By Levi Ostrom

 Lasers amplify anything from infared to ultraviolet light with such intensity that they easily melt through solid steel plate.  Because of its properties, laser light can be made very intense and highly directional, hence laser “beam.”  There are four main types of lasers: Solid-state lasers, Gas lasers, Semiconductor lasers, and Liquid lasers.

 Because military lasers are so high tech they have only recently been introduced in a public manner, and for good reason…they’re scary.  Humvee mounted lasers have been put to use in Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy unexploded ammunition from a safe distance.  Current plane mounted lasers (that the public knows about) can track and slice through an enemy missile in milliseconds at a range of 60 miles.  A 1-kilowatt laser is plenty enough to slice off human limbs, the army has recently made known one of its 100- kilowatt lasers.

 Besides the military, lasers have seen many other types of work such as: industry, scientific research, communication, medicine, and the arts.