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lasers
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Lasers
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lasers
laser jammers
The Laser Star is new to the States, but it's already made a name for itself in Europe as a cheap, effective way to jam police speed trap lasers. These demonstrations from Laser Jammer Tests show why. No fewer than four police-issue laser detectors were foiled by the Laser Star without so much as a hiccup. Regardless of your views on this kind of tech, it's still amazingly cool how the AudiS4 S-Line A4 in the videos is effectively invisible to the laser detectors. And when you aren't fighting the man, Laser Star's sensors help park the car too. Personally, I can't wait to get one and recreate my favorite Vin Diesel scenes from The Fast and the Furious.
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Laser Star Allegedly Turns Your Clunker Into Invisible Asphalt Phantom
The Laser Star is new to the States, but it's already made a name for itself in Europe as a cheap, effective way to jam police speed trap lasers. These demonstrations from Laser Jammer Tests show why. No fewer than four police-issue laser detectors were foiled by the Laser Star without so much as a hiccup. Regardless of your views on this kind of tech, it's still amazingly cool how the Audi
concept
Flowlight: Like a Blackboard With Lasers
Precisely how the Flowlight would work is a little unclear, but the design page notes that a base station would focus a laser beam 100 times a second into a point in the space, creating small plasma points that glow in mid air. Users could then use the pen to draw and write, making doodles look like some sort of fantastic light show. It's kind of like a cross between and blackboard and a laser pointer—which would be extremely cool if the product actually existed. More »
lasers
DIY Home Laser Show Reacts To Music, Probably Won't Incinerate Your Eyes
For those of you who're into a little bit of creative electronics as well as fancying yourself as a bit of a mean DJ, this DIY laser light show may be just the thing to spice up your parties. Not only will the project spray laser light around (and who doesn't like laser light shows?) but it also reacts to music, so you'll have your own laser visualizer. Check out the video to see it in action. More »
Dentophobia
Tooth Lasers Could Make Drilling a Thing of the Past
For some people, just the sound of a dental drill is enough to cause panic—but the good news is that this barbaric procedure may be a thing of the past. UK researchers have developed a technology that is based on Raman spectroscopy (a method that is currently used to identify chemicals) to spot tooth decay before it begins. A new study has determined that harmful bacteria can be detected by analyzing how light is scattered when a laser is fired at the tooth. More »
lasers
The skin-ablation laser tattoo we showed you recently was creepy mainly because burning your naked skin is going to hurt, but this new laser body-mod tackles a safer target, fingernails. The portraits of famous bods you can see in the image are laser-etched into black nail polish (I know, it looks like they're made of seared, blackened nail, but they're not), and member lamedust over at Instructables has got a pretty comprehensive guide. So if you're crazy, you too can etch pics onto the end of your digits. The video makes for interesting watching.
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Laser Tattoo Body-Modding, This Time it's Not Painful: Fingernails
The skin-ablation laser tattoo we showed you recently was creepy mainly because burning your naked skin is going to hurt, but this new laser body-mod tackles a safer target, fingernails. The portraits of famous bods you can see in the image are laser-etched into black nail polish (I know, it looks like they're made of seared, blackened nail, but they're not), and member lamedust over at Instructables has got a pretty comprehensive guide. So if you're crazy, you too can etch pics onto the end of your digits. The video makes for interesting watching.
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lasers
Russian Ravers Blinded By Best (and Last) Laser Show They'll Ever See
Another reason I'm glad I was never a rave kiddie whenever it was trendy in the US: Trippy lasers beamed into your eyes will blind you. A gaggle of Russian ravers at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival discovered this after tents erected to deflect heavy rains partially refracted lasers intended for skyward illumination into their eyes, resulting in nastiness: "Retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible." Ouch. Strangely, this makes me want to watch Go. [Reuters via Geekologie]
radiohead
New Radiohead Video is Shot with Lasers, Not Cameras
Radiohead, never ones to shy away from trying new things, has shot its new video for "House of Cards" without using cameras at all. Whaa? Yes, they've used two fancy new technologies called Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar. To shoot it using lasers and stuff. Let's break it down here. More »
tattoos
Guy Uses Laser-Etch Machine to Tattoo Himself (Verdict: Flaming Nutcase)
See that robot there? It's burned by a laser-etch machine. On genyoowine human skin. Ohoho yes: that sent an icky feeling up your spine didn't it? If it didn't, then it should have. Try looking through the gallery, and then watch the video of a skin-etch in action, and that should do the trick... More »
hdtvs
Mitsubishi LaserVue Laser TV Will Be 65 and 73-Inches and Ship in Q3
Details on Mistubishi's LaserVue, the rear-projection 1080p televison that uses frickin' laser beams to display exceptionally rich color, are pouring out. The TV set will come in 65" and 73" varities when it ships in Q3 this year. It's 10" deep, thin by historical standards, but still somewhat thick for today's tastes, but the 120Hz set consumes a fraction of the power of LCDs and plasmas and is 3D-capable out of the box. No word on price. [Mitsubishi]
tricorder
Scientists Build Portable Life-Signs Detector: Tricorder 1.0
A team of US and UK scientists have invented a portable scanner that may be useful in the hunt for life on Mars. And it sounds a whole lot like a Star Trek tricorder: it uses a beam of ultraviolet laser light and detects fluorescence from organic molecules, so it works remotely and doesn't damage samples. Under simulated-Mars conditions, they've used it to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (found on comets, thought to be building-blocks of life) in masses as small as 1.5 micrograms. Plus they think the tech could be adapted to be rugged and fitted onto a future Mars rover. Just wait for the handheld version, and for an astronaut to start going "widdlywee..." as they stomp around Mars. [Eurekalert via IO9]
gadgets
Laser Surveillance Defeater Hides Your Least Important Non-Secrets
While most of us aren't important/good looking enough for anyone to spy on, the Laser Surveillance Defeater allows us to at least pretend for a moment or two. While much of audio surveillance functions by picking up voices through windows, the $70 Surveillance Defeater can jam these signals. Sticking to your window of choice via suction cup, it sends out a cacophony of human frequencies to confound long-distance microphones. Pick yours up today and no one will ever discover that...well...you really don't do anything exciting behind closed doors. [Shomer-tec via inventorspot]
lasers
Brando's Portable Disco Lights Do it Psychedelically with Lasers
Laser beams plus funky light patterns plus party: sounds like a winning combo. It certainly looks that way for this Brando gadget: the green laser light spewing from it can be tweaked into a number of impressive patterns (diffraction grating, anyone?) And though it doesn't look like it reacts to music, the shifting, changing light-show it makes can only be described as psychedelic, with a dab of Matrix. It's mains-powered, just 3.1 x 2.8 x 1.2 inches in size and comes with a stand that looks ripe to be modded into a motor-powered platform. Costs $65. [Brando]
pew pew
Boeing Successfully Fires 25 kW Solid-State Lasers, Laser Weapons One Step Closer to Being a Reality
Boeing has just tested its new thin-disk laser, the most powerful solid-state laser ever made. It fires at over 25 kilowatts, with the scalability proven to go up to a 100 kilowatt laser in the coming years. A 100 kW laser would be the most powerful ever made, one that has a lot of challenges to overcome, including reducing the excess heat generated by such a powerful laser and maintaining the quality of the beam over distances. But even a 25 kW laser is extremely powerful. As the press release says, it "will damage, disable or destroy targets at the speed of light, with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations." Hit the jump for the full release. More »
weapons
Fun with Pain Rays, Sound Cannons and Other Non-Lethal Weaponry
This week's New Yorker (yep, you heard me right) has a cool piece on the development of non-lethal weapons for military and police. You can tell the writer, Alec Wilkinson, had a good time reporting it. The story focuses on Charles Heal, a badass part-time Marine and part-time LA Sheriff's Department officer known in some circles as "Mr. Non-Lethal Weapons." As a product evaluator and consultant, Heal has helped create about 25 different non-lethal weapons, including: More »
24
Jack Bauer Really Does Save Us From Terrorists
As far fetched as some of the tech the spy community plays with is, you'd think they were getting it from spy movies and stuff. Well, they're definitely watching. The Department of Homeland Security's latest idea to protect airports, a laser equipped drone that'll detect and blind missiles with a low-power laser (rather than a megadoom one) is named for Chloe on 24, because they apparently both track down bad guys. We're assuming project Jack kills them. And if they ever reveal one codenamed Solid Snake, all evildoers worldwide should simultaneously piss their pants and seek a career in handicrafts. [Danger Room] More »
lasers
Boeing Begins Firing Airborne High-Energy Laser, Nearby Planets Run Away
Last week Boeing fired their high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft for the first time ever, which is the first step in the final sprint to achieve a fully functional laser-based anti-missile system next year. By year's end the Advanced Tactical Laser will be firing at ground targets. According to Boeing, the ATL will "destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no collateral damage," thanks to its "ultra-precision engagement capability." I'm sure the dudes defending the Rebel Base at Hoth were delighted with that thought. [Boeing]
robots
Take eight robots, divide them into two teams, set them loose in a miniature city, and arm them with non lethal lasers—but tell them to kill one another. It's like semi-ethical dog fighting from the future. And we love it. Our Google Translate is a little rusty, but in the team game mode, each robot could be shot 9 times with the prerequisite of deactivating for 5 seconds between each death. There were other interesting factors (like bases) and all sorts of rules to thwart cheaters (no strafing). So, are you ready to see the video?
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Blaser Battle Fukuoka Pits Robots With Lasers Against Robots With Lasers
Take eight robots, divide them into two teams, set them loose in a miniature city, and arm them with non lethal lasers—but tell them to kill one another. It's like semi-ethical dog fighting from the future. And we love it. Our Google Translate is a little rusty, but in the team game mode, each robot could be shot 9 times with the prerequisite of deactivating for 5 seconds between each death. There were other interesting factors (like bases) and all sorts of rules to thwart cheaters (no strafing). So, are you ready to see the video?
More »
10:23 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Mark Wilson
7,303 views,
33 comments
Latest by Acemonster: @Eric Merrill: Lol he said "Stay down robo-bitch" more »
