# Non-lethal laser weapons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635 "2012-01-06T16:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/21 "2012-01-11T22:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I know, let’s create a gas that causes pacifism. We can test it out on this population over here. Non sequitur. Unless you think the nuclear land mines of the '60s were tested on the population (tu quoque). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/22 "2012-01-12T16:55:34Z")
You didn’t catch the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/23 "2012-01-12T17:42:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Except those kinds of mines are not personnel-proof - they can be tripped by a person, which with that amount of explosive, the result is definitely “anti personnel” - there be no person left. Don’t mines designed for anti-vehicle use have much higher trigger weights, though? If you’re packing that much bang into it, you probably don’t want to waste it on something that weighs less than a few thousand pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/24 "2012-01-13T19:56:27Z")
Yes, but they are also made tamper resistant, which means if you are trying to clear the mine you can set it off more easily. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/25 "2012-01-13T20:23:04Z")
> [@](#): > > You didn’t catch the reference. Care to elucidate? Seems similar to Strangelove. ---
**Author:** ![Prophet\_Zarquon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/0ea827/32.png) [@Prophet\_Zarquon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prophet_Zarquon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/26 "2012-01-17T10:44:25Z")
The wavelength used in their test is not great for inflicting maximum damage per milliwatt. Much shorter wavelengths are highly beneficial in this application. In addition, focal distance is a huge factor with any LASER product. 100 watt and larger LASERs are readily available and many are small enough to be used in mobile applications. Using lithium batteries and water cooling, an effective LASER weapon could be produced weighing less than 100lbs. Still a huge load, but definitely backpack transportable. Currently, it looks like the cooling system would weigh about as much as everything else combined (\>55lbs). Check out this modest 100 watt cutting laser. [The _firestar f100_ CO2 laser](http://www.synrad.com/fseries/f100.htm) Will mark metal on contact. Suitable for laser engraving. Also see their randomly polarized products with higher output. Power it with four of these battery packs in serial for nearly 50 minutes of firing time, minus cooling. [Kalkhoff 24.2v 18Ah Lithium Battery](http://www.50cycles.com/product.htm?product=kalkhoff-18ah-lithium-battery) These have excellent recharge time and in reality, a single 6lb pack could provide several minutes of continuous firing. For that matter, the LASER in my example is an industrial product designed for near-continuous duty. Pulsed activation would reduce cooling requirements and dramatically reduce the minimum weight of the package as a whole. Of course the biggest drawback to LASER and MASER weapons is how easy it is to deflect them. Anti-ballistic armor is heavy. Reasonably effective anti-LASER armor could be made using a thin outer layer of mylar or even glossy aluminum foil. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/27 "2012-01-17T23:15:57Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Care to elucidate? Seems similar to Strangelove. The funniest jokes are the ones that have to be explained. It’s from the movie, _Serenity_. The plot involves going to the planet _Miranda_, and discovering that the government had tried to test a chemical agent, the Pax, as a means to curb violence. What it did was cause everyone to just quit doing anything, lie down, and die. Except for some tiny percentage, whom it turned completely batshit insane. They became known as Reavers, the bogie men of the\* Firefly\* universe. So the government covered it up. Make sense now? (I even threw in a clue.) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/28 "2012-01-20T20:08:02Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > [URL=“[Why can’t we use lasers as ray guns? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3030/why-can-t-we-use-lasers-as-ray-guns)”]I would guess that the 1w (1000mw) laser they used would probably hurt in a second or less at focal distance. What does focal distance mean in this context? I thought the thing about lasers was that all the light rays were parallel and did not spread out (much), which makes “focus” nonsensical as I understand it. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![sbright33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@sbright33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbright33)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/29 "2012-01-25T15:31:49Z")
I bought a 2W IR laser from Ebay for $3. The total weight including heat sink and battery is 3oz. Even with a collimating lens it cannot hurt your skin. It burns black plastic in milliseconds! How can an expensive weapon track eyes to blind someone? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/30 "2012-01-25T18:27:12Z")
There is computer software that does this. They use it for investigating things like what people are paying attention to during commercials, etc. One example was used to track the difference between dogs and wolves in their reactions to humans, finding dogs were much more likely to watch humans’ faces vs their bodies for clues on what they wanted. I’m not sure what was meant by focal distance. Realize that even lasers spread to some degree, it is just much tighter than normal light sources. There’s also the falloff of power with distance, which is much less with lasers precisely because they are collumnated, but still happens. The other explanation is that somehow they are using a dual or multi laser system to combine beams at a single point. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635/31 "2012-02-06T08:51:12Z")
This article might be of interest - [LINK](http://www.techtropes.com/writing-resources/death-rays-101-laser) It’s from my tech resources page for writers, and it’s specifically talking about using lasers as weapons (written months ago and published 2 days after your column, goddamit). Most relevant bit is probably the worked example - A 500 watt laser puts out as much energy as the impact from a handgun every second. This is enough energy to raise about 2 grams of water from body temperature to steam, so it will cause nasty surface injuries, but it’s a crappy weapon compared to the pistol. _However_, it’s also a thousand times more intense than the level at which it could blind you by reflection if it hits a nearby _matte_ surface. So you need a 1.7KW power supply to run something that will scorch your target a little, but quite possibly blind _you_, especially if he is wearing a white T-shirt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-lethal-laser-weapons/608635.md?page=1)