Jules IV's Journal: Solar-Powered Laser

MIT's Technology Review writes about a new kind of efficient, solar-powered laser has been developed by researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in Japan. They hope to use the laser to help them realize their goal of developing a magnesium combustion engine. The idea, says Takashi Yabe, a professor of mechanical engineering and science at the Tokyo Institute, is to make a powerful laser capable of combusting the magnesium content of seawater. In the process, large amounts of heat and hydrogen are given off.

Meanwhile...

[HTH NE1]

Meanwhile, others are using powerful lasers to trigger fusion reactions... basically building laser-powered suns.