1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: I Guess what will? What's that mango? So Earlier this year, 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: the mayor of Austin, Texas used a laser beam to 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: send a recipe for kiso to the moon. It's impressive, 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: but I have to ask why exactly did he do this? Well, 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: according to his press release, this is what he said, quote, 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: we choose to send keeso to the moon and maybe 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: someday chips as well, not because these things are easy, 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: but because they are hard. So maybe maybe that's the answer. 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: But I think the real reason, and this is serious, 11 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,919 Speaker 1: was to uh to teach future aliens how to make 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: keso in case they ever stop off at our moon, 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: which is a serious bit of intergalactic hospitality. I think, wait, 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: you're you're saying it's just the recipe, like the aliens 15 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: will have to supply their own chips and cheese. I 16 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: guess it's less hospitable when you when you put it way, 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: But still the Mayor's heart I think was in the 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: right place. His name is Steve Adler, by the way, 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: and the recipe he chose is a local favorite in Austin, 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: and it was sent to the Moon as part of 21 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: a lunar library that was stowed aboard a SpaceX rocket, 22 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: the Falcon nine. Oh like they Okay, I was I 23 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: was confused on how you were saying they had sent it. 24 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: I was actually hoping they kind of like carve the 25 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: case a recipe into the Moon, like with a laser 26 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: or something. But I guess sending it on a rocket 27 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: is that's a little bit more practical, I guess, yeah, 28 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: and a little less like cartoon supervillain. I guess that's true. 29 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: All right, Well, then how does the laser fit into this? 30 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: So the laser is actually what made the whole library possible, 31 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: because they didn't just send a one page case a 32 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: recipe to the Moon. The lunar library also included some 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: other quote unquote light reading and it includes the entirety 34 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: of Wikipedia um in English, tens of thousands of books, 35 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: and a key to translate everything into five thousand different languages. 36 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: So sending a hard copy of all those things clearly 37 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: wasn't an option, and instead the mission crew used a 38 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: power full laser to etch the entire library, letter by letter, 39 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: into this super light radiation proof nickel disk. And just 40 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: in case the aliens who find to have bad eyesight. 41 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: All the information on the disc was also laser encoded digitally, 42 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: so the aliens can put it up on their view 43 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: screens or whatever they have. All Right, so all of this, 44 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: like the laser ch case, a recipe, all of Wikipedia, this, 45 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: this is all actually on the moon. Now, yeah, I 46 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: mean there's a bit of a twist. The moon lander 47 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: that was carrying the library crash landed on the Moon, 48 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: and this was on April eleven, so so the mission 49 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly a success. But the good news is the 50 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: library probably did survive. According to a spokesperson for the Foundation, 51 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,399 Speaker 1: small light objects like our library do better and impact. 52 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: It was probably thrown a few kilometers away a thirty 53 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: million page frisbee on the Moon. I like to think 54 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: about certain first like that, if you think about it, 55 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: this was the first frisbee with a case of recipe 56 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: on it ever thrown on the Moon. I mean that's 57 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,399 Speaker 1: pretty cool. Yeah, And and it was all made possible 58 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: by lasers, which kind of sums up our show today. 59 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: When you think of lasers, it's mostly like death rays 60 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: from sci fi movies and whatever. But as the Lunar 61 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: Library shows, the truth is that real world lasers have 62 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: much more interesting applications than just blowing things up, from 63 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: levitating objects to precision cooking bacon. There are lots of 64 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: weird things you can do with a laser beam, and 65 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a whole look at a bunch of them. 66 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: Let's dive in. Y Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to 67 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as always I'm 68 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: joined by my good friend Manguesho Ticketer and on the 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: other side of the soundproof glass, carrying on the show's 70 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: proud tradition of thematic prop comedy. That's our friend and 71 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: producer Lull. Just look at that mango. He brought in 72 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: his own laser pointer from home, waving it around on 73 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: pointing to all these different objects. I mean, it's not 74 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: a useful tool in his line of work, but he's 75 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: made the effort anyway. I mean, it's always putting in 76 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: the atah. I mean, it's that kind of spirit that 77 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: we we really appreciate it around here absolutely. And and 78 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: laser pointers are actually a good place to start because 79 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: they really aren't much different from the lasers we use 80 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: in research or defense. In either case you're dealing with 81 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: the device that works by amplifying a highly concentrated beam 82 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: of light a k A laser beam. So the main 83 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: difference between these devices is their power level. Right, The 84 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: maximum allowance for a laser pointer in the US is 85 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: a measly five milliwatts, but other kinds of handheld lasers 86 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: can rage anywhere from twenty five milliwatts all the way 87 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: up to a thousand. And that's what would have been 88 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: used to edge the case or recipe into that disk, right, yeah, exactly, 89 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: which is also why they're used for laser removals and 90 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: and certain kinds of surgery. And those procedures aren't just 91 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: for humans either. For instance, I read that some aquariums 92 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: has started using a seven d milliwatt laser to remove 93 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: harmful polyps from their coral Apparently the laser can burn 94 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: a poll up away so early that it won't ever 95 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: grow back, and the whole process only takes about ten seconds. 96 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it does make you question at least a 97 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: little bit how safe these laser pointers are really. I mean, 98 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: I know they're weak, but if you think about sort 99 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: of like their larger cousins and destroying pole ups whole 100 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: cloth and a matter of seconds like the five milliwott 101 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: versions must do some small scale damage on their own, 102 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: I would think, right, yeah, and and that's actually why 103 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: you're never supposed to look directly into the beam of 104 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: a laser pointer, because if you're to do that, which 105 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: again you shouldn't, what happens is that a small portion 106 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: of your retina will be bombarded by like this highly 107 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: focused light. And when that happens, the optical nerves get 108 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: overloaded and you wind up seeing all these little floating spots. 109 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: So it really is frying your retina, just not as 110 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: quickly or decisively as like one of the stronger lasers, 111 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: right and and so when we talk about modern lasers 112 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: used for defense, it's that ability to temporarily blind and 113 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: really disorient people that's in play. It's not like blasting 114 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: through armor or blowing apart buildings. For example, in law enforcement, 115 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: there's something called a day their laser, and it's used 116 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: for riot control. It's basically like a larger version of 117 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: a laser pointer. It's about the size of a flashlight, 118 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: but it's got a two fifty milliwatt beam and it's 119 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: effective from about thirty yards away. So if someone looks 120 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: into the beam, they can lose sight for up to 121 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes and feel nauseous for even longer. So the 122 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: idea is really to incapacitate a rowdy crowd all at once, 123 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: and there's no need for physical contact, I guess. I mean, 124 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: I could see how that'd be useful in some like 125 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: really drastic circumstances, but it still feels pretty extreme to 126 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: use these on civilians. But you know, there's one application 127 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: where it seems a little more appropriate, and that's when 128 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: ships use these dasers to ward off pirates. Have you 129 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: heard about this, I haven't. It's called sea lays, and 130 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: the stock version is a whopping five thousand milliwatts, twenty 131 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: times stronger than the flashlight that you mentioned, But if 132 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: you want it beeped up, you can actually get one 133 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: all the way up to twenty thousand milliwatts. So the 134 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: base model alone, though, is strong enough to be seen 135 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: from nearly three months away. So the idea is that 136 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: at a distance, you could signal the pirates not to 137 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: come any closer, like a warning shot, basically, than if 138 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: they continue to approach anyway, the daser's real effects would 139 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: start to kick in. The pirates would find themselves nauseas, disoriented, 140 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: and of course temporarily blind, which just doesn't seem pleasant. Yeah, 141 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: and and that's like consumer grade tech, Like anyone on 142 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: the streets can buy the stuff. Well, they go for 143 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: about a hundred thousand dollars a pop, so so maybe 144 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: not anybody off the street, but anybody with a hundred 145 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in their pocket. They are available for civilians. Yeah. 146 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: Of course, the military has their own brand of daser lasers, 147 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: and these go back as far as the early sixties, 148 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: when the first real laser was invented. Their early reports 149 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: of a so called I popper developed by the Air Force. So, 150 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: according to this nineteen seventy two edition of the Post, 151 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: quote the strangest of weapons was dreamed up in the 152 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: early sixties as a means of exploding the eyes of 153 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: an enemy soldiers and their officers from distances of more 154 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: than a wile. Giant pulse lasers would sweep back and 155 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: forth across the battlefield, blinding anyone who looked directly at it. 156 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: That's sort of terrifying. Was it ever used in combat? 157 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: Thankfully not? I mean, the military eventually decided that exploding 158 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: the enemy's eyes from a mile away might not be 159 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: the most honorable form of engagement, And in and update 160 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: to the Geneva Conventions actually banned the use of any 161 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: laser weapons that cause permanent blindness, So this idea was 162 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: actually put to rest. So weird that they're like rules 163 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: to wark like that, But why don't we move towards 164 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: some of the more wholesome ways to use a laser beam? 165 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: For instance, did you know that judges have started using 166 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: lasers to help score gymnastics competitions. I had not heard this, 167 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: and I'm curious why this is necessary, Like what was 168 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: wrong with the old way of scoring competitions. So the 169 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: main problem is that humans can sometimes miss important details 170 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: when deciding the outcome of a sporting event. And that's 171 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: true even with instant replays. In fact, there was a 172 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: study on gymnastics competitions, and this was back into thousand fifteen, 173 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: and it concluded that up to sixty of athlete errors 174 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: go totally overlooked by judges. And so the solution of 175 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: that is to shoot a bunch of lasers at the 176 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: gymnast I guess, well sort of. I mean, there's this 177 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: Japanese electronics company, it's called Fujitsu, and it's been working 178 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: to develop three D laser sensors that can capture a 179 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 1: gymnast movements and analyze them on the spot as I 180 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 1: guess numerical data. So the idea is to use these 181 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: recordings as a supplement to the judge's own observations, and 182 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: if there's an error they didn't cash, the system will 183 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: draw their attention to it. And if a judge ever 184 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: needs evidence to back up a ruling, the system can 185 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: provide that too. I see. So then it's kind of 186 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: like the motion capture that's used in the you know, 187 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: the digital characters for movies like Gallum and Lord of 188 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: the Rings. Is it kind of like that? Yeah? I mean, 189 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:47,559 Speaker 1: except in this case, the gymnast doesn't have to do 190 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: backflips while wearing like a suit covered in those ping 191 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: pong balls. In said, there's a series of lasers that 192 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: track their movements in real time and then transmit the 193 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,559 Speaker 1: data to a software program, and that way there's a 194 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: detailed record of every move the athlete makes, no matter 195 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: how fast or complex it is. And this includes everything 196 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: from like the placement of their joints to the exact 197 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: angles of their movements. That sounds pretty amazing. Actually, and 198 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,719 Speaker 1: you said, this is already being used in competitions. Fujitsu 199 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: announced the deal last fall with the International Gymnastics Federation 200 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: and they've already tested the system at a handful of 201 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: competitions this year, and and the goals really to roll 202 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: it out in earnest at the Gymnastics World Championships in 203 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: late September. But beyond that, Fujitsu is hoping the laser 204 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: system will become the go to tool for judges, not 205 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: just for gymnastics, but also for things like figure skating 206 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: or any other sport where they're like scoring inconsistencies and 207 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: and involves decisions about precise movements. That's pretty cool, But 208 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: I actually want to take us back to laser pointers 209 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: for a second, because there's a practical use for them 210 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: that I never would have thought about before we were 211 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: doing our research this week. And apparently home care nurses 212 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: sometimes use common laser pointers as a way to enable 213 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: their patients to communicate. So, say a patient has limited 214 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: mobility as well as difficulties speaking. In a case like that, 215 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: a nurse might attach a laser pointer to a pair 216 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: of eyeglasses or maybe the rim of a hat, and 217 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: then the nurse would set up this communication board filled 218 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: with common phrases plus all the letters of the alphabet, 219 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: and you know, and the patient could express themselves by 220 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: pointing to whatever it was they wanted to say. That's funny. 221 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,959 Speaker 1: It's it's like the simplest use of a pointer, but 222 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: it's also to communicate in such a specific way. It's 223 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: so much more clever than, uh than you know, just 224 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,359 Speaker 1: using it to get a cat to run around a room. 225 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: Speaking of which I know, we both found some scientific 226 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: uses for lasers that were equally unexpected. But before we 227 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: get into those, let's take a quick break. You're listening 228 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: to part Time Genius, so we're talking about all the 229 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: surprising things you can do with a laser. So just 230 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: keep in mind that even though you theoretically could do 231 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: these things, you probably shouldn't do all, or actually any 232 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: of them. The point you could use a high powered 233 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,239 Speaker 1: laser to heat a material to well over a million degrees, 234 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: the atoms of that substance would cease to exist and 235 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: you'd be left with a soupy mix of electrons and ions, 236 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: what scientists lovingly referred to as plasma. But again, that 237 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,119 Speaker 1: doesn't mean you should do that. So don't do that, Mango. Yeah, 238 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: I mean you definitely shouldn't do that. Recreating the core 239 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 1: of the sun in your living room is not recommended 240 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: by this show. Well that's a good call on a 241 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: less dangerous, but just as difficult side of things. It's 242 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: also possible to use a laser to levitate tiny objects. 243 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 1: So this is something I'm fascinated by, but it makes 244 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: zero sense to my mind. I mean, lasers burn and 245 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,839 Speaker 1: melt and singe, so how could that possibly transfer into 246 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: making something float in mid air? I agree, I mean 247 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: it's not very intuitive for layman like ourselves, but it 248 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: helps to remember that light, including laser light, is made 249 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: up of photons, and those photons exert a special kind 250 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: of force known as radiation pressure, and that's really the 251 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: key to what scientists call optical levitation. So when you 252 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: have a really powerful beam of light, the radiation pressure 253 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: it exerts is sometimes strong enough to overcome the force 254 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: of gravity. So if you aim a high enough power 255 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: laser beam at a super light object, the force of 256 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: the lights pressure can actually propel it forward or even 257 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: lift it off the ground, which makes a little more 258 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: sense to me. I guess. So, so are like solar 259 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: sales an example of this, uh this technology, Yeah, that's 260 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: it exactly. I mean most people have probably seen one. 261 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: They're they're like big gold colored square sheets attached to 262 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: the end of a space probe or another small spacecraft, 263 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: and the reflective surface harnesses radiation pressure from sunlight, and 264 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: that in turn propels the craft through space. But you're 265 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: saying it's possible to float something with a laser here 266 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: on Earth as well. I mean theoretically, yes, the principle 267 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: behind it has been proven in a lab setting, but 268 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: a real world test is still years away. And if 269 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: that works, the researchers would be able to push around 270 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: tiny particles that are too small to control through other means, 271 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,560 Speaker 1: and even cooler than that, they'd be able to power 272 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: real life micro machines, by which I don't mean the 273 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,719 Speaker 1: tiny monster trucks that used to be popular when you 274 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: were kids, even though those are just as awesome as 275 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: levitating things, but rather things like flying a teeny tiny 276 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: camera over a volcano or through the wreckage of a 277 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: building or something like that. That's pretty cool. Well, since 278 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: you brought up radiation pressure, I do have to tell 279 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: you about this other weird application Gabe told me about Basically, 280 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: you can use to focused laser beams to create what's 281 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: known as optical tweezers, and this allows scientists to manipulate 282 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: objects smaller than a single micron, like a unit of 283 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: measure that's equal to about thirty nine millions of an inch, 284 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: or in other word, it's really really small. And and 285 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: so this works because of radiation pressure from the lasers. Yeah. So, 286 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: so when you have a laser beam on other side 287 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: of the object, the resulting forces actually work together and 288 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: allow you to grip the object, so you can kind 289 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: of think of it like laser beam chops six. That's cool. So, 290 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: so is this something that was just recently discovered or 291 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: what when Gay row up I I thought so too. 292 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: But but researchers first created optical tweezers back in the 293 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties and they've been improving on the concept ever since. 294 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: In fact, the biggest limitation to the technology was finally 295 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: overcome just a few years ago. For the last thirty 296 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: years or so, there was always a cap on how 297 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: finally you could focus a beam of laser light, and 298 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: the result was that anything smaller than a hundred nanometers 299 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: couldn't be gripped by the tweezers. So I'm a little 300 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: rusty on the micro measurements, like how small is that 301 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: compared to the microns that you mentioned earlier. I'm embarrassed 302 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: to admit that I'm a little rusty on these measures. Yeah, well, 303 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: if I didn't have a shooting paper in front of you, 304 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: I would not A hundred nanometers is equal to just 305 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: point one microns. So we were already dealing with incredibly 306 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: small forms of matter before that, like the organelles inside 307 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: a living cell, or or a particle of bacteria. But 308 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: these are even smaller than those, and our laser chopsticks 309 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: just couldn't get ahold of them. But back in two 310 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: thousand fourteen, researchers and institute in Spain finally figured out 311 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: how to focus laser light to such a fine degree 312 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: that they could actually manipulate particles as small as just 313 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: fifteen animators. And so what kind of stuff does that 314 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: actually allow them to do so much stuff? Okay, enough said, 315 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: I mean, we'll never really understand. In fact, I'm just 316 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: going to defer to scientific American on this one and 317 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: and tell you that possible applications include, quote, building, medical products, 318 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: with nano scale exactness, manufacturing nanocrystal geometries for electronic devices, 319 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: and manipulating single molecules such as proteins. Right right, I 320 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: guess that that sounds good, I think, but we've still 321 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: got a few strange uses for lasers to talk about, 322 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: including a couple that are strictly just for laughs. But first, 323 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: let's take one more quick break. Welcome back to part 324 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: time Genius. Okay, Well, so we've talked about what lasers 325 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: can do for aliens, and for sports judges and for scientists, 326 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: but let's be selfish for a minute and talk about 327 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: what lasers can do for us. All right, Well, how 328 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: about this one. You can use a laser on your 329 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 1: dirty dishes and have them cleaner than they've ever been before. Like, 330 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: say goodbye to your dishwasher. You really won't need it 331 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 1: from here on out because of lasers. Well, in my family, 332 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: I'm actually the one who washes the dishes, and I'm 333 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 1: always looking for an excuse to throw out my dishwasher, 334 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: So so tell me more. All right, So it's pretty simple, really, 335 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: Like you talked about burning polyps off a coral earlier, 336 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: and it's it's the same premise here. Except with all 337 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: the grease and oil and mystery crust that gets stuck 338 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: to your cookware. You just install this device that kind 339 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: of looks like really like a table lamp, I guess, 340 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: and you put in your kitchen and then you never 341 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: have to scrub another baking sheet or non stick pan again. 342 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: You don't even have to control the laser by hand. 343 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: It is totally automated, so the beam just scans back 344 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: and forth over the pan or whatever it is that 345 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: you're clean. It just burns the grease right off of there. 346 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing. Wait, so it's going to leave something 347 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: behind right like, like it doesn't just vaporize all that gunk. 348 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: That is true, like there should be some food ash 349 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: left behind. But that's not the case actually, because the 350 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: laser cleaner also comes with a built in nozzle that 351 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: sucks up whatever the laser leaves behind. I mean, this 352 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,400 Speaker 1: is just amazing. And the coolest part is that these 353 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 1: two functions occur simultaneously. So the surface of the pan 354 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: just goes from pitch black with grease too shiny and 355 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: clean right before your eyes. It's like some kind of 356 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: low key kitchen magic. It should totally be an informercial. 357 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: This honestly feels like you're infomercial pitching. I am kind 358 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: of also, I'm sold because you know, I'm the designated 359 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: dishwasher and I hate scrubbing pans in the most It's 360 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 1: definitely a pretty amazing invention. You can find the videos 361 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: of this thing online. You just look up laser age 362 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: TV on YouTube and look for the laser cleaning of 363 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: a baking tray. But if you do, make sure you 364 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,399 Speaker 1: turn up the sound because you can hear the food 365 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: waste just sizzling away with every sweep of this laser. 366 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: It almost sounds like an electric shaver or something, and 367 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: it's all just weirdly satisfying. Yeah, I bet you know. 368 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: I'm already sold. But my only qualm is if it's 369 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: kid friendly to have like lasers in your kitchen. Oh, mango, 370 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: it is absolutely not kids, say, and it's it's really 371 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,400 Speaker 1: just for large scale kitchens and bakery is not something 372 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: you'd want to keep around the house. In fact, this 373 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: might actually be the strongest commercial laser we have talked 374 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:35,959 Speaker 1: about today. You remember the sea lays thing that ships 375 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: used to scare off pirates, right? Yeah? Sorry, are you 376 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: suggesting this technology? It can be used to clean pirates. 377 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: To you know what, that's actually a great idea, but 378 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 1: it's not exactly what I'm getting at here. But as 379 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: strong as that was, it maxed out at twenty thousand milliwatts. Well, 380 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: the laser for this cleaning system is six times stronger 381 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: at one and twenty thousand milliwatts. But if you want 382 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: to know the real deal breaker, here's another scary umber. 383 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 1: Forty thousand dollars. That's actually the going rate for your 384 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: own laser cleaner. I don't know, sending my kids to 385 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: college for getting clean dishes and I have to wear 386 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,719 Speaker 1: it feels like an even trade. Possibly, but all right, 387 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,199 Speaker 1: well fair enough, So so tell me how this strikes you, 388 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: though mego laser cooked bacon. I'm listening, all right. So 389 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: there's this mathematical science professor in Tokyo named Kintaro Fukushi, 390 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: and a few years ago he partnered with a guy 391 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: who runs a maker space in Japan, and together they 392 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: designed this laser cutter that can perfectly fry the fatty 393 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,719 Speaker 1: part of the bacon, leaving the rest of it completely untouched. 394 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: That's interesting, but why not cook the bacon all the way? Well, 395 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: you could definitely set it so that the whole piece 396 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: of bacon was cooked. Like. The setup uses imaging software 397 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: to build a map of each bacon strip, and then 398 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: you can set the laser to aim at whichever parts 399 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: you want. I love that this is like probably the 400 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: most complicated way to cook bacon ever. But uh, I 401 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: still don't understand, Like why would you want partially raw bacon? 402 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: Like did they leave it that way on purpose? I mean, 403 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: I love how much this is bothering you instead of 404 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: just focusing on the amazing technology. I mean, the truth 405 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: is they left the meaty parts of the bacon uncooked 406 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,679 Speaker 1: for a couple of reasons. First, it showed off the 407 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: mapping feature for their laser cutter, and second, it was 408 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: a way of honoring the raw food tradition in Japan, 409 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: like seafood is you know, the big example, but there 410 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: are lots of traditional Japanese dishes that call for raw 411 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: chicken or pork. Eating raw meat is much less common 412 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: in Japan these days, but some people still prefer their 413 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 1: bacon only slightly browned. That's really interesting. I've never heard 414 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: of that. Here's another unusual application for lasers I just 415 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: learned about. According to the research from the Lincoln Lab 416 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: at m I T it's possible to beam a secret 417 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: message directly into someone's ear using a laser. So you 418 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: can actually be walking along and all of a sudden 419 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: you hear a whisper in your ear, But it's not 420 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:53,880 Speaker 1: coming from the person next to you. It's coming from 421 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: someone eight feet away that you haven't even noticed. Who 422 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,560 Speaker 1: just shot a laser at your ear. That is so 423 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: creepy sounding. So how would this even work? Like, what 424 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: do lasers have to do with transmitting sound? According to 425 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: the research team behind this, it works because laser light 426 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: excites the moisture in the air around the target's ear. 427 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: So basically there's a phenomena called the photoacoustic effect, and 428 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: because of that, the water vapor in the air will 429 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: absorb the lasers emission. And then what that produces sound? Yeah, 430 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: the water vapor gets so excited by the laser that 431 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: it actually starts to vibrate an audible frequency. All right, 432 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: So let's say you live in a dry climate, like 433 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 1: with this not work there, I feel like I might 434 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: have to move to a desert just to escape this 435 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: weird thing. Well, it actually does work there because even 436 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 1: if you're somewhere dry, there's still usually enough water in 437 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: the air to produce the effect. You maybe wouldn't hear 438 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: it as strongly as you might in wetter environment, But 439 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: even then, the researchers think the volume of the sound 440 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: has more to do with how well the water absorbs 441 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: the sound, rather than how much water there is in 442 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: the air. That's terrific, you know, I'm still trying to 443 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: decide if this is fascinating or horrifying. Like, on one hand, 444 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,439 Speaker 1: it would be pretty fun to beam whispers back and 445 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: forth without leaving a paper trail or like disturbing people 446 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: around you. You can even have a conversation from across 447 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: a crowded room, which would make for like an amazing 448 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: party trick or a spy trick or whatever. But on 449 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: the other hand, it's easy to imagine like companies beaming 450 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: ads into our ears at all hours of the day. 451 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,160 Speaker 1: Like imagine walking past a coke at at a bus 452 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: stop and it triggers this like motion sensor, and as 453 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: you walk away, you hear someone like playing the company 454 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 1: jingle in your ear, and things could start to feel 455 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: super dystopian like pretty quickly. With something like that around, Wow, 456 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 1: I would be pretty unnerving. Yeah, it's it's so weird, right, 457 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: But but amazingly, that's not even the scariest potential use 458 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: for sound based lasers. Wired had this article recently about 459 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: how hackers will soon be able to use lasers to 460 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: speak to any kind of computer that uses voice commands. 461 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: So we're talking smartphones, tablets, even home assistance like Alexa, 462 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: Siri and and Google Home wes. You're saying the microphones 463 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: and those devices will respond to the light of a 464 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,440 Speaker 1: laser just like they would respond to a sound. Exactly so, 465 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: according to the researchers who discovered this was possible, if 466 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: you point a laser at a microphone and change the 467 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: intensity to a precise frequency, the light will somehow stimulate 468 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: the microphone's membrane at that same exact frequency. They are 469 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: completely sure yet what causes this light as speech effect, 470 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: but the result is that the microphone reads the incoming 471 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: light as a digital signal, just like it does with sounds. 472 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 1: So if you were in a room when this happened, 473 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: you wouldn't actually hear anything. The laser voice is completely silent, 474 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: but the microphone inside your device would respond as if 475 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,439 Speaker 1: it had just received a voice command. All right, So 476 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 1: what about the voice assistant that's on your phone, Like, 477 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: like on my phone, series only responds to commands if 478 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: I'm the one who speaks them. So does that make 479 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: smartphones immune to these kind of laser attacks? I mean, 480 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: they've got a slightly better line of defense than smart 481 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: speakers like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home. Those 482 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 1: don't have the kind of voice authentication you're talking about, 483 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: and that makes them especially vulnerable to light commands from hackers. 484 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: But that said, if a hacker had a recording of 485 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: your voice or was somehow able to reconstruct it, they 486 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: could actually adjust the frequency of their laser to match 487 00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: the sound of your own voice and then use the 488 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: to issue commands to your phone. So what what kind 489 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: of commands are we talking about? Exactly? I mean, it's terrifying. 490 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: They can make online purchases, unlock your car, adjust your thermostat, 491 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: open the garage door. It really just depends on the 492 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: kind of system that's being hacked and what the user 493 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: has it hooked up to. And the worst part is, 494 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,360 Speaker 1: because of how intense a laser beam is, hackers could 495 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: use this trick even on devices that are hundreds of 496 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: feet away. So if you have a home assistant that 497 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: responds to voice commands. Your best bed is to keep 498 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: it away from any windows. If it's in the hackers 499 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:31,920 Speaker 1: land of site, then it's in the land of their 500 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: fire too. Yeah. That's that's interesting. You know, I thought 501 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: we were selling a dishwasher laser in this show, but 502 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: it turns out we're advocating for really heavy curtains and blinds. 503 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: I feel like at this point, I mean, it really 504 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,239 Speaker 1: all goes back to what we were saying earlier. Just 505 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: because we can do all of these things with lasers 506 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: doesn't mean we should. I mean, for my part, I 507 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: think I'll just stick to using them to point at 508 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: things and we'll leave the rest to the professionals. Yeah, 509 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: that's probably a good idea. But before we bow out 510 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: of this laser game for good, let's fire off a 511 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: few more rounds in today's back off. Yah yah h 512 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,119 Speaker 1: m okay. So I wanted to start with this one 513 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: because it's something I always forget, which is that the 514 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: word laser is really an acronym. It stands for light 515 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. And the other weird 516 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: thing is that most of that name was actually taken 517 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: from an earlier technology that amplified microwaves instead of instead 518 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 1: of light waves. So some mazers, I guess, yeah, exactly. 519 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: I I used to think masers were some kind of 520 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: made up science fiction version of lasers, like in the 521 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: old Godzilla movies, the military always rolled out these tanks 522 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: with satellite dishes on them to to fight the monsters, 523 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 1: and they were called maser cannons. But it turns out 524 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: that those were a real thing, and they actually predate 525 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: lasers by about a decade or so. Plus they're effective 526 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: against Godzilla, which isn't nothing. I mean, that's that's impressive. Alright. Well, 527 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: back to lasers. If today's show has you craving a 528 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: few more lasers in your own life, you could always 529 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: head to No Man's Land for the most remote game 530 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 1: of laser tag on the planet. So Originally built during 531 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: the Victorian era, as this British sea fort, the aptly 532 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: named No Man's Land is an artificial island that never 533 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: saw much action and was ultimately decommissioned during the nineteen fifties. 534 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,959 Speaker 1: So from there. The fort had a single brush with 535 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: fame back in the seventies, when it served as a 536 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: location for a doctor who episode, apparently it was home 537 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,239 Speaker 1: to a race of these evil bipedal reptiles called the 538 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: Sea Devils. Then, in two thousand fifty No Man's Land 539 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: entered the strangest chapter yet when it was converted into 540 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: a luxury hotel and entertainment resort. These new features of 541 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 1: the fort include twenty two bedrooms, a cabaret bar, a sauna, 542 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: plenty of shops and restaurants, and of course, a twenty 543 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: one room laser tag labyrinth that winds through the entire 544 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: lower level. And if you think about, like, who doesn't 545 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,159 Speaker 1: want to play laser tag in the basement of an 546 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: abandoned sea fort, it just sounds pretty awesome. Um. In 547 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: November two thousand seventeen, a British laser lighting Companies set 548 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: the world record for the largest laser light show of 549 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: all time. This is at a convention in Las Vegas. 550 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 1: The company made history with a thirty minute laser show 551 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: that featured to staggering different lasers. The show culminated in 552 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: a seven minute finale that lit up the Nevada sky 553 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,959 Speaker 1: with a massive one thousand, three d seventy seven watts 554 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: of laser power and again for reference, the average laser 555 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: pointer uses just five milliwatts. Yeah, that's a lot of juice. 556 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,159 Speaker 1: That's that's interesting, all right. So we've run through a 557 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: bunch of different applications for lasers today, but back in 558 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: the sixties when they were first being developed, no one 559 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: was really sure how you could actually use these things. 560 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: In fact, the inventor of the laser didn't even really know. 561 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: His name was Theodore Maymon, and despite building the first 562 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: functioning laser for Hughes Laboratories in nineteen sixty, he later 563 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: referred to his creation as quote a solution seeking a problem. 564 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: And the good news, as I think we've shown today, 565 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: as they're turned out to be all all kinds of 566 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: problems that lasers can actually help solve. Yeah, that that 567 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: is true. But I have to point out there's at 568 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: least one major problem that lasers could potentially create in 569 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: the future, and that is, of course, the warping of 570 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: space time. You know, I thought for sure this was 571 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: gonna be about some like real life death star or something. 572 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: But what do lasers have to do with space time? 573 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: So this all comes down to gravity. Light carries energy, 574 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: and because of that, light has its own gravity. But 575 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: the gravitational force created by laser light is scientifically speaking, 576 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: a little bit funky. It turns out that when you 577 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: rotate a laser beam, it's gravity actually warps the nearby spacetime, 578 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: which you might recall is basically the fabric of the universe. 579 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: So as the beam rotates, spacetime curls along with it. 580 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: And I know this all sounds kind of scary and 581 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: world ending, but don't worry, because the researchers behind this 582 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: discovery have a much less upsetting way to think about it. 583 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: According to them, the reality warping effect is like if 584 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: you put a ball into honey and spin it, the 585 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: ball kind of drags along the honey around it. You know, 586 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 1: I'm not sure that's any more reassuring, but it is 587 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: fun to imagine the fabric of the universe is honey. 588 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: So I really feel like for that alone, you've earned 589 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: the trophy for this week, Mango. Congratulations. Well, it is 590 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: an honor. As always, I do think we should thank 591 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: Gabe for doing the heavy lifting on this episode, as 592 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: he does for most episodes. But but lasers are so 593 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: complicated and you did so much research for it. But 594 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: I think that's it for today's part Time Genius from 595 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: Will gave Lowell and myself thank you so much for listening. 596 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with another new episode. Part 597 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: Time Genius is a production of I heart Radio. For 598 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: more podcasts, form my heart Radio, visit the i heart 599 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your 600 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: favorite show.