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China is building a laser 10 TRILLION times more intense than the Sun that could tear space apart
The upcoming 'Station of Extreme Light' could emit enormously powerful laser pulses that create 'extremes of temperature not normally found on Earth'
By Sean Keach, Digital Technology and Science Editor
26th January 2018, 11:13 am
CHINA is building a mega-laser that's so powerful it could literally tear space apart.
Physicists in Shanghai are constructing what they call a 'Station of Extreme Light', which could be operational as soon as 2023.
The end goal is to create a laser so powerful it can produce 100-petawatt laser pulses –that's 100 million billion watts.
For context, that's 10,000 times the power of all the world's electrical grids combined.
These ludicrously powerful pulses could be targeted at incredible precise spots measuring just three micrometers across – that's 2000 times less than the thickness of a standard pencil.
This means the researchers could achieve a laser intensity 10 trillion trillion times greater than the sunlight striking earth.
According to the Science journal, this laser would be so powerful it "could rip apart empty space".
The idea is to achieve a phenomenon known as "breaking the vacuum", whereby electrons are torn away from positrons (their antimatter counterparts) in the empty vacuum of space.
Right now, it's possible to convert matter into huge amounts of heat and light, as proved by nuclear weapons. But reversing the process is more difficult – although Chinese physicist Ruxin Li believes his laser could manage it.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/54293...nse-than-the-sun-that-could-tear-space-apart/
The upcoming 'Station of Extreme Light' could emit enormously powerful laser pulses that create 'extremes of temperature not normally found on Earth'
By Sean Keach, Digital Technology and Science Editor
26th January 2018, 11:13 am
CHINA is building a mega-laser that's so powerful it could literally tear space apart.
Physicists in Shanghai are constructing what they call a 'Station of Extreme Light', which could be operational as soon as 2023.
The end goal is to create a laser so powerful it can produce 100-petawatt laser pulses –that's 100 million billion watts.
For context, that's 10,000 times the power of all the world's electrical grids combined.
These ludicrously powerful pulses could be targeted at incredible precise spots measuring just three micrometers across – that's 2000 times less than the thickness of a standard pencil.
This means the researchers could achieve a laser intensity 10 trillion trillion times greater than the sunlight striking earth.
According to the Science journal, this laser would be so powerful it "could rip apart empty space".
The idea is to achieve a phenomenon known as "breaking the vacuum", whereby electrons are torn away from positrons (their antimatter counterparts) in the empty vacuum of space.
Right now, it's possible to convert matter into huge amounts of heat and light, as proved by nuclear weapons. But reversing the process is more difficult – although Chinese physicist Ruxin Li believes his laser could manage it.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/54293...nse-than-the-sun-that-could-tear-space-apart/