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Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers

A quarter-century ago, American rocket scientists proposed the “Star Wars” defense system to knock Soviet missiles from the skies with laser beams. Some of the same scientists are now aiming their lasers at another airborne threat: the mosquito.

In a lab in this Seattle suburb, researchers in long white coats recently stood watching a small glass box of bugs. Every few seconds, a contraption 100 feet away shot a beam that hit the buzzing mosquitoes, one by one, with a spot of red light.

via Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers – WSJ.com.

Posted 15 March 2009 § Application ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:



Simulated Suicide for Laser-Training Troops

When U.S. troops train, they often use a kind of Laser Tag system, to record simulated kills from rifles and artillery. But these days, American forces face less conventional threats, like suicide bombers. Which is why the Navy has funded a patent, for a simulated suicide bomber vest.

via Danger Room from Wired.com.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Application ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:



use lasers to count traffic

The Iowa Department of Transportation is using a mix of new and old technology to count traffic in a busy area along Interstate 80-35 in Des Moines. D.O.T. spokesperson Karen Carroll says the high-tech laser system counts the vehicles.

Carroll says the system puts two lasers across the road and counts traffic as the vehicles cross the lasers. She says they decided on this system because it would be costly to have to shut down and tear up the road to install the traditional loops under the roadway that measure traffic. Caroll says its’ called the “AxleLight” laser system and is able to tell the type of vehicle by the number of wheels and the distance between each wheel.

via Radio Iowa: DOT uses lasers, turbine to count traffic.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Application ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:



Arrests as laser targets aircraft

Two men have been arrested after a laser light was shone at an aircraft coming into land at Cardiff Airport.

The crew of a flight from Dublin reported the incident, suggesting the green light had come from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan on Sunday night.

via BBC NEWS | UK | Wales

Posted 10 March 2009 § Misuse of Lasers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Rescue chopper attacked with laser

AN ambulance rescue helicopter has been attacked by laser pointers while transporting a badly injured man to hospital in Sydney’s southwest.

The crew had to alter their route to approach Liverpool Hospital safely, after a laser beam was pointed at the helicopter last night, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

via The Australian.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Misuse of Lasers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

laser lighter

rog8811 has gutted a zippo style lighter and inserted a blue ray laser module. It can not really light a cigerate. But it is cool.

Posted 02 March 2009 § Art, Gadget, and Hacks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Laser imaging helps make 3-D dinosaur models

Imagining dinosaurs in the flesh is tricky since the prehistoric subjects died out some 65 million years ago, but a new tool is helping to fill out the skeleton of T. rex and one of the largest-known duckbill dinosaurs, among other beasts.

Paleontologists used laser imaging technology called LiDAR for the first time to create 3-D computer models of five dinosaurs, including two of Tyrannosaurus rex, a spiny predator called Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, the ostrich-like Strutiomimum sedens and the plant-eating Edmontosaurus annectens, a hadrosaur or duckbill dinosaur.

via LiveScience- msnbc.com.

Posted 26 February 2009 § Application ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Velodyne Lidal launched in Europe

Routescene has been granted distribution rights in the UK and Republic of Ireland for the groundbreaking Velodyne HDL-64 High Definition Lidar sensor.

The invention of the Velodyne HDL-64 High Definition Lidar sensor, which uses 64 lasers contained within a fast-spinning unit to create a true three-dimensional terrain map, marks a real revolution in the field of lidar technology.

Using the HDL-64 Lidar mobile sensor, a corridor of 220m can be mapped in great detail, as the unit collects over 1.3 million points per second. Each laser is individually calibrated in the factory prior to the unit being shipped to ensure that it achieves the highest degree of accuracy.

Since its successful utilisation by five of the six autonomous vehicles to complete the world-renowned DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007, the HDL-64 Lidar sensor has had a phenomenal uptake worldwide – and not just within the robotics industry.

It is the innovative technology of the HDL-64 Lidar sensor that is responsible for the stunning imagery in Radiohead’s music video promo for House of Cards. Meanwhile, car manufacturers are employing the technology to progress automated vehicle and collision avoidance research.

The HDL-64 Lidar sensor has also been chosen by US road inspection companies to complement existing road mapping technology. Other sectors that have expressed an interest in the potential of the HDL-64 Lidar sensor technology include the video games and animation industries.

Routescene’s Technical Director, Gert Riemersma, comments: “The HDL-64 Lidar sensor technology is very new in Europe and we are delighted to be able to offer our customers support and access to this innovative equipment.

“We are very excited by the range of possibilities offered by the HDL-64 Lidar sensor. Our main focus is to promote the technology within the geospatial industry, but we have already had numerous enquiries from other sectors. These are exciting times: we can now create high definition 3D models in a short space of time, an exercise that previously would have taken weeks to complete using traditional survey methods.”

For further information, please visit www.routescene.com, or contact Sue Hutchison on +44 (0)131 554 8073 or at sue.hutchison@routescene.com

Posted 24 February 2009 § Press Release ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

The OSA president’s blog

Well, the OSA president has joined the blogosphere. He has a travelblog at wordpress.com.

Posted 24 February 2009 § Resources & Tools ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

lasersaber

Posted 24 February 2009 § Art, Gadget, and Hacks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: