USA Today says that the Advanced Tactical Laser was carried aboard a C-130 plane. Though the power level produced during the test wasn’t revealed, these lasers, Global Security says the Advanced Tactical Laser can produce between 100-300 kW of lethal or non-lethal power (in theory).

The Advanced Tactical Laser is said to improve accuracy of military attacks with less collateral damage, something the U.S. Military has drawn criticism for as of late. But you know that secretly, General Gates is even more excited by the idea of getting some pew pew action in real life. [USA Today]

If they’re successful, it’ll be the most monumental discovery of the modern era, basically solving all of our energy problems. If it’s successful. Which it damned well may not be.

Unfortunately, it’s going to be a while before we find out if it works or not. It is open now, but it’s got tests scheduled on it until 2040. Once they have it all set, they think that heating up that hydrogen to 100,000,000C will cause it to fuse to form helium, making it the first machine in history to create more energy than it uses. Exciting stuff, if it works. [National Ignition Facility via Inhabitat]

Don’t count on holding an invasion of them, though. The coil gun—which uses electromagnetic coils configured as a synchronous linear electric motor, accelerating fire metal pieces as it goes through it—needs eight seconds to have enough electric charge. And that’s while plugged to the wall. With batteries, it’s 90 seconds.

That said, it’s quite impressive, knowing that it only took its creator, Daniel Eindhoven, 40 hours to make it. I want. [The Contaminated]

At the BKLYN Designs show this year, designers Levent & Romme added a technological twist to their traditional techniques of craftsmanship by using lasers to cut out these illustrations on watercolor-paper lanterns.

Hand drawn using paper and a pen first, the designs were then carved out of a single, thick piece of watercolor paper, and rolled to create a floor-standing lampshade. Tabbed designs were then carved to keep the tube’s shape without other sources of adhesives or fasteners. Whether or not these lamps are fire resistant is unknown, but admittedly, seeing one of these go up in flames would also look pretty cool. [Levent & Romme via Inhabitat]

Gizmag says Free Electron Lasers move at the speed of light and are capable of outputting a megawatt of power, which the military requires for adequate defence. FELs differ from gas or solid state lasers because they’re not atomically bound. Instead the electrons are contained in a magnetic-based structure that lets the particles move freely. The FEL will be part of the foundation for the Navy’s plan to develop an all-electric ship, which would be as capable as current Naval ships. [Gizmag] (Image Courtesy of the NYT)

The scientists discovered that this method of mending makes the skin less likely to tear and is much more watertight than traditional needle and thread stitches. So far, experiments on real patients have found that the wounds heal faster and with less scarring.

They’re hoping that their invention will be in operating rooms around the world in a few years. [Reuters]

Here’s your opportunity to have Hollywood white, super-healthy teeth, thanks this revolutionary, super-safe, medical-quality laser toothbrush. It has an energy concentration so low that any tissue surface, even eye tissue, is safe! It works with a programmed tooth management system that turns on the laser for a recommended treatment period (55 seconds) with one-touch mode switch. In this case, the laser toothbrush does not need toothpaste but directly radiates laser on teeth. This revolutionary semiconductor medical laser helps decrease sensitivity, toothache pain, inflammation, and even helps eliminate bad breath. No more messy toothpaste accidents, now you can clean your teeth with light! [AA batteries included]

Don’t trouble yourself with working out exactly how the laser is powerful enough to burn plaque and germs but leave your gums, teeth and eyes intact, because we can tell you how. It’s a freaking laser.

Maybe we’re being to hard on the Smart Miracles Laser Toothbrush. Maybe this $US69.95 device operates just as advertised, eliminating bad breath and decreasing sensitivity while not necessarily doing a damn thing for actual tooth health—after all, a tongue cleaner can eradicate most morning mouth without cool beams of light. But still, I’m not trusting it to do anything right related to my precious oral hygiene. And I love lasers. [Smart Miracles via bookofjoe]

Last week it was Boeing’s Airborne Laser first full trial, then the anti-missile rocket launched at Vanderberg Airforce Base, and now it is the–quite amazing, I have to admit–Multiple Kill Vehicle hovering test, a system designed to neutralise Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, flying into falling warheads and decoys to eliminate them, one by one, with mini-vehicles. As President-elect Obama gets ready to cut unnecessary military programs, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and the Pentagon are hurrying to demonstrate their ongoing projects. The question is: Would cutting such programs–which generate highly-skilled employment and advance technology–actually help the economy? Would military cuts make the US irrelevant in the long run or could we transition to a more peaceful aerospace industry?

While the laser has been tested before, this was the first time they actually operated the whole thing as if they were shooting down a real target. This test fired the laser from the back-mounted generator thought the beam control system, exiting the aircraft through the nose-mounted turret and hitting a simulated ballistic missile target.

The next test–to be executed next year–will be firing and shooting down a real airborne ballistic missile.

Boeing Airborne Laser Team Fires High-Energy Laser Through Beam Control System

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Dec. 01, 2008 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defence Agency last week fired a high-energy laser through the Airborne Laser’s (ABL) beam control/fire control system, completing the first ground test of the entire weapon system integrated aboard the aircraft.

During the test at Edwards Air Force Base, the laser beam traveled through the beam control/fire control system before exiting the aircraft through the nose-mounted turret. The beam control/fire control system steered and focused the beam onto a simulated ballistic-missile target.

“This test is significant because it demonstrated that the Airborne Laser missile defence program has successfully integrated the entire weapon system aboard the ABL aircraft,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defence Systems. “With the achievement of the first firing of the laser aboard the aircraft in September, the team has now completed the two major milestones it hoped to accomplish in 2008, keeping ABL on track to conduct the missile shootdown demonstration planned for next year.”

Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director, said the next step for the program is a series of longer-duration laser firings through the beam control/fire control system.

“Once we complete those tests, we will begin demonstrating the entire weapon system in flight,” Rinn said. “The team is meeting its commitment to deliver this transformational directed-energy weapon system in the near term.”

The program has logged many accomplishments over the past several years. In 2005, the high-energy laser demonstrated lethal levels of duration and power in the System Integration Laboratory at Edwards. In 2007, ABL completed numerous flight tests that demonstrated its ability to track an airborne target, measure and compensate for atmospheric conditions, and deliver a surrogate high-energy laser’s simulated lethal beam on the target. In September 2008, the team achieved “first light” by firing the high-energy laser into a calorimeter aboard the aircraft.

Boeing is the prime contractor for ABL, which will provide speed-of-light capability to destroy all classes of ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight.

The ABL aircraft is a modified Boeing 747-400F whose back half holds the high-energy laser, designed and built by Northrop Grumman. The front section of the aircraft contains the beam control/fire control system, developed by Lockheed Martin, and the battle management system, provided by Boeing.