In 2020, YouTuber Drake “styropyro” Anthony uploaded a video in which he built a laser gun some 20,000 times more powerful than the legal limit. Five years later, he’s back with a new laser ...

He also used the laser to melt through tungsten, an ultra-strong metal with a melting point of 3,422 degrees Celsius, which is the highest melting point of any metal. He even set a diamond on fire.

Israel’s Defense Ministry on Oct. 28, 2024 declared that its under-development laser-based DEW (Directed Energy Weapon) Iron Beam would be operational within a year. The ...

The Iron Beam is the most advanced, operational laser in the world, though England, the US, and others have relatively advanced lasers. In a historic breakthrough, the IDF on Wednesday announced ...

The beam isn’t just powerful—it’s quite large. At its biggest, the laser pulse is one foot (0.3 meters) across and several feet long, according to the Michigan release.

Try to fathom the power of 1 million nuclear power plants. Now, imagine there is a way to pack the equivalent of that into the pulse of a laser beam—even if it’s only for one quadrillionth of ...