has just taken things to the next level: lasers. Specifically, the rover got to bore a small hole into Martian rock by blasting it with a laser repeatedly, causing a hole a few millimeters in diameter, which you can see after the jump.

Mercedes-Benz GLA concept sports laser video projector headlights

Craig Lloyd | Apr 18, 2013

Mercedes-Benz likes to keep this high-tech and modern with their vehicles, so naturally it makes sense that the company's latest concept -- the GLA -- has laser projection headlights capable of beaming videos. The CUV is set to make an appearance at the Shanghai Motor Show next week, but it seems the company wanted to tease it first before its official unveiling.

NASA to test data transmission using lasers

Craig Lloyd | Feb 25, 2013

If you could only choose two things to love, it would probably be space and lasers, right? It's your lucky then, because NASA has announced that it will begin testing new communication and data transmission technologies using lasers starting in October. The system will be called OPALS, or Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science, and it "has the potential to change the way data is transmitted from space to Earth."

Laser 3D-prints tiny spaceship the width of a human hair

Craig Lloyd | Feb 10, 2013

3D printers are pretty awesome, but none are quite amazing as this particular one that crafted a tiny spaceship that sits at 125 micrometers long, which is about the diameter of a human hair. The printer that made the spaceship was unveiled at the Photonics West Fair by Nanoscribe, which is a German company that specializes in nanophotonics and 3D laser lithography.

DARPA plans to put laser turrets on fighter jets in 2014

Shane McGlaun | Jan 28, 2013

DARPA announced late last week that it wants to place laser turrets on fighter jets as early as 2014. DARPA has been working on airborne lasers for a long time in conjunction with the Air Force. The test bed for the airborne laser program was a Boeing 747 with a megawatt laser in its nose.

Scientists discover protons are smaller than previously thought

Brittany A. Roston | Jan 24, 2013

A team of scientists set out to find the size of protons, and in doing so have upset the current body of literature on quantum electrodynamics. According to the report published in the journal Science, the scientists used a laser to determine that the radius of a proton is smaller than 0.84087 femtometers, a size so small it is hardly comprehensible without something to put it into perspective.

European Union to spend $900 million on world’s most powerful lasers

Shane McGlaun | Oct 29, 2012

Doctor Evil would be thrilled at what the European Union is set to spend $900 million on. The EU will spend $900 million to build the world's most powerful laser hoping that the technology can destroy nuclear waste and possibly provide new cancer treatments. The project is called the Extreme Light Infrastructure project and the $900 million in funding will be used to build two lasers.

Wicked Lasers kills iPhone 5 with lasers and a flashlight

Shane McGlaun | Sep 28, 2012

Every time a new gadget launches with lots of pomp and fanfare, there is always someone out there that buys one just to break it. Geeks are good tearing stuff up and over the years it's become a bit of an art form to come up with the craziest way to destroy the cool gadgets most of us lust after. We have seen gadgets ground up in blenders and smashed up in just about any way imaginable.