EU Working On Most Powerful Laser Ever Built
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."
http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
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.
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
And referring to it as the "Alan Parsons" project then I'm all for it.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
when largest, biggest and fastest was done/constructed in the USA.
the most powerful shark
Which group is working on the Extreme Shark Project? And the Extreme Laser Forehead Mounting Project?
Enquiring evil minds want to know...
...with Elon Musk's statements on Ariane 5. Talk about sabotaging the competition!
Ezekiel 23:20
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.
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.
http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
It's an entire planet instead!
..."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...
". 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...)
Do not look into Extreme Light Infrastructure with remaining eye.
"...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...
I will have the most powerful laser ever, far exceeding the measley european laser by light years !!
They should try it out on some of the thousands of useless space junk in orbit!
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."
nt
When can I see it at a Pink Floyd concert?
[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)
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.
Don't do it. Any light-producing device will be treated like a handgun...
You know Chairface is just going to steal it in order to write his name on the Moon's surface.
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"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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CISRRn3wolk
...can it make popcorn?
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.
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
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 a bigger shark.
Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
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?