Bad news: Lasers have an upper limit

[Dark Jaguar]

http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/20...limit.html

Apparently when the energy levels get too high, they start creating matter and destroying themselves.

Good news? Extremely ridiculously early levels of replicators?

[lazyfatbum]

I dont really understand, is it creating mass in the form of positrons? It is essentially becoming a high energy 'gun' that shoots bullets that spontaneously exist upon impact?

wuh duh fuh?

I remember reading that a nuke can create mass where none existed on a simple levels and always thought of it as a kind of footprint of the gods in relation to the beginnings of the universe, could this be a universe gun? Are we getting in to territory where at high concentrations of focused power we can create matter? Can we customize it to create particular matter? Are we all going to die from this? Remember Fuzzy Lumpkins from Power Puff Girls who had a laser gun that turned everything in to meat? I am actually frightened right now.

[Dark Jaguar]

The matter's all inside the laser itself, and the high energy converts it back into energy, and more matter gets made, and it becomes a feedback loop that destroys the components inside the laser. It's not mentioned what sort of matter is being made, but I doubt it's as complex as meat.

Yes I'm curious if this process can be more controlled myself.

The rest of that sounds like a made for TV movie on NBC about how man has gone too far, like a movie about cavemen inventing fire who accidentally burn down the earth.

Here's a good rule of thumb: "When in doubt about the nature of reality, assume the most boring explanation possible. That's usually the right one. When it's not, it doesn't fit neatly into human storytelling psychology."