By Levi Ostrom

Lasers amplify anything from infared to ultraviolet light with such intensity that they easily melt through solid steel plate.

Because of its properties, laser light can be made very intense and highly directional, hence laser “beam.”

There are four main types of lasers: Solid-state lasers, Gas lasers, Semiconductor lasers, and Liquid lasers.

Because military lasers are so high tech they have only recently been introduced in a public manner, and for good reason…they’re scary.

Humvee mounted lasers have been put to use in Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy unexploded ammunition from a safe distance.

Current plane mounted lasers (that the public knows about) can track and slice through an enemy missile in milliseconds at a range of 60 miles.

A 1-kilowatt laser is plenty enough to slice off human limbs, the army has recently made known one of its 100-kilowatt lasers.

Besides the military, lasers have seen many other types of work such as: industry, scientific research, communication, medicine, and the arts.