For a little under $300 you, too, can ruin passing satellites with what is purported to be the brightest legal laser available. The Krypton S3 goes up to 1000mW for an output of 86 million lux – “8,000 times brighter than looking directly at the sun.” That kind of power will cost you, though: the 1000mW unit costs $999 compared to the $300 300mW laser.

How dangerous is it? Well, Wicked Lasers advises:

Warning: This laser’s brightness is potentially hazardous to pilots’ vision and satellite sensors. NEVER point it at an aircraft or a satellite. The S3 Krypton is too powerful to be used as a laser pointer or a gunsight. Never point it at another person, an animal or a vehicle.

Why would you need something like this? Well, it’s fun for astronomy and experiments but – trust me on this – don’t give it to your kids. I’ve used some of their lighter lasers and found myself temporarily blinded just by glancing at a laser reflection off of a matte balloon I was trying to pop. This is not a toy.

Sharks and shark-mounted laser hardware sold separately.

Product Page

TeraDiode is a new company made up of MIT types who plan on putting together a new type of laser. Not new to the world, really, but new to weaponization. It’s a diode laser, which is different from a solid state (i.e. traditional) laser in that… well, in ways I can’t really figure out. Science!

Anyway, they’ve got a new method of combining and directing the laser that they think could lead to multi-kilowatt lasers that could be carried in your hands rather than mounted on a destroyer. The one shown in the picture above is obviously an industrial cutting laser, but it demonstrates the power they can get from the technology.

There’s a sweet video on their front page, and a brief explanation of their “defense” strategy here.

[via Xconomy and Dvice]

The laser costs $599 and sticks two units together for extra laser fun. You can pull them apart to play with them individually or swing them around like a goofball and burn everyone’s retinas. Either way it’s a win-win. The unit maxes out at 2000mW and, as Wickedlasers notes, “2W of laser power aimed in polar opposite directions” is extremely dangerous.

High powered handheld laser features a second beam of intense power.
Use individually to fire a laser that reaches beyond the stars or connect them for a bipolar beam.
Use separately or secure each 1W Spyder 3 together via the Spyder interconnector to operate as a double bladed laser.
Dual Smartswitch safety technology prevents unauthorized access.

Product Page

Fast forward 30 years or so, and here we are, watching a video of the Navy setting a boat on fire with a real-life laser. Shouldn’t we be jumping for joy? Well, it’s not that simple.

The War Nerd points out some very good reasons we should be laughing at this demonstration of laser-based weapons, which is in actuality just melting some plastic over the period of a minute or more. If that was our normal weapon, and then someone said “hey, watch this” and fired an artillery shell or guided rocket at that thing, we’d freak out about how amazing these futuristic weapons are that destroy the whole boat in a second!

It’s true, lasers are pretty weak, which is why the draw is not what they are, but what they could be. The fantasy of a laser is a different thing from the reality of a laser, and what we’re celebrating (in our undeniable geekdom) is that we are, however imperfectly, attempting to make that fantasy a reality — it’s the closest thing we can get to the childish joy of playing pretend.

That said, there is a budget for these oversized laser pointers that could be paying for food and housing. That’s a whole can of worms I don’t want to open here, but it is worth pointing out that pie in the sky shouldn’t cost billions of dollars in real money.

For my dollar? Give me that railgun.

[via Reddit]

The first test was at a distance of 50 miles, and was successful. Wired reports that the test this weekend is at a distance of 100 miles, a much more comfortable distance, given the risk of multiple targets, and collateral damage from falling debris.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Here’s an explanatory video showing what exactly is going on.

People are talking about this like it’s some breakthrough that just happened, but it’s been in the works for years now, and is far from hitting the streets. Even Light Peak, Intel’s new high-speed standard aimed at consumers, isn’t ready for use yet.

We’ll let you know when this one is fully baked. Probably about two years from now.

Well, well, well. Yesterday morning I wrote a quick thing about the U.S. Navy and Raytheon’s successful laser attack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Several hours later DRUDGE~! runs the same story way up top, in bold red font. The point is: I beat Drudge. Yes! I bring this up because, in the hours after I wrote the story a whole bunch of pictures came out that are worth your time gawking at.

So let’s gawk.

One thing I’m not clear on: I thought the laser was completely invisible; all you would see is the explosion at the point of impact on the drone. So I’m thinking this first new pic (the one is color) is merely a render so people can say, “oooo, lasers.”

Unless they shot the laser in the middle of a baby powder party or dust storm, so the laser can reflect off particles enabling us to see it…

There’s no way to begin this next story without breaking out this movie quote: “If I were creating the world I wouldn’t mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o’clock, Day One!” With that out of the way, for the first time in human history a laser was used to shoot down an aircraft in flight. Well done to the fine folks at the US Navy.

The incident (I guess you would call this an “incident,” but I don’t mean anything negative by that) actually took place last May around 100 miles west of Los Angeles, but it wasn’t revealed till a few hours ago. It was part of a joint training session between the Navy and Raythen, the defense technology company.

Imagine this: an aircraft flies overhead at around 300 mph, then a laser beam is shot from a ship. You can’t even see the laser until it hits the target. Then the target goes bye-bye.

The system, called Laser Close-In Weapons System, produces a 50kW (!) laser, one that can be used on its own (as in this example) or with a more conventional missile system. It’s being called “the real Star Wars” or “better than Star Wars.”

Even though this test was a success, it won’t be till 2016 that it’ll actually be ready for battlefield use.

I wonder who I’d have to call to get a review unit?

You probably don’t remember that last part, because I’m just telling you now. It’s up on eBay, as of this writing going for around $600. That’s one way to pay for your legal fees. I love that the letter starts off with “Gentlemen.”

[via TechDirt]

Holy wow. I saw this thing this morning but I forgot about it. Then Kyle at Giz pointed out that this laser – made from diodes out of a Casio slim projector – costs only $200 and can burn almost anything. Now I’m interested.

We’ve done reviews of WickedLaser products in the past but this looks like a doozy. While something like the Photonic Disruptor is pretty exciting, this laser blasts out one full Watt and is 4000% brighter than WL’s other burners.

Warning: Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power. It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts, use with extreme caution and only when using the included eye protection. Customers will be required to completely read and agree to our Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form.

They made it by pulling the diode out of a Casio Slim Green projector. You can read about how they did it here if you’re so inclined. Scary stuff.

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Apparently, they’re able to outdo years of on-the-ground survey in just a few weeks of work with the laser-based system. They’ve found many new features, including houses, agricultural terraces, and ruined roads. It won’t work for every dig site, however; for instance, anything subterranean or obscured by ash or dirt will be invisible to the system.

There’s more information in the New York Times science article — go give it a read.

Now, don’t go expecting a personal raincloud device in SkyMall any time soon: the power required for such a beam is immense, and of course if you pointed it in your eye… well, we’ve seen what lasers can do. The technology is still totally just a lab thing right now, and of course there’s more to making it rain than just making water molecules stick together. It helps to be smug, for instance, which is probably why it’s so wet here in the Northwest.

All joking aside, this is a DIY project from Wie-Chieh Shih, and while the details are spotty, the concept is insane. I’m assuming it’s being made for the Japanese rapper Sushi K, because I can’t really think of what else this could be used for. All we really have are some cool photos of the build on Flickr.

[via Make]

The bad news is, as cool at it would be to have, the Reflectius (is that a spell in Harry Potter?) is just a concept. And I’m entirely sure that it will ever be made. Lasers are notoriously sensitive about heat, and having a laser on all the time just to be used a clock just isn’t practical. Of course, when was the last time you saw a product from Art Lebedev that was?

[via Endgadget]

Now, despite the obvious problems like power consumption and the fact that a laser that’s visible in daylight will probably burn a hole in you, there’s the subject of cost. I really doubt that anyone who has the money to buy something like this would choose it over a Omega or Rolex. It’s a geek watch, but very few geek types will ever be able to afford it. I guess we’ll just consign it to the concept file and call it a day. Or figure out how to mount this on a shark.

[via Geekologie]

The system, called LIBS, is currently used as a forensics tool that determines the chemical composition of materials by reducing them to a molecular level by blasting it with a laser. While it sounds pretty sci-fi, it’s actually quite harmless. The laser will vaporize a small crater in the sample, which turns the material into a plasma, which is then analyzed to determine exactly what the chemical make-up of said sample is.

[via Wired Science]

Do you see what I’m seeing? That big ol’ column in the first shot is a LASER. A huge, sustained, sci-fi style laser. It’s blasting a missile in midair during a test. And that second shot? Talk about C-beams off the shoulder of Orion.

It reminds me of the bit in The Stars My Destination where the albino girl can see the battle in space when no one else can. Man, maybe I’ll read that book again.

Danger Room has a better write-up than I care to attempt here, so read about the facts and circumstances over there. Or just watch this awesome video over and over again.

A group from University of California, San Diego use a pair of antennae aligned with the laser to automatically detect the traffic control transponder on every airplane. “One antenna has a broad beam, the other a narrow beam.” In this way, airplanes can be detected as they approach the laser. Using the ratio of the signal from both antennae, the distance of the aircaft from the laser can be measured. If its “too close” then the laser is automatically shuttered, preventing any catastrophes at 35,000 feet.

Initial test are positive, though there are of course still a few kinks to work out. Chalk another one up for science!

Via Technology Review.

As laser pointers go, you could do far worse than this little keychain Lightsaber. I mean think about it; if your job requires you to use a laser pointer, then you might as well have a cool one. And at $15, it’s not like this is a huge monetary investment. As an investment in your social standing amongst your peers, though, this thing ought to pay off in spades.

Choose from Darth Vader or Darth Maul versions, available at ThinkGeek.

Features include:

• Working red dot laser pointer
• The force
• Highly detailed scaled replicas
• Batteries included
• Pew pew pew!

Those are the actual features listed on the product page. Very nice.

Star Wars Lightsaber Laser Pointer [ThinkGeek]

Some of you may recall the Airzooka — a large cannon-like apparatus that, thanks to the magic of physics, somehow shoots a ball of air at unsuspecting office mates. Well apparently shooting a ball of air is now much more fun and accurate with the addition of a laser scope.

UK-based gadget shop I Want One Of Those is now selling the Laser Airzooka. With the original Airzooka going for $13 at ThinkGeek, the laser scope fetches quite a premium with the Laser Airzooka selling for almost $33.

Call me crazy, but it seems that blasting a big floating ball of air wouldn’t necessitate the skills of a highly-trained marksman. Except, of course, that you’re not supposed to aim the laser at anyone’s eyeballs, which means shooting someone in the face with a ball of air is going to require some pretty steady aim after all.

Laser Airzooka [iwantoneofthose.com via Foolish Gadgets]