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U of MI Produces Strongest Laser Ever

eldavojohn writes "Weighing in at a mere 20 billion trillion watts per square centimeter and containing a measly 300 terawatts of power, the University of Michigan has broken a record with a 1.3-micron speck wide laser. It's about two orders of magnitude higher than any other laser in the world and can perform for 30 femtoseconds once every ten seconds — some of the researchers speculate it is the most powerful laser in the universe. 'If you could hold a giant magnifying glass in space and focus all the sunlight shining toward Earth onto one grain of sand, that concentrated ray would approach the intensity of a new laser beam made in a University of Michigan laboratory ... To achieve this beam, the research team added another amplifier to the HERCULES laser system, which previously operated at 50 terawatts. HERCULES is a titanium-sapphire laser that takes up several rooms at U-M's Center for Ultrafast Optical Science. Light fed into it bounces like a pinball off a series of mirrors and other optical elements. It gets stretched, energized, squeezed and focused along the way.'" And ... cue the evil chortling.

5 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Sharks by Shakrai · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Ah, but will they be able to fit it to Sharks with Frickin' Lasers?

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  2. Sharks? by Ganty · · Score: 0, Redundant

    But will it fit on a shark?

    Ganty

  3. Re:Safety first by flyingsquid · · Score: -1, Redundant

    "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!"

  4. Warning label. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    “Do not look into laser with remaining head.”

  5. Found on a sign on the front of the laser... by waterford0069 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "Do not look into laser with remaining eye"