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US: Artist uses sixteen 1.2 watt lasers to make "wormhole" sculpture

An art installation in New York City uses sixteen 1.2 watt lasers to create a wormhole shape.

Rita McBride Particulates laser wormhole
Particulates by Rita McBride

Spectators are prevented from accessing the beam by means of a fence-like barrier.

Artist Rita McBride created Particulates out of her interests in space, time travel and quantum physics. From the exhibition brochure:

     “The 2017 commission by Rita McBride, Particulates, features a type of high-intensity laser that is normally reserved for industrial, military, and scientific use to harness light’s efficient capacity to articulate space. At first glance the lasers clearly define the geometry of a hyperboloid of revolution, a hyperbola rotated around a single axis. Yet the contours of this shape are dispersed by the constant motion of particulate matter—ambient dust and molecules of water circulating in the air—that becomes visible as it passes through the beams of light….. However, the real and imaginative spaces conjured by Particulates remain elusive, and are protected by a series of custom carbon-fiber panels, titled Guidance “Barriers” (2017), which the artist designed to keep us at a lawful distance.”

It is on exhibition at the Dia:Chelsea from October 27 2017 until June 2 2018. CT Lasers provided technical support.

From Engadget. Photo by the artist.

Germany: Hobbyist creates laser "Gatling gun" with six rotating 1.4 W blue beams

Well-known master builder Patrick Priebe has created a laser with six 1.4 watt blue lasers that rotate, similar to a Gatling gun. In addition, there is a 100 milliwatt green laser used for aiming:

Patrick Priebe laser Gatling gun

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Worldwide: New 1 watt green handheld laser can distract pilots 20 miles away

Internet seller Wicked Lasers has introduced a nominal 1 watt green handheld laser for USD $1000. The company claims the laser’s beam has a power of 86 million lux, appears over 8,000 times brighter than looking directly at the sun, and can be seen at a distance of 85 miles (“beyond the atmosphere and into space”).

LaserPointerSafety.com’s analysis shows it is a distraction hazard to pilots up to 20 miles from the laser source.Click to read more...