Japanese Scientists Fire the Most Powerful Laser On the Planet

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Japanese Scientists Fire the Most Powerful Laser On the Planet

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 30, 2015 @04:25PM from the amazing-laser dept.

Sepa Blackforesta writes: Scientist from University of Osaka claim have fired the world's most powerful laser. The beam was intact for 2-petawatt, pulse lasted just one picosecond. While it produced a huge amount of power, the energy required for the beam itself is equivalent to that needed to power a microwave for two seconds. An associate professor of electrical engineering at Osaka University Junji Kawanaka says “With heated competition in the world to improve the performance of lasers, our goal now is to increase our output to 10 petawatts.”

117 comments

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disappointing by Thisstatementisfalse · 2015-07-30 16:27 · Score: 1

It only lasted for a picosecond...
1. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 16:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It only lasted for a picosecond...
  Longer than I usually do.
2. Re:disappointing by ShanghaiBill · 2015-07-30 16:40 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It only lasted for a picosecond...
  A petawatt for a picosecond is one kilojoule. That is enough energy to warm a liter of water by 0.24C.
3. Re:disappointing by Noah+Haders · 2015-07-30 16:59 · Score: 1
  
  following this thought, most microwaves are 1200W, so to power one for ten seconds is 12kJ. so it's not unreasonable if the energy efficiency of their setup is 10% that the statement about microwave ovens is correct.
4. Re:disappointing by crimson+tsunami · 2015-07-30 17:03 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't read the article, but the summary says 2 seconds not 10.
5. Re:disappointing by maz2331 · 2015-07-30 17:28 · Score: 1
  
  Or ablate the surface of a small fuel pellet and cause it to implode. Inertial confinement fusion is all about super intense and short-duration shots of energy.
6. Re:disappointing by Deep+Esophagus · 2015-07-30 17:49 · Score: 1
  
  With heated competition in the world to improve the performance of lasers...
  I see what he did there.
7. Re:disappointing by Aaron+B+Lingwood · 2015-07-30 18:11 · Score: 1
  
  Sometimes, I love the mods.
  
  --
  [Rent This Space]
8. Re:disappointing by infolation · 2015-07-30 20:34 · Score: 1
  
  They're smoking the competition.
  
  arf arf
9. Re:disappointing by mangansie · 2015-07-30 21:17 · Score: 1
  
  It only lasted for a picosecond...
  A petawatt for a picosecond is one kilojoule. That is enough energy to warm a liter of water by 0.24C.
  Now I finally know what I need to replace my broken kettle with....
10. Re:disappointing by arglebargle_xiv · 2015-07-30 21:47 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It only lasted for a picosecond...
  They couldn't risk cooking the shark it was attached to.
11. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 00:47 · Score: 0
  
  Regardless, the real question is how do we strap these things to a shark's head.
12. Re:disappointing by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2015-07-31 00:54 · Score: 1
  
  The important piece of information that's missing is how powerful was the microwave they compared it to?
  
  --
  Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
13. Re:disappointing by jellomizer · 2015-07-31 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  Still if it lasted for 420 Picoseconds (still less than a blink of an eye) it would bring a liter of ice to boiling. Most likely to vapor in under a second.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
14. Re:disappointing by Muad'Dave · 2015-07-31 01:50 · Score: 1
  
  Two petawatts for a picosecond is an average power of 2000W. That's about 2 secs for an average microwave, taking inefficiency into account.
  
  --
  Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
15. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 01:52 · Score: 0
  
  Yup, too bad it's only for weapons research and will never, ever be able to generate power.
16. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 01:58 · Score: 0
  
  So before the laser was fired, did it have to train its foreign replacement?
17. Re:disappointing by Khyber · 2015-07-31 02:12 · Score: 1
  
  "That's about 2 secs for an average microwave"
  Most average microwaves are 800-1200W. 2000w is getting into industrial/commercial-level microwaves.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
18. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 02:34 · Score: 0
  
  You're thinking of NIF, which is dual purpose, unlike the European and Japanese efforts that are fusion centric.
19. Re: disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 02:39 · Score: 0
  
  You're calculating the wrong thing. The energy (not power) is what is equivalent. Both use 2000 watt - seconds of energy.
20. Re:disappointing by Muad'Dave · 2015-07-31 02:40 · Score: 1
  
  Here's one that claims 1460 W, so it's not _too_ far off base (look at the specs page).
  I said "That's about 2 secs for an average microwave" meaning 2 secs x 1000 W is 2000 W-secs. I mixed up my units, I know.
  
  --
  Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
21. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 02:46 · Score: 0
  
  Two petawatts for a picosecond is an average power of 2000W
  Two petawatts for a picosecond is an average power of two petawatts. Two petawatts for a second is an average power of two petawatts. You're mixing up energy and power, as that should be 2kJ, not 2000W. It would only be 2kW if they fired it every second and it sat idle between pulses. In reality they are firing this much less, as in a couple times per day.
22. Re:disappointing by Flavianoep · 2015-07-31 03:33 · Score: 1
  
  Regardless, the real question is how do we strap these things to a shark's head.
  It's can't just 'strap' a laser weapon to a shark's head because of the constraints Newtonian Physics and Euclidean Geometry. However, you can achieve something like that with some workarounds from Quantum Mechanics. <|:-)
  
  --
  Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
23. Re:disappointing by Coren22 · 2015-07-31 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  12/5 = 2.4 kJ, so it is still in the range, that would be a little less than 50% efficiency (as ShanghaiBill stated above).
  
  --
  APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
24. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 04:42 · Score: 0
  
  :-) No, it was Japanese, not American.
25. Re:disappointing by oldmac31310 · 2015-07-31 04:46 · Score: 1
  
  Four football fields.
  
  --
  http://www.acetonestudio.com
26. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 05:40 · Score: 0
  
  FYI the unit of measurement of microwave ovens is the Readymeal Rm
27. Re:disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  Good, a little closer to the amount of power that I need to maintain a self-sustained chain reaction for my Alcubierre drive PSU
  another million times of that and well get there
28. Re:disappointing by Lehk228 · 2015-08-01 00:35 · Score: 1
  
  or enough to flash boil 2 ml of ice water in a picosecond
  
  --
  Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Enough to burn the Godzilla ? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 16:32 · Score: 0

Enough to burn the Godzilla ?
1. Re:Enough to burn the Godzilla ? by jellomizer · 2015-07-31 01:07 · Score: 1
  
  Probably if it keeps up for more than a second. At least it will burn a small hole in it.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Why does anyone care? by quenda · 2015-07-30 16:42 · Score: 2

Why should anyone care about the power level, as opposed to the pulse energy?
ie why does it matter if the kilojoule is spread over one or ten picoseconds? Without this vital piece of information, it is hard to get excited (pardon the pun).
1. Re:Why does anyone care? by Noah+Haders · 2015-07-30 17:04 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Why should anyone care about the power level, as opposed to the pulse energy?
  people who have tattoos should care, for one. the ideal tattoo removal laser has really high instantaneous power but really short pulses. this way you get high power but low energy per pulse.
  the tattoo ink breaks down better with higher power lasers because it breaks the bonds holding the ink molecules together. but by keeping the energy per pulse low, you're minimizing the tissue damage since tissue damage grows with the amount of energy absorbed by the skin. when you break up the ink molecules into smaller pieces then the immune system can flush away the bits into your lymph nodes. tattoo is gone!
2. Re:Why does anyone care? by quenda · 2015-07-30 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  But does one vs ten picosecond matter?
  And I'm pretty sure you do not want a laser of this size pointed at your arm, unless you are looking for instant amputation.
3. Re:Why does anyone care? by Michael+Woodhams · 2015-07-30 17:23 · Score: 2
  
  You can use high powered lasers in short pulses to compress and heat a fuel pellet to achieve fusion. A particular approach called fast ignition requires a petawatt pulse. Given that the laser is named LFEX for "Laser for Fast Ignition Experiments", it is a good bet this is what it is for.
  (My expertise in this is limited to having had an inkling which Wikipedia article to look in for the answer. Further input from real experts is welcome.)
  
  --
  Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
4. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 17:49 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Timewise, atomic/molecular physics spans many orders of magnitude (from metastable states with lifetimes measured in hours, to inner-shell Auger processes with lifetimes measured in femtoseconds).
  However making short pulses isn't the true goal of lasers like this (A Q-switched laser that fits on a coffee table can make femtosecond pulses). The true thing of interest is the *number density of photons*. Since it's a laser, the photons have the same energy. Then the total number of photons is proportional to the energy in the pulse, but the *number density* - N/V - scales as the inverse of the spot size and the inverse of the duration (since duration = length / c).
  Therefore, the smaller the spot size and the shorter the pulse, the higher the number density of photons that is acheived in a given energy.
  When you have a high enough number density, nonlinear things (whose rate of occurrence is the number density of photons raised to the order of the nonlinearity) happen and nonlinear things are Generally Interesting. For example, a sufficiently high laser power is capable of literally blowing protons/neutrons out of an atomic nucleus - IF you can dump roughly a nucleon binding energy into an area the size of a nucleus, in less than the time it will try to radiate it away.
5. Re:Why does anyone care? by whoever57 · 2015-07-30 17:57 · Score: 2
  
  You can use high powered lasers in short pulses to compress and heat a fuel pellet to achieve fusion. A particular approach called fast ignition requires a petawatt pulse
  I think that should be "a very short pulse" -- but pulses used for ignition are much higher energy -- from 70kJ to 2MJ, according to your link.
  
  I would not believe anything in the article, though, since the writer seems to have a very poor grasp of basic physics:
  
  Two quadrillion wattsit self is a massive amount of output. The burst only lasted about one picosecond (1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second), so while the energy output was incredibly large, the actual amount of power (energy divided by time) the LFEX used wasnâ(TM)t all that big. When it was all said and done, the laser only produced enough power to run a microwave for about two seconds.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
6. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 18:21 · Score: 1
  
  Higher instantaneous power leads to higher incidence of nonlinear effects. For example, if the power is high enough, there is so much photon density that two photons of some wavelength can appear as a single photon of half the wavelength to a molecule. This is used in two-photon microscopy, which will excite only a tiny region of a specimen to fluoresce and light up, giving much sharper images.
7. Re:Why does anyone care? by umafuckit · 2015-07-30 18:47 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I don't know about those times scales, but femto-second pulsed lasers are damn useful for imaging. Briefly, say the experimenter images green fluorescence. Normally, to get green fluorescence you need to excite with blue light of, say, 450 nm. However, if you can pack enough photons into a short packet then you can also get green fluorescence at about double the wavelength. It's called "two photon absorption" and won a Nobel prize. So you pump in 900 nm light and get back green. The advantage is that longer wavelengths are scattered less by biological tissue and, crucially, the depth of field is much better so there is very little out of focus emitted green light (see image in link). Because the laser scans over the specimen relatively slowly (e.g. a few times a second), you can collect scattered green photons and still assign them back to where they came from. So it's very efficient. Maybe this new laser will all for the process to work efficiently with 3 or even 4 photons.
  
  --
  soylentnews.org
8. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 19:41 · Score: 0
  
  > Why should anyone care about the power level,
  They _should_ care about whether it's over 9000 or not.
9. Re:Why does anyone care? by EmperorArthur · 2015-07-30 22:04 · Score: 1
  
  Why should anyone care about the power level, as opposed to the pulse energy?
  ie why does it matter if the kilojoule is spread over one or ten picoseconds? Without this vital piece of information, it is hard to get excited (pardon the pun).
  Well, given that a 9mm has about the same energy as two or three punches... Yeah, I'd say the time and method of energy transfer/release is extremely important.
  Sources:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  http://www.science.ca/askascie...
  
  --
  So lets pretend that we've just completed writing this code, as opposed to having just completed sabotaging it -Altera
10. Re:Why does anyone care? by r0kk3rz · 2015-07-30 22:11 · Score: 1
  
  Why should anyone care about the power level, as opposed to the pulse energy? ie why does it matter if the kilojoule is spread over one or ten picoseconds?
  I imagine this type of laser technology would be useful for Inertial Confinement Fusion based projects.
11. Re:Why does anyone care? by r0kk3rz · 2015-07-30 23:03 · Score: 1
  
  I think that should be "a very short pulse" -- but pulses used for ignition are much higher energy -- from 70kJ to 2MJ, according to your link.
  The HiPER is a proposed project to experiment with this type of fusion, requiring the use of Petawatt scale lasers
  A 2 Petawatt pulse over 1 Picosecond isn't quite a 4 Petawatt pulse over 10 Picoseconds, but its on its way. Considering the organisation in TFA are now planning on scaling to produce 10 Petawatt pulse, maybe the timescale can be reduced for Ignition.
12. Re:Why does anyone care? by towermac · 2015-07-31 01:35 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think you would have felt it.
  Maybe. But it's not even close to being able to hurt you.
13. Re:Why does anyone care? by drolli · 2015-07-31 02:44 · Score: 1
  
  * Because destruction free techniques like laser ablation are base on high local fields
  * because a 1ps pulse spreads over 10^12 Hz bandwidth, which may be useful if you want to have "more white" light (but this pulse is actually not very short)
  * because pump-probe techniques depend on short pulses. If you additionally need a strong pulse, higher power may come in handy
  * I also imagine it could be an advantage for generating plasma.
14. Re:Why does anyone care? by Billy+the+Mountain · 2015-07-31 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  Well yeah, but it will probably make your arm radioactive. Plasma Acceleration
  
  --
  That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
15. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 05:09 · Score: 0
  
  Having been hit by a 1 J laser pulse before by accident, I definitely felt it, like being hit by a rubber band. Although I have rather light colored skin and the beam was unfocused. When the beam is focused or it hits a dark piece of paper (like when using burn paper to evaluate beam shape), it makes a large popping sound and will actually blow a hole through card stock. The laser discussed here is 2 kJ, which is considerably more and on the order of energy involved in a firearms.
16. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 05:54 · Score: 0
  
  because it get us closer to create a self sustaining reaction of virtual energy to take advantage of the vacuum energy so we can power the Alcubierre drive
  I been stranded on this dirty backwater part of the universe long enough, umkay
17. Re:Why does anyone care? by Tough+Love · 2015-07-31 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  Why should anyone care about the power level, as opposed to the pulse energy?
  Thresholds, the same reason that the Large Hadron Collider may break apart subatomic particles while a 16 inch cannon cannot, even though the cannon delivers more total energy.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
18. Re:Why does anyone care? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 06:15 · Score: 0
  
  Think bigger than fusion
  Maybe the total release of energy is small but
  Rise the power enough and interesting things happen, how long lasted the initial explosion of the big bang?
  with the power high enough we can start messing with the space continuum, with quantum fluctuations, micro black holes....
Um, nerd here by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 16:43 · Score: 0

What kind of laser? Just curious. Because this is supposed to be News for Nerds, ya dopes!
1. Re: Um, nerd here by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 16:45 · Score: 0
  
  Wave motion of course.
What would you use that for? by R3d+M3rcury · 2015-07-30 16:44 · Score: 1

Making enormous swiss cheese!
1. Re:What would you use that for? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 16:50 · Score: 0
  
  Making enormous swiss cheese!
  Out of military targets...
Analogies? by marciot · 2015-07-30 16:57 · Score: 4, Funny

Help me understand. Is a two petawatt laser being fired for a picosecond more like being sneezed on by a rhino with a cold or more like being shat on by an elephant with a bad case of explosive diarrhea?
1. Re:Analogies? by Noah+Haders · 2015-07-30 17:07 · Score: 1
  
  it's like being electrocuted while fixing your lamp for one second.
2. Re:Analogies? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2015-07-31 02:18 · Score: 1
  
  About 1/2 the energy of a .30-06 round. So likely closer to elephant with a bad case of explosive diarrhea but after consuming mostly Mexican food first.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
3. Re:Analogies? by Timoleon · 2015-07-31 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  Attention People of Tokyo!!!!!!!
How does this compare to the LLNL NIF laser by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 17:17 · Score: 0

So is this a 4x higher wattage than the NIF laser, but for a shorter period of time? Would it still be enough energy to potentially create fusion?
Kaaaa.... meee.... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 17:19 · Score: 0, Offtopic

haaaa.... meeeeeeee.....
HAAAAAA!
.55wh or 2kJ by thinkwaitfast · 2015-07-30 17:22 · Score: 1

--
Filter error: You can type more than that for your comment
What? by slashmydots · 2015-07-30 17:28 · Score: 1

Why would they need a laser to do this? It's like 3000 watt-seconds. That means the total dissipated energy used for, for example cutting a piece of metal, would be measured in energy used over time. In other words, that laser wouldn't cut a damn thing.
1. Re:What? by wbr1 · 2015-07-30 23:51 · Score: 1
  
  Lasers are not just used for cutting you insensitive clod.
  For instance, they can be attached to sharks instead.
  I came into this thread looking for sharks. I was disappointed and decided to remedy the situation.
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
On the planet? by physicsphairy · 2015-07-30 17:28 · Score: 1, Redundant

Which planet? Alderaan?

--
When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
If I only worked for 1 picosecond... by SlithyMagister · 2015-07-30 17:36 · Score: 5, Funny

I'd get fired too
1. Re:If I only worked for 1 picosecond... by _merlin · 2015-07-30 18:28 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I was reading it as though the object would be a job title, as in "Japanese Scientists Fire the Most Powerful CEO On the Planet". Now that would be a real achievement.
Godzilla? by DrNico · 2015-07-30 17:45 · Score: 1, Redundant

Is nobody going to mention Godzilla?
1. Re:Godzilla? by TimSSG · 2015-07-30 18:18 · Score: 1
  
  Is nobody going to mention Godzilla?
  I was going to ask how large does the shark have to be to have this laser mounted on it. But, maybe Godzilla would be a better Lazar platform. Tim S.
2. Re:Godzilla? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 23:38 · Score: 0
  
  L.A.S.E.R.
  It's an acronym,
3. Re:Godzilla? by Billy+the+Mountain · 2015-07-31 04:42 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks, I'll keep that on my R.A.D.A.R.
  
  --
  That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
Enough to attack Pearl Harbor by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 17:46 · Score: 0

Tora! Tora! Tora !!!!!
The next step... by turbinicarpus · 2015-07-30 17:48 · Score: 3, Funny

"We are currently working on mounting this laser on a giant robot," added Professor Kawanaka.
Re:What? Math fail... by Fallen+Kell · 2015-07-30 17:59 · Score: 1

It is more like 2000 watt/seconds. Last I checked 2 petawatts / 1 picosecond will give you a 2 as the most significant digit...

--
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
I'd be interested in some values on scalability... by Rick+in+China · 2015-07-30 18:23 · Score: 0

"enough energy to warm up your breakfast burrito for two full seconds"
*stunned in awe*
So, since the experiment is effectively useless, some information on whether the same technology scales and what sort of energy would be required to heat a burrito for like, 2 minutes. Or does it not scale, so conveniently leaves that type of information out?
God damn it... by fzammett · 2015-07-30 18:44 · Score: 0

...it's LASER... it's an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation... why can't anyone ever get it right? It's not "laser" and it's not "Laser", it's f'ing LASER! (well, I suppose if we REALLY want to be pedantic it's actually L.A.S.E.R. ... but even I'm not that much of an asshole).

--
If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
1. Re:God damn it... by Fusselwurm · 2015-07-30 20:00 · Score: 1
  
  it's LASER as long as you pronounce it "ell ey ess ee ar". What, you dont? Then why dont you stop nitpicking, and just accept that at some point, a pronouneable acronym becomes a new word.
2. Re:God damn it... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 21:30 · Score: 0
  
  The Oxford and Merriam Webster dictionaries don't agree with you.
3. Re:God damn it... by gsslay · 2015-07-30 22:26 · Score: 1
  
  Lol, this is a snafu, isn't it? We do have nimbies like yourself to put a stop to this kind of thing, but perhaps a quango should be set up to enforce it? People who insist in turning acronyms into words should be tasered and their zip code published online, so we can be sure they're on everyone's radar.
  I shall get a faq written up on this dangerous problem.
4. Re:God damn it... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 23:55 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe you should start to wonder who is getting it right when the entire field optics field, that invented and continues to define its usage, uses all lower case in normal usage? And maybe you should chill considering that there plenty of acronyms that do not have periods and use lower case, including things like radar, which have been promoted to a regular word for various reasons.
5. Re: God damn it... by bws111 · 2015-07-31 02:49 · Score: 1
  
  LASER is what is happening. laser is the name of the device.
6. Re:God damn it... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 04:00 · Score: 0
  
  No one cares, smackoff.
Mount it on a fricking SHARK by qIroS · 2015-07-30 19:03 · Score: 0

and achieve world domination
Re:I'd be interested in some values on scalability by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 19:07 · Score: 0

But hey... all that energy was concentrated on a 0.1mm dot, so that part is burnt to a crisp while everything else remains frozen. PROGRESS!
I know what they need it for by Required+Snark · 2015-07-30 19:15 · Score: 1

Shark bait.

--
Why is Snark Required?
1. Re:I know what they need it for by Bengie · 2015-07-31 00:25 · Score: 1
  
  shark bait hoo haha - Finding Nemo
Executing in an invalid environment! by ASDFnz · 2015-07-30 19:29 · Score: 1

Clicked in the link and got;-
Executing in an invalid environment for the supplied user
Does that mean they lasered the webserver for me?
1. Re:Executing in an invalid environment! by cfalcon · 2015-07-30 20:29 · Score: 1
  
  It means you either supplied an invalid user for the environmental execution in question, or you supplied an invalid user for the execution environment. You should see to that. I hear there is a pill.
two microwaves, you say? by ihtoit · 2015-07-30 20:24 · Score: 1

Would they be Class C, Class D? Be specific, I'm trying to figure out how long a Cree would last connected in series to a three bar electric fire.

--
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Make Popcorn? by Xistenz99 · 2015-07-30 20:31 · Score: 2

But can it fill a house with popcorn from that short burst?
Can't melt steel beams by wasabioss · 2015-07-30 21:02 · Score: 1

2 megawatts can't melt steel beams.
I have a dream... by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2015-07-30 21:17 · Score: 1

...of a Slashdot where the editors actually edit submissions and turn them into something approaching standard English.
When actual fucking EDITING commences, I'll consider that worth coming up with the bucks to fly out to Oregon and meet you guys at *Con. Thanks for the invite, though.

--
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Slashdot on japanese frenzy. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 21:26 · Score: 0

> Slashdot article offer 1: Japanese Scientists Fire the Most Powerful Laser On the Planet
> Slashdot article offer 2: Robots Must Be Designed To Be Compassionate, Says japanese SoftBank CEO
Result: compassionate robot girl piloting space battleship equipped with a frigging laser wave cannon. Resistance is futile, raise the white pantsu!
Re:Fukushima by Calydor · 2015-07-30 22:10 · Score: 1

Because a whole country can only focus on one thing at a time!

--
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Whale hunting by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-30 23:45 · Score: 0

Finally the Japanese can use their sharks for hunting whales...
Re:Fukushima by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 00:09 · Score: 0

What an arrogant reply, Fukushima is destroying large parts of the earth as we speak! Getting the thing fixed should be an international priority.
Re:Fukushima by halivar · 2015-07-31 00:13 · Score: 1

I bet you're a riot at parties.
Proper Context by Fire_Wraith · 2015-07-31 00:43 · Score: 1

Meanwhile, there's this other bit of news that's gone mostly unnoticed outside Japan: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ne... Surely this must be coincidence, right? I think not! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Misleading power example by zelda64 · 2015-07-31 01:22 · Score: 1

It compares the power needed to fire the laser for one picosecond to the power needed to run a microwave for 2 seconds. 2 seconds is 2 trillion picoseconds. So this laser draws enough power to run 2 trillion microwaves. Changes the entire context.
Muhahaha! by DarthVain · 2015-07-31 01:36 · Score: 1

Story only valid if scientist laughed maniacally before/during/after firing the worlds largest laser...
Re:coming soon to a Death Star near you by Applehu+Akbar · 2015-07-31 01:57 · Score: 1

You're going to blow up a planet of dyslexics?
Important questions by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 01:57 · Score: 0

Can it cook popcorn in Professor Hathaway's house?
FTFA by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 02:01 · Score: 0

In the experiment, energy was applied to special glass using devices that were basically lamps resembling ordinary fluorescent tubes, repeatedly amplifying the power of the beam.In the experiment, energy was applied to special glass using devices that were basically lamps resembling ordinary fluorescent tubes, repeatedly amplifying the power of the beam.
Looks like they applied the same technology to amplify the power of the article.
Comparison to NIF by Hydrated+Wombat · 2015-07-31 03:40 · Score: 1

As many have pointed out 2 kJ 500 TW (goal power output of NIF) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
1. Re:Comparison to NIF by Hydrated+Wombat · 2015-07-31 03:41 · Score: 1
  
  I welcome advice about how to include less than and greater than signs in a post.
2. Re:Comparison to NIF by Hydrated+Wombat · 2015-07-31 04:03 · Score: 1
  
  This was supposed to be 2 kJ are much less than 2 MJ and 2 PW are larger than 500 TW
Re:coming soon to a Death Star near you by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 04:15 · Score: 0

Don't you mean lysdexics?
worth of scientific proof reading ? ;) by AdrianFlorinLazar · 2015-07-31 04:31 · Score: 1

excerpt from article. "Two quadrillion wattsit self is a massive amount of output. The burst only lasted about one picosecond (1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second), so while the energy output was incredibly large, the actual amount of power (energy divided by time) the LFEX used wasn’t all that big. When it was all said and done, the laser only produced enough power to run a microwave for about two seconds." they are wrong on this one. It's actually invers to how they explain. it's High Power - like in "Japanese Scientists Fire The Most Powerful Laser On The Planet" - and Low Energy. It must be Low Energy, because in other way, would be a tremendous quantity of energy E = P * t
such small laser... by vettemph · 2015-07-31 04:46 · Score: 1

Americans have mastodonic laser.

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The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
Re:Fukushima by Calydor · 2015-07-31 05:06 · Score: 1

Maybe these scientists are trying to make a laser powerful enough to shoot the radiation dead?

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understand the difference between power and energy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-31 06:24 · Score: 0

Terrible writeup. Author has no understanding of power and energy.
"The burst only lasted about one picosecond (1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second), so while the energy output was incredibly large, the actual amount of power (energy divided by time) the LFEX used wasn’t all that big"
Should say:
The POWER output (energy per time) was incredibly large, the ENERGY output wasn't all that big.
Power is a rate of energy consumption (energy per time), just as speed is a rate of travel (distance per time). If power is to speed as energy is to distance. It's not that complicated.
Out of work laser, will work for juice by rlh100 · 2015-07-31 07:35 · Score: 1

What does an out of work laser do?
Light up the night sky?
Send a message to Alpha Centauri?
Flash incinerate your pop corn?
potential to be the best route to fusion energy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-08-01 06:41 · Score: 0

as Steve
Haan from the largest NIF laser in the world in Livermore said in an interview with the Royal
Society of Chemistry in London - that this leads to “the potential to be the best route to fusion
energy”
1. Re:potential to be the best route to fusion energy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-08-01 06:44 · Score: 0
  
  as Steve
  Haan from the largest NIF laser in the world in Livermore said in an interview with the Royal
  Society of Chemistry in London - that this leads to “the potential to be the best route to fusion
  energy” http://ocs.ciemat.es/EPS2011PAP/pdf/P5.037.pdf
But Barack said it wasn't possible... by iq145 · 2015-08-02 11:06 · Score: 1

Yet the japanese are building the Death Star http://www.newser.com/story/16...