For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be … Read More
Imagine walking into an airport or grocery store and your smartphone automatically starts charging. This could be a reality one day, thanks to a new wireless laser charging system that overcomes some of the challenges that have hindered previous attempts to develop safe and convenient on-the-go chargin… Read More
Finding water on the moon could be easier with a Goddard technology that uses an effect called quantum tunneling to generate a high-powered terahertz laser, filling a gap in existing laser t… Read More
Laser communications systems provide missions with increased data rates, meaning they can send and receive more information in a single transmission compared to traditional radio waves. Additionally, the systems are lighter, more flexible, and more secure. Laser communications can supplement radio frequency communications, which most NASA missions us… Read More
Researchers have developed a new chip-based beam steering technology that provides a promising route to small, cost-effective and high-performance lidar (or light detection and ranging… Read More
On the day of the tremor, Giuseppe Marra, a principal research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England, was running an experiment that beamed an ultra-stable laser through underground fibre-optic cables. It was part of a larger effort to build one of the world’s most accurate clocks, capable of measuring time to the nearest quintillionth of a second. Almost a thousand miles away from his native Italy, Marra did not feel the quake, but he heard about it on the news. The next morning, he walked to work to review the results of his e… Read More
With faster speeds and the ability to run multiple algorithms at one time, quantum computers will be able to help solve some of the biggest technological issues our society faces. Because quantum computers rely on what are called qubits–atoms that possess a nuclear magnetic spin level that is manipulated in order to achieve the qubit state–unique things occasionally happen within thes… Read More
Bringing Mars samples to Earth would allow scientists across the world to examine the specimens using sophisticated instruments too large and too complex to send to Mars and would enable future generations to study them. Curating the samples on Earth would also allow the science community to test new theories and models as they are developed, much as the Apollo samples returned from the Moon have done fo… Read More
Early data from the James Webb Space Telescope is already starting to come in, with exciting finds like views of Jupiter and a potential sighting of the most distant galaxy ever observed. But there’s a lot more Webb data being shared, and much of it is publicly available through the Space Telescope Science Institute’s MAST archive. That means enterprising astronomers are already digging through James Webb data to perform their own analyses, and have created some amazin… Read More
Researchers have shown that a quantum-inspired technique can be used to perform LiDAR imaging with a much higher depth resolution than is possible with conventional approaches. LiDAR, which uses laser pulses to acquire 3D information about a scene or object, is usually best suited for imaging large objects such as topographical features or built structures due to its limited depth res… Read More
A team of physicists from the University of Amsterdam has now managed to solve the difficult problem of creating a continuous Bose-Einstein Condensate. Florian Schreck, the team leader, explains what the trick was. “In previous experiments, the gradual cooling of atoms was all done in one place. In our setup, we decided to spread the cooling steps not over time, but in space: we make th… Read More
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have uncovered critical new details about fusion facilities that use lasers to compress the fuel that produces fusion energy. The new data could help lead to the improved design of future laser facilities that harness the fusion process that drives the sun an… Read More
Environmental sensors are a step closer to simultaneously sniffing out multiple gases that could indicate disease or pollution, thanks to a Penn State coll… Read More
Despite the James Webb being in place and set to start observations this summer, Hubble is still going strong. The nearly 3… Read More
Research at Lund University in Sweden has found a new way to create nano-sized magnetic particles using ultrafast laser li… Read More
HB11 is approaching nuclear fusion from an entirely new angle, using high power, high precision lasers instead of hundred-mill… Read More
In most circumstances, disordered working conditions prevent us from performing accurate work. But in a reversal of this common wisdom, a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of St Andrews, Scotland has achieved recent breakthroughs in precision measurement by “scrambling” la… Read More
A new photonic effect in semiconducting helical particles with nanoscale dimensions has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Bath. The observed effect has the potential to accelerate the discovery and development of life-saving medicines and photonic tec… Read More
In the search for a more cost-effective, efficient, and agile defense against increasingly modernized threats, such as armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, the US Navy has turned to directed-energy weapons (DEWs). The USS Portland, equipped with a laser weapon system, is the latest example of modern, cost-effective threat mitigation, effectively demonstrating the ability to destroy both a floating target and a drone in fiel… Read More
RPMC Lasers Inc, the leading laser distributor in North America, is excited to announce an exclusive distribution agreement with Dausinger + Giesen, allowing us to now offer their Thin-Disk Lasers and Thin-Disk Components. D + G provides leading edge thin disk laser components, such as thin disk gain media, thin disk pump modules, Pockels cells, and high-power opto… Read More
New experiments allow researchers to watch attosecond laser pulse pairs up close, allowing for a better understanding and control over these ultrashort pulse pairs. This interesting breakthrough could lead to some amazing advancements in spectroscopy, microelectronic manufacturing, medical equipment and surgeries, and who knows what else… This article explains this new development and discusses the potential future… Read More
The United Kingdom is investing roughly $100 million in new directed energy weapons across sea and land. Split into three contracts, and announced September 14 at the Defense and Security Equipment International exhibition in London, two of the direct energy weapons will be lasers that can stop drones, while the third will use radio to detect and track targets. It’s a push for a new kind of weapon that can face a new kind of threat, and do so cost-ef… Read More
Blue diode lasers have recently become known as an excellent tool for certain processing techniques regarding copper and other non-ferrous and highly reflective metals. Copper, gold, aluminum, and certain other metals absorb blue wavelengths more easily than any other wavelengths of visible or invisible light. This higher rate of absorption allows for both higher quality results and faster processing times, when typically, there is a trade off between quality … Read More
Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) applications like laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), night vision, range finding, and time-of-flight (ToF) LiDAR benefit from the utilization of rugged, low SWaP. These applications often require the associated hardware components to be resistant to harsh environmental conditions in the field. Operating temperature range, shock and vibration, and size, weight, and power constraints are among the critical considerations when choosing the right laser tr… Read More
Steady growth in the nuclear industry has led to an increase in demand for more accurate, efficient, and reliable detection and monitoring of critical compounds, like Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) assay or Methyl Iodide (CH3i). This has led to the development of new technologies, enhancing the capabilities of molecular spectroscopy. Entities worldwide are developing advanced spectroscopy-based technologies and methods, aiming to decrease accidents with better safeguards, enable the rapid and precise assessment of nuclear plant … Read More
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