World’s most powerful laser to be built in UK and will be ‘million, billion, billion’ times brighter than the sun

11 comments

1. Anyone else getting Dr Evil ‘freaking lazer’ vibes?

2. The Vulcan 20-20 will help scientists working on nuclear fusion, understanding plasma, new renewable energy sources and studying electromagnetic fields.

   The world’s most powerful laser will be built in Oxfordshire, thanks to £85m in new funding for the technology.

   Scientists are aiming to develop the technology which will be a “million, billion, billion times brighter than the brightest sunlight” in the world.

   It is thought the technology will have practical applications in nuclear fusion, renewable energy and batteries.

   The most powerful laser currently at the Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire is the Vulcan, which is used in plasma physics.

   The Vulcan 20-20 will have a 20-fold increase in power with eight additional beams, making it the strongest laser in the world.

   A single pulse from the laser will deliver more power than the entire National Grid, in a blast lasting a trillionth of a second on a minuscule target.

   Construction of the laser will take six years to complete, creating a number of jobs in the science sector, as well as for designers, engineers and technicians.

   Professor Mark Thomson, executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which provided the funding, said: “The Central Laser Facility has been a driving force behind discoveries that have advanced our understanding of diverse areas from the fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions to the formation of stars and planets.”

3. Let’s send Trump to go look at it like he did the eclipse.

4. Million, billion, billion sounds like 10

5. This can’t be good

6. But r/europe said that UK is starving and going to collapse!

7. Million, billion, billion, *trillion*, MEGAllion, GIGALLION birghter

8. We need to build a bigger cat.

9. I’d hate to see the fucking cat they’ve made that for…

10. You’ll put an eye out!

11. In other news, France starts work on the world’s most reflective mirror…