Lasers & Holography

It won't blast holes in rock but it can be used to determine particle composition in air. It's the LIDAR Module on the Phoenix Lander which is due to take off for Mars later this year.

The MET's lidar is an instrument that operates on the same basic principle as RADAR, using powerful laser light pulses rather than radio waves. The lidar transmits light vertically into the atmosphere, which is reflected off dust and ice particles. These reflected light pulses and their time of return to the lidar instrument are analyzed, revealing information about the size of atmospheric particles and their location.

The lander is now in Florida from where it will takeoff for Mars in August.

After launch, Phoenix will land on a Martian arctic plain next spring. It will use a robotic digging arm and other instruments to determine whether the soil environment just beneath the surface could have been a favorable habitat for microbial life. Studies from orbit suggest that within arm's reach of the surface, the soil holds frozen water.

Check out some of the images of the lander here.

An artificial, laser-fed star now shines regularly over the sky of Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope, one of the world's most advanced large ground-based telescopes. This system provides assistance for the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT and so allows astronomers to obtain images free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere, regardless of the brightness and the location on the sky of the observed target. Now that it is routinely offered by the observatory, the skies seem much sharper to astronomers.

A company called Raydiance has recently released a desktop USP laser that puts out pulses of 800ps to 3ps of 1-5mj at 1552nm.  In short, it can "burn" through a variety of materials without creating heat as most other cutting lasers do.

The Raydiance breakthrough came in developing a desktop-size USP laser that could deliver power levels that could achieve non-thermal ablation in a device small and robust enough to have practical applications. Raydiance has transformed USP technology by shrinking a laboratory behemoth down to a desktop Internet appliance that is “plug and play”.

OK, not really laser powered but lasers are being used in Wiltshire UK to alert drivers when their loads are tall enough to cause a bridge strike.

Heavy goods vehicles frequently strike the bridge after misjudging the height and width - but this could become a thing of the past thanks to some laser-guided technology.

There are now two new interactive height warning signs on the bridge that use lasers to judge whether a vehicle is too tall or wide.

The new signs, funded by Network Rail, warn drivers approaching the bridge from both sides if they are about to strike the masonry.

Saint Louis University has announced that they're about to begin trials on a laser-based method for treating stroke victims.

Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Saint Louis University, is leading the only clinical trial in St. Louis that looks at an investigational device called the NeuroThera® Laser System to treat ischemic strokes. The study will enroll 660 patients at 50 centers worldwide.

To receive the laser treatment, the head of the patient is shaved. A special swimming cap-type covering put on the head that has openings that show 20 treatment sites where low-level lasers are activated.

Near-infrared light, generated from a laser, is delivered noninvasively for about two minutes to each site, which means the treatment lasts a total of 40 to 60 minutes. The laser treatment is broadly delivered because stroke also affects the tissue surrounding the blockage, Cruz-Flores said.

Is this more laser snake oil or is there really something to shining a low-power laser at the body?

Using lasers for surgery? Great idea.

Using lasers to make 3D images? Even better.

Using lasers on sharks? Way cool.

Putting a laser on a pair of scissors? Lame. It's a good thing the company offers a 100% money-back guarantee.

If you have so much trouble cutting on a straight line that you want a laser on your scissors, this product won't help you.