5 High-Power Laser Applications

Not all laser applications are as futuristic as Star Wars, but some of the applications involving high-power lasers get pretty close! From nuclear fusion to measuring the distance to the Moon, lasers have found all sorts of surprising uses.

1- RESEARCH ON NUCLEAR FUSION

Positive protons repulse positive protons. And the closer together you bring them, the more they repulse. That is until you reach a tipping point where the protons are so close to one another that nuclear forces can take over, combining the protons into different atoms and releasing a lot of energy (visualizations here).

Arrays of high-power lasers are being used today to force atoms close enough for these nuclear reactions to take place. Unsurprisingly, this requires a lot of power. More power than what is released, for now.