EU Working On Most Powerful Laser Ever Built

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EU Working On Most Powerful Laser Ever Built

Posted by samzenpus on Monday November 19, 2012 @02:35AM from the that's-no-moon dept.

kkleiner writes "On the coattails of CERN's success with the Large Hadron Collider, Europeans and the world at large have another grand science project to be excited about: the Extreme Light Infrastructure project to build the most powerful laser ever constructed. These lasers will be intense enough to perform electron dynamics experiments at very short time scales or venture into relativistic optics, opening up an entirely new field of physics for study. Additionally, the lasers could be combined to generate a super laser that would shoot into space, similar to the combined laser effect of the Death Star in the Star Wars trilogy, though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets."

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What if we tried more power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:38 · Score: 3, Interesting

http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
1. Re:What if we tried more power? by ranulf · 2012-11-19 02:53 · Score: 1
  
  What about all the stuff in the atmosphere the laser will destroy before it hits anything in space? It's not like we need another hole in the ozone layer...
2. Re:What if we tried more power? by TheSkepticalOptimist · 2012-11-19 04:54 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Sigh.
  
  --
  I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
3. Re:What if we tried more power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
  What about all the stuff in the atmosphere the laser will destroy before it hits anything in space? It's not like we need another hole in the ozone layer...
  Yes, but look on the bright side, everybody between 0 degrees E and 120 degrees E, would be treated to a rain of roasted bird meat.
4. Re:What if we tried more power? by Synerg1y · 2012-11-19 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  That's a badass laser... 1w laser for "personal" use
Already featured by CRCulver · 2012-11-19 02:38 · Score: 4, Insightful

Slashdot has already featured at least one story recently about ELI. I can only assume that we're seeing this again because the possibility of shark jokes leads to more page views, which in turn generated more profits from advertising for this site's avarice-drunk proprietors.
1. Re:Already featured by Razgorov+Prikazka · 2012-11-19 03:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It will be either the 'sharks with frikkin lasers atached to their head'-jokes, or an accumulation of these people who thought that the LHC would produce micro-black-holes getting all excited about blowing something up. Turning from black hole alarmist to Death Star alarmists.
  I wonder if these people are the same as the;
  - OMG the acidic rain will render the world uninhabitable! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG the LHC will end the world with a man-made black hole! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG they want to ship radio active waste to the moon! Think about the radiation! Think about the kids! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG you drove a car today, according to these models, that will raise the sea level three feet by next Thursday you idiot! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG the Mayan calender is going to finish us all! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG they want to teach the kids Darwinism! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG the Y2K bug! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG Ponies!
  These people somehow never get tired of running around, waving their arms in the air like an evil Dervish... Just like some people are never getting tired of sharks / beowulf clusters / does it run Linux / your anus jokes... No matter how funny / annoying (pick one) that is, it is less harmful than the alarmist. So, I would really rather have you picking at the alarmist :-)
  
  --
  rm -rf --no-preserve-root / ...and let /dev/null sort them out...
2. Re:Already featured by craigminah · 2012-11-19 03:11 · Score: 1
  
  One of the most spot on posts I've seen here in a while; touche. I'd be more fearful of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program but even that monstrosity won't FUBAR the ozone...the ionosphere and/or localized weather maybe, but rest easy, your beloved ozone layer is safe for now.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program
3. Re:Already featured by Whiteox · 2012-11-19 03:59 · Score: 1
  
  I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
  
  --
  Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
4. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:05 · Score: 0
  
  While there are some genuine alarmists, in a lot of cases the people concerned over a given issue are not alarmist; media looking for a more exciting story, or opponents wishing to ridicule their concerns come up with the over-the-top alarmism. While some of your examples have questionable merit, it's perfectly reasonable to be concerned about ocean acidification, or launching radioactive waste through our atmosphere, or ponies; most people who have these concerns aren't running around waving their hands in the air and prophesying doom, they're just keeping an eye on the issue, trying to figure out the extent of the problem, and thinking about how it might be solved. So just remember that hand-wringing, doom-foretelling alarmist caricature that you mock is just that; a largely fictional caricature, which shouldn't be allowed to obscure the real issues that exist.
5. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:48 · Score: 0
  
  How about, "OMG - If we detonate an atom bomb in our atmosphere, babies will be born with defects!" Oh wait, that really happened.
  Or, "OMG - If we dump toxic waste with no regard for the consequences, people will get deadly cancers in alarmingly high rates!" Oh, right. That happened, too.
  Don't forget, "OMG the Y2K bug! We must do something or we are all gonna die!" Um, we did something. We fixed a crapload of unsustainable code. And there was a lot less calamity than would otherwise have been the case.
  I could go on... "OMG, if we intensify beef production, without any regard to potential health hazards, people might get infected with brain-eating bacteria. And die!"
6. Re:Already featured by Lord+Lode · 2012-11-19 04:49 · Score: 1
  
  You know, for this calibre of laser, it cannot be an ordinary shark...
7. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 06:04 · Score: 0
  
  - OMG the LHC will end the world with a man-made black hole! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  - OMG Ponies!
  
  Dec 1, 2808: Doomsday.
8. Re:Already featured by prefec2 · 2012-11-19 06:28 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It will be either the 'sharks with frikkin lasers atached to their head'-jokes, or an accumulation of these people who thought that the LHC would produce micro-black-holes getting all excited about blowing something up. Turning from black hole alarmist to Death Star alarmists.
  I wonder if these people are the same as the;
  - OMG the acidic rain will render the world uninhabitable! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  Well they said, acid rain destroys the forests. And it did. There was an significant increase in dead trees. The famous black forest became almost a no forest. So we did something about it and and now things are going to improve.
  
  - OMG the LHC will end the world with a man-made black hole! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  That are definitely other people, because they did not have any proof at all. While in the previous version, trees could be counted and their health could be determined. the latter folks did not even provide a sound theory.
  
  - OMG they want to ship radio active waste to the moon! Think about the radiation! Think about the kids! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  That sounds more like the first group. They calculated the risk to the ecosystem when a plutonium based reactor falls back to earth, breaks up in the atmosphere etc. However, shipping the waste to the moon or even into earth orbit is unbelievable expensive.
  
  - OMG you drove a car today, according to these models, that will raise the sea level three feet by next Thursday you idiot! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  You seem to have trouble to categorize things correctly. If earth temperature rises. Or to be more precise. When we have more energy in the earth system, then that leads to more melted ice in Greenland and Antarctica. However, that will not rise the sea level today. It will affect your kids and their kids. They have to move New York or convert it into some Venice. The IPCC is definitely not an alarmist group.
  
  - OMG the Mayan calender is going to finish us all! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  These guys are alarmists or even crazy. Simply because they have no proof. The only thing they have is a calendar, which ends after 6000 years. Well the world never ended when millions of calendars ended last year on December 31st. So why should that be different with that Mayan calendar. this is typical nonsense from people who have no insight into science.
  
  - OMG they want to teach the kids Darwinism! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  Ah now you referring to Christian fundamentalists. As they oppose science, they fall in that alarmists group.
  
  - OMG the Y2K bug! We must do something or we are all gonna die!
  This was a marketing scheme (partly). However, if they had not fixed so many systems, it would have caused some trouble. But nothing serious.
  
  - OMG Ponies!
  Is this pony thing a dangerous event? I must have missed that. ;-)
9. Re:Already featured by Synerg1y · 2012-11-19 06:30 · Score: 0
  
  I'd like to order one of those sharks w a laser attached to it's head please.
10. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 06:53 · Score: 0
  
  OMG. If we don't do something toxin accumulation and increased cell damage in the body, we're all gonna die! ......eventually.
11. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 08:08 · Score: 0
  
  How do you know that the LHC didn't create a black hole, and you're falling into it right now?
12. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 08:29 · Score: 0
  
  Don't look into that link with your remaining eye!
13. Re:Already featured by Razgorov+Prikazka · 2012-11-19 09:34 · Score: 1
  
  Here is some positive news for you: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/ff_apocalypsenot/all/
  Happy reading!
  By the way, ponies ARE dangerous. The risks can be reduced greatly by feeding them with a flattened hand (not getting your keyboard-sausages in that grinder) and when you want to walk behind them take some distance so they wont kick you. I dont want to sound like an alarmist, but... well, y'know :-)
  
  --
  rm -rf --no-preserve-root / ...and let /dev/null sort them out...
14. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 09:48 · Score: 0
  
  You're so right, we need more stories about bitcoin or apple. So dumb of the editors to post science stories on a website with the tagline 'News for nerds'.
15. Re:Already featured by craigminah · 2012-11-19 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  Please cite references or your post will be terminated...
16. Re:Already featured by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-20 04:09 · Score: 0
  
  Please cite references or your post will be terminated...
  Yikes. Kina harsh, no? Unlike a lot of slashdotters, I speak a bit more from the heart. I'm not one of these, "Well actually..." people, who seem to know more about the subject at hand than all the editors of Discover Magazine and the New England Journal of Medicine, combined. I thought it was commonly accepted that nuclear radiation, if improperly, um... dispensed, can cause health issues in humans. I certainly don't want my post to be "terminated".
  So, regarding radiation: http://news.discovery.com/human/nuclear-radiation-exposure-gender-110607.html
  Regarding toxic waste: http://www.northshoreonline.com/woburn/
  Regarding Y2K: http://www.fema.gov/news-release/pacific-nw-weathers-y2k-well, http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142555/Y2K_The_good_the_bad_and_the_crazy?pageNumber=3#saved
  And regarding intensify beef production, without any regard to potential health hazards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy
  P.S. Anonymous posters may be cowards, but having a username is not exactly the same as owning up to what you post. Just sayin...
not like the death star... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:39 · Score: 0

besides we all know if it came down to it the eu would be the rebel alliance, not like the americans that still execute their own people... ...yeah i went there
1. Re:not like the death star... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:47 · Score: 0
  
  You know, I'd never thought of about it before, but Sci-Fi has given lasers a really bad rep... there must be something cool and none killy they can be used for (that is still exciting in ways that laymen can appriciate)
2. Re:not like the death star... by HappyHead · 2012-11-19 03:14 · Score: 2
  
  They could use it to carve their names on the moon.
3. Re:not like the death star... by BenJury · 2012-11-19 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  Everyone knows lasers are for either destroying planets or confusing cats!
  
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4. Re:not like the death star... by dragon-file · 2012-11-19 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  Proton pack for catching ghosts? That's cool, and not "killy". And what pre-teen (laymen) doesn't love ghostbusters?
  
  --
  Whenever a player quits EVE to go play WoW, the Average IQ of both games increase.
5. Re:not like the death star... by Synerg1y · 2012-11-19 06:32 · Score: 1
  
  Best cat video I've seen in a while, well played.
If they are building it on the moon by jd2112 · 2012-11-19 02:41 · Score: 4, Funny

And referring to it as the "Alan Parsons" project then I'm all for it.

--
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
1. Re:If they are building it on the moon by deroby · 2012-11-19 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  Humppfff... Cough...rip-off... cough...
  
  --
  If there is one thing to be learned on slashdot, it has to be sarcasm.
2. Re:If they are building it on the moon by blind+biker · 2012-11-19 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  That project calls for a giant "laser" to be put on the moon.
  
  --
  "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Next up by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:42 · Score: 0

the most powerful shark
Which group? by Sez+Zero · 2012-11-19 02:43 · Score: 2, Funny

Which group is working on the Extreme Shark Project? And the Extreme Laser Forehead Mounting Project?

Enquiring evil minds want to know...
It might have something to do... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-11-19 02:45 · Score: 1

...with Elon Musk's statements on Ariane 5. Talk about sabotaging the competition!

--
Ezekiel 23:20
Common Sense Really by mfh · 2012-11-19 02:46 · Score: 1

Please don't fire a super powerful world-destroying laser into space. It is quite likely you will eventually hit something we might need someday.

--
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
1. Re:Common Sense Really by o'reor · 2012-11-19 02:54 · Score: 1
  
  It is quite likely you will eventually hit something we might need someday.
  
  Or the laser beam could come around and bite us in the ass.
  
  --
  In Soviet Russia, our new overlords are belong to all your base.
2. Re:Common Sense Really by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think we will need our ass in the future. We will have robotic bodies by then
3. Re:Common Sense Really by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-11-19 03:27 · Score: 2
  
  Being that lasers travel at the speed of light, and we don't, we wouldn't hit anything that we could reach, really soon.
  It might make a good Star Trek episode, though. The Enterprise gets zapped by a laser fired eons ago, by a civilization that no longer exists. When the crew warps on over to take a look, they just find a bunch of peaceful Cylons, or something.
  And then the Captain gets it on with Number 6 . . .
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
4. Re:Common Sense Really by slashmojo · 2012-11-19 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  As long as it's not a mirror..
5. Re:Common Sense Really by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  In more seriousness, it is rather difficult to focus such beams over astronomical distances, ultimately limited by fundamental limits due to diffraction*. Once you get past roughly one or two times the Rayleigh length, the beam will essentially be spreading in a cone and subject to inverse square losses. The Rayleigh length is basically pi*width^2/wavelength, where the width is the minimum width (making a bunch of assumptions about nice Gaussian beam for best case...). A 100 m wide beam, would pretty much be diverging before it hits another planet in our solar system, and would be less than 1% of its power density by the time it reaches Saturn. If the beam were made narrower, it would crap out much sooner (e.g. a 10 m beam would have trouble not far beyond the moon). So as long as we don't hit anything in orbit with it around Earth, it should be fine.
  * High power laser beams in air can self-focus due to making a plasma out of the air that acts like a continuous lens. Maybe a pair producing laser can do the same thing in vacuum. But power from the beam is consumed in making the plasma pretty quickly, so while self-focusing, you still have a lot of power drop off with distance.
6. Re:Common Sense Really by mfh · 2012-11-19 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  >And then the Captain gets it on with Number 6 . . .
  I like where your head is at.
  
  --
  The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
7. Re:Common Sense Really by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 07:41 · Score: 0
  
  Despite the arconym, lasers are not immune to diffusion. A solar powered laser based in orbit near Mercury and with sufficient energy to destroy the earth would be dismissed as a measurement error if aimed at (and observed by) a planet in orbit of Alpha Centauri.
  On a related note, I have the start for a really bad multi-game crossover fanfic.
8. Re:Common Sense Really by idontgno · 2012-11-19 09:07 · Score: 1
  
  In that case, I sincerely hope our metal asses are shiny. So that the laser doesn't bite it.
  
  --
  Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
9. Re:Common Sense Really by PPH · 2012-11-19 11:50 · Score: 1
  
  Or just miss someone with a bigger laser and better aim.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
Re:there was a time, by MyLongNickName · 2012-11-19 02:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

Your logic is very bad. The US National Ignition Facility is currently the home of the most powerful laser. So, your demise of the US prediction is vastly overstated. Then you have the fact that it is okay for other governments to do great things to. It is called being part of a community instead of being a hermit. Other countries' accomplishments don't detract from ours,

--
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That's no moon by ZeroSerenity · 2012-11-19 02:50 · Score: 1

Said by the scientists after they blow it up with the laser.

--
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
Obligatory... by hey_popey · 2012-11-19 02:51 · Score: 1, Interesting

http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
That's no moon! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:53 · Score: 0

It's an entire planet instead!
Petraus Replacement. by geekmux · 2012-11-19 02:54 · Score: 1

..."Additionally, the lasers could be combined to generate a super laser that would shoot into space, similar to the combined laser effect of the Death Star in the Star Wars trilogy, though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets."
Uh, you sure about that last part?
I guess you didn't get the memo that General D. Vader will be taking Petraus' spot. I hear he was practically a shoo-in for the job, and he's got some blueprints with him...
There was also the matter of a rather sizable order of shark helmets ordered from someone named D.R. Evil...not sure what that's all about, but the purchase request oddly came out of the same budget...
1. Re:Petraus Replacement. by YttriumOxide · 2012-11-19 17:50 · Score: 1
  
  I guess you didn't get the memo that General D. Vader will be taking Petraus' spot.
  While it adds nothing to the topic, I have to use this opportunity to mention that there's an office in my building with a nameplate outside it "D. Maul". Turns out to be an excessively tall scary looking woman with what amounts to a slightly outgrown crew-cut.
  
  --
  My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
  Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
Hype by rossdee · 2012-11-19 02:57 · Score: 1

". Additionally, the lasers could be combined to generate a super laser that would shoot into space, similar to the combined laser effect of the Death Star in the Star Wars trilogy, though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets.""
Don't reporters realize that Star Wars is fiction, only loosely based on science.
To vaporize a planet would take more than the power output of (a star like) the sun.
And shooting a big laser into space from the surface of the earth would be complicated by the atmosphere (clouds, dust particles, birds...)
1. Re:Hype by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:17 · Score: 0
  
  ". Additionally, the lasers could be combined to generate a super laser that would shoot into space, similar to the combined laser effect of the Death Star in the Star Wars trilogy, though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets.""
  Don't reporters realize that Star Wars is fiction, only loosely based on science..
  Staring at an idiot wearing dreads and a piece of cow shit as a forehead "speaking" Klingon, and you're going to tell me it's the reporters who take science fiction too seriously?
  (Dr. Evil) Riiiiiight...
Warning: by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 02:57 · Score: 0

Do not look into Extreme Light Infrastructure with remaining eye.
Re:there was a time, by somersault · 2012-11-19 03:12 · Score: 5, Funny

There was a time when the US didn't have such a nasty superiority complex. It didn't last that long though..

--
which is totally what she said
"The Goal" by caspy7 · 2012-11-19 03:14 · Score: 2

"...though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets."
*wink* *wink*
Ah yes, I hear you loud & clear scientists. You want to "study" "particles" in "space".
Just try not to leave the moon in too many pieces while you're studying it...
WHAT A COINCIDENCE !! SO AM I !! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:20 · Score: 0

I will have the most powerful laser ever, far exceeding the measley european laser by light years !!
Re:there was a time, by elashish14 · 2012-11-19 03:24 · Score: 1

Why should they?
I'm all for pushing the envelope when there's an incentive involved. The National Ignition Facility was built with the specific purpose of developing a means for safe and sustainable nuclear power - this is a great reason to build a bigger laser. On the other hand, building the Biggest Laser In The World just for the sake of it is a pointless pissing contest and a sad waste of government revenue. Of course, the US already wastes enough on its defense budget; this is a far greater tragedy, but I digress.

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Re:there was a time, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:27 · Score: 0

There was a time when people didn't personify entire countries by what they saw on the news or read on Slashdot too. That lasted even less time.
shoot orbiting space junk to test! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:48 · Score: 0

They should try it out on some of the thousands of useless space junk in orbit!
Dumbing down by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 03:59 · Score: 1

Do we really need a Star Wars analogy to become interested in this project? Shouldn't the fact that this will be the most powerful laser in the world be reason enough for people to take note?
This is equivalent some guy telling his buddy "I'm going to buy a new car, it's like a M-50 Tank crossed with a red Italian supercar, except it's really a Ford Escape with the 1.6 liter engine option."
...yet by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:03 · Score: 0

nt
Pink Floyd by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:11 · Score: 0

When can I see it at a Pink Floyd concert?
this is what happened... by gadget+junkie · 2012-11-19 04:31 · Score: 1

[Imperial commando]:" this is the cover story:"Additionally, the lasers could be combined to generate a super laser that would shoot into space, similar to the combined laser effect of the Death Star in the Star Wars trilogy, though the goal is to study particles in space, not annihilate planets.""

--
"If a boss demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty." (John Boyd, 1927-1997)
laser beam through the stars by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:48 · Score: 0

I guess they are guessing right. This thing is clearly financed by the military. But how much does to shoot such a laser cost? Isn't a bomb cheaper?
Looks like the military are stupid or learnt science from bad Hollywood movies.
How scientists can trick the military, that's good.
1. Re:laser beam through the stars by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 05:40 · Score: 0
  
  Well, if it were to be used by military, it surely would be used on targets in the sky, maybe missiles, maybe satellites. Targets where just dropping a bomb isn't a realistic option.
No more laser pens through airport security... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 04:54 · Score: 0

Don't do it. Any light-producing device will be treated like a handgun...
Re:there was a time, by dragon-file · 2012-11-19 05:01 · Score: 1

There was also a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. What's your point?

--
Whenever a player quits EVE to go play WoW, the Average IQ of both games increase.
Re:there was a time, by khallow · 2012-11-19 05:05 · Score: 1

That time was before Slashdot existed. And believe it or not, it was longer than you'd think. At least five years. I kid you not. Then the universe was created.
You fools! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 05:37 · Score: 0

You know Chairface is just going to steal it in order to write his name on the Moon's surface.
On the Coattails of the LHC by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 06:37 · Score: 0

"On the coattails of CERN's success with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)"
Compared with the "success" of the LHC, this will be the world's most expensive and spectacular failure at producing a working laser?
bonus captcha: Electron
Death Ray For Peaceful Purposes Only by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 06:44 · Score: 0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CISRRn3wolk
Yeah, but... by Jawnn · 2012-11-19 06:49 · Score: 2

...can it make popcorn?
1. Re:Yeah, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 11:11 · Score: 0
  
  It could make ALL the popcorn.
2. Re:Yeah, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-20 05:31 · Score: 0
  
  Finally!
I am from the Military Acronym Division by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 08:30 · Score: 0

Your ideas will never come to pass because their acronyms aren't cool enough. How about the Extreme Visual Incendiary Laser, and the sub contracted Placement Linkage Attached to Nacelled Shark?
No? Okay, maybe the Hostile Organism Terminating Generally Redundant Incendiary Tactical Shark.
Hey thats great we can combine our techs by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 09:21 · Score: 0

Now that the EU is working on a death laser I can proudly announce .........
DIY kits for building your own Death Star in your backyard! 29.95 plus postage for plans and schematics.
Sure eventually it will cost a mint .. and you can use it to own your local star system.
But in the meantime its great .. educational .. and fun for all the family!
If you are asked what you are building .. tell them its one of those fancy BBQs
Re:there was a time, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 10:37 · Score: 0

Other countries' accomplishments don't detract from ours,
You couldn't be more right. The major disease of today is the XOR in the sense of Us ^ Them.
Yeah but... by ALeader71 · 2012-11-19 13:37 · Score: 1

when are they gonna mount it on a frigin shark's friggin head?

--
Only the dead have seen the end of War. - Plato
Gonna need... by DieByWire · 2012-11-19 17:25 · Score: 1

Gonna need a bigger shark.

--
Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
Where's the USA in new science? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-19 21:24 · Score: 0

I feel badly for the US folks - so much talent, so much money, so much tech, so much, you know, that ol' US gung-ho attitude. Yet they're lagging further and further behind in new science.
They used to be world leaders in so many things, yet we're seeing an accelerating erosion on so many fronts.
What's going on?