Physicists Create Most Powerful Light in the Universe

Posted by Chris Jensen | Apr. 10, 2008 07:14AM PST | 312 views | 1 comment

FILED UNDER: News. Tech, Science.

So much for Gamma-Ray Bursts reigning supreme as the universe's most intense source of light. The crown has now been placed upon the head of the Texas Petawatt Laser, housed at the University of Texas.

WTF is a Petawatt? 1 million billion watts.

On March 31, physicists fired up their creation, producing the above result, and they claim the device is just getting started, as they plan on increasing its output in the near future, hoping to attain 1.4 petawatts.

Interestingly, the laser pulse only needed 200 joules of power to sustain the burst, which is less than it takes to power a household light bulb. However, the pulse in question only lasted one-tenth of a trillionth of a second, which is a fraction of time I don't think my wrist-watch is capable of, thankfully.

(Source: New Scientist)

Tags grb, texas petawatt laser, laser