laser

This week, a heated argument breaks out over the cable TV regulatory landscape (we're sure you were just thinking about that as well). Plus, check out footage of a new laser weapon ready for use at LA County jails, and groove to some live music on the YouRock MIDI guitar.

More importantly, this may sound a lot like the classic "dog ate my homework" excuse, but it appears that the gremlins in our broadcast facility actually did eat the video version of this week's show (which aired live on Monday at 3 p.m. ET).

While we attempt to recover the video file, this episode is only available as audio at the moment (see the "Listen Now" player at the bottom of the page). If you need some visual stimulation while listening, feel free to flip through this slideshow of Scott and Dan modeling back-to-school backpacks.

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The Human-Robot Interaction Center at Japan's Saitama University is developing a wheelchair whose camera and laser sensor enable it to track--and follow--the person next to it.

The wheelchair, which is considered standard in all other respects, uses a distance sensor to determine which way the followed person's shoulders are facing so that it can change direction as the leader does.

"[Care] facilities sometimes don't have enough staff, so a single helper has to push two wheelchairs," a Saitama spokesperson says in a news report. "With wheelchairs like this, which can follow automatically, you can … Read more

Removing the prostate during prostate cancer surgery can cause long-term sexual dysfunction in men who undergo the procedure. It is far too easy to damage the nerves necessary for erections and urinary continence.

But there are early signs that the carbon dioxide laser technology often used in surgery to treat head and neck cancers may reduce the risk of nerve damage in prostate cancer patients as well, according to research by urologic surgeons at the New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

The results of the small, 10-patient pilot study--which used a new, flexible, fiber-based delivery system--appear in the July issue … Read more

When it comes to the somewhat wicked Spyder III Pro Arctic laser, described by the manufacturer as the "most dangerous laser ever created" and by others as something of a lightsaber, Lucasfilm, creator of "Star Wars," seems to have experienced a script change.

Enthusiasts of bellicosity might recall that Lucasfilm recently sent a cease and desist letter to Wicked Lasers, suggesting that its product was not only dangerous but also a little too similar to Luke Skywalker's weapon.

Wicked Lasers had made no mention of "Star Wars" or Lucas in its marketing of … Read more

This week on Crave, Donald and Jasmine attempt to make due in the absence of Eric Franklin, who should be awakening from his NyQuil-induced haze any moment now. The big news of the day is Apple's latest gadgets, which include an iMac attack and the undeniably unique Apple Magic Trackpad. Of course, no Crave podcast would be complete without talk of robots and food...specifically one that makes food (sort of). Also, Japan develops some freaky-smart billboards, the military gets some super-spectacular smart earplugs, and the police find a new non-fatal weapon. Finally, we soothe your eyes with some lovely 3D street art--no funky glasses required.

Perhaps "Don't Dazer Laser me, bro" doesn't quite trip off the tongue. However, police in the Northwest may soon be experimenting with the Dazer Laser, a tool which, well, shoots, blinds, and disorients.

The Dazer Laser is a gun that emits a green light at suspects and causes them to temporarily lose their sight and wonder whether they might have been transported to an alternative galaxy. And, according to King 5 News in Seattle, police in the Northwest might soon be the first to experiment with zapping a green light at a suspected evildoer.

The Dazer Laser, allegedly, has less deleterious side effects than tasers and enjoys a greater distance of use than pepper spray. "You need minimal training. It's not hard to aim a light at somebody," Officer Tom Arnold of the Lakewood Police Department told King 5.

Within the next month, the first 1,000 Dazer Lasers will be ready for action at the the North Carolina factory of Laser Energetics.

But perhaps the most extraordinary claim is that these little babies might be efficacious from not merely 3 feet but up to one and a half miles.… Read more

PORTSMOUTH, R.I.--Defense contractor Raytheon and the U.S. Navy said Tuesday that they had successfully conducted a test in which they used a high-power, solid-state laser, in conjunction with a Phalanx Close-in Weapon System, to kill four unmanned aerial vehicles out of the sky off the coast of California.

The system was electrically powered, and Raytheon said it offers the military a very cost-efficient and nearly unlimited "magazine" for shooting down things like threatening UAVs, or perhaps, airplanes. "Once development is completed," Raytheon said in a release, "the Laser Area Weapon System will … Read more