starwars laser?

[Baumer]

Having spent the past 8 years building industrial lasers, I can tell you these guy's are using scare tactics to make it sound worse than it is. Sure almost any laser can cause damage, but it really doesn't help when you use the government mandated warning to make it sound like it's an uber weapon.

Doing a rough calculation at 445nm, with a beam dispersion similar to most green LED's (guess on my part, not included in their docs). And an average 30% efficiency (again a guess but consistent with most LED's in this range) with no other optics involved, it would take 35 seconds of exposure to 1 point of your retina, from 10 feet to start to cause damage. At this wavelength the first thing you'd notice (besides the bright light in you eye) is that the cornea would start to get cloudy. But in all reality, you would have blinked or moved way before that happened.

 

[dedalos]

Actually you're quite wrong about this.  There have already been injuries to pilots from lasers entering the cockpit.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/sep/28/20040928-111356-3924r/

  Unidentified pilot, Delta refusing to talk, a while after the landing he felt pain but no permanent damage, yeah.  Beeee afraid.  Beee very afraid.  Lets make some more laws and controls.

So at 5 miles from the airport what altitude was the plain flying at? (3,000 feet?)  Get the impossible angle that is required to hit a pilot in the eyes (I would have to assume from the side? since the nose of the plain would stop the beam coming from the front), do the math (I am too stupid for that).  How far would the guy holding the lazer would have to be and track a plane doing lets say 300mph?  Total BS 

In the event that it did happen though, the other eye was OK and the copilot was fine so no disaster.  It is like the stupid California live car chases where the reporter is trying to make something out of something when a car goes through a stop sigh.  "Oh my ggod, he just went through a stop sign.  There could be CHILDREN walking!!!!!"  Only it is 2:00am lol

[AAJagerX]

I foresee a lot of video jokes of 10yr old kids wanting to wake up their grand brother and flash him with this toy... rendering him partially blind for life while the kid laughs his a** off in retardation.

No kidding...  Not to mention the cruelty they could inflict on pets and wildlife.

[cactuskooler]

As I recall your average laser pointer is 5mW or less. I had a 20mW green laser pointer for a while and had a lot of fun with it. This thing at 1000mW is a little scary depending on who's handling it.

[bravoa8]

I foresee a lot of video jokes of 10yr old kids wanting to wake up their grand brother and flash him with this toy... rendering him partially blind for life while the kid laughs his a** off in retardation.

Yep this certainly should be banned to the public.

[Cougar68]

Unidentified pilot, Delta refusing to talk, a while after the landing he felt pain but no permanent damage, yeah.  Beeee afraid.  Beee very afraid.  Lets make some more laws and controls.

So at 5 miles from the airport what altitude was the plain flying at? (3,000 feet?)  Get the impossible angle that is required to hit a pilot in the eyes (I would have to assume from the side? since the nose of the plain would stop the beam coming from the front), do the math (I am too stupid for that).  How far would the guy holding the lazer would have to be and track a plane doing lets say 300mph?  Total BS 

In the event that it did happen though, the other eye was OK and the copilot was fine so no disaster.  It is like the stupid California live car chases where the reporter is trying to make something out of something when a car goes through a stop sigh.  "Oh my ggod, he just went through a stop sign.  There could be CHILDREN walking!!!!!"  Only it is 2:00am lol

Here's the text of the NTSB report of a pilot that had an eye injury from a laser in the cockpit. 

************************************************** ******************************
** Report created 11/24/2008 Record 21 **
************************************************** ******************************

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: AAL479 Make/Model: MD80 Description: MD-81/82/83/87/88
Date: 11/23/2008 Time: 0026

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: None

LOCATION
City: AUSTIN State: TX Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 479 MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MD82 AIRCRAFT, ON DESCENT,
REPORTED AN INTENSE GREEN LASER LIGHT FLASH INTO THE COCKPIT, ONE CREW
MEMBER TRANSPORTED WITH AN EYE INJURY, 10 MILES FROM AUSTIN, TX

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: 1
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase: Descent Operation: Air Carrier


FAA FSDO: SAN ANTONIO, TX (SW17) Entry date: 11/24/2008
__________________
PP/ASEL, AMEL - IA
N5159S - 1971 PA28-180
KLWM

If you want any further information about cockpits getting flashed with lasers just head to any general aviation forum and do a search for the word laser.  It's a quite common occurance unfortunately.

An airliner isn't doing anywhere close to 300 mph on approach to land which is where the majority of this kind of stuff happens.  But you can do your own test if you'd like.  Sit by a runway and try to follow an airplane throughout the approach with a camera.  Not hard is it?  So why would it be so hard to believe that someone would be able to point a laser in the same manner?  And although the copilot would be perfectly capable of flying the plane would you want to be on the plane when it happened?  Imagine you're about 10 seconds from touchdown and are suddenly blinded in one eye.  Think the transition of the controls from one pilot to the other is going to be very smooth?

Here's a link to a news article about a guy that was arrested for multiple instances of hitting airplane cockpits with lasers.  http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/35107964.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU   and another....  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008827172_weblaser07m.html  Happens in Ireland too  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/call-to-jail-laser-thugs-targeting-aircraft-14088489.html

[321BAR]

Ugh, not again...

A lightsaber is NOT a laser. It does EMIT light, but the properties are different:

* A laser doesn't just end in three feet like that, (the beam eventually will diverge to the point as to seemingly fade away, but we're talking at significantly greater distances) thus would not have a defined shape or "tip" like a lightsaber.
* It can't, without SOME sort of outside interference, just double back on itself to create that defined length.
* A laser doesn't cast a shadow! Watch the films and you can see that lightsaber blades do. This is NOT a mistake due to the nature of the film props (which had a "stick" blade for the actors to use as a reference), as these shadows were cleaned up and made more defined (rather than removed) in the Special Edition and DVD edits of the Original Trilogy, and also carried over into the Prequels.
* This would create a weapon with literally NO observable mass in its blade. Although not a big deal for cutting purposes since it doesn't rely on mass, it's a VERY big deal for handling and control. In the film, lightsabers clearly respond as if there's mass to their blades (although this could be provided by some sort of gyroscopic effect).
* Light doesn't block light. Besides the shadows I mentioned, if a lightsaber was a laser, the blades would pass right through each other (this is the same reason why a blaster can't be a true laser, either. A lightsaber would be unable to deflect a blaster shot).

If anything, a lightsaber is probably much more akin to a plasma torch on steroids. Any use of a laser is probably for ignition purposes and is not itself a component of the blade.

Pointless rant? Maybe, but so long as people insist on identifying lightsabers with lasers, actually creating a REAL one that works like in the movies will never be possible. And dammit, I want to see a real lightsaber in my lifetime.

likened doesnt mean IS

But the manufacturer of your industrial laser doesn't dress it up like a toy and sell it to juveniles over the internet.

AGREED

As I recall your average laser pointer is 5mW or less. I had a 20mW green laser pointer for a while and had a lot of fun with it. This thing at 1000mW is a little scary depending on who's handling it.

they say its 1000 times as powerful as a laser pointer.
-----------------
Hey Saxman, i'd love to see a lightsaber too, but not one sold to a kid who is 15 who wants to play with it. and its not hard to redirect lasers too. put a mirror plate able to withstand the laser enough to rebound it and you suddenly have a 3 foot stick with a laser running between it. over time amp the power up from 1W to 5 W then 10W then 20W... technology, a wonder and a hinderance at the same time

[Saxman]

and its not hard to redirect lasers too. put a mirror plate able to withstand the laser enough to rebound it and you suddenly have a 3 foot stick with a laser running between it.

True, but just where in a lightsaber on-screen do you see that mirror 3 feet from the handle?

[Penguin]

True, but just where in a lightsaber on-screen do you see that mirror 3 feet from the handle?

It's STARWARS, deal with it.

-Penguin

[321BAR]

True, but just where in a lightsaber on-screen do you see that mirror 3 feet from the handle?

i never said...oy, youre confusing what i meant. lasers can be LIKE lightsabers

[Tac]

id like to know how much time elapses between shining that laser at .. say, someone wearing a t-shirt (in the chest) and the time it begins to burn through.


could make an interesting self defense weapon if its fast acting.

[Avaro]

True, but just where in a lightsaber on-screen do you see that mirror 3 feet from the handle?

Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist made plans on building a lightsaber. An avid SCI-FI went to a star wars convention to ask the "Nerds" what they thought a lightsaber would be built out of and what they would want to expect from a modern day lightsaber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSNubaa7n9o Pretty sweet to think of for any star wars fan. Enjoy.

[68Wooley]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/laser-170646-tustin-police.html

If you Google it, you'll find that unfortunately this is an all too common occurrence in and around John Wayne airport.

[mechanic]

Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist made plans on building a lightsaber. An avid SCI-FI went to a star wars convention to ask the "Nerds" what they thought a lightsaber would be built out of and what they would want to expect from a modern day lightsaber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSNubaa7n9o Pretty sweet to think of for any star wars fan. Enjoy.

Nice link Avaro, thanks man

That guy has alot of good stuff to talk about.

[Penguin]

I just thought about it, and the ceramics that Kaku thought of using, wouldn't they crack after being smashed against something?

-Penguin