South African Research Team Creates World's First Digital Laser 81
smi.james.th writes in with news about new laser technology developed in South Africa. "The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced in Pretoria on Tuesday that it had developed the world's first digital laser. 'I am always very cautious about using the term "breakthrough",' noted Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom. 'We scrutinized this very carefully before we said that this is really new! South African scientists are once again making noteworthy contributions to the world.'... A normal laser contains two mirrors, opposed to each other and at opposite ends of the instrument. One is highly reflective and the other is a curved, partially reflective mirror. In the digital laser, the curved mirror is replaced by a liquid crystal display (LCD) system. The LCD is connected to a computer and monitor."
Half as effective (Score:4, Funny)
Unfortunately it's half as effective.
See, the 1s have sharp edges and really abrade the material, but the 0s just roll right off.
All we need now (Score:3, Funny)
Is digital sharks
Re:Important part the summary neglected (Score:0, Funny)
Nonsense, /.summaries are the epitome of good journalism. Another glorious day on slashdot! A day on slashdot is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Man, I love slashdot!
Re:Important part the summary neglected (Score:5, Funny)
Researchers use the computer to specify the laser beam shape they require and to programme it into the LCD. By this means, one laser can swiftly produce many different beam shapes. Previously, changing the shape of a laser beam required physically replacing the curved mirror in the laser. As the mirror has to be carefully aligned, this is a time consuming process.
This will be of immense benefit to mankind.
Once I fit one of these in the back of my car it will spell out messages for drivers following me to read; e.g. Your Turn Signal Has Been On For The Past 3 Miles.
Re:Important part the summary neglected (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe it has fingers.