DIY laser builder Drake Anthony has created a new contraption he calls a laser shotgun. Why? Well, because he can.
Instead of creating a laser that is able to deliver one strong beam, Anthony decided to create one that offers eight parallel lasers of 5 watts each. A lens focuses the beams on the laser, basically created a concentrated blast of laser photons.
To create the laser shotgun, Anthony basically took time off from his schedule at Southern Illinois University as a math-physics-chemistry student and worked nonstop for 48 hours, soldering the parts together and making sure that there weren't any bugs, and only breaking to eat and sleep. At the end of the marathon laser-creation session, he had a laser shotgun that was capable of burning wood.
"It's something I wanted to build just because I could," said Anthony in an interview with Popular Science. "It's very, very strong and extremely dangerous, but once I realized it was possible to make it, I had to try."
Anthony has been building lasers since the age of 12 — for 11 years. With more than 100 lasers under his belt, his new creation is his most powerful to date.
He has also become a YouTube authority on lasers, having around 150 videos on his channel for things like building lasers and modifying them. He posted his first video back in 2007. He has gotten millions of views on his channel, and while he says his YouTube channel does help pay the bills, he's really in it for his love of tinkering with lasers.
Now that Anthony is a senior in college he's thinking about his next step. According to him, he wants whatever he does to have a direct impact on helping people. He also wants it to be crazy, so it may definitely involve lasers.
Via: Popular Science
