lasers

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Research Shows Laser-Guided Lightning Is Possible

Technology could one day provide coverage for large structures such as airports

(Newser) - It would be quite a stretch to say they’ve harnessed lightning, but researchers in Switzerland did succeed where many others have failed: They’ve shown that a laser beam can be used to steer or divert lightning. Per the Guardian , it happened high in the Swiss Alps last summer,...

Cops: Man Pointed Lasers at Planes at Florida Airport

Police charge man over incidents at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport

(Newser) - Police say a man at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport pointed a laser at planes trying to land—and in one case, the pilot of a small aircraft reports being temporarily blinded. When a helicopter from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office zeroed in on the man, he pointed the laser at...

Suspects Held After Laser Beams Hit Police, TV Helicopters

Officers are seen seizing pointers

(Newser) - Several people were taken into custody Thursday night after laser beams were pointed at aircraft over south Los Angeles. KTLA reports that its Sky5 helicopter was the first aircraft to be struck, followed by a police helicopter. Red and green laser beams were originating in the area. A group that...

US Pilots Face Even More Laser-Beam Attacks

A Wall Street Journal report says aircrews have seen a sharp uptick in laser pointers

(Newser) - Laser-pointer attacks are a serious and growing problem for US military pilots in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Pentagon is acknowledging for the first time just how much of a problem the simple devices have caused aircrews, predominantly in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where the bulk...

Chinese Lasers Are Targeting US Pilots, US Officials Say

US has issued a formal complaint over laser use near military base in Djibouti

(Newser) - The Pentagon says the US has issued a formal complaint to China over the use of lasers near the military base in Djibouti that were directed at aircraft and resulted in minor injuries to two American pilots. Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White says the US is confident that Chinese nationals are...

Lasers Penetrate Cambodian Jungle, Reveal Hidden Cities

Archaeologists say the findings may force a rewriting of history

(Newser) - All is not as it has seemed in Cambodia, according to new research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science . Using aerial scanning technology that determines precise elevation points beneath even dense jungle foliage, archaeologists say they have uncovered multiple metropolises between 900 and 1,400 years old that might...

Scientists Have Way to Hide Earth From Evil Aliens

Astronomers pitch idea for cloaking device

(Newser) - Human history shows that when two civilizations meet for the first time, it doesn't always turn out that well for one of them. And plenty of scientists—Stephen Hawking included—fear that humankind may end up on the losing side of a meeting with extraterrestrials. Now a couple of...

In 15-Minute Span, 3 Planes Hit by Lasers Near Dallas

Meanwhile, news crew aids arrest of suspect near Brooklyn

(Newser) - Someone is in trouble near Dallas: Police and the FAA are investigating after three planes were reportedly hit by a laser beam while flying into Dallas Love Field between 7:30pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday. An FAA rep says a Southwest Airlines 737, a Virgin America A319, and a...

More Planes Hit by Lasers Over NJ, NY

20 planes have been targeted over the last week

(Newser) - Authorities appear no closer to figuring out the source of those mysterious lasers dazzling pilots over New Jersey and New York even as more incidents are recorded. After pilots reported lasers hitting at least 11 planes last week, nine more flights have been affected, including four last night. Two of...

Lasers Hit 11 Flights Over NJ Last Night: Reports

It's a federal crime to point a laser at a plane

(Newser) - The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after 11 commercial flights reported they were illuminated by lasers while flying over New Jersey last night. The FAA says the incidents occurred between 9pm and 10:30pm and that the lasers hit the left and right sides of the cockpits, along with the...

3 Pilots Injured at LaGuardia by Guy With Laser Pointer

Suspect charged with shining beam at aircraft

(Newser) - A Bronx man who lives about 10 miles from LaGuardia whiled away the hours last night by pointing a laser beam at aircraft landing and taking off at the airport, police say. End result: three pilots with injuries to their eyes, along with a slew of serious charges for the...

Navy Ship Uses Laser Weapon for First Time

And LaWS performed 'seamlessly'

(Newser) - The US Navy has completed some pretty historic target practice, yesterday announcing that it has for the first time successfully deployed its laser weapon system from aboard a naval vessel. In a release, it calls the use of the "cutting-edge weapon" historic in more ways than one: the demonstrations,...

Ancient 'Lost City' Brought to Life With Lasers

Lidar shows hidden remnants of Angkor area in Cambodia

(Newser) - The world's biggest religious complex, some four times the size of Vatican City, is Cambodia's Angkor Wat, built in 1150 but long lost to history. Archaeological work since the 19th century has uncovered pieces of it, but it wasn't until last year that researchers got a detailed...

Space Junk Solution: Fire Lasers at It

Australia prepares to deal with 300K pieces of debris

(Newser) - Space is full of debris, scientists say—about 300,000 pieces of it—and it's putting our satellites at risk. We could be "a couple of decades away from a catastrophic cascade of collisions ... that takes out all the satellites in low orbit," says researcher Matthew Colless....

Mona Lisa Sent to Outer Space via Laser

Feat represents a major advancement in laser communication

(Newser) - Outer space just got a little more cultured. NASA scientists have successfully beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using a special laser signal, a feat that represents a major leap in laser communication technology, Space.com reports. "This is the first time anyone...

Uranium Tech Could Open Easy Path to the Bomb

But GE says laser enrichment could help US energy security

(Newser) - Advances in uranium enrichment using lasers by General Electric could allow the US conglomerate to process reactor fuel by the ton—but security experts fear the technology could also allow rogue states and terrorist groups to make bomb fuel much more easily, in smaller plants that would be much harder...

Scientists Create 'Living Laser'

Technique could change light-based, imaging therapies

(Newser) - Scientists have been genetically engineering organisms that glow for years, but now a team at Massachusetts General has taken the technology to a new level—to create a "living laser." They aren't blasting death rays (yet), but scientists have coaxed single cells, derived from human kidneys, to...

NASA May Move Space Junk With Lasers

Idea isn't to destroy pieces, but to prevent more collisions

(Newser) - What to do about all that space junk floating around Earth? A team of NASA scientists has a novel way to at least help manage the mess, reports Wired : Use lasers to push pieces on collision courses away from one another. The idea is to prevent smash-ups that create even...

Russian Ravers Lose Sight After Laser Show

Vision loss as high as 80% and 'impossible to regain'

(Newser) - Several partygoers at a Russian rave lost part of their sight to damage from a laser light show, Reuters reports. Dozens have appeared at Moscow hospitals for treatment of retinal burns. Loss of vision is as high as 80% and "regaining it is impossible," according to one ophthalmologist....

Sun Banks on Lasers to Make Next Speed Leap

Using light, not wires, to connect chips could make computers 1,000 times faster

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun...

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