Heart Surgery and Star Wars: The Many Uses of a Light Beam
Originally the laser was described as a solution looking for a problem, for no one was quite sure to what uses it could be put. But today the laser is in the forefront of scientific, medical, and military research. Within the next decade a laser will be able to destroy individual human genes or blast missiles out of space.
Heart Surgery and Star Wars: The Many Uses of a Light Beam
By Mr Ghaz, December 24, 2009
Heart Surgery and Star Wars: The Many Uses of a Light Beam
The laser has been one of the most glamorous symbols of modern technology since 1960 when the first one was constructed in California. Originally the laser was described as a solution looking for a problem, for no one was quite sure to what uses it could be put. But today the laser is in the forefront of scientific, medical, and military research. Within the next decade a laser will be able to destroy individual human genes or blast missiles out of space.
How a Laser Works
A laser is a device that stores energy and then releases it in the form of a very intense beam of light. Its heart is a tube filled with gas or liquid into which energy is pumped, stimulating the atoms of the substance inside to produce light. Mirrors at each end reflect the light backward and forward, concentrating and amplifying it into a high-energy beam. This beam is able to penetrate solid objects and can be projected over great distances.
Because the length of a laser’s beam can be controlled with great accuracy, it is an ideal measuring instrument. A very precise measurement of the distance between the earth and the moon has been achieved by firing a laser beam from the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas, onto a mirror placed on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. Because a laser beam travels at the speed of light, a constant speed of 186, 281 miles per second, the time taken by the beam to reach the moon and then be reflected back to Texas has given a mean distance between the moon and the earth of 240, 250 miles.
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AlmaG | Dec 24, 2009 | Reply
Interesting post! Hope lasers could do more in the future
drelayaraja | Dec 24, 2009 | Reply
Very informative. Wonderful writing
Merry Christmas
ken bultman | Dec 24, 2009 | Reply
The laser remains on the cutting edge of science. Great post.
Starpisces | Dec 24, 2009 | Reply
Great article
8Shei8 | Dec 24, 2009 | Reply
Amazing technology! Thank you for sharing and have a Merry Christmas!
xoxo | Dec 25, 2009 | Reply
Good article. Very informative…. A lot of lives are being saved coz of new technologies… Although for some reason, when I see patients… really old and their families have money, sometimes I feel that they are tired and these new technologies (not the one in your article) are making them suffer the more…. I don’t know. Well, again good article. And merry Christmas sir.
wonder | Dec 25, 2009 | Reply
Very knowledgable and interesting.
fashion girl | Dec 25, 2009 | Reply
seems like the future has come
susan | Dec 27, 2009 | Reply
Enjoyed this. My son had laser surgery on his ankles to cure incurable club feet.
Faith Hodge | Dec 27, 2009 | Reply
Interestingly, you have pointed toward an instrument of defense in both cases. Very good combination. Well presented. The Photos are as amazing as your words. Thank you for sharing.
STEVE666 | Dec 28, 2009 | Reply
Great article—laser beams are the furure.