Terrorists to use "Lasers". No word on moonbase, s

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Broomstick
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Post by Broomstick »

brianeyci wrote:Still not something they should ignore. Is there a way to tint the airplane glass so that laser beams won't go through them?
Well, yes, in theory... the problem is that lasers come in so many different wave lengths, quite a few in the visible spectrum. If you tinted to block all of them you'd seriously reduce the utility of the window as a window, that is, a transparent surface that will admit light for the purposes of vision. It becomes like applying duct tape over your mouth and nostrils to avoid inhaling poison gas - it keeps the Bad Stuff out, but it also prevents the vital function of breathing. Or, in the case of windows, of seeing.
There should be a low-tech way to get rid of this annoyance...
I vote for a 2x4 to the back of the head of anyonw aiming a laser at a cockpit, but that sort of assumes you have the Bad Guy located already.

Ya know, it's easy to discount the utility of this tactic as a terrorist weapon... yet I see this discussion on several message boards I frequent. So although most people are going "naw... couldn't happen" obviously there's also some doubt.

It occurs to me that if you had told me on September 10, 2001 that you could use common, everyday boxcutters to set in motion a chain of events that would lead to 3,000 dead by the end of a morning I would have told you that you were full of shit. By noon on September 11, 2001 we all knew differently, didn't we?

Are lasers in the same category as boxcutters? Simple tools that have an unforeseen potential for mass murder? Or is it impractical? And is someone trying to make that determination right now?

I do think most discussions of using lasers to down airplanes get overly complex and suffer from the worship of high tech. You don't need high techonology to kill people. Rocks and sharp pointy sticks still work as well as they ever did.
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Alex Moon
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Post by Alex Moon »

One suggestion that I've read is that the lasers aren't for blinding pilots, they're for checking ranges in preperation for any shoulder fired missles that would be smuggled in..
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Sea Skimmer
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Post by Sea Skimmer »

Alex Moon wrote:One suggestion that I've read is that the lasers aren't for blinding pilots, they're for checking ranges in preperation for any shoulder fired missles that would be smuggled in..
That's a pretty unlikely suggestion. You can very easily eyeball the ranges MANPADS are effective at, espically if your shooting them at a target directly head on. Though you would need a good missile for it to be able to lock on head on, and a shot from behind or abreast generally makes more since it both means no chance of the pilots spotting the weapon and a better heat sources for the seeker to home.
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Wicked Pilot
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Post by Wicked Pilot »

It looks like the FBI has grabbed its first idiot.

Man Charged Under Patriot Act for Laser
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aerius
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Post by aerius »

The guy in that article is so full of shit it's not even funny. The lawyer says the dork claims he was using the laser to test fiber optic cables. Problem, fiber optic cables generally use ~1300nm light, that's in the infrared part of the spectrum. A visible light laser won't reflect properly down them. Next, you can't just shine a hand held laser into a fiber optic cable, it's too thin and you can't line it up. When you see it being done on TV on science shows, those are either obsolete no longer in use 1st generation fibers they're using, specially made demo stuff, or ones from medical & industrial lasers.

Next, the $100 ebay cost means it's a green laser pointer, wavelength of ~532nm. There's only one use for them, pointing out stuff. It has a visible beam at night which can be used for pointing at stars, and amateur atronomers do use it for that purpose, but they sure as hell don't light up planes & helicopters. Basically, the guy's a lying jackass who was lighting up aircraft to try and be "cool" with his daughter.
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Wicked Pilot
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Post by Wicked Pilot »

I like it how he flashed the helocopters full of detectives who were looking for him. Dumbass.
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