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A team of University of Washington researchers believes it has found a way to cut roundtrip travel time between Earth and Mars by 95 percent, giving astronauts a much higher chance of pulling off a successful mission while minimizing their exposure to dangerous radiation.

I don't get it. How does aiming a powerful beam of radiation at the spaceship minimize the exposure of the astronauts to radiation?

I don't get it. How does aiming a powerful beam of radiation at the spaceship minimize the exposure of the astronauts to radiation? I'm assuming that the radiation from the sun is widespread and unpredictable due to solar flares. The spaceship designs I have read about would place water tanks and batteries around the outside the ship to minimize the exposure to the solar radiation. The beam that drives the sail would be tight enough that the ship's sail could ride along it without any of the radiation hitting the actual ship.