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Charles Townes, who won a Nobel Prize in Physics for invention of the laser, will receive an inaugural Golden Goose Award Sept. 13. Presented for the first time this year, the prize honors scientists who received federal funding for seemingly arcane work that turned out to have revolutionary applications.
Tag: laser
Ground-based lasers vie with satellites to map Earth’s magnetic field
February 14, 2011:
Oil and mineral companies, climatologists and geophysicists all rely on expensive satellites to measure the Earth’s magnetic field, but there may be a cheaper option. UC Berkeley physicist Dmitry Budker proposes shining a pulsed orange laser on the layer of sodium atoms 90 km above the Earth to directly read the local magnetic field.
Engineers take plasmon lasers out of deep freeze
December 19, 2010:
UC Berkeley researchers have developed a new technique that allows plasmon lasers to operate at room temperature, overcoming a major barrier to practical utilization of the technology. Previous plasmon laser devices required temperatures as low as minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit to operate properly.
Charles Townes honored during celebration of laser’s 50th birthday
January 19, 2010:
The Lawrence Hall of Science is hosting a 50th-anniversary exhibit on the laser, Jan. 23-25, highlighted by a free public talk on Jan. 25 by Nobel Laureate Charles Townes, who conceived the idea of a laser in the 1950s.
