Physicists have built a tractor beam out of lasers that can both repel and attract objects across distances 100 times farther than previously possible. Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she ...

Lasers, devices that emit intense beams of coherent light in specific directions, are widely used in research settings and are central components of various technologies, including optical clocks (i.e ...

Laser beam interactions with plasma are at the forefront of contemporary high-energy density physics, offering transformative potential in areas ranging from inertial confinement fusion to advanced ...

Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For ...

Some days really are longer than others. And now scientists know by precisely how much. Using a laser gyroscope, scientists have measured variations in Earth’s rotation rate smaller than a millionth ...

In a move that sounds like the wildest of science fiction, DARPA has announced its new Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program that plans to use lasers relayed by airborne platforms ...

Getting atoms to do what you want isn’t easy — but it’s at the heart of a lot of ground-breaking research in physics. Creating and controlling the behavior of new forms of matter is of particular ...

The United Kingdom recently committed hundreds of millions of pounds to a directed-energy weapon designed to shoot down fast-moving drones, and a separate line of physics research suggests that the ...