Laser Beams Deflected Off of Nothing but Air for First Time Ever in Breakthrough Patent Pending Process - The Debrief (thedebrief.org)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:00
https://lemmy.world/post/7175018

Laser Beams Deflected Off of Nothing but Air for First Time Ever in Breakthrough Patent Pending Process - The Debrief::An international team of scientists report that they have successfully used acoustics to deflect laser beams in an engineering first.

#technology

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Seasm0ke@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:06 next collapse

Holodecks soon?

sir_reginald@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:28 collapse

considering the lab experiment with just one laser required a sound level of about 140 decibels that consume 20 gigawatts, I don’t think holodecks are going to be a practical device.

Seasm0ke@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:43 next collapse

Great points, but you know how things go. Proof of concept is a bloated laboratory implementation, then the tech gets smaller and more efficient over time. Next thing you know the sound is outside of human hearing range and the laser projector is fitted to a drone.

bstix@feddit.dk on 22 Oct 2023 18:57 next collapse

According to the article it’s already using ultrasound.

rhombus@sh.itjust.works on 24 Oct 2023 13:07 collapse

Ultrasound at 140 dB which can still seriously damage hearing, you just don’t hear it happen.

echo64@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 19:04 collapse

More realisticly how things go, experimental research only works in lab conditions, clickbait article suggests it’s coming next year, people make giant assumptions, people lose faith in science because the promised thing doesn’t arrive

Seasm0ke@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 20:30 collapse

Lol probably, we are definitely more on track for cyberpunk or idiocracy than star trek post scarcity socialist utopia

RobotToaster@mander.xyz on 22 Oct 2023 18:46 next collapse

WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER MY HOLO-WAIFU

FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 23:04 collapse

NOTICE ME SENPAI!!1

ThoGot@lemm.ee on 22 Oct 2023 18:47 next collapse

It may be interesting to see how humidity and temperature influence the laser (or even other gases as mentioned in the article)

surewhynotlem@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 19:26 next collapse

So like, ten years at most

LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch on 22 Oct 2023 20:11 next collapse

So they can only do holodeck simulations of EDM shows.

[deleted] on 23 Oct 2023 18:06 next collapse

.

kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de on 24 Oct 2023 14:02 collapse

It was the laser that’s 20 gigawatts, according to the article, which is notable because such a laser is hard to redirect.

As for the viability of holodecks… Obviously the rest of your points are still valid, but one can only hope that someday we’ll figure something out, the technology being impossible/unviable right now doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. And this seems to show a theoretical possibility of manipulating light mid-air in the necessary way.

tacostrange@lemmy.ml on 22 Oct 2023 18:22 next collapse

Light sabers?

SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:35 next collapse

Holograms or maybe molecular scale tractor beams?

a4ng3l@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:52 collapse

Yelling lightsabers at that loudness. All the better imho.

evranch@lemmy.ca on 23 Oct 2023 07:04 next collapse

Luke!

WHAT?

LUKE! I AM YOUR…

WHAAAT? TURN YOUR LIGHTSABER OFF IF YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY

HELL NO YOU TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTSABER BOY

Scubus@sh.itjust.works on 23 Oct 2023 07:42 collapse

Fun fact, if sound travelled through space, the sun would be as loud as a jackhammer everywhere on earth. Second fun fact, due to the fact that we evolved on earth you wouldve evolved to not be able to hear that frequency.

dlpkl@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:26 next collapse

Hard light dildos let’s fucking goooo

Sibbo@sopuli.xyz on 22 Oct 2023 18:34 next collapse

Light saber what?

SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:34 next collapse

Code Bullet? That you?

just_another_person@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 18:34 next collapse

Man, they’re going to have remake all the Star Wars porn parodies all over again.

dingleberry@discuss.tchncs.de on 23 Oct 2023 11:02 collapse

“Blow me” about to have a whole new meaning.

off_apparition@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 19:36 next collapse

That’s just an AOM

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 22 Oct 2023 21:13 next collapse

Why not a BOM?

crashoverride@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 14:38 next collapse

Why not a BM?

ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world on 24 Oct 2023 13:46 collapse

Buero of Meteorology?

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 24 Oct 2023 16:43 collapse

Just an AOM, but counting upwards.

Aopen@discuss.tchncs.de on 22 Oct 2023 21:14 next collapse

Art of Manliness?

Mr_Blott@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 15:36 next collapse

Age Of Mempires?

karakoram@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 18:24 collapse

Doesn’t an AOM typically have a lens?

off_apparition@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 20:22 collapse

No, it’s just a crystal and a piezo. You can focus into the AOM to get lower rise times but it works without any lenses.

karakoram@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 20:54 collapse

I think I should have said “optic” in place of “lens”. The crystal is the portion that is being oscillated to divert the beam. It could be that this is exactly the same principle being used by the referenced experiment but with much higher powered acoustic equipment.

off_apparition@lemmy.world on 24 Oct 2023 06:51 collapse

Yeah, they’re using air instead of a crystal :D

Subverb@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 20:15 next collapse

140 decibels. I’m sure some applications exist but it won’t be a 3D TV soon.

Slowy@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:44 next collapse

In an ultrasonic frequency we can’t hear. But your pets and any nearby bats or rodents etc may be upset by it…

feminalpanda@lemmings.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:48 collapse

Can’t hear but still cause damage?

Slowy@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:55 next collapse

I didn’t know the answer to this so I looked it up - yes. Over 120 Db can cause damage even if it’s ultrasonic and you can’t hear it. Apparently at 155Db the heat created by the sound wave can be dangerous as well.

Kazumara@feddit.de on 23 Oct 2023 10:20 collapse

Just a small note, it’s written dB, small “d”, big “B”.

“B” is the unit symbol for bel and “d” is the symbol for the SI prefix deci, a tenth.

Slowy@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 14:44 next collapse

Oops, thanks for the correction!

jbk@discuss.tchncs.de on 23 Oct 2023 15:55 next collapse

i love you

[deleted] on 23 Oct 2023 18:35 next collapse

.

A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 18:35 next collapse

Trust this guy, when it comes to the small d he knows everything about it.

EthicalAI@lemmy.world on 24 Oct 2023 13:40 collapse

In that case can we use just B. MB, etc.

Kazumara@feddit.de on 24 Oct 2023 18:08 collapse

Oh yes, sure you can, 140 dB is 0.000014 MB. The confusing thing is just that the non-SI unit byte also uses the symbol “B” and uses the SI prefix “M” quite often.

Sometimes when I calculate optical power levels I actually use B in between. For example:

How much signal is 88 optical channels at 1.6 dBm of power each?

0 dBm = 1 mW by definition

1.6 dB = 0.16 B = log10 ( x ) --> x = 10 ^ 0.16 = 1.45

So 1.6 dBm is 1.45 * 1 mW = 1.45 mW

Then 88 channels is 88 * 1.45 mW = 127.60 mW = 127.60 * 1 mW

log10(127.60) = 2.11 B = 21.1 dB

So 127.20 mW is 21.1 dBm, just below the output specification of our amplifier, good, nothing should melt.

Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz on 23 Oct 2023 18:00 collapse

Yes. Industrial grade ultrasonic sensors are harmful to your health. They can be used, for example, to measure the water level in a tank. If you need to enter a place like that, you should physically disconnect the sensor first. You might not hear much of the noise, but you may feel it in your teeth or some other places.

sic_1@feddit.de on 23 Oct 2023 18:38 collapse

Weren’t there some huge high power sonars that could melt people to goo?

feminalpanda@lemmings.world on 23 Oct 2023 19:19 collapse

Yep, and hurt whales from the pressure.

ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca on 24 Oct 2023 18:28 collapse

Oh, so not all bad then

figaro@lemdro.id on 24 Oct 2023 18:48 collapse

Loud lightsabers?

NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:09 next collapse

Space battles would be so much cooler if every now and then the phaser gets split around the ship instead of hitting the shields.

Would also work even when shields are down.

LinuxSBC@lemm.ee on 22 Oct 2023 21:57 collapse

But that needs air. There’s no air in space.

CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 23:49 next collapse

There’s an Air and Space Museum

NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 23:53 next collapse

Damn… you’re right.

Maybe they’ll find another way now that they’ve found one.

LinuxSBC@lemm.ee on 23 Oct 2023 06:18 collapse

A mirror? Light won’t reflect off of nothing. The closest you’ll get is gravitational lensing, but that requires about a galaxy’s worth of mass to make any noticeable difference.

abhibeckert@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 00:41 collapse

Doesn’t need to be air “in space”, there just needs to be air somewhere between the laser weapon and whatever it is you don’t want the weapon to destroy…

… although it’d probably be easier to use a mirror. Maybe one pointing directly at the person holding a laser weapon. ;-)

brianorca@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 15:18 collapse

Corner reflector. Send it back where it came from, without knowing where they are ahead of time.

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 22 Oct 2023 21:16 next collapse

I mean, that’s a 20GW laser, what about those handheld lasers? Would you still need 140db?

Brokkr@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 23:26 collapse

It would happen regardless of the power of the laser, but it would likely be undetectable at significantly lower power.

BradleyUffner@lemmy.world on 22 Oct 2023 21:25 next collapse

Green laser beams have been deflecting off nothing but air since we invented green lasers. That’s why they are visible without adding smoke.

Reygle@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 17:58 collapse

Horseshit. Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining.

Edit: this is more horseshit like the “room temperature superconductor” that was instantly debunked as a horseshit scheme recently.

Sound pressure waves cannot distort spacetime