University of Texas fires up petawatt laser, HERCULES weeps
By Darren Murph 
posted April 8th 2008 9:19AM
posted April 8th 2008 9:19AM
[Via Physorg, image courtesy of University of Texas at Austin]
posted April 8th 2008 9:19AM
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oh...i guess the adults are talking. i guess i'll go over to the kids table now.
*flexes quietly - other kids not so impressed*
By default watts are a per second rate. So that means that this thing can output the same power as the united states can in two thousand one trillionths of a second.
Chuck Norris
what, no references to 1.21 jiggawatts yet? i'm putting 2 points on each of your nerd licenses
...a petarray of triple As.
Was anybody else's first thought, "Death Star"?
Actually I was thinking of sharks with frick'n lazer beams attached to their heads.
Coming to an ebay laser pen auction soon!
Mini Me, stop humping the laser.
Hmmm.... I guess if it only lasts "a tenth of a trillionth of a second" then you won't need a very long attention span to "study astronomical phenomena in miniature".
But can it cook popcorn from orbit?
Only if Kent has built the phase conjugate target tracking system.
So... I'll guess you'll hammer later?
I wonder if it could be used as a communication device from the earth to the moon.
Then, we can have inter galaxy quake death matches to decide who is the supreme leader,and it will all just take one trillionth of a second.
your form of communication seems to be...lethal. and i'm not sure how the moon and earth would be considred inter-galaxy. and i'm not sure if we would want to have the moon win in this fight because last i checked, the earth had hotter babes and 100% more don't-need-a-space-suit-to-survive than the moon. and if you really need a communication device between the earth and the moon, just use the iPhone, because i don't know if you've heard, apparently that thing can do everything.
@y3k.nik
Actually that makes absolutely no sense...physics 101: This laser would take the same amount of time to reach the moon as another other light or other form of electromagnetic energy...the only difference would be using something like this would take more energy than we can currently produce to, say, play an instance of WoW. I.e. it would be the most inefficient form of communication humans have ever created...
I always thought lasers were being developed to be used as a form of communication, because they can travel farther distances without a medium, and without being dispersed as easy.
@schmitty338
Not the MOST inefficient form of communications ever, that would be the engadget reply system.
Will it blend?
hook 'em horns
Engadget: can you guys get "everybody's favorite frickin-laser grandma" to do editorials on anything laser related? That would be cool.
Granny won't repond to my emails requesting adoption for some strange reason.
I actually took a physics class from Prof. Ditmire about a year ago and he took us on a tour of the laser while it was under construction. The reason it doesn't kill all the electricity in normal buildings is there is this massive room of capacitors that they charge over a longer period of time. The key to the high power (watts) is that all the capacitors are discharged in about 10 femtoseconds, so to acheive a petawatt, that is only about 10 joules. It's a pretty cool building and setup though, it's this massive radiation shielded room about 3 stories tall underground below our physics building where i think our fusion reactor used to be.
I for one welcome our new Longhorn-petawatt-laser-bearing-astrophysics-studying overlords . . .
Lets string a bunch together to generate the 1.21 gigawatts we need for a flux capacitor for a few minutes. That should get us to 1985
You know what's better than sharks with fricken laser beams attached to their heads?
Longhorns with fricken laser beams attached to their heads.
So they haven't used it?
Can't use it?
Will blind people with their eyes closed?
Point?
Finally....Kane has the technology to build his Obelisk Towers....
Can we blow up Alderaan NOW!!!
Laser'em?
I hope it's not actually named "The Texas Petawatt." That's such a boring name. They should call it "The Alan Parson's Project", especially if they eventually put it on the moon - thus creating a sort of "Death Star."
Hell yeah...Hook 'em. I'm alright with my tuition money going to that, lol.
I wonder if it can blow up my dorm Jester here on campus... The thing was built like a prison!
And they better warn us before they use that thing. I don't want my power to flicker while playing an online game (and disconnect!)
Brodie:
Damn straight.
...i never got the email. What??
...grrrr, that was supposed to be for hypereric.
Frickin' comment system.
And it's all powered by a fossil-fuel-burning power plant!
Guys, you're all thinking way too complex. This lase was built 'for science', but actually because the next time Texas is playing a game and loosing, they will be able to shut off the lights in the stadium by just starting up the laser too long. The players will be equiped with night vision goggles and win the game.
You'll see, next year Texas will be NCAA champions in all fields! ;-)
Go Horns!
It might be the world's most powerful laser but can it pop balloons and light matches??? :)
Otto
http://www.dragonlasers.com
Didn't we see this laser in "Real Genius"? Oh wait, that wasn't a tenth of a trillionth of a second.
But I'd like this in my next handheld laser pointer. What'll that take? Couple o' AA's?