Brainiacs Complete World's First Anti-Laser

[thethingthatlurks]

Destructive interference doesn't remove the energy (that would be reducing the frequency to zero), it simply reduces the amplitude of the lightwave to zero. If you want to think of it in terms of quantum mechanics, it reduces the probability of finding the *thing* that carries energy to zero everywhere. All you are doing is combining two beams of light, which cancel each other out, nothing terribly fancy.
As for photons, you aren't trying to determine its origin or path, just its frequency. No need to worry about quantum effects where they do not apply...

I'll admit I was wrong about the heat though. Guess I should read these things more carefully..

Honestly this is beyond the limit of what i fully understand, and i think i was thinking of light as a mechanical wave (with energy dependent on amplitude) in one of the places where it is different. However if only the amplitude is changed through destructive interference, and the light wave still exists with an amplitude of 0, then wouldn't using destructive interference in the "anti-laser" not work at all, since the laser would still exist but with a different amplitude?

No worries mate, quantum mechanics is beyond anybody's ability to fully understand. The way this apartus is described, you probably have plain energy loss. If you bounce a laser off any surface or pass it through a filter, it will lose some energy. The energy is then transferred to the material, which will result in heat. Do this often enough, and the light will have dissipated entirely into the material of the chamber. There are a few nuances on the atomic scale, but I wouldn't exactly call this a ground breaking achievement. It's a fun toy though...

 

[Something Amyss]

I thought the best defense against a laser weapon was a mirror. Isn't that how Spaceball One self-destructed?

Silly man, the Schwartz is not a laser....

 

[imperialreign]

I believe the point of fighters they were much more maneuverable then ships. It takes far more energy and time to change an object direction in space. Then again I don't have a degree in relating field so I don't know. I would imagine other ships would force an engagement and fighters would approach from different direction. Not only that fighters doesn't as much staying power and could opt for less fuel efficient drives for more power out.

IDK - it kinda falls back upon what therumancer posted above - although it takes more time and energy to reposition a larger ship, the larger ship would have a large enough drive to accomodate it. The time it would take is simply relative to how much energy one is putting out, as you're not dealing with air resistance or planetary gravity to slow one down - if you were, than a smaller object would definitely be able to manuveur faster.

Recalling a lot of the early portions of TNG and many of the original crew movies, ships in battle manuevered quite nimbly - it wasn't until the later portions of TNG and DS9 where things started taking on more of a Star Wars feel.

Not to mention, following the same theories in relation to a ship's size - smaller ships simply wouldn't have weapons powerful enough to do any kind of damage to a larger ship . . . especially once a "shield" is taken into account. A smaller ship doesn't have the structural size necessary to carry such large weapons.

The only real purposes smaller ships would serve would be for transportation of small handfuls of individuals, or raiding partys.

 

[Mr Jack]

Didn't some Chinese guy already do this with infrared?

This is a similar concept. The Chinese guy built a device that trapped radiation in a similar fashion, but was non-discriminatory, so had limited applications.
As stated, the fact that this "anti-laser" can be used to trap only certain frequencies means it can be used as a switch far more easily.

Edit: Found the paper on the blackbody absorber: http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/12/6/063006/fulltext

 

[Mr Jack]

I believe the point of fighters they were much more maneuverable then ships. It takes far more energy and time to change an object direction in space. Then again I don't have a degree in relating field so I don't know. I would imagine other ships would force an engagement and fighters would approach from different direction. Not only that fighters doesn't as much staying power and could opt for less fuel efficient drives for more power out.

This may help explain some of the reasons why a space fighter as portrayed in popular media is unlikely: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/spacegunexotic.php#Space_Fighters

 

[quantum mechanic]

Damn it, just when I'd bought my first Lassiter...

 

[justnotcricket]

The thing to remember about this (as is mentioned in the original BBC article), is that what is actually special about this instrument is that it can act as an optical switch by only working at specific wavelengths - change the wavelength, and it lets the light through.

Otherwise, yeah, it's pretty much just a fancy beam blocker that will get hot (as it dissipates the energy as heat).

So, yeah. More interesting from an optical computing viewpoint than a(n anti) 'pewpewpew!' standpoint =).

 

[Antari]

The thing to remember about this (as is mentioned in the original BBC article), is that what is actually special about this instrument is that it can act as an optical switch by only working at specific wavelengths - change the wavelength, and it lets the light through.

Otherwise, yeah, it's pretty much just a fancy beam blocker that will get hot (as it dissipates the energy as heat).

So, yeah. More interesting from an optical computing viewpoint than a(n anti) 'pewpewpew!' standpoint =).

Even as more of the benefit, think of using these as filter gateways for the internet. Would really improve internet speeds.

 

[lacktheknack]

Wow, did reality just beat science fiction to the punch?

 

[justnotcricket]

The thing to remember about this (as is mentioned in the original BBC article), is that what is actually special about this instrument is that it can act as an optical switch by only working at specific wavelengths - change the wavelength, and it lets the light through.

Otherwise, yeah, it's pretty much just a fancy beam blocker that will get hot (as it dissipates the energy as heat).

So, yeah. More interesting from an optical computing viewpoint than a(n anti) 'pewpewpew!' standpoint =).

Even as more of the benefit, think of using these as filter gateways for the internet. Would really improve internet speeds.

That's what I meant - the optical communications/computing implications are exciting; the article just presents it in rather a different light ;-P Also, I find it quite genuinely amusing that a videogame based site (which would naturally be a home for those perhaps labelled geek or nerd in daily life) perpetuates the 'brainiac' stereotype for scientists. I say this with great fondeness; I am not offended (as a laser scientist myself!), I just find it funny =)

 

[Devil's Due]

Interesting work, and I'm curious.

This weapon (while still in a prototype stage and dangerous at the moment) could actually begin helping us work towards cloaking technology. This Anti-Laser isn't designed for it, but may be the beginning steps towards creating a cloaking field, possibly. To "cloak" and item, you must simply find a way to absorb the light that is hitting off the object or to "bend" the light around said object. We cannot see something that's hidden from light.

So if they can make this larger to engulf an adult body, and remove the harmful heat from the machine, then we can begin to start doing stuff that requires such powerful tools... like peeping into locker rooms!

Though I'm interested if it would simply appear as if it's a distortion around the area, such as a "wave" like effect around the hidden object due to the light being bended, or would it actually completely remove said object from all ability to be seen?

 

[Logic 0]

I'll be impressed when they make the anti-matter ray but until then I'm not impressed.

 

[Nexus4]

Now to develop an anti-anti-laser

 

[dante brevity]

I've got a device that will also absorb the energy from a laser beam. It's called a black piece of construction paper...

 

[AnAngryMoose]

Is it just me who thought of this when they saw the title?

http://www.skyone.co.uk/images/programme/15/current/cast1_big.jpg

No, I thought that as well, which was why I was thoroughly shocked by reading the title.

 

[WittyInfidel]

Mirrors, the first anti-laser device. I present to you the first device that not only protects you from laser light, but can actually reflect those damaging rays back at your would-be attacker. From driving your cat crazy to saving you from laser-using hostile aliens, mirrors have been protecting you since before the 16th century.

Go out and get yourself some protection today!

 

[NooNameLeft]

Now to develop an anti-anti-laser

And an anti laser force field, anti laser suit and maby just maby a laser gun.

 

[LightOfDarkness]

I thought the best defense against a laser weapon was a mirror. Isn't that how Spaceball One self-destructed?

If you don't care about anything in front of you, yes.

 

[Nexus4]

Now to develop an anti-anti-laser

And an anti laser force field, anti laser suit and maby just maby a laser gun.

Also a laser rifle with an underslung laser launcher