lasers in sci-fi movies and books

[leftkidney]

so I read lots of sci-fi and watch movies also

many of the books have large battles with laser weapons and such (Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton) and some have lasers used to cut things

but no where have I ever seen anything ever mentioned about people going blind from lasers - these have to be really high powered lasers to do things that they do but nothing is ever mentioned

sometimes people have glasses or face shields that can shield them from bright lights like from a blast or something like that, they auto darken and stuff - some have retinal inserts or modifications to there eyes that allow them to do all sorts of things like see in IR and all other spectrum's that humans cant see in, actually some auto darken but nothing about lasers blinding anyone or how dangerous they are

I would think that a laser gun battle would result in everyone going blind in the first 5 seconds of the fight from the shooting if they didnt have protection or something



have no reason for bring this up other then I thought it was cool

 

[jander6442]

I would have rather been blinded by a blaster shot than my limb ripped off from the shear force of a high powered plasma burst... aaaahh edit: I would have rather died in the the conflict than lived thru that crap.

 

[AJ_Dual]

Well, eyes are small targets... And if the weapons are being used to cut/burn, they have a tight focus.

And if any color is described, it could be ionized air, and not the actual beam, such as the 10,000nm range of IR, which does not reflect off of most things, save maybe copper and gold, or transparent ones, like Zinc Selenium "glass", because even (visible light) clear glass and polycarbonate lenses are opaque to some kinds of lasers.

While not yet being used as actual weapons, save for some demonstrator projects, lasers have been in use on the battlefield since the 1970's/80's for designation, rangefinding, and aiming/guidance purposes more and more. While beams aren't directed at people individually in most cases, you'd think there would be a few reports of eye damage.

The only laser eye-damage I'm aware of that has taken place in a military setting is back in the late 80's, a joint US/Canadian chopper patrol was lased by a Russian/Soviet trawler with an IR eye damaging laser, when they went to intercept it for lurking near our submarine pens off the coast of Maine.

So perhaps even in an anti-personnel laser fight, eye damage might be rare, just like how bullets going into eyes now is rare, just because of the odds of it all.

 

[leftkidney]

if there were using something that can reflect off of something then I would think that a laser that powerful of even a 1000% decrease in power from a reflection would still blind you

but they are talking about ionized air in some cases that is from a x-ray laser or IR laser or a mazer but sometimes describe the rain or dust in the air being vaporized by beam weapons and stuff - sometimes visible light lasers are used, but I would think that anything powerful enough to blast an arm off of someone and cauterize the wound at the same time would blind you if it hit anywhere in your visual range since a reflection should still be bad

or do non-visible lasers or really high wavelengths not reflect much off anything other then a mirrow surface? - like would it be safe to use to cut or burn things (if handheld and lower powered to what we can make now) without goggles? - I know that the 980nm and higher lasers still require goggles and its scary as hell since you wont even know you are getting hit in the eye till after you are blind - but do x-ray and really high ir and above wavelength lasers not reflect much


also I know this is all just nothingness but its off topic and the sci-fi forums are lacking in people who know about lasers other then they are cool

 

[Trevor]

Simple, really. If someone is shot in the eye with a laser that is used to kill people, they die. Because they were shot in the face with a laser that is used to kill people.

Much like how being hit in the eye with a bullet is often fatal.

-Trevor

 

[leftkidney]

Simple, really. If someone is shot in the eye with a laser that is used to kill people, they die. Because they were shot in the face with a laser that is used to kill people.

Much like how being hit in the eye with a bullet is often fatal.

-Trevor

LMAO

really I know what you mean but wouldnt there be all this scattered light from all the beams that could blind someone - I would assume that just looking at the beam from 10 mega watt laser or whatever would be needed to do things like cut a tree down in a second or cut steal doors like its nothing, wouldnt a laser that powerful just blind you from seeing the beam weather its shined at you or not?

I have seen a 200-250mw 532nm pulsed laser and it looked just like a laser gun from the movies, also a 500mw 532nm laser and a 1000mw 445nm normal CW laser outside shining across a lake and both of them have a beam that is really bright so I could only imagine something 1000x more powerful and pulsed for maximum power for all shots