Laser Roundup: Presenting Laser Fest!

What could be better than an entire year devoted to the celebration of the laser? 2010 marks the 50^th anniversary of the invention of the laser, and there is a wealth of activities planned all around the country. There will be debates, symposia, a traveling lecture series, and a traveling road show all dedicated to this most revolutionary invention. It’s sponsored by the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America and SPIE , with an advisory committee of laser technology super stars planning a very exciting year of laser celebrations.

In case you’re wondering what those crazy laser scientists are doing with these magical beams of light lately, here is a quick review of lasers in the news:

• Green lasers continue to be a menace to pilots
• They’re on the space station
• They’re being used for propulsion
• They’re making them from diamonds and quantum dots
• They’re even starting to put things in better focus than is supposed to be theoretically possible

Perhaps in 2010 even the Airborne Laser will celebrate Laser Fest by finally shooting down that elusive missile they promised to almost a decade ago:

In the year of the laser, anything is possible. With lasers, that is.