Lasers are light beams powerful enough to zip out into the distance for miles or slice through metal. By proving what was once believed to be science fiction, these beams are among the most versatile inventions of modern times. More or less, in everyday life we’re surrounded by laser applications. They’re in our phones, in children’s toys, in barcode scanners and computer mice, and they’re also used in eye surgeries and can even guide missiles. Below are 15 fascinating facts about this far-out invention that assists in much of our daily lives.
1. The word “laser” started as an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.”
2. Before the laser was developed, there was the “maser.” This stood for “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation” and was based on Albert Einstein’s principle of stimulated emission masers which were used in atomic clocks.
3. Lasers are grouped into specific classes, 1-5, for levels of danger. If you reach level 5, you could suffer permanent blindness and burning skin.
4. The world’s most powerful laser has the power of a hydrogen bomb.
5. Laser measuring is accurate to more than a nanometer, which is a billionth of a meter.
6. Though it sounds ancient, the strength of early lasers was measured in “gillettes,” which are the number of razor blades a beam is capable of breaking through.
7. The light in a laser is more parallel than any other light source; every part of the beam has almost the exact direction.
8. By using lasers, it’s possible to get sequencing information about DNA from a single molecule.
9. The most powerful laser recorded was at 1.25 petawatts in a Californian laboratory in 1996.
10. In 1974 lasers were used commercially for the first time in supermarket barcode scanners.
11. Astronauts on the Apollo 11 space mission in 1969 used a laser to measure the distance between Earth and the moon.
12. The grainy appearance that a laser gives off is called “laser speckle” and is why there are light and dark patches in the beam of a laser.
13. Laser tag was developed as a non-lethal training program for the U.S. army in the 1970s.
14. Despite some lasers being hotter than the surface of the sun, they can be used to cool atoms when combined with a magnetic field.
15. A tiny laser beam can etch a serial number onto a diamond, the hardest natural substance known to humans.
Source: subconlaser.co.uk
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