News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by rohan1024 on Monday March 18, 2019 @12:48AM (#19418742)
Not a physics expert.

Projecting in the air without a screen could be a potential use.

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by db48x on Monday March 18, 2019 @01:13AM (#19418825)
Lol, no. Photon-photon scattering is very rare; you only expect it to happen in very high-energy situations. To scatter enough photons to create a visible image in the air you would need to pour so much energy into the air that it would turn into a plasma. A deadly radioactive plasma that explodes outward from your holographic display and kills everyone nearby. This would not be considered practical.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by edf13 on Monday March 18, 2019 @02:56AM (#19419154)
The lol isn’t needed
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by db48x on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:18AM (#19428745)
I think an important part of our humanity is our ability to laugh. I literally laughed when I read the question, because of the absurd impracticality of it. That's an important part of the answer.

On the other hand, it's true that a purely text-based medium like a comment doesn't have room for a lot of nuance. So for the sake of clarity, I will say that it was a good question. We should always look for ways to use new discoveries to our advantage. Let's just stick to things which are possible, like Dyson spheres, and leave the impossible for science fiction.

See also https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/.

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by lugg on Monday March 18, 2019 @03:13AM (#19419199)
Neither is the rouge but here we are.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by madaxe_again on Monday March 18, 2019 @07:23AM (#19420184)
If you wanted to do this kind of holography, you’d be using multiple lasers (or masers) to stimulate different excitation states of atmospheric gases - you “just” have to have them sweep fast and accurately enough to intersect at each pixel. The engineering challenge is far from insignificant, but there is some progress being made in this general direction, coming from the 3d printing world (volumetric/tomographic printing).
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by jcims on Monday March 18, 2019 @08:47AM (#19420586)
Like these but less plasma? https://youtu.be/AoWi10YVmfE

My favorite part of this is looking at all the toasted skin on the fingertips in the video.

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by darkmighty on Monday March 18, 2019 @11:56AM (#19422167)
Is the scattering probability a function of flux density or simply of photon energy?

If of photon energy, then the device is clearly impossible -- you would need to use invisible (and harmful) gamma-rays for scattering.

If of energy density, it still may not be theoretically feasible. For instance, you cannot make monochromatic pulses arbitrarily short -- eventually they will become spread in frequency (more and more energy in higher and potentially harmful frequencies), such that the total dosage necessary to get the desired visible flux is too large. (some calculations would need to be made...)

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by db48x on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:03AM (#19428676)
It's the flux. To scatter any photons takes a lot of flux, and to scatter enough to see would take quite a lot. Of course I haven't done the math either, so I'm just guessing what it would do to the atmosphere that got in the way.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by PaulHoule on Monday March 18, 2019 @09:44AM (#19420909)
If the electric field from a concentrated laser is strong enough it can spark the air and make a voxel.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by db48x on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:08AM (#19428704)
Yes, this is much more practical. Short pulses to create a tiny ball of plasma that doesn't expand very much, but which can emit enough light to see. Still not what we want (which is Star Trek), but probably quite fun as long as the total volume of plasma stays small enough to be safe.
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by darkmighty on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @10:55PM (#19438490)
If you want Star Trek ( and so do I, of course :) ) then the simplest way I can imagine has to be with headsets as currently is.

Making them imperceptible, if that is even so important, has some challenges but not impossible (e.g. increasing resolution, lowering weight, or even adding devices to compensate its weight if the former is infeasible).

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by YaxelPerez on Monday March 18, 2019 @02:40AM (#19419100)
I know a couple rouge nation-states that might be interested
Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by SomeHacker44 on Monday March 18, 2019 @08:50AM (#19420598)
Rouge? Communist?

“Better dead than rouge?” Hm.

Re:Atlas observes light scattering off light by sudhirj on Monday March 18, 2019 @01:08AM (#19418808)
That still seems impractical, at least until we miniaturize a particle accelerator. The event is so improbable (two photons banging into each other) that you need a super dense cloud of them to get a measurable effect.