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Laser beam able to destroy targets at speed of light is tested from British army vehicle for first time (news.sky.com)

submitted 4 months ago by Espiritdescali to c/futurology

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[–] knightly@pawb.social 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Also, the actual destruction happens much slower than that.

The fastest explosive on earth detonates at a speed of just over 6 miles per second, about a 300th of 1 percent of lightspeed. I very much doubt anything hit by mere photons could deflagrate quicker unless there was an absolutely staggering amount of energy being dumped into it.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 4 months ago

Yup. I guess "able to overheat targets at moderate speed" just didn't sound like an exciting enough headline.

Other journalists list a per-shot price in the headline, which is the right thing to emphasise. TBF it's one of the first things mentioned in the article.

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 2 points 4 months ago

All I want is sharks with frickin' Lazer beams, is that so hard?

-Dr. Evil