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The Texas Petawatt Laser

Posted by kdawson on from the you-can-pet-a-dog-or-you-can-pet-a-cat dept.

Roland Piquepaille notes the hype surrounding what the University of Texas at Austin is calling the world's most powerful laser. During a tenth of a femtosecond this laser is 2,000 times more powerful than all the power plants in the US, and is brighter than sunlight on the surface of the Sun. On his own blog Roland points out that UT's is not the first petawatt laser; that distinction belongs to a system installed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1996.

19 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. We're all wondering... by dj_tla · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will this laser have to be attached to significantly more powerful sharks?

    1. Re:We're all wondering... by Icarium · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wouldn't firing this laser underwater make the water uncomfortably hot? Please people, think of the sharks!

    2. Re:We're all wondering... by walt-sjc · · Score: 3, Funny

      Bah - who needs sharks... They will just install them in military jets for when they need a LOT of popcorn...

      "Kent, this is Jesus.... And stop playing with yourself..."

    3. Re:We're all wondering... by Tribbin · · Score: 4, Funny

      It will look a little like this:

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/BFG9000doom2.jpg

      --
      If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
    4. Re:We're all wondering... by garett_spencley · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Btw, for the same reason, this type of laser is completely useless as a weapon."

      Thanks. Another slashdotter crushes another one of my hopes and dreams. Jerk :(

    5. Re:We're all wondering... by Missing_dc · · Score: 2, Funny

      But what we really want to know is:

      Have they tried levitating a squirrel yet?

      --
      How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
    6. Re:We're all wondering... by Dancindan84 · · Score: 3, Funny

      But... sharks don't have hands.

      --
      "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
  2. Pish. by AndGodSed · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am holding out for Laser Eye Implants.

    (Just don't go glaring at yourself in the mirror...)

    --

    Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

    1. Re:Pish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's all good, so long as you remember to shout "BEHOLD! OPTIC BLAST!" before doing it.

    2. Re:Pish. by l1gunman · · Score: 3, Funny

      WARNING: Do not look directly into laser with remaining eye.

  3. Sorry boys by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

    It'll never work. There's just no peta tonne shark to put it on.

  4. But... by Rix · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can it levitate a squirrel?

  5. Time duration? by superash · · Score: 1, Funny

    During a tenth of a femtosecond this laser is ... brighter than sunlight on the surface of the Sun That is 10 to the power of -16 of a second. Such comparisons are ridiculous because even I can say my torch is brighter than the sunlight on the surface of the sun for 1 gazillionth of a second. :P

  6. Uses? by sjs132 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Am I the only one thinking about "Real Genius"? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/

    Lets get ready to cook some popcorn!

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    --- Relax, that mass muderer is just trying to reduce our carbon footprint, one fetus at a time...
  7. For a tenth of a femtosecond... by weremook · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am the greatest lover that ever lived.

    But seriously,I have been electrocuted by 20,000V at significant current several times. But only for a few hundred nanoseconds at a time. Sparks plugs rock.

  8. Re:Wrong about the Sun and petawatts by Swampash · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would be happier if they expressed the power of this laser in the recognized units of "Libraries of Congress" and "football fields".

  9. Re:So what? by kalirion · · Score: 3, Funny

    To be honest, its hard to get excited about this with the LHC coming online soon.

    True, what's the most this laser could do, cut the Earth in half? Pretty tame compared with the LHC recreating the Big Bang and destroying the universe as we know it.

  10. I hear Pacific Tech is right behind them by SocietyoftheFist · · Score: 3, Funny

    They have a freshman wonder kid and a graduating senior working together on breakthrough laser designs.

  11. Correction: by JSBiff · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Don't Lase me, Bro!"

    Fixed it for you.