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Can World's Largest Laser Zap Earth's Energy Woes?

newviewmedia.com writes "Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory plan on using a laser the size of three football fields to set off a nuclear reaction so intense that it will make a star bloom on the surface of the Earth. If they're successful, the scientists hope to solve the global energy crisis by harnessing the energy generated by the mini-star."

23 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by germ!nation · · Score: 5, Funny

    <spoiler>
        everyone dies apart from Bruce Willis
    </spoiler>

  2. Re:bad journalism by dintech · · Score: 5, Funny

    And from the article

    you'll have to suspend all previous notions about what a laser looks like. This one is basically a giant factory full of tubes.

    Ted Stevens, is that you?

  3. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by Ironchew · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't worry, it's safe to approach during nighttime.

  4. How long until..... by cb95amc · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...these laser are small enough to be mounted on a shark.....

  5. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by TrentTheThief · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Don't worry folks. The fire at Lawrence Livermore will burn itself out at the Mississippi."

  6. Re:Funding... Anyone? by ShadowRangerRIT · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nah. Fusion power is supposed to be perpetually 10 or 20 years away. They made a big mistake with that deadline; with a mere two year timeline, people will actually remember what was promised when the deadline passes.

    --
    $_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
  7. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, if the star turns out to be a problem, you can get rid of it with a black hole from the LHC...

  8. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by stonedcat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Better yet, almost everyone lives apart from Bruce Willis!

    --
    You can't take the sky from me.
  9. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by Walterk · · Score: 4, Funny

    At the very least this is one laser you don't want to look into with your remaining eye.

  10. Or its a weapon? by elucido · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wouldn't be surprised if its a death star type laser.

  11. Wanted... by Heed00 · · Score: 4, Funny

    One frickin' huge shark.

    --
    Thought thinks itself.
  12. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    My question is "Can we find a shark big enough?"

  13. White cat by Alain+Williams · · Score: 3, Funny

    We should be safe unless the director of the facility has a white cat, is surrounded by beautiful girls, has a tank of sharks for visitors, ....

  14. Brief though it may be ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Won't we be for at least a short time a binary system?

  15. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by halcyon1234 · · Score: 2, Funny

    But damn if this doesn't sound like the opening to the plot of a disaster movie.

    It is. It's the plot of Spiderman 2.

    Oh, wait, I thought you said disastrous movie.

  16. Re:The BBC did this much better, back in January by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, don't complain - usually we just link to a blog, which links to another blog linking a twitter feed with a tinurl-obfuscated link to another blog finally linking to a tabloid article. When you worked yourself through that link chain, you have all the information you need to google for the original source, which, of course, is behind a paywall.

    --
    Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
  17. I wonder by xednieht · · Score: 4, Funny

    If the laser is the size of 3 football fields how big does the shark have to be?

    --

    Hope is the currency of fools
  18. Any chance we could use the laser ON Mississippi? by Benfea · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just curious.

  19. Re:And nothing could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    How about the fact that the SELF SUSTAINING FUSION REACTION goes out in the water like a fucking candle? Noooo, nothing will put out a fusion reaction, except, you know, the same thing that puts out a regular fire.

    Hey, fuckfaces (aimed at the writers and producers), Spiderman is a story about a geek overcoming physical limitations to enact justice using his well above average intellect and insight. That's right, it's a movie for geeks. You know, the kind of people who would SCOFF at the mutilation of science.

    Next time, remember that you can't spell science fiction without science. Pfft, if your movies indicate that you probably can't spell anything.

  20. Re:bad journalism by machine321 · · Score: 3, Funny

    nobody can second guess what fruits fundemental research will bear.

    Most of the research I've done into fundamentalists indicates that they don't bear fruits well at all.

    And I don't think you're supposed to call them "fruits", it's kind of derogatory.

  21. Re:So... by couchslug · · Score: 2, Funny

    Budget restrictions prevented that, so they will use Roseanne Barr in a finned sharkskin bikini.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  22. the size of three football fields by gencha · · Score: 2, Funny

    These people with their science talk...

  23. Re:bad journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They are trying to figure out the time cube. That's the third reason.