laser communications

Voting has closed on the Laser Smackdown poll, with 772 people recording their opinion on the most amazing of the many things that have been done with lasers in the fifty years since the invention of the first working laser (see the Laserfest web site for more on the history and applications of lasers). The candidates in the traditional suspense-building reverse order: Lunar laser ranging 22 votes Cat toy/ dog toy/ laser light show 41 votes Laser guide stars/ adaptive optics 46 votes Holography 47 votes Laser eye surgery 53 votes Optical storage media (CD/DVD/Blu-Ray) 60 votes Laser…
We're just over 600 votes in the Laser Smackdown poll in honor of the 50th anniversary of the laser, as of early Friday morning. I notice that it has moved off the front page of the blog, though, so here's another signal-boosting repost, just so we have as many votes as possible, to establish maximum scientific validity when we declare the winner the Most Amazing Laser Application of All Time Which of the following is the most amazing application of a laser?Market Research Voting will remain open until next Sunday, May 2, just two days from now, with the ultimate winner announced on Monday…