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Tractor beams are suddenly a lot more plausible
Tractor beams now have a better shot at crossing from science fiction trope to reality, thanks to scientists at The Australian National University (ANU). They managed to push and pull a 0.2mm sized particle nearly 20cm using a "hollow" laser beam. That's a hundred-fold improvement over recent efforts at light propulsion, which have only moved microscopic particles short distances. The ANU team placed gold-coated glass spheres in the light-free center of the beams, creating hotspots on the surface that propelled the spheres via air reactions. The hotspot's location was changed by adjusting the polarization, giving scientists full control over the sphere's motion. Sure, it's not exactly the Death Star, but the scientists think it'll work over long distances -- meaning it could one day be used to, say, control pollution or move dangerous particles in the lab.
Engadget Daily: LittleBits unveils BitLab, hands-on with the Socialmatic camera and more!
Today at Photokina 2014, we go hands-on with the oddly shaped Polaroid Socialmatic, and well, a lot of seriously expensive Leica shooters. But that's not all -- read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Engadget Daily: Lumia 630 review, the deal with laser-cut clothing and more!
Today, we dive into the realm of laser-cut clothing, review the Lumia 630, break down the benefits of the recent Xbox One update and take a look at Nike's new Android Fuelband app. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Lasers could be the future of drunk-driving detection
Forget the "walk-and-turn" field sobriety test; researchers have developed a laser that can detect drunk drivers remotely. A team at Warsaw's Military University of Technology shined a laser beam through a moving vehicle, along with a reflective mirror that bounced back to a detector, to pick up alcohol vapors. With a system to simulate a drunk driver's breath, the researchers were able to detect blood alcohol concentrations higher than 0.1 percent. (In the US, a concentration of 0.08 or greater is considered illegal.) With a real drunk person, though, the lasers-and-mirrors setup could likely detect even lower levels.
International Space Station beams a video back to Earth using lasers (video)
In April, NASA sent special equipment to the ISS that'll be able to test if laser beams can effectively transmit large amounts of data from space. Sounds like the project (called Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science) is going well thus far, because it successfully beamed a 27-second "Hello, World!" video back to Earth for the first time. The entire transmission lasted 148 seconds, but it took the system only 3.5 seconds to send each copy of the video clip to the project's ground station at the Table Mountain Observatory in California. It would've taken the ISS' radio waves-based technologies 10 minutes to do what OPALS did for less than two; the connection even reached a peak of 50 megabits per second.
Happy 54th Birthday, Laser Beams
We imagine that on May 16th, 1960, when the first laser was fired, no-one involved was particularly concerned with the invention's impact upon pop culture. After all, proving Albert Einstein's 1917 theory about amplifying light by the stimulated emission of radiation was probably seen as a bigger deal back then. In the decade that followed, the technology was used to verify the veracity of the moon landings, remove a tumor from someone's eye and threaten the survival of James Bond's "gentleman's area" for ever.
Watch Lockheed Martin's laser weapon take down boats from a mile away
It's good that Lockheed Martin's ADAM laser can shoot down drones and rockets, but there are threats much closer to Earth -- say, small boat crews bent on destroying large warships. Never fear, though, as we now know that ADAM can take care of those targets as well. Lockheed has successfully wielded the weapon against small boats, burning holes through their rubber hulls from a full mile away. The laser's automatic infrared tracking makes targeting a piece of cake. Even with the pitching of the waves, it's easy to aim at a specific point on a vessel.
New York City is cleaning its ancient Egyptian monument with lasers
A 69-foot, 3,500-year old granite obelisk has stood in New York City's Central Park for 130 years, and it's never, ever, been cleaned. The ancient pillar is deceptively fragile, and conservationists have been hesitant simply to hose it down. The solution? Blast it with lasers, of course. After careful testing, the Central Park Conservancy determined that a gentle bath of infrared lasers is both the most sensitive and environmentally friendly cleaning method available. The non-profit organization plans to slowly vaporize the monument's modest dust collection over the next several months. Project planners have also uncovered several particularly fragile areas on the obelisk's surface, which will be patched up with granite adhesives. Looking forward to seeing NYC's oldest landmark at its best? You'll have to wait until fall: the restoration is going to take awhile. [Image credit: Cal Vornberger / Alamy]
Google built a machine to test the speediness of laptop trackpads
An unresponsive trackpad can ruin a laptop. But how do you test for that without having access to ready-made equipment? If you're Google, you build your own machine. The company's Chrome OS team has created the Quickstep, a USB add-on that uses a laser to gauge trackpad latency on Chromebooks. Whenever you break the laser's beam with your finger, Quickstep measures the delay between that and the registered touch input. The device only looks for drag activity, but it's simple -- you can even build it yourself, if you're handy with electronics. Whether or not you're that interested, Google's project should take some of the frustration out of future Chrome hardware.
We may soon use lasers to redirect lightning strikes
If there's one thing you should know about Engadget, it's that we absolutely love lasers. And thanks to the University of Arizona and University of Central Florida, our favorite pulsating form of light might soon find a much less destructive purpose, than say on Navy ships, anti-missile airliners and X-Men goggles. Instead of using a lightning rod to transport the average bolt of lightning (and its 1 billion joules of energy) safely into the ground, researchers believe that by using specially designed laser beams, the path of Zeus' thunderbolt can be redirected entirely. Lasers, when traveling through air, leave an ionized gas (plasma) with little to no electric charge. And since lightning travels in the path of least resistance, its charge would theoretically be given a new course. To accomplish such a feat, two different lasers must work together to form what's known as an "externally refuelled optical filament." The first, lower-power beam cuts through the atmosphere, while the second, higher-power beam "refuels" the other so that it doesn't lose focus. What's the catch? So far, those in white coats have only produced a working plasma that's seven feet long since the team started creating curved laser beams in 2009. But refined, this technology could offer much more efficient lightning protection. Who knows, we might be one step closer to harvesting the power of thunderstorms.
US Navy fine tunes seafaring laser weapon and unmanned robocopters (video)
That electromagnetic railgun is cool and all, but it's not the Navy's only wargadget in progress. Apparently, the Armed Forces branch has also been working tirelessly to improve its ship-mounted lasers and autonomous helicopters since we'd last heard about them. The new laser prototype, in particular, is a beefed-up version of what we saw in 2013. It's capable of firing high-energy beams for $1 per shot, providing ships a low-cost alternative to weapons that require expensive ammunition. Within the past months, Navy engineers have consolidated the weapon's controls, so a single person can target, track and fire at threats like unmanned aircraft and attack boats using only a video game-like controller. The Navy wants to deploy this cost-effective death ray this summer aboard the same ship its predecessor occupied (the USS Ponce in the Gulf Sea), but it's still going through some final-stage adjustments.
These laser goggles let you live out your X-Men dreams
Many X-Men fans want to be Wolverine, but the cool kids know that Cyclops is the real star. How can you beat lasers for eyes? Patrick Priebe is most certainly aware, as he built a real-world set of laser-blasting goggles to emulate Cyclops' optic blasts. While the wearable isn't powerful enough to take down the likes of Magneto, it lets the fortunate user burn cloth and pop balloons just by winking an eye. Unfortunately, you probably won't get to try the goggles unless you hang out with Patrick. He's not making additional pairs or offering blueprints, in part because the design is inherently dangerous -- it would put high-powered lasers just a short distance from your head, after all. Still, the eyepiece could well be the closest that we get to Scott Summers' superhero powers without a genetic mutation.
SkyShield protects airliners from missile strikes, completes testing in Israel
SkyShield, created by Israel's Elbit Systems, has reportedly been under development for the better part of a decade, but the laser-based missile deflector has just now successfully completed live testing. The Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (MUSIC) device, which is mounted on an aircraft's belly, uses a thermal camera paired with a laser to change the direction of approaching missiles, saving airliners and passengers from destruction. When the camera detects a missile, it rotates the plane so that the belly faces the approaching weapon. It then fires a laser beam, redirecting the missile so it can explode a safe distance away. It's not clear when the technology will begin rolling out, but according to Haaretz, SkyShield will be used on all Israeli civilian aircraft, many of which operate around the world.
Scientists get meaningful energy from laser-based nuclear fusion
Researchers have long sought to generate significant energy from laser-based nuclear fusion, and it appears that they're finally making some headway. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reports that laser blasts in September and November produced more energy from hydrogen fusion reactions than they'd put into the hydrogen -- the first time that's happened. The key was an extra dose of caution. The lab team altered the laser pulse so that it didn't break a shell used in the necessary fuel-compression process, improving the energy yield. We're still far from seeing laser fusion reactors when just 1 percent of the power reached the hydrogen in the first place. However, the output was much closer to what scientists have been expecting for years -- laser fusion is now more of a realistic possibility than a pipe dream. [Image credit: Dr. Eddie Dewald]
LG sneaks a new version of its 'Laser TV' projector into CES 2014
Last year at CES, LG introduced the Cinema Beam HECTO Laser TV projection system that could produce a 100-inch screen from just a couple of feet away, and now it's showing off a new version. HECTO2 keeps the same 100-inch screen size, but uses an upgraded laser system to provide a claimed 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio that is 10x greater than the original and only needs six inches of space. Just like the earlier iteration and Sony's new Life Space UX laser projector, the Cinema Beam brings speakers, smart TV apps and more as an all-in-one package. Other than a likely still-astronomical price -- the original launched at about $10k -- there's probably one big reason this isn't getting a ton of hype. It's still 1080p, and at a show that's all about Ultra HD, LG may hold off on the laser-projection push until it can squeeze a few million more pixels in.
LIDAR system uses lasers to detect clear air turbulence before it hits
Fact: turbulence is no fun at all. Aside from the brief moments of bone-deep terror it can cause passengers, clear air turbulence (CAT) can also prove costly for airlines in terms of damages. To help pilots deal with difficult-to-spot areas where CAT is likely to occur, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is spearheading a new joint European project known as DELICAT. Essentially, the DELICAT program calls for planes to be equipped with a light detection and ranging instrument (LIDAR) that emits short-wave ultraviolet lasers. Radiation then bounces off oxygen and nitrogen particles in the air, indicating fluctuations in air density that signal the presence of CAT pockets. Until the end of August, the DLR will run test flights in a specially modified Cessna Citation plane to both show off LIDAR's capabilities and to give researchers invaluable data on CAT patterns. Though the system is still in its infancy, the folks at the DLR hope that the technology will one day become a standard part of commercial air travel.
Sony's Laser Light Source Projector with 3LCD to be available in August
It wasn't too long ago that Sony kind of introduced us to its inaugural Laser Light Source Projector with 3LCD technology, but now it's time for the company to let us know a little more about the device. For starters, Sony's officially dubbing it VPL-FHZ55, and it's also emphasizing that it's indeed the world's first laser projector to be powered by 3LCD imaging tech. Just as we'd heard back in January, the lamp-less VPL-FHZ55 can deliver 4,000 lumens of color light at a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, which Sony says should be more than enough steam to "deliver bright and vivid color reproduction." The VPL-FHZ55 is expected to be available later this August, however there's no word on how much you'll have to spend to add one of these to your setup. But, while we wait for those details to come to light, perhaps you'd be interested in perusing the gallery below.%Gallery-190128%
Lockheed Martin's ADAM laser blasts enemy rockets with its HEL beam
Enemy rockets go up. ADAM makes'em go down... safely and in a grand explosion of fire. That's the name of Lockheed Martin's Area Defense Anti-Munitions system, or badass laser for short (to us, anyway), created to intercept and "negate" airborne rockets and drones. The aerospace company's been testing its portable, prototype system -- built with off-the-shelf parts -- since last summer, successfully proving ADAM's capability in detecting aerial threats at a distance of 5km or more and then obliterating those targets with its finely trained laser, or HEL beam (no, really), once they're within a 2km range. But why waste time with words when the the company's own slo-mo video paints a more vivid, shock and awe-some picture. Check it out after the break.
Uncover gives your MacBook's lid a new, Apple-less kind of glow
Etsy stickers adorning your MacBook's lid, oft making a cute play on the presence of that glowing Apple? That's so 2012. Uncover, a Dutch company showcasing its talents here at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam this week, has crafted a new method of customizing one's MacBook lid. And, perhaps most importantly, it involves the seamless removal of the Apple logo altogether. In essence, these guys use a specialized laser cutting process that can etch out anything your brain can muster -- from band logos to company mantras. And, as you'll see in the gallery below, the Apple logo doesn't have to be a part of the equation. The outfit will take in any aluminum-faced MacBook from around the world, and once it lands in Holland, you'll typically see it headed back to your domicile within four to five days. If you're selecting one of Uncover's designs, you can have your machine tweaked for as little as €249 (around $325), while completely custom work starts at €599 ($780). (And yes, you can just buy a totally new Mac from Uncover as well.) We spoke to Jasper Middendorp, the company's CEO, and he confessed that only MacBooks are being accepted due to Apple's unique backlighting arrangement. They're obviously keen to offer similar work for PCs, but to date, every one he has seen blocks or covers the backlight in some way. For those looking to get it on the fun, allow the source link below to be your guide. %Gallery-186923%
The After Math: beer, lasers and $5K 4K TVs
Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages In a bid to neatly wrap up this week's events, we gaze at some high-priced 4K gear at NAB 2013, figure out whether we can physically... pocket either of Samsung's Galaxy Mega variants and think about lasers: sometimes beautiful, sometimes deadly and sometimes fighting the future war against drones. We've got the numbers -- and a few dollar signs -- right after the break.
