Can lasers solve the energy crisis?
WASHINGTON — Next year will mark the 50th birthday of the laser, one of the most productive and widely used mega-inventions of the last century. Scientists hope that 2010 also will see the launch of laser technology’s greatest challenge: creating an inexhaustible supply of clean, carbon-free energy. In the five decades since lasers were developed, they’ve found a host of applications — from the everyday to the exotic — in industry, science, medicine, entertainment and national security. Lasers read bar codes at checkout counters, write and read DVDs, operate laser printers, perform surgery, diagnose and treat cancers, spot military targets and measure the distance to the moon. They even remove unwanted body hair.
