Green Security Clearance Laser Pistol Available

nazgul000 writes "You thought those green laser pointers sold by ThinkGeek and others were pretty cool, didn't you? Well, think again." It seems obligatory to point out that even laser pointers, and certainly anything more powerful than those, are capable of causing real damage.

Comments

way different lasers

[ack154]

Ok... let's compare.

Lasershoppe.com Laser: >100mW (one tested was 191!)
Thinkgeek.com Laser: 5mW

Yes... there is a 20x difference in power here (about 38x with the tested one). While lasers in general can be harmful, the one this guy is selling should really be considered a weapon.

Also worth noting about the lasershoppe one: "this laser is not legal to use in public."

Re:way different lasers

[BWJones]

Mod parent up.

Look. Many things can be made into weapons. In the case of lasers, it is never good to be looking into a laser beam of any wattage especially as the damage to your retina (likely the retinal pigment epithelium initially) may go undetected for years, but could establish a starting off point for macular degeneration. But like the parent said, pump it up 20X in power and you are starting to be able to cause some real damage immediately.

Re:way different lasers

[voxlator]

Look, it's not lasers that cause retinal pigment epithelium damage to people, it's people that cause retinal pigment epithelium damage to people.

:o)

--#voxlator

Re:way different lasers

[BWJones]

Well, retinal degenerative diseases and remodeling is my forte, but I do recall that red lasers in the 3-5Mw range should cause no retinal damage per se. I qualify that because the long term studies have not been done, only short term studies to my knowledge. The thing you have to remember is that lasers are coherent light that "packs" much more energy into their beam than does say a 200 watt halogen lamp which throws its energy all over the place wasting about 90% of its energy as light. So, as I recall the threshold for damage is 10Xs the acceptable wattage for lasers assuming that people will guard by blinking when exposed to a bright light. (blink time being somewhere about 2/10ths of a second). So, the currently accepted wattage figures on the threshold of immediate tissue damage are in the 30-50Mw range. But you have to remember that the criteria are somewhat vague and no long term studies (to my knowledge) have been done as to the effects on the retina and RPE of brief exposures to low wattage laser light. I might suspect that you could increase your chances for having dry macular degeneration, but that is hazarding a guess.....Regardless, a good rule of thumb is to never stare into a bright light source. (oh, and always invest in good quality sunglasses).

Re:way different lasers

[Tackhead]

> Well, retinal degenerative diseases and remodeling is my forte, but I do recall that red lasers in the 3-5Mw range should cause no retinal damage per se.

...on account of it being hard to examine the retina when there's nothing left of the head but some vapor.

There are, however, red lasers in the milliWatt range for which the blink/aversion response is (probably) fast enough to prevent damage.

> So, the currently accepted wattage figures on the threshold of immediate tissue damage are in the 30-50Mw range.

True. Because on the battlefield, there's no such thing as overkill!

Re:way different lasers

[evilviper]

Isn't there some minimal power below which you can blink faster than the laser can deposit enough energy to damage the retina?

This is exactly how lasers are classified.

You are refering to a Class II laser. It has the potential to cause damage to your eyes, but it is low enough power (and in the visible light range) so your blinking reflex will protect your eyes. Though, like looking into the sun, people can fight that reflex (usually children) and blind themselves.

Class III lasers are the most dangerous ones, resulting in instant damage. I believe most if not all laser pointers are class 3 devices.

Class I lasers are so low powered that you can look directly into them for a long period of time, and not cause any damage at all, as a result.

Re:way different lasers

[Kaboom13]

There was a case here in Florida where a young teenager pointed a laser pointer at a cop at night and the cop shot and killed him. The cop was cleared of the killing, as the situation gave the cop reasonable belief he was in danger. I couldn't find the article with a quick search as it was many years ago, but I did find this http://www.thebackup.com/archives_newsdetail.asp?i d=-1141952145 which is about a similiar case where the officer wounded a teenager in the thigh. Pointing a laser pointer at a cop is a serious threat to that cop, and if the situation is already tense might get you shot.

Re:way different lasers

[jstott]

Class III lasers are the most dangerous ones, resulting in instant damage. I believe most if not all laser pointers are class 3 devices.

Class III means the laser is an eye hazard. Class IIIa are hazardous if focused, class IIIb are focused as-is. There are also class IV lasers, which are burn hazards (I've worked with both) and are more dangerous than class III lasers. Most laser pointers are class IIIb, although I've seen lower. Note too that laser classification is based on power at the output, not at the source.

"Instant damage" is a bit over-stated, but class IIIb lasers (especially at the >100mW levels in the original article) are most definitely capable of causing retinal damage.

-JS

Its all fun and games.....

[Unloaded]

....till someone uses one of these as a cat toy...

Re:Its all fun and games.....

[SnapShot]

Luckily, the use of a laser pointer as a cat toy is patented and therefore you are required to get a license before engaging in such an activity. A reasonably responsible corporate entity would never grant such a license. (God, I wish I was joking).

Re:Its all fun and games.....

[SnapShot]

Some ignorant fucker accused me of being a troll... Here's the patent, my dear friend.

United States Patent 5,443,036
Amiss , et al. August 22, 1995
Method of exercising a cat

Abstract

A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.

It looks like they've gotten more sophisticated.

United States Patent 6,651,591
Chelen November 25, 2003

A pet toy and exerciser which produces an automatically movable, outwardly projected laser beam. The function thereof is to provide virtual "prey" for the stimulation and exercise of an animal. The device, which does not include a conventional motor, is small (e.g., can be handheld), lightweight, battery operated and silent, and has an extremely long potential cycle life. Electrically energized nitinol wires deflect a visible laser module to produce a virtual laser light target moved through three dimensions.

Disclaimer, ie, don't sue us if you're dumb.

[Anonymous Coward]

This laser is not legal to use in public, and while we are not asking for any proof that the buyer is qualified to own this device, we trust that it will be used in a responsible fashion.

Bwahahahahhahahhahahahaahah!

OMG

[LiquidCoooled]

from the article/sales pitch
- There is a 2 second delay after you click the "on" button before the laser will produce a beam.

Click.
Click.
Click.
(Peering into lens)
Hey why isn't this worARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH!

Warning!

[pegr]

Warning! Do not look into laser with remaining eye!

Re:Warning!

[savagedome]

Too late. Damn.

Re:Warning!

[BLAG-blast]

Warning! Do not look into laser with remaining eye!

Recent safery changes will probably not discourage this:

• - There is a 2 second delay after you click the "on" button before the laser will produce a beam.

Somebody thinking, "Hmmmm, last I used one of these it came on straight away and I lost my right eye, this unit must have something wrong with thiARRHRHGHHHH, my eye!"

Re:Warning!

[Majik Sznak]

Actually, natural selection at work. :)

Re:Warning!

[drinkypoo]

The best part is that this is apparently a requirement for making the device legal for licensing. Reminds me of how the US mandates that any soot in diesel exhaust here now has to be under a certain size, but the bigger particles are filtered out by lung cilia and the smaller ones aren't. Makes you wonder who makes this shit up.

PLEASE!

[af_robot]

Any links where i can also buy some fricken sharks?!

Obscure RPG Ref

[BrynM]

I can't get past Red clearance according to the beloved and benevolent Computer. After my last clone was killed by the room-blender-bot, the evidence of him not being a commie mutant traitor was destroyed. Red lasers for me until the next clone as I have to give my life to the needs of the Computer in a spectacular blaze of glory to redeem myslef... or volunteer to go outside for experiments! Eww!!! That fireball in the sky scares me. The Computer should have it destroyed!

What do you mean I said too much?!?!? I'm not a traitor! I'm not a commie spy! Nooooooo...........

Re:Obscure RPG Ref

[willfe]

Citizen, you are not authorized to disseminate this material to Infrared clearance citizens. You are also clearly not authorized to visit this underground "Slashdot" secret society network system. Please report for termination.

For your next clone's reference: there is no "fireball in the sky." There is no "outside." There are no "green lasers."

Thank you for your cooperation!

Re:Obscure RPG Ref

[Mr. Competence]

Citizen, you have revealed too much.
Go here or here for re-education.
Remember, the Computer is your friend.

Re:Obscure RPG Ref

[AvitarX]

We will always remember you [Name deleted due to traitorous information dissemination] for your noble works and experiments in the [Region Deleted due to non-existance] with the big [object deleted] in the [object deleted].

Re:What's a green security clearance?

[hyphz]

It's a joke based on an old classic RPG called Paranoia.

Security codes were assigned based on the UV spectrum, with Infrared being the lowest, and Ultraviolet the highest. The clothing and similar worn by people had to match their colour (or Black for IR and White for UV).

Lasers were the standard weapon in the game, and were coded according to the clearance of the firer. Reflective armor, protecting against lasers, was also coded by colour and couldn't protect against any laser of a shorter wavelength - so people had no protection of those of higher clearence than themselves.

Are these really stories?

[duckpoopy]

because they seem like advertisements...

Given that the "old" ones weren't used responsibly

[popo]

I remember reading that traditional "red laser" pointing devices were being banned from British football matches because fans would point them in to the eyes of goalkeepers. Someone told me that they were at a Liverpool match once and one of the goalkeepers had about 8 red dots all over his body when he made a save.

Now we've got something that can fry the friggin ball itself...

Anyone want to bet on the "responsible adult" factor for international soccer fans.

These things are a bad idea....

Re:What's a green security clearance?

[Allen Varney]

Anyone care to explain the color codes of security clearances?

The headline refers to the tabletop paper-and-pencil roleplaying game PARANOIA, originally published in 1984 by West End Games (New York City) and recently republished as PARANOIA XP by Mongoose Publishing (Swindon, UK).

PARANOIA is a satirical science fiction RPG set in an underground city, Alpha Complex, ruled by an insane Computer. The Computer has imposed an unbreakable system of security clearances that represent how much it trusts a given citizen. The security clearances are keyed to the colors of the spectrum. The lowest security clearance is INFRARED, meaning The Computer doesn't trust you at all; INFRARED citizens wear black. RED Clearances is the next highest, followed by ORANGE, YELLOW, and so on up to VIOLET. Above VIOLET Clerance are the illustrious High Programmers, the ULTRAVIOLETs, who can program The Computer itself. High Programmers wear white.

PARANOIA sold over 150,000 copies in its first couple of editions, and the new "XP" edition has been well received. You can find out a lot more about PARANOIA at the fan site Paranoia-Live.net, and follow the progress of the game on the PARANOIA development blog.

Re:Uses and mods for this laser.

[Danse]

Yeah.. but it wouldn't be very good as a sniper rifle.. hard to get them to hold still for 30 seconds or so while you burn a hole through them...

Coming Soon: Laser TV

[VernonNemitz]

Just need three lasers, red, blue (not yet widely available), and green, and means to switch their (big not needed!) output power to 256 levels very rapidly. Then a fairly simple arrangement of horizontal and vertical rotating mirrors can scan the flickering beams across, say, an ordinary home-movie projection screen, rather like we do with electron beams and electromagnets in a CRT. Somehow I think somebody somewhere has been working on this...but the lasers have so far been too expensive. But not much longer! Remember Blu-Ray? That diode laser is the last piece needed!

Now here's a real laser -

[slusich]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate gory=25278&item=3862662804&rd=1

Let's see what that does to a paper cup.

Re:What's a green security clearance?

[bckrispi]

Cizizen, would you mind explaining to me how you came about this information?

Re:Given that the "old" ones weren't used responsi

[Mantorp]

Someone told me that they were at a Liverpool match once and one of the goalkeepers had about 8 red dots all over his body when he made a save.

So that's the excuse they're going with now at Anfield.

laser classes

[SuperBanana]

But like the parent said, pump it up 20X in power and you are starting to be able to cause some real damage immediately.

The classifications are based upon wattage levels which will cause damage to the eye before your brain reacts AND the eyelid closes.

Anything over a certain class (II or III, I forget which) falls into the 'damage will happen before you blink" category. That's why they usually require a keylock on a shutter or output control, a lasing indicator light, etc. OSHA regs then mesh in with this- lasers in operation over a certain level mean guards on equipment, goggles for anyone in the room, blah blah.

Over a certain level in mW also requires approval from the FAA to use outdoors [at night] as it could blind pilots. Sounds silly for a single point source, but it's intended for laser light shows where hundreds or thousands of beams- which often sweep/scan out into the sky- stand an excellent chance of blinding a pilot.

Pretty much all the FAA does is say "sure" and then put out a NOTAM (NOtice to AirMen) saying "there be lasers here". NOTAMs are automatically pulled up if your flight plan crosses through the area the NOTAM applies to.

Lawn Mower

[Corrado]

Ok, I know I'm not the only one who has thought of this, but why not build a lawn mower out of this laser? It would be silent, energy efficient, compact, lightweight, non-polluting, and cheap to build and maintain. Just mount a spinning mirror to the bottom of a regular power mower and shine the laser down on it. You could even diffuse the beam so that it becomes "non-lethal" after 1 meter or so. It wouldn't even have to have an grass discharge outlet (clippings (c|w)ould burn up completely?) that usually let's all kinds of objects fly out at you.

This would be a much safer lawn mower than the one you have in your garage right now. Think about it; how many times have you run across rovers dog bone remains and had them shoot out at high speed? What about accidentally sticking your foot/hand in the path of the blade? At least with the laser it will make a clean cut. :)

Hell, I'd pay $1000 for a power mower with those qualities! I recently paid $300 for a crappy mower and good ones are going for $500. Then there's the upkeep (spark plugs, oil changes, fuel consumption, etc.) that rack up at least $100/year. In 5 year's time, this mower would pay for itself.

Hmmmm...I gotta go now... /me runs to USPO!

Re:Crap like this...

[Ageless]

Nope, and neither can this laser.

I don't know if you've ever played with a laser pointer or not, but I can't even hold one still enough to keep a dot within a centimeter from one side of my living room to the other for a few seconds. That's about 11 feet. Now, I suppose that if you could get within 11 feet of the pilot you might be able to blind him if he didn't see you standing there with a laser but from that distance you could just throw a rock into the turbine and blow the engine up.

More likely, if you are in the pilot blinding business you are going to be a good few thousand feet away. Add in to that that it's going to be difficult to find a place where you can stand and get line of sight into the pilots eyes. I don't know about you, but when I look up at a plane I see the bottom, which is usually made of metal, not glass. I'll give that if you tried real hard you might be able to find a tall hill within a few thousand feet of the airport that would give you line of sight to the pilots eyes.

Now that you've got your hill, and your laser and a plane is taking off (or landing) facing directly at you you just need to aim it right at his eyes. I'm assuming here that you have mounted some huge scope to the laser so you can *find* the pilot's eyes from 1000+ feet. And probably a tripod. All that's left is to hold that beam right on his eye for several seconds while he's moving, the plane's moving and you are moving. Don't forget the beam is going to be spread out some at that distance, which means less power per square centimeter which means you have to hit him longer.

Is it possible? Just barely with great resources and planning. Is it likely? No. Once again, just buy a $150 rifle from Walmart and shoot holes in the fuel tanks.

Re:For Adults only

[jebell]

Tell me if I'm wrong, but in the States, don't they sell GUNS to everyone?

Yes. Everyone in the U.S.A. is sold a gun at birth.

Fear us.