Investigating Super Efficient Laser Propulsion Leads to Serendipitous UV effects

wvanhuffel writes "In this article from spacedaily the authors may be on the road to creating the impulse engine....then again, maybe not. It's life imitating art again!" The article details the exploration of the use of lasers and more importantly a new effect when certain materials (in this case lead) are struck by the laser, apparantly a predictable secondary explosion 50 millionths of a second after the target is struck, emitting UV light.

Comments

Impulse Engine it's not

[Rick the Red]

This is a reaction engine. Lead may be the reactant, and lasers may be the energy source, but the propulsion is still caused by tossing mass away from the direction you wish to move.

A true impulse engine does not lose mass, just energy, and is still a fiction. That's not what these folks are working on.