DIY Holograms

     I took a look at the poll that I posted a while back, and it seems that the majority of people agreed that DOING THINGS led to the most effective learning.  My intent was to change my writing to take your opinions into account.  This is my attempt:

     If you want to learn more about light, but you don't want to read about it, you can perform your own experiment!  Look at this website.  It shows you how to make your own holograms.  You are probably thinking, I don't have time for this!  Never fear!  I tried making my own holograms, and it only took a few minutes to get a result!  It really is easy and quick to do.  The only things you need are a piece of plastic (like from CD cases or the packaging of many electronic devices - phones, videogame accessories, etc.), a compass (EPICS anyone?), and a design that you want to create in the hologram.  Follow the steps at the website and then go out into the sun (or use any point source - a laser pointer in a dark room for instance).  Enjoy!

     If you are wondering why the image appears beneath the surface, it has to do with the fact that your eyes are spaced apart and because the scratches that are made on the plastic surface act like a grating.  The grating causes interference in the light, and only the image you have designed is allowed to reflect toward your eyes.

If lasers could talk

     If you have been following my posts, you have found that there are many applications for lasers.  I have provided a list of medical applications and I have alluded to industrial applications.  I have even shown that lasers are similar to cute little ducks.  You may think I am just a laser enthusiast, claiming that lasers are completely amazing, useful, and awesome.  But I have shown that lasers are being considered for use as weapons and I have remarked on a story of laser misuse.  So maybe lasers are not so appealing.  Maybe the technology should be avoided due to the dangers that are associated with it.

     I found a news article that showed another medical/cosmetic application of laser technology: an anti-aging laser technique.  The report describes how lasers can be used to eliminate bulging, unsightly veins.  The article emphasizes its use on older women and, especially, celebrities.

"A small ‘pinhole’ puncture is made into the vein and a tiny catheter - no larger than one millimetre in diameter - is inserted along the length into which more anaesthetic and the laser is placed. The laser is activated and slowly pulled out of the vein. The heat from the tip of the laser seals the vein closed, diverting the blood supply to other, deeper, less prominent vessels below the skin’s surface.... After a few days and weeks the treated vein is reabsorbed into the body and disappears completely."

     From this description, I cannot decide which category this application should be placed into.  Cool app?  Or body ravager?  I am of the opinion that those veins are in your body for a reason.  Wouldn't destroying them result in poor circulation to your limbs, or possibly have some side-effect like lack of feeling near those areas?  If those effects don't result from this technique, then I could see the appeal of this application.  Cosmetic operations are all the rage now, so this might be another one, not to mention a possibly safe one, to add to the list of ways you can change yourself.

     What is your opinion of this application? I find it hard to decide how to classify this one.  For me, it's kind of in the gray area between useful and dangerous.  Maybe that is the thing about lasers, or science in general;  not every technology has to be clear-cut right or wrong.  If lasers could talk, they would probably say, "I'm a laser, not a saint."

It's All Fun and Games...

     I found a report of two men that decided it would be fun to point their laser pointers at aircraft.  This kind of thing, although it may seem like innocent fun, is pretty serious.  The report describes the maximum penalties the two pranksters can be charged with:

8 years in prison and a $15,000 fine!

     Even though laser pointers can be fun to play around with, pointing them at particular things, like landing aircraft, vehicles, police officers, and people in general, is serious.  What was meant to be a joke can easily turn into a disaster, in the form of serious injuries, deaths, and/or criminal charges.

     I want to emphasize to my readers that if you ever find as much interest in lasers as I have, use your head before you aim your personal laser.  You might want to avoid handling high power laser pointers because accidentally pointing it at a reflective surface can lead to unexpected eye injury.  Typically, 5 mW laser pointers are safe because our blink reflex prevents too much damage to our eyes.  Still, don't point them at people or vehicles.

If you call in the next 10 minutes...

     Ever wonder if lasers would find their way into infomercials?  Well wonder no more!  These infomercials I found are exactly what you were looking for!

 Ok.  So I didn't find these infomercials.  I modified existing ones to advertise lasers (if that wasn't obvious to you) {sources 1, 2, 3}.  But why shouldn't there be laser infomercials out there like these ones?  I haven't run into any!

     The reason for this is because applications of laser technology are not gimmicks.  They actually work.  There is a pretty long list of laser applications in all industries.  Pertaining to health and medicine, here is a list of just a few that I know of:

Hair Removal
Stretch Mark Treatment
Scar Removal
Tattoo Removal
Teeth Whitening
Acne Treatment
Vision Enhancement Surgery
Bloodless Surgery Cutting Tools

     If you were thinking about getting any of these done, don't search infomercials to find a solution.  Be thankful that scientists and doctors are cooperating to extend the applications of lasers to cosmetic and health applications.

More on Weaponizing Lasers...

I found this video that gives a more detailed explanation of how the airborne lasers can target and destroy launched missiles.  Enjoy!

Lasers are like Ducks.

     Hey check out this video!  Those ducks are so cute!  Just watch them swim in the water, making a splash!

Adding and subtracting shouldn't be this hard

     We all know how to add and subtract numbers, even if some of us avoid doing so by becoming good friends with our calculators.  Performing addition and subtraction on numbers is one thing, but what about doing the same with light?  Specifically, can we add and subtract photons, light particles, from each other?  Does this seem possible?  Photons are essentially light particles.  Try taking two particles of matter, like a piece of your computer or even the air you are breathing, and combining them to make one particle.  Only nuclear reactions do this, and to tell the truth, how easy is it for us to mimic what the sun does?  Well we can combine two light particles together to make a single, different light particle.

Blog Self-Interview

A moment of self-reflection....

Q. What is the purpose of this blog?
A. The purpose of this blog is to communicate the science behind lasers and their applications to an audience that may have an interest in the subject but would like to know more.  I would also like to communicate some more complicated ideas that typically require a background in laser physics to understand.

Q. Who is the imagined audience(s) of this blog?
A. My intended audience consists of curious individuals that have wondered about lasers, as I have since I was young, and want to know more.  I try to include fun pictures for more visual audience members, and news stories with a short analysis for those more political- or physical-minded individuals.

Weaponizing Lasers to Reduce Casualties

Contradicting?  It may seem so...

     Ever since the proposal of "Star Wars" during the Cold War, there has been a lot of interest in utilizing lasers as weapons.  Now, Boeing has released footage of their airborne tactical laser.  The test shows the laser scorching the hood of a truck from an airplane, and Boeing states that the truck was "disabled" off-camera.

     With this kind of power, these lasers could take out human targets from the sky and change the dynamics of war.  Just knowing that there is a sniper laser in the sky would have serious psychological effects on targets.  The advancement of such devastating weapons can get a little scary at times.  Often, one has to ask the question, "How does this help?"  Aren't these advancements perpetuating and promoting violence? 

Books prevail over public dialogue, despite their suckiness

Reading.
Some love it.
Some hate it.
Some, unfortunately, don't know how.
You do, though, so let me tell you a story and maybe you can help me resolve some questions I have about the subject...