Laser

Tropical storms: Ocean waves from cyclones could be focused like laser beams

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Computer modelling of cyclone Mekunu, which hit the coast of Oman in 2018, reveals that ocean currents may have focused waves from the storm into straight beams that hit the coast of India and Pakistan Physics 3 March 2022 By Bas den Hond Debris litters a beach after cyclone Mekunu hit Salalah, Oman, in May … Read more

European laser project rocked by potential loss of gamma ray beam | Science

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A troubled €300 million nuclear physics research facility in Romania may now have to do without one of its main components, a gamma ray beam designed to probe the heart of atoms. That’s because the U.S. company contracted to supply the gamma ray source may be on the verge of bankruptcy, according to sources familiar … Read more

‘Burning’ hydrogen plasma in the world’s largest laser sets fusion records

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The secret behind a record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment that spit out 10 quadrillion watts of power in a split second has been revealed: a “self-heating” — or “burning” — plasma of neutron-heavy hydrogen inside the fuel capsule used in the experiment, according to researchers.  Last year, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California announced the record … Read more

Radical Idea Shows Laser Propulsion Could Rapidly Accelerate Trips to Mars

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NASA and China plan to mount crewed missions to Mars in the next decade. While this represents a tremendous leap in terms of space exploration, it also presents significant logistical and technological challenges.   For starters, missions can only launch for Mars every 26 months when our two planets are at the closest points in … Read more

This New Record in Laser Beam Stability Could Help Answer Physics’ Biggest Questions

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Scientists are on a mission to create a global network of atomic clocks that will enable us to, among other things, better understand the fundamental laws of physics, investigate dark matter, and navigate across Earth and space more precisely.   However, to be at their most effective, these clocks will need to be reliably and … Read more

Laser scanner creates 3D colour images of surfaces or objects

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Lidar uses lasers to create 3D images, but these can be hard to interpret because they are black and white. A new scanner adds cameras to make colour images that could be useful for infrastructure inspection or robot vision Technology 14 January 2022 By David Hambling A new portable scanner combines laser scanning technology with … Read more