Hey crew, anyone interested in free schooling in laser fiber optics? Our speculogist just got poached by a bigger outfit and I will pay one of you to get trained if it means you stay loyal. Any takers?
What is a Speculogist?
Honestly, it’s a name I made up for this post from the Latin word for mirror. The actual news here is laser fiber optics. Sounds science fiction, right? Except is it 100% real. Check out this article on laser fiber optics if you don’t believe me.
According to the article, scientists fired lasers in a beam with a hollowed out core, creating what amounts to a fiber optic cable out of light. So this means no more painstaking routing of cables through small locations. All you need is the laser, a receiver, and the mirrors required to bounce the signal to the right location.
After reading the article linked above, three ideas stand jump out of me for using in my science fiction musings. First, space age wiring that doesn’t need wires. When conceptualizing this, they need trenches or channels to avoid signals being disrupted by clumsy crew members (you know who you are). The trade-off of being free of having to reroute entire wiring harnesses is an increased training need in laser calibration. Ergo, the speculogist.
The second idea is laser weapons! The article says the physicists extended the laser up to 50 meters. 50 meters is not the most impressive metric for a ranged weapon. But, c’mon, it’s a laser gun! Concentrate the beam on a target long enough and you create a very nasty burn.
The third idea is based on the scientists’ use of the laser to extend the range of systems that investigate materials by firing lasers at them and measuring the return light. Unless you are a physicist, this might sound boring to you. But, what I hear is “sensors”. As in that nebulous term used in all science fiction shows, that provides useful information on command. Using the information in this article, you can offer some science behind the fiction.
Can you think of other uses of laser fiber optics? Let me know.
In the meantime, May Imagination Reign!
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