There are medical conditions that can be treated with lasers. Laser eye surgery is safe and commonplace, for example. Skin disorders and arthritis pain can be treated with lasers, too. However, what you can’t do is cure every disease known to medicine by paying thousands of dollars for a handheld laser from some dude in South Dakota. [More]
lasers
New York-Bound Virgin Atlantic Flight Returns To London After “Laser Incident”
By 2.15.16
A Virgin Atlantic flight headed to New York returned to a London airport Sunday evening after one of the plane’s pilots reported feeling unwell following a “laser beam incident.” [More]
Feds Investigating After 20 Laser Strikes Aimed At Aircraft Reported Across The U.S. In One Night
By 11.12.15
Federal investigators have been kept busy this year investigating laser strikes at the nation’s airports, but in just one night, their workload jumped by quite a bit: more than 20 laser incidents were reported overnight between Wednesday at Thursday, at airports across the country. [More]
Laser Razor Raises $4 Million, Gets Kicked Off Kickstarter For Maybe Not Existing
By 10.13.15
Hey, remember how a few years ago, Kickstarter changed their rules to require that all hardware projects funded through the platform actually exist in a working form? Late last night, Kickstarter enforced that policy on a campaign that had already raised $4 million. Kickstarter administrators apparently didn’t believe that the product, which promises a “shaving revolution,” exists yet as promised. [More]
FAA Investigating Cluster Of 11 Laser Hits On Planes Flying Near Newark Airport
By 7.16.15
They might seem like harmless flashes of light to those of us on the ground, but lasers can seriously disrupt planes in flight, most notably when they hit pilots in the eyes, potentially causing injuries. That’s why the Federal Aviation Administration is taking reports of 11 separate laser incidents near Newark Liberty International Airport in one night very seriously. [More]
Man Accused Of Pointing Laser Beam Into Cockpits Of Several Planes At LaGuardia Airport, Injuring Pilots
By 3.10.15
Because there isn’t already enough to worry about when piloting a giant piece of metal flying in the sky, law enforcement in New York say they busted a man accused of shining a powerful laser beam into the cockpits of several aircraft at LaGuardia Airport, injuring the eyes of three pilots. [More]
FBI Offering $10,000 Rewards To Help Catch People Pointing Lasers At Airplanes
By 6.4.14
The government meant it before when the Federal Aviation Authority said it: Pointing lasers at planes flying overhead is a really bad idea and could hurt the pilot or otherwise muck up that aircraft’s flight. To drive that point home, a new FBI campaign is offering a hefty reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest of just such a laser user. [More]
Strip Club Nearly Blinds Southwest Pilots At Love Field
By 9.6.10
Strip clubs and cockpits don’t mix, at least not when there’s a spinning search light involved, says the FAA. The agency has asked Bombshells, a club near Love Field Airport in Dallas, TX, to keep its newly installed rooftop light turned off after the pilot for a Southwest flight reported his cockpit was flooded with light while trying to land the plane. The pilot feared that it was a laser strike, which can cause temporary blindness. [More]
George Lucas Says Your Actual Laser Looks Too Much Like Lightsaber
By 7.6.10
So apparently a lightsaber isn’t a laser, it’s a “blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field,” but whatever, George Lucas says Wicked Lasers, based in Hong Kong, is violating LucasFilm’s trademark by selling lasers that look like lightsabers. [More]
Chicago Judges Not Impressed By Laser Gun Speeding Tickets
By 11.17.09
Good news if you live in Chicago and enjoy driving too fast: traffic court judges in Cook County are throwing out speeding tickets issued by laser gun-wielding cops because the LIDAR technology is apparently not “scientifically reliable.”
Behold: Laser-Etched Food
By 10.15.09
Look at this picture that Kellogg’s UK posted on its Twitter feed. That’s a bunch of Corn Flakes that have been laser-etched with the Kellogg’s logo. This is the best marriage of food and language since alphabet soup.
Laser Engraving Gone Wrong? Just Fill It In With A Sharpie
By 7.22.09
If you spent about $150 to have the case of your laptop computer laser-engraved with a cool design and something went wrong, would you expect to be told to fill in the problem areas yourself with a permanent marker? That happened to Haje. He’s sympathetic to the technical issues involved, but not happy with the end result.
Airport Security Devices Of The Future
By 3.3.07
Travel writer Peter Greenberg gives us an insightful look at the creepy future of airport security. Most of us are already familiar with ‘puffer’ scanners, which, ironically, are prominent fixtures at the Statue of Liberty. They are just the beginning. The future holds several new devices, and “many of them are raising new issues regarding privacy.”
