IMAGE: The gas cell used as a plasma source. The laser arrives from the right of these images through the metal cone and enters the little cube, which is filled with... view more Researchers have used AI to control beams for the next generation of smaller, cheaper accelerators for research, medical and industrial applications. Experiments led by Imperial College London researchers, using the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Central Laser Facility (CLF), showed that an algorithm was able to tune the complex parameters involved in controlling the next generation of plasma-based particle accelerators. The algorithm was able to optimize the accelerator much more quickly than a human operator, and could even outperform experiments on similar laser systems. These accelerators focus the energy of the world's most powerful lasers down to a spot the size of a skin cell, producing electrons and x-rays with equipment a fraction of the size of conventional accelerators.

Researchers used deep learning to create a new laser-based system that enables imaging around corners in real time. Hiding behind a wall might not be practical for much longer thanks to new technology that uses artificial intelligence to see and even read around corners. A team of researchers from Princeton, Stanford, Rice and Southern Methodist universities devised a system that uses powerful lasers similar to a laser pointer. The beam is bounced off a visible wall and onto a hidden object behind a corner. The beam then bounces off the object and back onto the wall.

Russia claims it has developed powerful lasers to fire at enemy satellites in orbit. The plane-mounted lasers form part of an anti-satellite system that also involves both radar and ground-based components, reports claim. The news comes after a US Air Force chief warned yesterday that space warfare could break out between superpower nations'within years'. The system includes a laser mounted onto an aircraft as well as relevant ground control gear and radar that will help the device to find targets. The US Navy is also developing laser weapons, including this anti-drone'active laser' that will be mounted onto warships According to an anonymous source quoted by Russian news agency Interfax, weapons maker Almaz-Antey has'completed work on an anti-satellite complex'.