World's first two-megajoule ultraviolet laser fired in California

[Trick Pony]

That is pretty cool. I have worked at that facility in Livermore when I was a robotics and automation engineer. There is a room full of giant capacitors as big as a football field that charges up and fires off the lasers. Our robotics could automatically swap out the lenses that focused the laser beams because if there were any blemishes or even a speck of dust the lens would explode from the intense heat generated.

[talisman]

Kent says always check your optics!

[mstng86]

Kent says always check your optics!

Kent was a little bitch.

[mstng86]

great movie, you should check it out. one of the very few good val kilmer movies

Willow was pretty badass dude.

[STANGGT40]

someone's house will inevitably be filled with popcorn.

[Darren M]

Science, Alt
World's first two-megajoule ultraviolet laser fired in California: no, you can't buy one
By Darren Murph posted Mar 21st 2012 5:13PM
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The Wolverines may have concocted the "most intense" laser in the universe back in '08, but it's a group of grinners at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California that can now lay claim to firing the planet's first two-megajoule ultraviolet laser. Earlier this week, a 1.875-megajoule shot was fired into the target chamber, but it broke the two-dot-oh barrier after passing through the final focusing lens. Reportedly, this matters for more than just bragging rights, as scientists have long since sought to get past 'ignition' in order to "coax fusion energy from a tiny frozen fuel pellet." If we had to guess, we'd say both Nerf and Mattel are somehow trying to commercialize this thing prior to the holidays. (And yeah, we hope they're successful.)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/21/w...t-laser-fired/

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