In 2016, the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF), is a single cylinder of titanium-doped sapphire about the width of a Frisbee. achieved an unprecedented 5.3 million billion watts, or petawatts (PW). The lights in Shanghai do not dim each time the laser fires, however. Although the pulses are extraordinarily powerful, they are also infinitesimally …
State-of-art laser systems in 2016 are capable of delivering a laser pulse with intensity up to 2 × 10^22 W cm−2. Multi-Petawatt and ten PetaWatt lasers have been built and are expected to reach ∼10^24 W cm−2 and beyond. This opens the door for studying light–matter interactions as well as QED effects in unexplored domains. Diverse schemes have been …
The L3-HAPLS advanced petawatt laser system was installed last week at the ELI Beamlines Research Center (link is external)in Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic. L3-HAPLS — the world’s most advanced and highest average power, diode-pumped petawatt laser system — was designed, developed and constructed in only three years by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) NIF and …
Women having IVF can now incubate embryos in their own bodies before they are implanted in the womb. Results from a clinical trial suggest the incubation device could work as well as conventional IVF and be far cheaper. Cylindrical in shape, INVOcell is held in the vagina by a flexible diaphragm. The embryos are kept …
A guest article by Joseph Friedlander Note: This is a longer article that ties together some of the crazy apocalyptic nuclear tropes popular around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and just before and after. That was the period in which much of modern popular science fiction (Including Star Trek and 2001) was incubated, …
There are currently petawatt lasers in Japan and the USA. The EU has funded several ten petawatt lasers. Japan and the USA also have ten petawatt laser projects funded. Japan recently fired a 2 petawatt laser and believe this could be a pathway to commercial nuclear fusion. Ultrapowerful lasers have been increasing in power by …
The first 20 T-14 Armata main battle tanks were handed over to the military earlier in February. It was initially thought that the new tank would be revealed then, but authorities decided to keep the tank’s details a secret. The T-14 (Object 149) main battle tank is based on the Armata platform, which has been …
Google Loon has had tests with major cellular carriers. The internet balloons have provided high-speed connections to people in isolated parts of Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Mike Cassidy, Project Loon’s leader, says the technology is now sufficiently cheap and reliable for Google to start planning how to roll it out. By the end of …
A Google research team is adapting Google’s pagerank to measure the trustworthiness of a page, rather than its reputation across the web. Instead of counting incoming links, the system – which is not yet live – counts the number of incorrect facts within a page. “A source that has few false facts is considered to …
The Carnival of Space 395 is up at Everyday Spacer. Examiner – Scientists mull how to find life on Europa Ever since the Europa mission had been given the official nod of approval by NASA, scientists have been giddy with excitement at the prospect of exploring a new world where life might reside. The likely …
Ben Goertzel talks about the war on the war on death. A couple days ago the New York Times ran an article by 83 year old author Daniel Callahan, entitled “On Dying After Your Time.” The theme of the article is that extending human life is a bad idea, for a variety of reasons. The …