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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: laser

laser stories: 8 news summaries

 Top American Inventions 


Aug 4, 09 5:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama has called on Americans to innovate their way to a speedy economic recovery. In that spirit, Live Science rounds up the top 10 US innovations:
  1. Flight. The Wright Brothers’ 12-second flight in 1903 ushered the world into the age of aviation.
  2. Atomic bomb. The Manhattan project
... More »

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Internet • light bulb • innovation • aviation • Apollo missions • laser • Thomas Edison • Henry Ford

 'Star Wars' Scientists 
  Take Aim at Mosquitoes 

Anti-malaria Weapons of Mosquito Destruction can zap bugs 100ft away with lasers 

Mar 14, 09 4:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rocket scientists who worked on ways to beat Soviet missiles a generation ago are now using their lasers to zap mosquitoes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Researchers looking for ways to combat malaria have rejigged "Star Wars" technology to create a contraption that can pick off individual mosquitoes from... More »

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malaria • mosquito • parasite • disease control • laser

(Newser) - Barack Obama's transition team is studying the Pentagon's first test of a plane firing a laser weapon, and may nix the $4.3 billion project—but the US military is still nearing its dream of laser warfare, New Scientist Tech reports. The Airborne Laser, once touted as defensive, could easily... More »

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Pentagon • US military • weapon • laser

Silver Screen's Ray Guns Become Battlefield Reality

Ground troops testing laser weapons, tagged for missile-defense systems, too

Nov 2, 08 2:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Ray guns aren't just for Flash Gordon anymore, the Economist reports. The US military and defense contractors are experimenting with “directed energy” weapons systems on the battlefield and in labs, most of which help troops zap unexploded bombs and incoming fire. One model, the Zeus, is designed to more... More »

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military • Pentagon • ray gun • laser • weapons • Energy weapons

Nissan's New Safety System Uses Bee Logic

Lasers will mimic compound eyes to detect, avoid obstacles

Sep 26, 08 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nissan is set to unveil new collision-avoidance technology modeled on the behavior of bees, PC World reports, with a small robot car to demonstrate the system in Japan next week. The automakers’ engineers have developed laser range-finders that mimic the insects’ ability to adjust their path and avoid collisions by... More »

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bees • Nissan • safety • auto industry • auto technology • laser • car safety • traffic accident

Russian Ravers Lose Sight After Laser Show

Vision loss as high as 80% and 'impossible
to regain'

Jul 15, 08 6:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Several partygoers at a Russian rave lost part of their sight to damage from a laser light show, Reuters reports. Dozens have appeared at Moscow hospitals for treatment of retinal burns. Loss of vision is as high as 80% and "regaining it is impossible," according to one ophthalmologist.... More »

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Russia • Moscow • dance • eyes • laser • sight impaired • lasers

Move Over, Heisenberg: Electron Caught on Film

Elusive negative charge stars in Swedish researchers' breakthrough video

Feb 26, 08 12:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Electrons are tiny, fast, and, until recently, impossible to capture on film. But a short, super-slow-mo video offers the first direct look at the wily subatomic particle. Coaxing the reclusive electron into the limelight took major maneuvering by Swedish scientists, LiveScience reports. The paparazzi of physicists caught the negative particle... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Sweden • laser • electron • attosecond • quantum mechanics • atom • Johan Mauritsson • Lund University • scientific breakthroughs

Laser-Humvee Will Hunt IEDs

Boeing's 'Laser Avenger' diffuses bombs with a super-hot beam

Nov 24, 07 2:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Boeing has developed a laser-equipped Humvee designed to disarm IEDs, CNET's military tech blog reports. The weapon system, known as the “Laser Avenger,” consists of a 1-kilowatt laser added to an anti-aircraft Humvee-mounted missile turret, and can neutralize a bomb by shooting the super-hot laser into it until... More »

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Humvees • Boeing • IED • laser • Iraq war

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