The U.S. military shot down a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone with a laser in Texas on Thursday, according to Democratic lawmakers, prompting the closure of airspace near the U.S.-Mexico border. Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen (Wash.), Bennie Thompson (Miss.) and Andre Carson (Ind.) said in a joint statement Thursday evening that the Pentagon reportedly shot down… Source link
Here on Earth, the very idea of a laser is relatively novel, having only been invented in 1958. The underlying physics is straightforward: an electron within a molecule gets excited to a higher-energy state, the electron de-transitions back to the lower energy state, where it emits light of a very specific wavelength in the process. Then, pumped or injected energy re-excites an electron within that very same molecule back into that higher-energy state, over and over. This causes light of precisely that same, monochromatic wavelength to get emitted over and over again. So long as you continue stimulating the same transition, you’ll keep getting light of that exact same frequency over and over again, every time. But out there in the Universe, this exact phenomenon occurs naturally in a number of galaxies at much longer wavelengths than the eye can see: in the microwave portion of the spectrum. Astrophysically, these objects are known as masers, and arise when energy gets injected into large populations of molecules that are only allowed to de-excite in specific ways. …
Jump to advice on hair removal: Before using any IPL or epilator, carry out a patch test on a small clean, dry and hair-free section of skin. “Although home hair removal devices are less aggressive than in-clinic tools, it is important to perform a patch test and wait 24 hours to check for any redness, burns or irritation before proceeding with a full session,” says dermatology expert Selma van Asselt. It is equally important to examine the device’s hair and skin compatibility chart before use. “Extremely light hair, as well as red and grey hair are not suitable for this kind of treatment because they cannot accumulate enough heat to destroy the hair’s growth centre,” says Selma. “Darker skin types will also accumulate too much heat, which could cause skin burns or hyperpigmentation.” Selma also says people with eczema, open cuts, sunburn or those using active skincare ingredients should avoid IPL devices and epilators. She advises those who are pregnant, nursing, undergoing any medical procedures or aesthetic treatments to refrain from the treatment. Aftercare is …
Red light therapy has come a long way since then. Rahman explained that red light wavelengths activate the mitochondria in skin cells and increase blood flow to hair follicles. This uptick in stimulation encourages mitochondria to increase their production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which promotes new growth. When it comes to efficacy, we noted that iRestore Elite is FDA-cleared. This is a designation bestowed on moderate-risk tools that are sufficiently similar to other cleared devices already on the market. There are specific pathways that devices must follow to obtain FDA clearance, and the iRestore Elite was cleared through the FDA’s 510(k) premarket evaluation. There are three hair-growth devices in iRestore’s lineup: the entry-level Essential ($499), the mid-tier Professional ($899), and the Elite ($1,899). Each contains iRestore’s “Lumitech” technology, which combines LED lights and medical-grade lasers. These laser diodes are proprietary to iRestore and are called Vixo lasers, operating in the 655- to 680-nanometer (nm) range. (Preliminary studies with mice have shown that using red light in the 600- to 660-nm range, and infrared wavelengths in …
Before diving into laser hair removal for men, we should make our official stance clear: We think body hair is great. Chest hair? Excellent. A rugged beard? Sign us up. But for many folks out there, there are certain areas where hair feels less charming and more like a nuisance. If you’ve ever looked at your back, shoulders, or neck and thought, Yeah, this could go, you’re not alone. More men than ever are turning to laser hair removal to tame the overgrowth, ditch their razors, and enjoy their newfound freedom. “The most common areas men treat are the back, chest and shoulders. Some also add in the abdomen,” says Julia Carroll, Toronto-based board-certified dermatologist. “We also often perform laser hair removal on the neck to tidy up the hairline. Some men also opt to treat the beard area if they are prone to ingrown hairs.” To be clear: Nobody needs laser hair removal. If you love your body hair exactly as it is, carry on. But if you’re over waxing appointments, tired of constant …
This image combines views from the Hubble and Keck II telescopes. A galaxy in the foreground, which appears as a diagonal line, is acting as a gravitational lens. The ring shape is a smeared image of the galaxy H1429-0028 in the background NASA/ESA/ESO/W. M. Keck Observatory Astronomers have spotted a laser-like beam of microwaves produced by two galaxies smashing together, which is the brightest and most distant example of this phenomenon ever seen. To produce a laser, first atoms need to be stimulated into an unstable, higher-energy state. Then particles of light, or photons, fired at these atoms will cause them to relax and emit their own photons, causing a chain reaction that produces many more photons in the process. Because each atom emits identical photons, all of the light being produced is at the same frequency, forming a beam of coherent light. The same process can happen when galaxies smash together. Gas from both galaxies gets compressed, producing more stars and light. After travelling through clouds of dust, this light can then excite hydroxyl …
Illustration of dark craters near the moon’s south pole Science Photo Library / Alamy Scientists want to build a laser inside one of the moon’s coldest craters that could help lunar landers and rovers navigate accurately. Ultrastable lasers are vital for timing and navigation systems that require extreme precision. They work by bouncing a beam between two mirrors inside a cavity. The beam reflects between the mirrors at a highly precise rate, in part because the chamber stays almost exactly the same size rather than expanding or contracting. To keep this beam length stable, the mirrors are usually kept inside a vacuum at extremely low temperatures, isolated from external vibrations. On the moon, there are hundreds of craters around the poles that never receive any direct sunlight because the moon doesn’t tilt much as it spins around. This makes these permanently shadowed regions exceptionally cold, with some craters predicted to be around -253°C (20 kelvin) in lunar winter. Jun Ye at JILA in Boulder, Colorado, and his colleagues have proposed that these frigid conditions – …
Federal officials made the unprecedented decision to abruptly close the airspace above El Paso, Texas, this week — effectively shutting down the city’s international airport. The closure launched a flurry of speculation about the cause, from an imminent invasion to rogue anti-aircraft weapons. It later turned out that the order, which would’ve closed the airport for ten days, was issued by Federal Aviation Administration administrator Bryan Bedford after finding out that US officials’ use of a high-energy, counter-drone laser weapon at Fort Bliss, a US Army post right next to the El Paso International Airport. The enemy drone swarm turned out to be a simple party balloon, a potentially enormous — and unintentionally hilarious — overreaction, contradicting claims by the White House of an imminent drone incursion from Mexican drug cartels. Now, the New York Times reports that the anti-drone laser was used by Customs and Border Protection officials, who had loaned the device from the Department of Defense, yet another confusing wrinkle in an already chaotic series of events. The extremely rare airspace closure …
If you’ve never seen a laser shoot an aircraft out of the sky, the experience can be unsettling. The weapon fits comfortably into the trunk of a car. It makes no noise and emits no light, not even the glowing red beam that’s so familiar from the movies. When a team of Ukrainian soldiers and engineers took me to see their prototype the other day, it seemed easy to use. Almost too easy. The operator set up the laser cannon on the roof of his pickup truck in the middle of an empty field. It resembles a hobbyist’s telescope with some cameras affixed to the sides. For target practice, one of the engineers launched a small drone, and it flew a few hundred yards away from us, hovering in the gauzy winter sky. The laser swiveled as its cameras followed the target. The operator shouted, “Fire!” Within seconds, the drone began to burn as if struck by invisible lightning, then fell to the ground in a fiery arc. The Ukrainian model, known as the Sunray, …
A burst of invisible light can do more than illuminate a surface. In a new study, Michigan State University researchers used an ultrafast laser to gently jolt atoms in a quantum material, then watched the surface change in real time. The shift lasted only while the laser stayed on, but it was enough to flip the material into a different electronic state, like a tiny switch you can turn on and off. The work centers on a layered material called tungsten ditelluride, shortened to WTe2. It has drawn attention for its unusual behavior at the smallest scales. Those surprising traits could matter for future devices, from smaller electronics to parts used in next-generation quantum computers. The team’s approach blended two sides of modern physics. One group built the instrument and ran the experiments. Another group used computer modeling to explain what the atoms were doing and why it changed the material’s behavior. Shear motion in WTe2 driven by tip-enhanced terahertz fields. (CREDIT: Nature Photonics) A Laser, a Needle Tip, and a Nanoscale Nudge The heart …
