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US Army to Test Laser Based Mine Clearing Device

Posted by michael on from the we'd-never-blow-stuff-up-with-light dept.

QueueEhGuy writes "Yahoo News is running a Reuters story indicating that the United States will soon be testing a laser which "will either explode or evaporate the explosives in the device which can be up to 250 yards away.." It's about time, I was starting to think that we'd never blow stuff up with light." New Scientist has another story, complete with nifty graphic. The Zeus homepage has a few pictures and specs.

6 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. imagination by DarkHelmet · · Score: 4, Funny
    Why do I imagine some bad guy dressed like Mike Myers going:

    Fire the "Laser"

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  2. I want one of these cars... by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... I keep having problems with people tailgating me.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  3. Re:dumb question by BabyDave · · Score: 2, Funny
    You can't plug a humvee in on the battlefield?
    Typical bureaucracy - they'll spend millions of dollars on a cool laser to blow the mines up, but they're too cheap to fork out for the travel adaptor so they can plug it in :-)
  4. Here kittie kittie by ZaneMcAuley · · Score: 5, Funny

    Muhahahah here chase this laser pointer muuuhahahaha..

    Weeiioow...

    --
    ----- Whats wrong with this picture? http://www.revoh.org:1234/whatswrong
  5. Of COURSE we'll blow things up with light by empesey · · Score: 3, Funny

    It was foretold in that great annals of earth's (future) history: Plan 9 From Outer Space.

    Word is, it's more accurate than Nostradamus' works.

  6. Re:Not for de-mining during peacetime by Sabalon · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've heard of another technique where they genetically engineer a local weed so that it glows in the dark (or something) in the presence of certain fumes given off by mines. Seed the field with these modified plants, wait a season (so it's obviously not practical for military use), then look for the glowing bits...

    Or...just look for the explosions caused when planting the seed :)