Big pewpews require big power and it's not super practical yet
The end of the article mentions another system, HELIOS, but didn't have much more information, and that was only two units, I think?
I believe you, just wondering how widespread these are relative to traditional projectile weapons.
I've read that the main reason they like it is more about the incredible long range optics and not the laser, tbh.
It'd be a rather short range weapon, that's not easy to aim, require a line-of-sight, can't penetrate armor... or goggles, or fog/dust.
They're "intended" to cause only temporary blindness
Aside the sci-fi vibe, I could imagine James Bond esque - still quite hard to use, has to aim for the eyes, scatter can cause collateral damage, doesn't work in fog, rain, etc.
Blinding laser weapons are in the same category.
Chemical weapons are incredibly useful, just awful.
https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-ch...
They're not. They're effective against an unprepared adversary. Any real military will have anti-chemical-weapons tactics and protection.
So this happens: you douse a building with a gas, and then walk inside and get shot by defenders in gas masks. And by the way, you also will have to wear a gas mask yourself.
The idea was to mess up scope optics, but human heads have lenses too. It was not Geneva Conventions friendly.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_on_Blinding_Laser_W...
Never had one of those toys…
It's part joke and part telling people "hey, this stuff is really dangerous, take it seriously or you'll lose an eye, or both". I don't think I've seen a single lab with high-powered lasers that didn't have a variant of this sign.
A similar popular sign for chemical labs is "Carol Never Wore Her Safety Goggles. Now She Doesn't Need Them", depicting a blind woman with sunglasses and a white cane. (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/carols-safety-goggles)
I guess depending on your political agenda they were either trying to be inclusive and promoting gender diversity in STEM, or they were being subtly misogynistic by implying that women aren't as careful as men.
Or maybe it was just arbitrary and maybe we don't have to read anything into it? But what do I know.
Nah, I actually believe it's the first one. That's why it's so hilarious. The irony is what it insinuates about what happens to women in STEM.
Women outnumbered men in my chemistry course.
And they both use substances that would destroy your eyes.
On a serious note: What are you on about?
Yes, I agree. That's why making it a girl is so hilarious. As to why you're so offended that I find it hilarious, I honestly don't know what to tell you. It's funny for the same reason I'll refer to a hypothetical serial killer as "him" and follow by saying "or her, of course" to females as if I'm pandering. The joke is that they weren't offended to be excluded from being serial killers.
And I'm not offended. I just have zero idea what your issue is. I never gave it any second thought what gender the person is. I don't care and I wonder what you're reading into it.
At least in my mind when I encounter something oddly said/written my mind starts suggesting contexts and I can clearly "see" myself going blind by doing me like things.
It's a very well worded warning, that spread because it's effective. The official warning saying that you must take precautions even if you don't see anything wrong just doesn't work well.
https://www.nanog.org/news-stories/nanog-tv/top-talks/tutori...
(slides 79-84)
I'd refuse to buy this thing unless there was some national security reason for doing so, and then there would have to be interlocks on the room to de-energize it when anyone entered.
For more context, an SFP+ 10G LR 10km module is Class 1 (completely harmless during normal use).
Same with a 100G LR4 type module.
The ZR type modules that run 100+km are also Class 1.
Pretty much any optical module you plug into a router or a switch is Class 1.
Where you should definitely be cautious is:
- Around optical amplifiers, where things can get into Class 2 and 3.
- DWDM setups where each module may be a Class 1, but the sum of their light adds up into something harmful.
Anyway, common sense says you don't look with your unprotected eye through a fiber endpoint.