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.
I like this post because it is a nice change of tone in your blogging. It gave a little easy going energy to your blog
ReplyDeleteThey stopped a Bronco game I was at last year, because someone was pointing a laser on the field. Lasers are cool, but not when they interupt my football game.
ReplyDeleteI agree that lasers are cool because they have a lot of industry and research applications. Not to mention they make a nice visual at concerts, etc. There is a big problem with misuse, though, which is unfortunate. Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDelete@ Michelle,
ReplyDeleteYou might want to look at my post, "If you call in the next 10 minutes..." I tried to add a humorous element to it. Take a look!
Boy, could I tell you stories of what's going on in those laser labs (and I be you have a few of your own). It's not just fools with laser pointers doing stupid stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Jen. I actually witnessed a mistake that could have gone pretty bad. The lid to the laser setup fell into the laser cavity, and the lid started smoking. Not only was there a risk of starting a fire, but there was a reflective handle on the lid that could have redirected the beam into the operator's UNPROTECTED eyes. I blame the setup (there should have been something preventing the lid from falling in) and the lack of precaution (the operator should have been wearing goggles). Luckily, no one was hurt, but there was no need for that to happen. I wouldn't call anyone a fool, but I still think the situation could have been avoided.
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