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Special Report

The Laser at 50: Advancing Science through Beams of Coherent Light

May 16 marks the 50th anniversary of the first working laser, invented at Hughes Research Laboratories in 1960. We take a look at the past, present and potential future of this groundbreaking technology

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World's largest laser completed: Nuclear fusion, Death Star battle stations next?

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has announced that the world's biggest laser is ready to start blasting away after 12 years in the making. The $3.5-billion stadium-size National Ignition Facility (NIF), housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif., consists of 192 separate beams, each of which stands as the most energetic ever built, says LLNL spokesperson Bob Hirschfeld...

April 1, 2009 — Adam Hadhazy
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