5 Insane Sci-Fi Weapons That Now Exist in Reality, 4 utilize LASERs

[Bill King]

From the people at Cracked.com:
5 insane sci fi weapons that now exist in reality.

"By using lasers on high-pressure gas, German scientists were able to lower temperatures by 119 degrees in just seconds. The trick is that photons can knock electrons out of their orbits. When an atom loses electrons, it loses energy and, therefore, heat. The lasers are essentially blasting the warmth away at the atomic level. And it happens so fast they can freeze a gas before it has time to turn into a liquid.

We're talking an instantaneous flash freeze that could lead to more efficient refrigeration devices, but obviously the real goal is for malefactors to lock entire panicked metropolises in blizzards of ice-cold criminality. You see, this isn't some theoretical technique that can only be recreated in laboratory conditions. A research team in Berlin has used a similar process to create clouds over Germany's capital city. That's right, we're talking laser weather control."

Link to Popsci article: Laser Refrigeration is Fastest, Coolest Chilling Tech Yet | Popular Science

And we thought they just made pretty colors

 

[Encap]

Expensive refrigerator!

 

[Meatball]

Heh, normally you associate high pressure with high temperature. Interesting set of articles there, thanks for sharing!

 

[Bill King]

I thought this might give those who are looking for something new to do with their lasers something to shoot for. (Pun intended )

Yeah it does seem counter intuitive to normal refrigeration. Where there is a phase change from a liquid to a gas. Here there doesn't seem to be any phase change at all. I also thought an electron kicked into a higher orbit tries to return to normal emitting a photon in the process?

If a gas laser is excited with the right laser would it run cooler?

 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

That's pretty neat.

 

[Bill King]

Now that I think about it some more it cools almost like a TEC.

 

[Gryphon]

I would like a laser freeze ray, sounds fun :evil: