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After 60 Years, a Room-Temperature Maser
gbrumfiel writes "Before there were lasers, there were masers: systems that amplified microwaves instead of light. Solid state masers are used in a variety of applications, including deep space communication, but they've never been as popular as lasers, in part because they have to be cooled to near absolute zero in order to work. Now a team of British physicists have built a room-temperature maser using some spare chemicals and a laser they bought off of eBay. The new device is 100 million times as powerful as existing masers and might revolutionize telecommunications."
"Using spare chemicals, a laser bought on eBay and angst from a late-night argument, physicists have got the world's first room-temperature microwave laser working."
Getting this to work reliably is going to require a reliable source of angst. Any high school should do the trick.
This is a thread I'll get my popcorn for.
Must be just you...
* When I need a hat on it's cold
* When my beer in the truck freezes overnight then it's really cold
* When the diesel in my truck freezes overnight then it's really cold.
* When my desktop maser works without any external cooling, then it's near absolute zero.
You may be destined for a long unpleasant online experience.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Your mom's basement has a window?
Well, it's 'technically' a poster of two girls standing on the beach... not a real window.