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67-Kilowatt Laser Unveiled
s31523 writes "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has announced they have working in the lab a Solid State Heat Capacity Laser that averages 67 kW. It is being developed for the military. The chief scientist Dr. Yamamoto is quoted: 'I know of no other solid state laser that has achieved 67 kW of average output power.' Although many lasers have peaked at higher capacities, getting the average sustained power to remain high is the tricky part. The article says that hitting the 100-kW level, at which point it would become interesting as a battlefield weapon, could be less than a year away."
Picture in TFA shows a trailer which you would presumably tow through the streets of Baghdad zapping potential IED's but the opposition in that country have shown that they have the ability to adapt to changed conditions. So the bombs they plant will be in places you can't tow a huge trailer, or outside a place where blowing up the IED will only make you get the blame for killing civilians.
Too much overhead, not enough payload.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
The article does not mention that any reflection off whatever the laser is aiming at is many kW as well. A small polished piece of steel would reflect 80% in some random direction, and the beam will go until it reaches something. Only a few milli Watts would be sufficient to damage the eyes of civilian spectators, so a reflection could easily permanently blind everyone in a football stadium of 50000 people.
"Fix it"
... the Iraqi insurgents come up with the 100kW mirror!
What kind of non-military applications exist for a 100kW laser... a Houseful-of-Popcorn-O-Matic?
Can't say I'm surprised really. The funny thing is that no other nation sees the need to spend anything like the US military budget. I suppose the argument goes that there are people around the world who hate freedom, and since the US is the 'most free' nation on Earth, well, they're prime targets. Problem is that the US isn't the 'most free' nation on Earth - not by a long shot. Scratch that theory. The alternate argument goes that there are a lot of people around the world who hate US foreign police. This argument seems far more sensible. So for US citizens, the correct path would be to change foreign policy, right? Problem is, US citizens don't live in a democracy, so can't affect the foreign policy of their ruling class. Think I'm wrong? Think again. They just voted out the Republicans in an absolute landslide which is largely recognised as being a rejection of Republican foreign policy, but you watch just how much that policy changes, both now AND when they get rid of Emperor Dubya.
For those who see these laser protecting them from the terrorists' attacks on their homes, I think this is being a bit naive. This laser is to protect military equipment on the battlefield, and the ruling class at home. Just look at how the military didn't lift a finger to stop 9/11, even though they had precise warnings from multiple credible sources. The only thing the US government did was to protect Bin Laden's family after 9/11, flying them back home to safety.
You need to put the reflective surface on the intercept side of the substrate, glass or otherwise. That way, it is the first thing the laser hits. And of course, you'd better make sure that the efficiency is high enough that the laser doesn't manage to ablate the coating. Maybe coatings aren't that good an idea in the first place. Maybe thick, mirror-polished armor that can direct heat away from the surface really quickly is more what you want. Of course, a little dirt on there, you have a localized heat event, and all of a sudden things aren't as reflective as they should be, and zonk, you have a hole right through the armor.
100 KW for a battlefield laser, eh? Personally, I'm thinking being in front of one of these is a very, very bad idea.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Insightful how? Making mirrors that can withstand 100+kW of energy you can't exactly go down to your hardware store. Insurgents have nowhere near the facilities or technology to create anything close to withstanding 100kW.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
It's very subjective. It's easier to so which nation isn't the most free than it is to say which is...
... and this is supported by the state, under Chavez. They're also setting up co-managed factories, where workers elect managers, and can also recall them. This is also a very good step in the right direction, democracy-wise. Read up on the Bolivarian revolution for more info on what direction they're heading in.
... as Guantanimo Bay is itself an example of where the US is heading.
Venezuela is looking very promising. They're creating soviet-style workers' councils and other community-based groups
As a general rule, the level of development of capitalism inside a country mirrors the level of attacks on personal freedoms. So the big economic powers require more and more power to control their population. This was shown very well in the recent anti-Dick Cheney demos in Sydney. We broke numerous records for police numbers, roads closed, and probably personal injuries resulting from police violence. So I don't think Australia is exactly leading the way here either. Our government's abandonment of David Hicks in Guantanimo Bay for 5 years is another example
Both "sharks" and "ohgodsomeonewilltagthissharks" are retarded tags. Christ children, the tag system is there to make is easy to search for related stories. Stop using it for a cheap laugh. Some of us are getting tired of the growing immaturity on slashdot. Hell I remember when there used to be more comments modded insightful and interesting then there were modded funny. That's gotten pretty rare.
In a couple years you may actually want to look at all the stories about (for example) lasers. Does it make sense to search for "sharks"?
That ought to liven up the PowerPoint presentations a bit.
thanks! that works well on obnoxious Kzinti
I come at home on a Saturday night and with a moderate amount of anticipation open the RSS feed of Slashdot
.. even web journalism.
for interesting news. To my dismay I find articles titled "What Vista is Really Like", "Pendulum swinging toward privacy", "A bad month for Firefox" and a bunch of user written comments moderated as 1 point.
A couple of nights ago there was "SETI finally finds something", another "humorous" article plunging well
below any standard of journalism
This has been going on for a while now, with article descriptions often ending in brain-numbing questions,
apparently as a sorry attempt to spark conversation.
(Ladies and) Gentlemen at slashdot, please don't let Fox news get to you.
I admit this post may have been provocative and if I don't like what i read, I should be the one to change my habits but yet again it is my opinion that Slashdot wasn't always this mundane.
I wish you all the the best.
2. If you want to read about lasers, search for 'sharks'
3. If you want to read about Microsoft doing something good, search for 'itsatrap'
4. If you want to read about Vista, search for 'defectivebydesign'
5. If you want to read about Canada, search for 'blamecanada'
Nowhere in the tagging beta faq does it say that the main purpose of tags is for searching. It says "We don't know exactly how this will all work, and a lot of it really depends on you." Just because a tag isn't popular doesn't mean you can't use it. I tend to use the tag 'lawsuit' for anything related to somebody suing somebody, although i don't usually see it pop up to the top.