It's funny to think that the first images of lasers and their uses in culture still persist today. We tend to think of lasers in their middle of the 20th century context; powerful weapons, capable of cutting through leaded glass and incinerating enemies on the other side.
The real uses for lasers today, however, are much less exciting in application. In fact, lasers have become a part of our daily lives, whether we're talking about sitting around the house listening to music or going out to your appointment with a Mississauga dentist. Let's take a look at just a few of the applications lasers have in today's world.
Every Day Use
If you have a computer, a DVD player, or a CD player in your house, odds are you are putting a laser to work every day. All of these machines use lasers to decode the information stored on discs, and that information was put there by a laser in the first place. Most video game systems use lasers to read information as well. In addition, almost all present day printers, from those you will find in a Toronto print shop to the one on your computer desk, use lasers to create documents.
Medical Use
Some of the most important applications of lasers in today's society come in the medical field. Laser surgery is the closest lasers have come so far to achieving the potential so often implied in the field of science fiction. SRED departments in companies all over the world are continually looking for new applications for lasers in everything from vision correction to repairing of wounds.
Entertainment
If you are over 30 years old, you can probably remember a time when lasers were extremely popular as a form of entertainment. Laser diodes encased in heatshrink sleeving were used for entertainment all over the world. As complements to fireworks or for visual display at museums, laser shows were once the cutting edge of light display. While they still play a big part today, lasers do not occupy the headlines as they once did.
Industry
The heat generating capacity of lasers has many applications within industry. Lasers can be used to mark products with serial numbers or company codes, used to guide cutting processes, and even used as cutting devices.
Weaponry
Finally, though, what about that popular opinion of the laser as a potential weapon? Well, lasers have long had an application as guiding devices for ballistics, but little has been done to harness their destructive potential. However, a 2009 claim by one company did assert the development of a laser weapon powerful enough to destroy a plane or tank.
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