this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Laser Beams Deflected Off of Nothing but Air for First Time Ever in Breakthrough Patent Pending Process - The Debrief::An international team of scientists report that they have successfully used acoustics to deflect laser beams in an engineering first.

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[–] Subverb@lemmy.world 83 points 1 year ago (2 children)

140 decibels. I'm sure some applications exist but it won't be a 3D TV soon.

[–] Slowy@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In an ultrasonic frequency we can’t hear. But your pets and any nearby bats or rodents etc may be upset by it..

[–] feminalpanda@lemmings.world 56 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can't hear but still cause damage?

[–] Slowy@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago

I didn’t know the answer to this so I looked it up - yes. Over 120 Db can cause damage even if it’s ultrasonic and you can’t hear it. Apparently at 155Db the heat created by the sound wave can be dangerous as well.

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes. Industrial grade ultrasonic sensors are harmful to your health. They can be used, for example, to measure the water level in a tank. If you need to enter a place like that, you should physically disconnect the sensor first. You might not hear much of the noise, but you may feel it in your teeth or some other places.

[–] sic_1@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Weren't there some huge high power sonars that could melt people to goo?

[–] feminalpanda@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, and hurt whales from the pressure.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Oh, so not all bad then

[–] figaro@lemdro.id 1 points 1 year ago

Loud lightsabers?

[–] dlpkl@lemmy.world 59 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Hard light dildos let's fucking goooo

[–] SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Code Bullet? That you?

[–] dingleberry@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

"Blow me" about to have a whole new meaning.

[–] tacostrange@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yelling lightsabers at that loudness. All the better imho.

[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

Fun fact, if sound travelled through space, the sun would be as loud as a jackhammer everywhere on earth. Second fun fact, due to the fact that we evolved on earth you wouldve evolved to not be able to hear that frequency.

[–] evranch@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Luke!

WHAT?

LUKE! I AM YOUR...

WHAAAT? TURN YOUR LIGHTSABER OFF IF YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY

HELL NO YOU TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTSABER BOY

[–] SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Holograms or maybe molecular scale tractor beams?

[–] Seasm0ke@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] sir_reginald@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago (7 children)

considering the lab experiment with just one laser required a sound level of about 140 decibels that consume 20 gigawatts, I don't think holodecks are going to be a practical device.

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)

WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER MY HOLO-WAIFU

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

"NOTICE ME SENPAI!!1"

[–] Seasm0ke@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Great points, but you know how things go. Proof of concept is a bloated laboratory implementation, then the tech gets smaller and more efficient over time. Next thing you know the sound is outside of human hearing range and the laser projector is fitted to a drone.

[–] echo64@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

More realisticly how things go, experimental research only works in lab conditions, clickbait article suggests it's coming next year, people make giant assumptions, people lose faith in science because the promised thing doesn't arrive

[–] Seasm0ke@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Lol probably, we are definitely more on track for cyberpunk or idiocracy than star trek post scarcity socialist utopia

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

According to the article it's already using ultrasound.

[–] rhombus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Ultrasound at 140 dB which can still seriously damage hearing, you just don’t hear it happen.

[–] LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch 8 points 1 year ago

So they can only do holodeck simulations of EDM shows.

[–] ThoGot@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

It may be interesting to see how humidity and temperature influence the laser (or even other gases as mentioned in the article)

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

So like, ten years at most

[–] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

It was the laser that's 20 gigawatts, according to the article, which is notable because such a laser is hard to redirect.

As for the viability of holodecks... Obviously the rest of your points are still valid, but one can only hope that someday we'll figure something out, the technology being impossible/unviable right now doesn't mean it'll stay that way. And this seems to show a theoretical possibility of manipulating light mid-air in the necessary way.

[–] Reygle@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Horseshit. Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining.

Edit: this is more horseshit like the "room temperature superconductor" that was instantly debunked as a horseshit scheme recently.

Sound pressure waves cannot distort spacetime

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Space battles would be so much cooler if every now and then the phaser gets split around the ship instead of hitting the shields.

Would also work even when shields are down.

[–] LinuxSBC@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

But that needs air. There's no air in space.

[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

There's an Air and Space Museum

[–] abhibeckert@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Doesn't need to be air "in space", there just needs to be air somewhere between the laser weapon and whatever it is you don't want the weapon to destroy...

... although it'd probably be easier to use a mirror. Maybe one pointing directly at the person holding a laser weapon. ;-)

[–] brianorca@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Corner reflector. Send it back where it came from, without knowing where they are ahead of time.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Damn... you're right.

Maybe they'll find another way now that they've found one.

[–] LinuxSBC@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago

A mirror? Light won't reflect off of nothing. The closest you'll get is gravitational lensing, but that requires about a galaxy's worth of mass to make any noticeable difference.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean, that's a 20GW laser, what about those handheld lasers? Would you still need 140db?

[–] Brokkr@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

It would happen regardless of the power of the laser, but it would likely be undetectable at significantly lower power.