...Japan fires world's most powerful laser to produce... 1,000 times the planet's power consumption

dailymail.co.uk ^ | By Ellie Zolfagharifard

[BenLurkin]

Japan claims to have fired the most powerful laser ever created.

Researchers in Osaka were able to produce a 2-petawatt laser beam using a device known as the Laser for Fast Ignition Experiment (LFEX).

The power of the 'Death Star'-like beam is equivalent to 1,000 times the world's total electricity consumption, the scientists claim. While it produced a huge amount of power, the energy required for the beam itself is equivalent to that needed to power a microwave for two seconds.

The team were able to produce such a high output from low energy by only firing the laser beam for 1 pico-second, or a trillionth of a second.

[smokingfrog]

[Little Ray]

Which goes to show that the real value you want to know is the number of joules per pulse.

[Talisker]

That’s one big spark plug coil...

[EGPWS]

"The power of the 'Death Star'-like beam is equivalent to 1,000 times the world's total electricity consumption,.."

That's enough to put a dent in Michelle 0bama's ass! Well, maybe....

[Lx]

[knarf]

Tesla has ALWAYS been correct !

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

The evolution of intelligence ends with self-annihilation.

[paintriot]

Let’s get those guys on our team.

[Talisker]

To put that into context, according to Popular Science, a 50,000 watt laser successfully took down a drone just a mile away. That 50kW laser was 10 billion times less powerful that the one used in Japan.

And THAT'S why the ETs aren't worried about us...

[Crystal Palace East]

If someone shoots it at me, would SPF 50 be any help?

[Crystal Palace East]

But if the total energy delivered is only 700 to 1000 watts for two seconds, what’s the use?

Couldn’t target absorb that amount of energy?

[Junk Silver]

“You would prefer another target? A military target?”

[Publius]

The laser, liked to the Death Star laser in Star Wars, is currently mainly of scientific interest rather than having any real-world purpose.

Oh, come now! We aren't that stupid!

[TexasGator]

“But if the total energy delivered is only 700 to 1000 watts for two seconds, what’s the use?”

But you only flew 17’6” ... what’s the use?

[ClearCase_guy]

equivalent to 1,000 times the world's total electricity consumption

That seems vague enough to be meaningless.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Orders of magnitude (power)

Below 1 watt

yoctowatt (10^-24 watt)
zeptowatt (10^-22 watt)
attowatt (10^-18 watt)
femtowatt (10^-15 watt)
picowatt (10^-12 watt)
nanowatt (10^-9 watt)
microwatt (10^-6 watt)
milliwatt (10^-3 watt)

Between 1 and 1000 watts is the watt

Above 1000 watts
kilowatt (10³ watts)
megawatt (10⁶ watts)
gigawatt (10⁹ watts)
terawatt (10¹² watts)
petawatt (10¹⁵ watts)
exawatt (10¹⁸ watts)
zettawatt (10²¹ watts)
yottawatt (10²⁴ watts)

[rikkir]

You misread. That’s the energy it used.
It produced energy greater than all the energy used on the earth at one time.
Much different.

[GeronL]

1,000 times the world's total electricity consumption

Japan is now $999 trillion in debt for that. lol

[JimSEA]

Check back in a couple of years, you might be surprised. This has the looks of a breakthrough.