New Real Life Laser-Rifle Cuts Through Metal Like a Blowtorch 143
dryriver writes "We've seen real laser guns before pulling off tricks like starting small fires, or popping black balloons. That's cool, sure, but it's got nothing—on this handheld laser rifle. Developed by TWI this laser-cutter was initially designed for use by robots, but a few recent tweaks including a pistol-grip and a trigger made it into a human-sized rifle. It is designed specifically with nuclear decommission in mind, specifically chopping up huge pieces of metal infrastructure into bite-sized bits that are easily disposed of. And while it's definitely suited for that, it has some short-comings compared typical rifles. That range is pretty low, for instance, and it's not exactly mobile."
of course it isn't mobile (Score:5, Insightful)
WE don't have high energy portable power sources.
We really need to figure out an iron many style reactor to power the next generation of cool toys that we can dream but not really use.
Safety at Work (Score:5, Insightful)
Note to self: do not apply for that kind of work, no matter what the rate.
more torch then rifle (Score:5, Insightful)
I find it hard to call this a "laser rifle." Aside fromt he fact that rifles are rifles because of the rifling in the barrel (grooves which cause the bullet to spin), Rifles have a medium to long range. This appears to have only a slightly greater effective range then my Oxy-Fuel torch (which is to say, less then a foot).
Re:handheld rifle (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep, this article should have been titled "New Real Life Laser-Cutter Cuts Through Metal Like a Laser-Cutter"
Re:of course it isn't mobile (Score:5, Insightful)
Jarvis and the reactor were the two most under-rated bits of tech Tony put together.
The reactor would have ended war.
But Jarvis... a real AI? That's far beyond anything else we've ever built.
Re: of course it isn't mobile (Score:4, Insightful)
This isn't very impressive.
What I find more impressive is that they somehow made a laser rifle. I wonder what does it do: shoot a helical beam like those in some games?
And what is the advantage over a plasma cutter? (Score:5, Insightful)
The only one I can see is that it works from a couple inches away, and doesn't need an electrical ground return connection to the workpiece.
Other than that, a plasma cutter is cheaper, less hazardous, and can cut thicker materials.
Re:Safety at Work (Score:2, Insightful)
"End war"? (Score:5, Insightful)
The reactor would have ended war.
Nonsense. People simply aren't that evolved. If we aren't fighting about energy we'll fight about something even more absurd like skin color or which imaginary invisible man in the sky we should all believe in.
Re:"End war"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Wanna start a real fight? Tell her that dress makes her butt look big. That will surely start WWIII.