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After-50-Years-Lasers-Have-Made-Their-Mar |
STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And I’m Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. This week, we tell /about one of the most recognizable objects/ in science fiction — the laser. And we tell how the laser has made its mark /in the fifty years /since its invention.
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STEVE EMBER: Three professional research groups have been leading a year-long celebration /of the laser’s fiftieth anniversary. It is called LaserFest. The American Physical Society, the Optical Society (OSA), and SPIE, a group that supports the study of light, all have been involved. One goal is to honor the early developers of lasers// who were both scientists and business leaders.
Another goal is to show the public that lasers are a great example of how scientific research can result/ in technology that improves economies /everywhere. And LaserFest is also meant /to inspire young people /to take up careers/ in optical science and engineering.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Laser is short for Light Amplification /by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The idea behind lasers is complex. Just how complex? Consider that it took the mind of Albert Einstein to discover the physics behind the laser.
Theodore Maiman succeed /in building the first working laser /in nineteen sixty. Mr. Maiman worked at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
A laser fires a light beam. Before the laser, scientists developed a similar device: a maser which stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A maser is basically a microwave version of the laser. Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation /similar /to, but shorter than, radio waves.
The best-known use of masers is in highly accurate clocks.
In the nineteen fifties, researchers in the United States and Russia independently developed the technology //that made both masers and lasers possible. Charles Townes was a professor /at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology /in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He and his students developed the first maser.
Russians Nicolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov did their research in Moscow. Their work led /to technology important /to lasers and masers. The three men received the Nobel Prize /in Physics /in nineteen sixty-four.
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STEVE EMBER: The idea of a thin beam of light with deadly power came much earlier. By the end of the eighteen hundreds, the industrial revolution had shown that science could invent machines /with almost magical powers. And some writers of the time were the first /to imagine something like a laser.
In eighteen ninety-eighty, H.G. Wells published a science fiction novel called “The War of the Worlds.” In it, he described creatures/ from the planet Mars that had technology /far beyond anything on Earth. Among their weapons was what Wells called a “heat ray.” Listen to actor Orson Welles describe the weapon in a famous radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” from nineteen thirty-eight.
ORSON WELLES (PROFESSOR PIERSON): “I shall refer /to the mysterious weapon /as a heat ray. It's my guess that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat/ in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity.
This intense heat () they project/ in a parallel beam /against any object () they choose, by means of a polished parabolic mirror of unknown composition, much as the mirror of a lighthouse projects a beam of light. That -- That is my conjecture of the origin of the heat ray.”
FAITH LAPIDUS: H.G. Wells’ description is not too far from the truth. All lasers have several things/ in common. They have a material that supplies electrons and a power source that lifts the energy level of those electrons. And, as Wells guessed, many lasers have mirrors that direct light.
Laser light is different /from daylight or electric lights. It has one wavelength or color. Laser light is also highly organized. Light behaves /like a wave and laser light launches /in one orderly wave/ at a time /from its source.
STEVE EMBER: The physics of the laser may be complex. Still, it is just a story /of how electrons interact /with light.
When a light particle, or photon, hits an electron, the electron jumps /to a higher energy state.
If another photon strikes one of these high-energy electrons, the electron releases two photons that travel together at the same wavelength.
When this process is repeated enough, lots of organized, or coherent, photons are produced.
In Theodore Maiman’s first laser, a rod of man-made ruby supplied the electrons.
A more powerful version of the flash on a common camera was used /to lift the energy state of the electrons.
Mirrors on either end of the ruby rod reflected and increased the light.
And an opening at one end of the rod let the laser light shoot out — just like the flash ray of science fiction hero Buck Rogers.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Industry put lasers/ to work /almost immediately after they were invented in nineteen sixty. But weapons were not first /on the list.
The first medical operation using a laser took place/ the year following its invention.
Doctors Charles Campbell and Charles Koester used a laser /to remove a tumor /from a patient’s eye /at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital /in New York City.
Since then, doctors have used lasers /to cut and () remove tissue safely/ with little risk of infections.
Other health uses include medical imaging and vision correction surgery.
Eye surgeons use lasers /in LASIK operations/ to reshape the cornea, which covers the lens of the eye.
The reshaped cornea corrects the patient’s bad eyesight so he or she does not have to wear glasses or other corrective lenses.
STEVE EMBER: Lasers have made measurement an exact science.
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Astronomers have used lasers/ to measure the moon’s distance/ from Earth/ to within a few centimeters.
Mappers and builders use laser technology /every day.
For example, drawing a perfectly level straight line/ on a construction site is easy /using a laser.
Energy researchers are using lasers /in an attempt/ to develop fusion, the same energy process that powers the sun.
Scientists hope () fusion can supply almost limitless amounts of clean energy /in the future.
Lasers have also changed the way () we communicate.
It is likely that laser light on a fiber optic network carried this EXPLORATIONS program /at least part of the way /to you
if you are reading or listening /online. Super-fast Internet connections let people watch movies and send huge amounts of information /at the speed of light.
Manufacturers have used lasers /for years /to cut and join metal parts. And the jewelry industry uses lasers /to write /on the surface /of the world’s hardest substance, diamonds.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Since nineteen seventy-four, the public has had direct experience with lasers — at the grocery store checkout line.
Laser barcode scanners have changed how stores record almost everything.
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They help businesses keep track of products. They help in storage and every detail of the supply process.
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Experts say () no company has put barcode technology /to better use than Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas.
By nineteen eighty-eight, all Wal-Mart stores used laser bar code scanners.
Highly detailed records on its products, and how they were selling, helped Wal-Mart keep costs down.
Today, Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest corporation.
STEVE EMBER: Lasers are found/ in many products/ used almost everywhere.
Laser printers can print out forms and documents /quickly and are relatively low/ in cost.
They are required equipment /for offices around the world.
If you have a CD or DVD player, you own a laser. Laser disc players use lasers /to accurately read or write marks /on a reflective, coated plastic disc.
A device turns these optical signals/ into digital information that becomes music, computer software or a full-length movie.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Over one hundred years ago, writers imagined that beams of light could be powerful weapons. Today, lasers guide missiles and bombs.
For example, pilots can mark a target invisibly /with a laser. Bombs or missiles then track the target /with deadly results.
And, yes, American defense companies are working /on giant laser guns /recognizable /to science fiction fans everywhere.
But there are technological difficulties. Scientific American magazine says () huge lasers turn only about twenty to thirty percent of the energy () they use/ into a laser beam. The rest is lost /as heat.
That has not stopped scientists /from working /to perfect powerful lasers that, one day, may be able to shoot missiles out of the sky.
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STEVE EMBER: This program was written and produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And I'm Faith Lapidus. Go to voaspecialenglish.com to comment on this program and for a link to the LaserFest website. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.