laserbeams
Latest
ICYMI: Sea power could take wind power's bragging rights
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Nova Innovation is installing the world's first tidal power generators along the coast of Scotland, which are able to produce 100 kilowatts of power each. The UK Carbon Trust estimates the tidal energy market will be worth $165 Billion by 2050. The P-Laser that strips rust in an instant is here, and if you're as into amazing dogs as we are, you must see the nicknozzy YouTube channel. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
NIF sets record with 500 TW laser shot, lab-based nuclear fusion not far behind
In an effort to recreate the fusion reaction that occurs in start formation, the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, CA has been building up to some extremely powerful laser shots. Back in March, researchers fired off 411 terawatts, and we know that kind of power doesn't come cheap. NIF's latest test shot, fired July 5th, set a new record with 192 lasers producing more than 500 trillion watts of peak power and 1.85 MJ of ultraviolet laser light. Mind you, that's more than a thousand times more energy than the United States uses at any given moment, not to mention a hundred times more power than other lasers can fire consistently. More record-setting shots are sure to come, and in addition to enabling research on harnessing nuclear fusion, NIF's mega-lasers are helping inform the design of new laser facilities being built in China, Japan, Russia, France and the UK.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: magnetic highways, MoMA tech exhibit and lasers in the sky
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Renewable energy supercharged our transit system this week as Inhabitat showcased Vycon's plans to tap speeding subway trains for immense amounts of kinetic energy, and we took a look at an innovative magnetic highway system that harvests energy from passing cars. Biofuels also got a boost from several unlikely sources as researchers discovered that bacteria in panda poop is incredibly efficient at breaking down plant matter, and scientists developed a way to recycle newspaper into biofuel. We also showcased a real-time energy monitoring device for kids, we learned that some radioactive areas around Fukushima are more dangerous than Chernobyl, and we took a look inside a subterranean atomic shelter that has been transformed into a cavernous underground office. How do machines communicate with people? If you're pondering that idea, you'll be interested in this exclusive video interview with Museum of Modern Art curator Paola Antonelli on MoMA's new 'Talk to Me' technology exhibit which recently opened in New York City. We were also amazed by several artistic innovations this week as Wacom unveiled a pen that instantly digitizes anything you can draw and Sarah Garzoni created a beautiful series of printed paper butterflies. In other news, we shined the spotlight on several brilliant advances in lighting technology as scientists successfully created rain by shooting laser beams into the sky and a designer unveiled a solar OLED tile system that can transform skyscrapers into zero-energy displays. We also brought you several bright ideas in wearable tech as Halston unveiled a glow-in-the-dark sequin gown, a ghostly troop of illuminated radiation suits wandered through the German countryside, and a Cornell student developed a type of clothing that traps toxic gases. Meanwhile the Hudson River lit up with a luminous field of 200 LEDs and Laser Power Systems unveiled plans for a nuclear powered car. Speaking of green transportation, we also spotted a high-tech E-Max motorcycle that converts pressure into power, and we watched Toyota's all-electric P001 racer become the first EV to break the Nurburgring's 8-minute speed record.
Laser steering system uses liquid crystal to destroy the enemy on the cheap (video)
It might look like a poor man's game of Pong now, but a new laser steering system coming out of North Carolina State University could make blowing things up Star Wars-style cheaper and more efficient. The setup enlists a series of "polarization gratings" through which a laser beam passes. Each of these gratings, made of liquid crystal applied to a plate of glass, are configured to redirect the light in a particular direction, thus simply steering the laser beam without significantly decreasing its power -- with each grating comes a new "steerable" angle. The system's creators point out its not only hyper accurate, but also less expensive than existing arrangements due to the use of liquid crystal. Apparently the US Air Force is already using the stuff, but don't expect them to go all Death Star anytime soon.
