WEBVTT - What are the Craziest Applications for Lasers? (Including washing your dishes!) 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.200 Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.120 I Guess what will? What's that mango? So Earlier this year, 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.880 the mayor of Austin, Texas used a laser beam to 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:23.119 send a recipe for kiso to the moon. It's impressive, 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.000 but I have to ask why exactly did he do this? Well, 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.960 according to his press release, this is what he said, quote, 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.720 we choose to send keeso to the moon and maybe 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.000 someday chips as well, not because these things are easy, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.519 but because they are hard. So maybe maybe that's the answer. 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:44.040 But I think the real reason, and this is serious, 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.919 was to uh to teach future aliens how to make 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.000 keso in case they ever stop off at our moon, 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.680 which is a serious bit of intergalactic hospitality. I think, wait, 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.320 you're you're saying it's just the recipe, like the aliens 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.800 will have to supply their own chips and cheese. I 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.279 guess it's less hospitable when you when you put it way, 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.640 But still the Mayor's heart I think was in the 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.120 right place. His name is Steve Adler, by the way, 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:07.960 and the recipe he chose is a local favorite in Austin, 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.399 and it was sent to the Moon as part of 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.480 a lunar library that was stowed aboard a SpaceX rocket, 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:15.920 the Falcon nine. Oh like they Okay, I was I 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:17.840 was confused on how you were saying they had sent it. 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.840 I was actually hoping they kind of like carve the 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.400 case a recipe into the Moon, like with a laser 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.000 or something. But I guess sending it on a rocket 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.240 is that's a little bit more practical, I guess, yeah, 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.319 and a little less like cartoon supervillain. I guess that's true. 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.920 All right, Well, then how does the laser fit into this? 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.759 So the laser is actually what made the whole library possible, 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:37.800 because they didn't just send a one page case a 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.880 recipe to the Moon. The lunar library also included some 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:47.800 other quote unquote light reading and it includes the entirety 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.200 of Wikipedia um in English, tens of thousands of books, 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:54.360 and a key to translate everything into five thousand different languages. 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.080 So sending a hard copy of all those things clearly 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.680 wasn't an option, and instead the mission crew used a 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.840 power full laser to etch the entire library, letter by letter, 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:07.000 into this super light radiation proof nickel disk. And just 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.160 in case the aliens who find to have bad eyesight. 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.320 All the information on the disc was also laser encoded digitally, 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.920 so the aliens can put it up on their view 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.320 screens or whatever they have. All Right, so all of this, 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.680 like the laser ch case, a recipe, all of Wikipedia, this, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.320 this is all actually on the moon. Now, yeah, I 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.640 mean there's a bit of a twist. The moon lander 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:27.840 that was carrying the library crash landed on the Moon, 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.240 and this was on April eleven, so so the mission 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.960 wasn't exactly a success. But the good news is the 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.760 library probably did survive. According to a spokesperson for the Foundation, 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.399 small light objects like our library do better and impact. 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.400 It was probably thrown a few kilometers away a thirty 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.960 million page frisbee on the Moon. I like to think 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.000 about certain first like that, if you think about it, 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.840 this was the first frisbee with a case of recipe 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:53.600 on it ever thrown on the Moon. I mean that's 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:57.399 pretty cool. Yeah, And and it was all made possible 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.880 by lasers, which kind of sums up our show today. 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:02.720 When you think of lasers, it's mostly like death rays 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.480 from sci fi movies and whatever. But as the Lunar 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.040 Library shows, the truth is that real world lasers have 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.359 much more interesting applications than just blowing things up, from 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.560 levitating objects to precision cooking bacon. There are lots of 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.359 weird things you can do with a laser beam, and 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:18.360 we're gonna take a whole look at a bunch of them. 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:42.360 Let's dive in. Y Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.040 Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as always I'm 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.600 joined by my good friend Manguesho Ticketer and on the 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:49.920 other side of the soundproof glass, carrying on the show's 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:54.120 proud tradition of thematic prop comedy. That's our friend and 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:56.760 producer Lull. Just look at that mango. He brought in 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.080 his own laser pointer from home, waving it around on 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.360 pointing to all these different objects. I mean, it's not 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.600 a useful tool in his line of work, but he's 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.560 made the effort anyway. I mean, it's always putting in 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.440 the atah. I mean, it's that kind of spirit that 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.560 we we really appreciate it around here absolutely. And and 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:14.920 laser pointers are actually a good place to start because 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.360 they really aren't much different from the lasers we use 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.320 in research or defense. In either case you're dealing with 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.479 the device that works by amplifying a highly concentrated beam 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.440 of light a k A laser beam. So the main 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:29.120 difference between these devices is their power level. Right, The 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.640 maximum allowance for a laser pointer in the US is 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.400 a measly five milliwatts, but other kinds of handheld lasers 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.360 can rage anywhere from twenty five milliwatts all the way 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.159 up to a thousand. And that's what would have been 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.320 used to edge the case or recipe into that disk, right, yeah, exactly, 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.240 which is also why they're used for laser removals and 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.200 and certain kinds of surgery. And those procedures aren't just 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.159 for humans either. For instance, I read that some aquariums 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.080 has started using a seven d milliwatt laser to remove 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.880 harmful polyps from their coral Apparently the laser can burn 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.000 a poll up away so early that it won't ever 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.960 grow back, and the whole process only takes about ten seconds. 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.680 I mean, it does make you question at least a 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.320 little bit how safe these laser pointers are really. I mean, 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.240 I know they're weak, but if you think about sort 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.240 of like their larger cousins and destroying pole ups whole 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.560 cloth and a matter of seconds like the five milliwott 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.880 versions must do some small scale damage on their own, 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.080 I would think, right, yeah, and and that's actually why 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.159 you're never supposed to look directly into the beam of 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.920 a laser pointer, because if you're to do that, which 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.000 again you shouldn't, what happens is that a small portion 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.839 of your retina will be bombarded by like this highly 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.920 focused light. And when that happens, the optical nerves get 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.520 overloaded and you wind up seeing all these little floating spots. 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:43.400 So it really is frying your retina, just not as 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.360 quickly or decisively as like one of the stronger lasers, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.480 right and and so when we talk about modern lasers 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.880 used for defense, it's that ability to temporarily blind and 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.400 really disorient people that's in play. It's not like blasting 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.000 through armor or blowing apart buildings. For example, in law enforcement, 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.800 there's something called a day their laser, and it's used 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.719 for riot control. It's basically like a larger version of 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.200 a laser pointer. It's about the size of a flashlight, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.520 but it's got a two fifty milliwatt beam and it's 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.480 effective from about thirty yards away. So if someone looks 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:15.279 into the beam, they can lose sight for up to 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.680 fifteen minutes and feel nauseous for even longer. So the 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.680 idea is really to incapacitate a rowdy crowd all at once, 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:25.000 and there's no need for physical contact, I guess. I mean, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.000 I could see how that'd be useful in some like 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:30.640 really drastic circumstances, but it still feels pretty extreme to 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.520 use these on civilians. But you know, there's one application 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.159 where it seems a little more appropriate, and that's when 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.320 ships use these dasers to ward off pirates. Have you 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.360 heard about this, I haven't. It's called sea lays, and 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.960 the stock version is a whopping five thousand milliwatts, twenty 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.839 times stronger than the flashlight that you mentioned, But if 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:52.600 you want it beeped up, you can actually get one 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:56.400 all the way up to twenty thousand milliwatts. So the 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.880 base model alone, though, is strong enough to be seen 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.840 from nearly three months away. So the idea is that 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.839 at a distance, you could signal the pirates not to 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.080 come any closer, like a warning shot, basically, than if 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.600 they continue to approach anyway, the daser's real effects would 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.360 start to kick in. The pirates would find themselves nauseas, disoriented, 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.520 and of course temporarily blind, which just doesn't seem pleasant. Yeah, 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.760 and and that's like consumer grade tech, Like anyone on 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:24.840 the streets can buy the stuff. Well, they go for 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.640 about a hundred thousand dollars a pop, so so maybe 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.960 not anybody off the street, but anybody with a hundred 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.200 thousand dollars in their pocket. They are available for civilians. Yeah. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.400 Of course, the military has their own brand of daser lasers, 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.760 and these go back as far as the early sixties, 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.840 when the first real laser was invented. Their early reports 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:46.520 of a so called I popper developed by the Air Force. So, 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.440 according to this nineteen seventy two edition of the Post, 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.520 quote the strangest of weapons was dreamed up in the 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.720 early sixties as a means of exploding the eyes of 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.440 an enemy soldiers and their officers from distances of more 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.520 than a wile. Giant pulse lasers would sweep back and 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.560 forth across the battlefield, blinding anyone who looked directly at it. 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.520 That's sort of terrifying. Was it ever used in combat? 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.960 Thankfully not? I mean, the military eventually decided that exploding 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.200 the enemy's eyes from a mile away might not be 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.760 the most honorable form of engagement, And in and update 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:23.320 to the Geneva Conventions actually banned the use of any 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:27.200 laser weapons that cause permanent blindness, So this idea was 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.560 actually put to rest. So weird that they're like rules 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.040 to wark like that, But why don't we move towards 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.160 some of the more wholesome ways to use a laser beam? 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.600 For instance, did you know that judges have started using 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:43.560 lasers to help score gymnastics competitions. I had not heard this, 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.240 and I'm curious why this is necessary, Like what was 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.240 wrong with the old way of scoring competitions. So the 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.240 main problem is that humans can sometimes miss important details 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.920 when deciding the outcome of a sporting event. And that's 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.560 true even with instant replays. In fact, there was a 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.800 study on gymnastics competitions, and this was back into thousand fifteen, 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:04.240 and it concluded that up to sixty of athlete errors 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.360 go totally overlooked by judges. And so the solution of 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:08.880 that is to shoot a bunch of lasers at the 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.320 gymnast I guess, well sort of. I mean, there's this 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:16.480 Japanese electronics company, it's called Fujitsu, and it's been working 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.040 to develop three D laser sensors that can capture a 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.560 gymnast movements and analyze them on the spot as I 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.559 guess numerical data. So the idea is to use these 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:29.200 recordings as a supplement to the judge's own observations, and 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.360 if there's an error they didn't cash, the system will 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.400 draw their attention to it. And if a judge ever 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.640 needs evidence to back up a ruling, the system can 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.080 provide that too. I see. So then it's kind of 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.520 like the motion capture that's used in the you know, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.080 the digital characters for movies like Gallum and Lord of 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.360 the Rings. Is it kind of like that? Yeah? I mean, 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.559 except in this case, the gymnast doesn't have to do 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.200 backflips while wearing like a suit covered in those ping 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.120 pong balls. In said, there's a series of lasers that 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.720 track their movements in real time and then transmit the 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.559 data to a software program, and that way there's a 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.560 detailed record of every move the athlete makes, no matter 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.240 how fast or complex it is. And this includes everything 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.320 from like the placement of their joints to the exact 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.040 angles of their movements. That sounds pretty amazing. Actually, and 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.719 you said, this is already being used in competitions. Fujitsu 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.000 announced the deal last fall with the International Gymnastics Federation 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:18.400 and they've already tested the system at a handful of 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.000 competitions this year, and and the goals really to roll 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.720 it out in earnest at the Gymnastics World Championships in 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.679 late September. But beyond that, Fujitsu is hoping the laser 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.320 system will become the go to tool for judges, not 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.840 just for gymnastics, but also for things like figure skating 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.520 or any other sport where they're like scoring inconsistencies and 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:40.120 and involves decisions about precise movements. That's pretty cool, But 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.280 I actually want to take us back to laser pointers 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.760 for a second, because there's a practical use for them 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:46.960 that I never would have thought about before we were 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.280 doing our research this week. And apparently home care nurses 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.840 sometimes use common laser pointers as a way to enable 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.280 their patients to communicate. So, say a patient has limited 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.160 mobility as well as difficulties speaking. In a case like that, 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.760 a nurse might attach a laser pointer to a pair 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.560 of eyeglasses or maybe the rim of a hat, and 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.120 then the nurse would set up this communication board filled 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.040 with common phrases plus all the letters of the alphabet, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.760 and you know, and the patient could express themselves by 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.720 pointing to whatever it was they wanted to say. That's funny. 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:19.959 It's it's like the simplest use of a pointer, but 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.679 it's also to communicate in such a specific way. It's 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.040 so much more clever than, uh than you know, just 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.359 using it to get a cat to run around a room. 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.760 Speaking of which I know, we both found some scientific 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:33.280 uses for lasers that were equally unexpected. But before we 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:49.920 get into those, let's take a quick break. You're listening 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.480 to part Time Genius, so we're talking about all the 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.520 surprising things you can do with a laser. So just 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.360 keep in mind that even though you theoretically could do 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.160 these things, you probably shouldn't do all, or actually any 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.880 of them. The point you could use a high powered 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.239 laser to heat a material to well over a million degrees, 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.040 the atoms of that substance would cease to exist and 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:14.640 you'd be left with a soupy mix of electrons and ions, 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.840 what scientists lovingly referred to as plasma. But again, that 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:22.119 doesn't mean you should do that. So don't do that, Mango. Yeah, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.640 I mean you definitely shouldn't do that. Recreating the core 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.719 of the sun in your living room is not recommended 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.760 by this show. Well that's a good call on a 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.560 less dangerous, but just as difficult side of things. It's 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:36.360 also possible to use a laser to levitate tiny objects. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.560 So this is something I'm fascinated by, but it makes 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.520 zero sense to my mind. I mean, lasers burn and 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.839 melt and singe, so how could that possibly transfer into 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.640 making something float in mid air? I agree, I mean 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.960 it's not very intuitive for layman like ourselves, but it 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.600 helps to remember that light, including laser light, is made 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.720 up of photons, and those photons exert a special kind 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.600 of force known as radiation pressure, and that's really the 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:05.440 key to what scientists call optical levitation. So when you 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.800 have a really powerful beam of light, the radiation pressure 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:12.080 it exerts is sometimes strong enough to overcome the force 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.080 of gravity. So if you aim a high enough power 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.520 laser beam at a super light object, the force of 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.600 the lights pressure can actually propel it forward or even 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.640 lift it off the ground, which makes a little more 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.199 sense to me. I guess. So, so are like solar 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.160 sales an example of this, uh this technology, Yeah, that's 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.680 it exactly. I mean most people have probably seen one. 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.240 They're they're like big gold colored square sheets attached to 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.760 the end of a space probe or another small spacecraft, 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:44.280 and the reflective surface harnesses radiation pressure from sunlight, and 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.400 that in turn propels the craft through space. But you're 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.560 saying it's possible to float something with a laser here 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:53.280 on Earth as well. I mean theoretically, yes, the principle 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.600 behind it has been proven in a lab setting, but 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.319 a real world test is still years away. And if 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:01.920 that works, the researchers would be able to push around 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.680 tiny particles that are too small to control through other means, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.560 and even cooler than that, they'd be able to power 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.000 real life micro machines, by which I don't mean the 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.719 tiny monster trucks that used to be popular when you 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.000 were kids, even though those are just as awesome as 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.040 levitating things, but rather things like flying a teeny tiny 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.680 camera over a volcano or through the wreckage of a 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.360 building or something like that. That's pretty cool. Well, since 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.720 you brought up radiation pressure, I do have to tell 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.840 you about this other weird application Gabe told me about Basically, 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.600 you can use to focused laser beams to create what's 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.280 known as optical tweezers, and this allows scientists to manipulate 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.120 objects smaller than a single micron, like a unit of 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.640 measure that's equal to about thirty nine millions of an inch, 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.320 or in other word, it's really really small. And and 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:51.320 so this works because of radiation pressure from the lasers. Yeah. So, 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:52.960 so when you have a laser beam on other side 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.720 of the object, the resulting forces actually work together and 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.120 allow you to grip the object, so you can kind 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.520 of think of it like laser beam chops six. That's cool. So, 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:03.520 so is this something that was just recently discovered or 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.600 what when Gay row up I I thought so too. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.400 But but researchers first created optical tweezers back in the 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.720 nineteen eighties and they've been improving on the concept ever since. 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.440 In fact, the biggest limitation to the technology was finally 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.080 overcome just a few years ago. For the last thirty 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:18.880 years or so, there was always a cap on how 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.360 finally you could focus a beam of laser light, and 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.440 the result was that anything smaller than a hundred nanometers 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.160 couldn't be gripped by the tweezers. So I'm a little 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.040 rusty on the micro measurements, like how small is that 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:34.440 compared to the microns that you mentioned earlier. I'm embarrassed 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:36.760 to admit that I'm a little rusty on these measures. Yeah, well, 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.480 if I didn't have a shooting paper in front of you, 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.520 I would not A hundred nanometers is equal to just 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.120 point one microns. So we were already dealing with incredibly 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.960 small forms of matter before that, like the organelles inside 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.000 a living cell, or or a particle of bacteria. But 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.200 these are even smaller than those, and our laser chopsticks 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.360 just couldn't get ahold of them. But back in two 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.480 thousand fourteen, researchers and institute in Spain finally figured out 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.280 how to focus laser light to such a fine degree 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.080 that they could actually manipulate particles as small as just 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.480 fifteen animators. And so what kind of stuff does that 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:13.720 actually allow them to do so much stuff? Okay, enough said, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.280 I mean, we'll never really understand. In fact, I'm just 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.360 going to defer to scientific American on this one and 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:24.040 and tell you that possible applications include, quote, building, medical products, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:29.680 with nano scale exactness, manufacturing nanocrystal geometries for electronic devices, 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:34.480 and manipulating single molecules such as proteins. Right right, I 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.640 guess that that sounds good, I think, but we've still 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.160 got a few strange uses for lasers to talk about, 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.400 including a couple that are strictly just for laughs. But first, 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:59.800 let's take one more quick break. Welcome back to part 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.640 time Genius. Okay, Well, so we've talked about what lasers 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.919 can do for aliens, and for sports judges and for scientists, 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:08.800 but let's be selfish for a minute and talk about 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:10.760 what lasers can do for us. All right, Well, how 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.120 about this one. You can use a laser on your 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:17.880 dirty dishes and have them cleaner than they've ever been before. Like, 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.359 say goodbye to your dishwasher. You really won't need it 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.159 from here on out because of lasers. Well, in my family, 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.800 I'm actually the one who washes the dishes, and I'm 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.240 always looking for an excuse to throw out my dishwasher, 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.480 So so tell me more. All right, So it's pretty simple, really, 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.680 Like you talked about burning polyps off a coral earlier, 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.440 and it's it's the same premise here. Except with all 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.879 the grease and oil and mystery crust that gets stuck 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.040 to your cookware. You just install this device that kind 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.720 of looks like really like a table lamp, I guess, 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.040 and you put in your kitchen and then you never 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.200 have to scrub another baking sheet or non stick pan again. 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:54.600 You don't even have to control the laser by hand. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.720 It is totally automated, so the beam just scans back 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.560 and forth over the pan or whatever it is that 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.920 you're clean. It just burns the grease right off of there. 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.240 It's pretty amazing. Wait, so it's going to leave something 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.280 behind right like, like it doesn't just vaporize all that gunk. 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.440 That is true, like there should be some food ash 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.520 left behind. But that's not the case actually, because the 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.480 laser cleaner also comes with a built in nozzle that 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.760 sucks up whatever the laser leaves behind. I mean, this 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.400 is just amazing. And the coolest part is that these 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:27.400 two functions occur simultaneously. So the surface of the pan 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.119 just goes from pitch black with grease too shiny and 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.040 clean right before your eyes. It's like some kind of 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.960 low key kitchen magic. It should totally be an informercial. 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:42.040 This honestly feels like you're infomercial pitching. I am kind 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.840 of also, I'm sold because you know, I'm the designated 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.840 dishwasher and I hate scrubbing pans in the most It's 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.400 definitely a pretty amazing invention. You can find the videos 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.320 of this thing online. You just look up laser age 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:58.280 TV on YouTube and look for the laser cleaning of 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.080 a baking tray. But if you do, make sure you 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.399 turn up the sound because you can hear the food 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:07.040 waste just sizzling away with every sweep of this laser. 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.439 It almost sounds like an electric shaver or something, and 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:15.000 it's all just weirdly satisfying. Yeah, I bet you know. 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:17.880 I'm already sold. But my only qualm is if it's 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.159 kid friendly to have like lasers in your kitchen. Oh, mango, 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.840 it is absolutely not kids, say, and it's it's really 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.400 just for large scale kitchens and bakery is not something 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:30.320 you'd want to keep around the house. In fact, this 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.639 might actually be the strongest commercial laser we have talked 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:35.959 about today. You remember the sea lays thing that ships 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.240 used to scare off pirates, right? Yeah? Sorry, are you 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.720 suggesting this technology? It can be used to clean pirates. 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.639 To you know what, that's actually a great idea, but 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:46.880 it's not exactly what I'm getting at here. But as 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.880 strong as that was, it maxed out at twenty thousand milliwatts. Well, 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:54.240 the laser for this cleaning system is six times stronger 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.600 at one and twenty thousand milliwatts. But if you want 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.320 to know the real deal breaker, here's another scary umber. 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.920 Forty thousand dollars. That's actually the going rate for your 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.800 own laser cleaner. I don't know, sending my kids to 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.280 college for getting clean dishes and I have to wear 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.719 it feels like an even trade. Possibly, but all right, 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:16.199 well fair enough, So so tell me how this strikes you, 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:21.919 though mego laser cooked bacon. I'm listening, all right. So 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.600 there's this mathematical science professor in Tokyo named Kintaro Fukushi, 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:27.880 and a few years ago he partnered with a guy 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.480 who runs a maker space in Japan, and together they 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.520 designed this laser cutter that can perfectly fry the fatty 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:39.719 part of the bacon, leaving the rest of it completely untouched. 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:42.600 That's interesting, but why not cook the bacon all the way? Well, 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:44.680 you could definitely set it so that the whole piece 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:48.040 of bacon was cooked. Like. The setup uses imaging software 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.560 to build a map of each bacon strip, and then 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.600 you can set the laser to aim at whichever parts 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.520 you want. I love that this is like probably the 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.879 most complicated way to cook bacon ever. But uh, I 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.480