These Grand Laser shows are put up for various important celebrations, and as a centre piece show in many places round the world.
My first brush with the Laser was in the movie Star Wars released in mid 70's . It was a film by George Lucas who was a pioneer is special effects.The movie was about interplanetary warfare between an authoritarian regime & rebel forces. At the core of the film were the Jedi Knights.The Jedi carried blue light saber laser swords,It was a luminescent energy blade of magnetically contained plasma, the energy emitting from the hilt of the sword. Their enemy the Sith carried a the red ones. It could cut ,burn & melt most substances. On pressing the button the laser emitted with a buzz. The movie was a roaring success and so was the series of movies which followed it. The characters Jedi ,Darth, D2R2 9 ( a moving robot) & of course Yoda the Jedi Master. These of course became a household name and leading manufacturers got the copyright and made the toys which every kid wanted to have one.
It was much later that I learnt more about Laser. The name itself is an acronym - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation ( LASER) It is so versatile that it is used in optical disk drives, laser printers, barcode scanners , DNA sequencing instruments,fiber optic, semi conducting chip manufacturing.
Laser is now used in military applications, the most common use is in guiding weapons including missiles to their targets. We have always seen in the movies the red dot of Laser focussed on the target from a sniper's rifle.
It is now being used in weaponery to shoot down energy drones, rockets etc., During the Regan era it is said that a major effort was made to create satellite missiles with lasers to throw a safety ring over the country. Cut to today, when the US has created a Space Force to protect assets in space when accquired in future ,and want to bet that the new weaponery will be the extensive use of various types of Lasers.
Many countries will follow suit as the space race to colonise the planets heats up further for varied reasons and of course to exploit the minerals. The wildly popular AVATAR movie gave us a good inkling of the future.
US, China , Russia , EU, and of course India, and our neighbour UAE have joined the race.
The wonder of it all is that such an energy has been harnessed and used for medical treatments, especially in surgery. Laser surgery uses light to remove diseased tissuesor treating bleeding blood vessels . It is also beingg used extensively in cosmetic surgery to restore skin, rstore wrinkles sunspots, tattoes Or birthmarks.
Laser surgery is now extensively in cataract surgery where ultrasound waves are used to break up cataract into tiny pieces, which are then removed and repalced with new artifical lens to replace the cloudy natural lens. A laser is used to to make tiny incision and insert the lens, The time taken is about 20 minutes and done with minimum pain to the patient.
I experienced the laser surgery recently since I had to replace my cataract in both my eyes. Once in the hospital you are put through various tests to determine the state of the cataract, Once it is determined by the doctor, one is given a date and then examined for other health parameters and precautions taken.
On the day of the surgery itself the eyes are dialated with liquid drops, then once the eyes are are dialated , sterile surgical gowns are to be worn ,and then taken into the operation theatre . Before entering the theatre one is given anesthesia drops in the eye to be operated ( no painful injections these days). You are then led to the theatre , laid down on the table. The face is then covered with an opaque sheet with a hole on the sheet adjusted to the eye to be operated.Through the hole, a device is fitted to the eye to ensure exposure of the eye totally.
A bright light comes on and it hits your eye, and in the centre of the bright white light is a pallete like object which has three lights one slightly bigger then the other two, and you are told to keep looking at it . The other two light have a red tinge.
As the doctor commences the procedure you can see this pallete slowly moving to a side and you are left looking at a white void with some worm like black ameobic creatures floating around. Then you hear a buzz and a lady in a machine voice giving some instructions and you can see this pallete slipping back into the eye . You can see the pallete with the big bright light and two small lights once again. During the procedure gellike substance is continuosly poured into the eyes to keep it lubricated . After a while the light is switched off and viola the procedure is over. The coverings are removed and you are gently helped to sit up. There is a slight disorietation initially and a wave of tiredness. This I felt was because of the trauma of the procedure which is signaled to all the nerves in the body. The whole procedure takes about 20 minutes.
In yesteryears there was physical intervention to the eye ,took more time and the recovery period was also slightly longer.The laser was the game changer.
You are then helped to the room by a nurse to take rest and for observation for two hours. After the two hours ,a test is done and one can go home , duly advised that one is not allowed to step out of the house for a minimum of seven days , not use any electronic gadget , stare into any screen , not go near any fire, and of course wear black glasses at all times and transparent glasses when required.
After a fortnight a check up is done and you are up & running. The world looks a much brighter place , when you see with the new lenses which have been fitted.
The future of Laser seems to be bright as it will be harnessed for various applications.
