A major hurdle to producing fusion energy using lasers has been swept aside, results in a new report show

The controlled fusion of atoms – creating conditions like those in our Sun – has long been touted as a possible revolutionary energy source.

However, there have been doubts about the use of powerful lasers for fusion energy because the “plasma” they create could interrupt the fusion.

An article in Science showed the plasma is far less of a problem than expected.

The report is based on the first experiments from the National Ignition Facility (Nif) in the US that used all 192 of its laser beams.

Along the way, the experiments smashed the record for the highest energy from a laser – by a factor of 20.

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Video: Boeing’s Truck-Mounted Laser Neatly Picks Off 50 IEDs in a Row

Boeing’s laser weapons have already shown the power to blast aerial drones from the sky, but may find even more immediate use in detonating roadside bombs, which are a top killer of soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. A newly unveiled video shows the company’s truck-mounted Laser Avenger destroying two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a series of 50 test firings that took place at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama last September, according to OptoIQ.

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EADS Astrium, Europe’s biggest space company, plans to put a solar power satellite in orbit to demonstrate the collection of solar power in space and its transmission via infrared laser to provide electricity on Earth.

Chief executive officer of Astrium, François Auque, said the system is at the testing stage, but that a viable system collecting and transmitting power from space could be within reach soon. Auque said space solar power is an attractive idea because it is an inexhaustible and clean form of energy. Unlike solar plants on Earth, orbital solar collectors can work around the clock, and there is no interference from clouds or atmospheric dusts or gases, which means the energy hitting photovoltaic cells in orbit is much greater than it would be for the same panels on the ground.

Earlier concepts of beaming power to Earth from space were criticized because they relied on microwaves to transmit the power to the ground, which has safety concerns, so Astrium plans to use infrared lasers instead, which means that even if they were misdirected people and objects hit by the laser beams could not be scorched.

The transmission of power via infrared laser has been tested in Astrium’s laboratories, and they are now concentrating on improving the system’s efficiency.

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How did we miss this laser-scanning super robot vacuum?

Not sure how we missed this robotic vacuum but this bugger uses lasers to scan your room and grab dust and lint as it goes. It’s quite cute how this little fellow does everything the Roomba does but, seemingly, it does it better.

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A Lesson on Gadgets of the Future:

Blame The Jetsons, repeated viewings of Star Wars (the good ones), and half of Will Smith’s movies. Blame whoever you so choose for tricking us into believing that the distant future promised cool gadgets and robots. Lucky for us, the folks over at Motherboard were perturbed about the current lack of time travel abilities—among other promised high-tech goodies—as well.

According to the future of the past, we should be cruising around in flying cars, living forever, and shooting our enemies with death rays so that they won’t live forever. Yet here we are, driving in cars on the ground, dying in our 80s, and having to resort to bullets for our murdering needs. WTF, future?

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How ‘Random’ Lasers Work: Natural Cavities Act Like Mirrors in Light-Emitting Plastics.

When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real.

Now, a decade later, the Utah researchers have found these “random lasers” occur because of natural, mirror-like cavities in the polymers, and they say such lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer.

“Nobody knew how it worked until now,” says Z. Valy Vardeny, a distinguished professor of physics and senior author of the new study, published online Jan. 24 in the journal Nature Physics. “We succeeded in imaging the cavities. This is a big step in our understanding of this bizarre phenomenon, which not many people believed.”

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Producing a laser with a power of a terawatt — equal to one trillion watts — used to be impressive, but now the forefront of optical research power is measured in 1 quadrillion-watt units known as petawatts. But even that much power isn’t good enough for physics professor Todd Ditmire at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ditmire plans to build an exawatt laser with a power equivalent to 1,000 petawatts. But such a super-laser is still years away from actual development. In the meantime, Ditmire already has the most powerful laser in the world.

To get a sense of how much power an exawatt contains, compare it to a typical filament light bulb consuming about 100 W of electricity.

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Two years ago laser TV appeared in the marketplace to compete with LCD and plasma screens, as described here:

How Laser TVs work

Now there are two new companies entering the field with innovative laser technology.

The first is HDi, which has introduced a 100-inch 3D laser screen with a refresh rate of over 1,000 hz.

The second is Prysm, which is using lasers to drive a phosphor coated screen. This lets the screen have the advantages of a CRT or Plasma display (bright phosphors emitting light right on the screen surface) without the weight or power consumption. Laser light is exciting the phosphor rather than electron beams or high voltage. The technology is described here:

How Laser Phosphor Display (LPD) Works

In theory this technology could create very large displays at relatively low cost.

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Liposuction has entered a new era. There’s now a procedure that melts fat and tightens skin — all in the same operation.

Liposuction technology has come a long way over the past several decades, with the advent of everything from ultrasound-assisted liposuction to power-assisted, tumescent, body-jet and even microcannula liposuction. Now, another new technique called SmartLipo™ uses laser energy to liquify fat and tighten skin.

“SmartLipo is a procedure that’s very popular and gives a great result,” notes California-based plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Petti, who uses SmartLipo in her practice.

During a Smartlipo Laser Body Sculpting Laserlipolysis procedure, a plastic surgeon inserts a lightweight, flexible wand tool into fatty tissue and melts the patient’s fat by using a specific laser wavelength. A separate tube sucks away the fat, as with traditional liposuction. Then, the surgeon uses a different laser wavelength to create heat under the dermis, which causes the skin collagen to contract.  This second step eliminates the time-honored problem of patients dealing with loose skin after liposuction. The skin contraction process continues over a period of three to six months.

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